Effects of hunting with hounds on a non-target species living on the edge of a protected area

The impact of hunting on wildlife is a complex phenomenon which varies in space and across time, and yet limited knowledge is available on it. This is especially the case of the indirect effects of hunting on the behaviour of target as well as non-target species. Here we analyze how hunting affected the spatial behaviour of 62 radiocollared roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a protected area adjacent to areas where hunting with hounds (target species: wild boar and hares) and stalking with rifles from high seats without dogs (target species: roe deer) were permitted during the hunting season. Our results showed that hunting caused a significant increase in the home range size of monitored deer, as well as a “reserve effect”, whereby roe deer used the protected area as a refuge from hunters. These behavioural responses were significant only at times when hunting with hounds was conducted, even though roe deer was not the target species of this technique. Reactions to the perceived risk of predation varied among age and sex classes, with yearling being more sensitive and using the protected area more than adults. As shown in our study, hunting harassment provoked by drives with hounds significantly affects the behaviour of non-target species. Therefore, the use of long-legged hounds represents a variable that should be carefully evaluated by wildlife managers in their management plans and conservation policies, especially when endangered or vulnerable species are present.     

Hunting of flying foxes and perception of disease risk in Indonesian Borneo

Widespread hunting of flying foxes has generated concern regarding population declines and the spread of emerging infectious diseases. To investigate the potential impacts of this trade, we conducted questionnaires in 45 settlements across 12 population centres within Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, a region previously identified as a hunting hotspot. By combining results from 63 hunter and 88 vendor interviews, we highlight two population centres (Palangka Raya and Buntok/Tamiang Layang) with higher hunting rates than other areas, which act as flying fox trading hubs. Flying fox populations were perceived to be declining province-wide: declines in captures and sales were reported by 81% of hunters and 60% of market vendors, who also reported availability as the key factor underlying temporal variations in trade. There was substantial risk of zoonotic disease transmission between bats, hunters and traders: the vast majority of respondents were unaware that flying foxes carry potentially fatal viruses, and so few people protected themselves from physical contact. Moreover, both hunters and vendors were frequently bitten and the majority of bites drew blood. Most hunters (58%) also reported unintentional by-catches that included keystone bird species and slow lorises. The scale of hunting over Central Kalimantan represents a serious threat to the long-term viability of flying fox populations (and potentially those of other species), and could have serious public health implications. Reducing or eliminating hunting and trade would mitigate the risk of disease transmission, while maintaining the economic and ecosystem benefits that flying foxes provide, in terms of pollination and seed dispersal.     

Hunting vulnerability, ecological characteristics and harvest rates of bushmeat species in afrotropical forests

We reviewed and analysed patterns and between-site variation in hunter-kill profiles of mammals in tropical moist forests in west and central Africa. Published data from 36 sites in seven countries were used. A total of 71 mammals from 8 orders and 22 families were hunted. Significant variation was found in number of species exploited, but ungulates constituted 73.2% of all hunted animals. Rodents and primates contributed 12.2% and 12.0%, respectively. Large-bodied species (15.0-99.9 kg) represented over half (54.4%) of the total hunted biomass. Most species were snared, and were generally medium-sized, fast, terrestrial, frugivore-herbivores. By species, we showed using meta-analysis, that abundance was the main predictor of harvest level. But, the relationship between hunter presence (calculated as average hunter numbers operating per 100 days) and hunter ease (an index of catchability of the hunted fauna) and site harvest levels was shown to be significant only for hunter ease. Site harvest rates were higher in areas with more hunter presence. Overall, an average of 2000 carcasses (16,000 kg in weight) per site was extracted in a year. Per hunter, this amounted to 200 carcasses (1000 kg) extracted. Such amounts fall within reported unsustainable harvest levels of the mammalian fauna in African forests.     

Conservation of European wild rabbit populations when hunting is age and sex selective

Several predator species at risk of extinction in Southwestern Europe are dependent on the population density of European wild rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus. Rabbit populations in the region, however, have recently undergone dramatic decreases in population density, which may be exacerbated by hunting. Current hunting policies set the autumn-winter season, just before the start of rabbit reproduction, as the main hunting season, and previous theoretical models have estimated that the current hunting season may have the greatest negative impact on rabbit abundance and should be changed. We utilised a model for rabbit population dynamics to determine the effects of the timing of hunting during two seasons, summer and autumn, on the tendency of rabbit populations to be over-harvested and on the number of rabbits hunted. This model included field estimates of age- and sex-selection biases of hunting by shotgun. Scenarios with different hunting rates and sex- and age-selection probabilities of hunting were simulated for populations with different turnover levels and with and without compensatory mortality mechanisms. Field estimations showed that hunting in summer was juvenile-biased whereas autumn hunting was juvenile- and male-biased. In contrast to previous findings, our modelling results suggested that hunting in autumn may be the most conservative option for harvesting of rabbit populations, since these populations were more prone to be over-harvested during the summer. The differences between the two seasons in number of rabbits hunted were dependent on population dynamics and hunting sex- and age-selection probabilities. Our findings suggest that altering of current hunting policies would not optimise the exploitation or conservation of wild rabbit populations, but that the latter may be improved by some changes in the timing of hunting.     

Predatory potential of three hunting spiders inhabiting the rice ecosystems

Present study was designed to assess the prey preference behaviour of three most dominant hunting spiders [Lycosa terrestris Butt, Anwar and Tahir 2006 (Araneae: Lycosidae), Pardosa birmanica Siman 1884 (Araneae: Lycosidae) and Oxyopes javanus (Thorell 1887) (Araneae: Oxyopidae)] of rice ecosystems both in the laboratory and in the field. Two types of laboratory experiments, i.e., choice and no choice feeding, were performed using only adult male and female specimens of the spiders. No choice test showed that each of the three hunting spiders readily consumed larvae and nymphs of rice pests offered. Female hunting spiders consumed more prey compared to male hunting spiders. Results of choice feeding test indicated that L. terrestris and P. birmanica preferred nymphs of rice insect pests while O. javanus preferred larvae of rice insect pests. Results of direct observations showed that in August, dipterous insects were the most numerous rice pests consumed by L. terrestris, P. birmanica and O. javanus, comprising over 56.3, 38 and 48% of their respective diets. In contrast, in September, the proportion of dipterous insects decreased dramatically and hoppers become the most numerous pests, comprising over 50, 51 and 41% of all prey and spiders consumed by L. terrestris, P. birmanica and O. javanus, respectively. In October, aquatic Heteroptera were frequently observed in their diets. Predatory potential of these hunting spiders differed statistically in the laboratory as well as in the field. It is concluded from the results of present project that studied species of spiders could successfully be used to control insect pests of rice ecosystems.     

Indigenous collaborative research for wildlife management in Amazonia: The case of the Kaxinawá, Acre, Brazil

Wildlife is a critical food resource throughout Amazonia. Consequently, adaptive management based on continued resource evaluation is essential to ensure long-term sustainable use of Amazonian wildlife. Since 1996, the Kaxinawá people of Western Amazonia have participated in a capacity-building program focused on natural resource management leading to the development of a territorial management plan that includes monitoring of wildlife use. In this study, we report the results of collaborative management-oriented research where hypotheses designed by the Kaxinawá about game availability within their territory were supported by the analysis of self-monitoring hunting data collected through a methodology designed in collaboration with conservation biologists. Results support Kaxinawá hypotheses that: (1) there is variation of game availability among villages in Kaxinawá territory; (2) preferred game species are more available to those villages closest to the isolated headwaters; and (3) previous land and wildlife use, present density of villages, and human population density are the main factors causing observed variations of game availability. The results of this study suggest the relevance and value of long-term participatory studies to complement short-terms academic studies of biodiversity and natural resource use and management.     

Hunting reduces recruitment of primate-dispersed trees in Amazonian Peru

Hunting with firearms decimates primates of large and medium body size (>2 kg) that disperse the seeds of large-seeded trees. In continuous, un-fragmented forests of southeastern Peru regularly hunted with firearms for 30-40 years, large primates are extirpated and medium-sized (medium) primates are reduced 61% compared with protected forests. At hunted sites seedlings and small juveniles (<1 m height) of trees dispersed by primates heavier than 2 kg are reduced 46%, a loss of one species m⁻², and abiotically-dispersed plants are 284% more common, adding eight individuals m⁻², compared with protected forests. Here we provide evidence consistent with the long-held prediction that commercial hunting changes plant communities. We show that the composition of seedling and small juvenile tree communities that ultimately regenerate future forests differs markedly in forests hunted with firearms compared with protected forests. This opens the possibility of shifts in tree species composition, even in hunted forests that are not logged or fragmented, towards forests dominated by trees dispersed by wind or non-game animals.     

Sustainability of hunting, population densities, intrinsic rates of increase and conservation of Papua New Guinean mammals: A quantitative review

New Guinea’s mammalian fauna consists of a unique assemblage of relatively small sized (0.5-13.5 kg) marsupial mammals, the hunting of which provides a major source of protein for local communities. However, the impact of hunting and the influence of the marsupial life-history strategies on the sustainability of hunting are unknown. Anthropological studies of subsistence hunting and published life-history data for Australasian marsupial mammals were quantitatively reviewed to determine the major sources of game and annual harvest, and estimate intrinsic rates of population increase (r_max) and population densities. These data were used to estimate extraction versus maximum sustainable production (MSP) and make a preliminary estimate of the sustainability of hunting. There were significant negative relationships between increasing body size and decreasing r_max and decreasing population densities, which were further influenced by phylogeny and diet, and appear very similar to relationships found for placental mammals in Afrotropical and Neotropical forests. The estimated biomass of mid-sized marsupial mammals (923 kg/km²) in Papua New Guinea is also comparable with densities of placental mammals in other evergreen tropical forests. Intrinsic rates of increase ranged from 0.28 for tree-kangaroos (Macropodidae) and 0.29 for cuscus (Phalangeridae), up to 5.14 for bandicoots/echymipera (Peroryctidae). Estimated population densities ranged from 0.4-4.0 animals/km² for long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus sp.) to 150-340 animals/km² for ringtails (Pseudocheridae). Extraction rates of game in three studies averaged 23.5 ± 9.9 kg/km²/year, with cuscus and bandicoot species numerically comprising the main game, although cuscus are the most important source of protein. Rates of extraction in Papua New Guinea versus rates of production demonstrate that long-beaked echidna, tree-kangaroos and cuscus are likely to be hunted unsustainably. In contrast hunting of bandicoots and ringtails was lower than maximum production levels, and the high intrinsic rate of increase of bandicoots means that they can potentially provide a sustainable source of protein, in preference to scarcer and intrinsically slower breeding species.     

飞鸟与房船：近代西方人在江南一带的狩猎旅行

近代是中国环境恶化的一个转折点。几千年的农耕文化虽然对环境带来了危害,但尊重自然的传统源远流长,开发行为受到一定遏制,人与动物在很大程度上仍能和谐相处。19世纪末,长江流域及沿海野鸟成群、野兽出没、河水清澈、鱼虾满塘,江南实为鸟儿天堂,耕者乐园。随着西洋工业文明的到来,传统经济解体,环境恶化加速。近代英国人在中国的狩猎活动是近代环境史不可缺少的一部分,其影响不可低估。