Human and Wildlife Conflicts
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This digital collection includes presentations given at the 8th International Wildlife Ranching Symposium held in 2014 for the symposium theme: Human and Wildlife Conflicts.
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Item Open Access SYSMAS: a handy software to manage by SMS & Web interface notifications on HWC & other wildlife events…(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Le Bel, Sébastien, speaker; Chavernac, David, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerHuman-wildlife conflicts have drastically increased around conservation areas in Africa in recent decades, thus undermining the peaceful cohabitation of wildlife populations and rural human settlements. Mitigation packages include various reporting forms, which are often ineffective since the information conveyed is generally scattered and useless. The booming mobile phone sector and the popular use of text messages (SMS) have provided an opportunity to assess the impact of real-time communication systems in human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies. After preliminary tests conducted in Mozambique and Zimbabwe with FrontlineSMS, we improved the recording and transfer of raw information generated at field level with the development of an integrated system called SYSMAS. Apart from improving the quality of wildlife based information, SYSMAS was developed as a handy management tool informing in real time decision makers and easy to upload even without specific computer skills. This paper details how easy any human-wildlife conflict incident or wildlife event can be translated into a set of explanatory variables and captured on mobile phones with ad-hoc SMS models. According to local communication facilities, real-time sharing of the information could be achieved directly through a Web interface or via SMS; this last been more handy in remote African farmland. Once adopted, such a human-wildlife conflict early warning system could be deployed at low cost. The same approach could be promoted for the establishment of reporting systems on wildlife disease outbreaks.Item Open Access An innovative chili dispenser to establish memory fence dynamics at crop-wildlife interfaces for effective long term human-elephant conflict mitigation(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) La Grange, Mike, speaker; Le Bel, Sébastien, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerWith elephant populations in southern Africa increasing at 5% per annum, local communities living in marginal land adjacent to protected areas are faced with increasing occurrences of human-elephant conflict. If this situation is not addressed, elephant populations will have to be reduced and condemned to survive in fenced protected areas while the negative attitudes of humans towards wildlife impact becomes engrained in the minds of many people. Recent mitigation strategies were developed aiming at enhancing existing traditional approaches and improving upon their effectiveness. An innovative chili pepper dispenser was developed to apply pepper directly at the offending elephant, teaching them to respect passive repellents. This concept mimics interactions between animal species to form an effective form of a virtual fence. The advanced chili applicator, developed in a hand held version, is the 'Mhiripiribomba' and the ambush version is the 'Ambushchillibomba'. They fire ping pong balls, filled with a concentrated chili liquid, at speeds of 250ft/sec that burst on contact on or near the elephant, atomizing the concentrate into a fine spray, and creating a deterrent. After hundreds of tests in southern Africa, the industrial version of the 'Mhiripiribomber' offers an opportunity to disseminate this tool at low cost. Combined with sustainable revenues from wildlife, the improvement of mitigation measures with this chili dispenser will increase the wildlife acceptance capacity that the human community is willing to tolerate. Through the creation of memory fences, it will facilitate elephants respecting human activities and aid the acceptance of wildlife corridor in crop land.Item Open Access The efforts of the USDA national rabies management program for controlling rabies on private and public land(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Shwiff, Stephanie, speaker; Chipman, Rich, speaker; Nelson, Kathy, speaker; VerCauteren, Kurt, speaker; Slate, Dennis, speaker; Gilbert, Amy, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerManagement of rabies in wildlife populations is complex and provides unique challenges for wildlife managers: one of the largest is the majority of land in the US where rabies occurs in wildlife is private. Rabies virus infects nervous systems of mammals, is transmitted through the bite of infected animals, and is invariably fatal. Though human disease risk is largely mitigated in the US through preemptive vaccination of pets and human post-exposure prophylaxis, wildlife pose a continuous threat. Raccoons are the primary wildlife host of rabies, followed by skunks, bats, foxes, and coyotes. Timely administration of post-exposure prophylaxis has proven nearly 100% successful in preventing rabies deaths in humans. However, the financial cost of living with wildlife rabies in the US is conservatively estimated to exceed $300 million/year. Associated impacts such as anxiety, fear, and trauma are difficult to quantify, but often manifest with rabies. Since the late-1990s, Wildlife Services (WS) has coordinated wildlife rabies management with oral rabies vaccination (ORV) as the central tactic targeting terrestrial hosts focused primarily on private land. Significant progress has been achieved through long-term interdisciplinary and interagency cooperation from local to continental scales. The need for effective coordination has mandated the establishment of frameworks that bring together multiple jurisdictions and disciplines from municipal, county, state, federal and international agencies; universities; and the private sector to ensure collaborative, science-based approaches to rabies management on a landscape scale. We will update the status of rabies management in the US and how we effectively work on private land.Item Open Access Understanding people's willingness to implement measures to manage human-bear conflict in Florida(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Telesco, David, speaker; Pienaar, Elizabeth F., speaker; Barrett, Sarah, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerIn 2009 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) began surveying individuals who reported human-bear conflicts. The purpose of this survey is to assess whether individuals take actions recommended by the FWC to reduce or eliminate conflicts. Using this data set, we determined which factors influence the likelihood that surveyed individuals will follow the advice provided by the FWC for managing human-bear conflicts. We find outreach efforts by the FWC increase the probability that people who report conflicts to the agency adopt recommended measures to reduce these conflicts. Our results suggest that outreach efforts by wildlife agencies increase the likelihood that people will alter their behavior to reduce human-bear conflicts.Item Open Access Balancing the act: dilemmas associated with the eradication of Acacia mearnsii from the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Mukwada, Geofrey, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerDespite the huge investment that has been made in the control and eradication of Acacia mearnsii there is little evidence to show that the spread of this species will be reversed within the foreseeable future. In South Africa, Acacia mearnsii is considered to be one of the most problematic invasive species in wildlife conservation areas, where it is displacing native species and altering habitats and threatening the balance of ecosystems. This paper assesses the major challenges associated with different approaches of managing Acacia mearnsii invasion around the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa. The study used remote sensing data to investigate the state of vegetation cover in the northern flanks of the park and adjacent communal grazing areas to determine if invasion by Acacia mearnsii leads to deleterious environmental change, as well as a questionnaire survey to check if the control of the species causes livelihood disruptions within local communities. The study also employed discriminate analysis to assess the differences between the survey responses that were given by park officials and local communities, regarding their perceptions about the environmental impacts of Acacia mearnsii invasion, how the species spreads and how the invasion can be controlled. The paper argues and concludes that though the complete eradication of Acacia mearnsii is not always socially and environmentally desirable, due to the unintended environmental disturbances and livelihood disruptions it leads to, it is crucial for the park's environmental integrity and for the sustained flow of ecosystem services and benefits.Item Open Access From opposition to opportunity: managing prairie dogs in southern Utah(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Frey, Nicki, speaker; Wightman, Erica, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerUtah Prairie Dogs (Cymomys parvidens) have been listed, first as an endangered, then as a threatened species, under the Endangered Species Act since its inception in 1973. The species exists only in southern Utah, where approximately 75% of the land is managed by the Federal Government; however, it is estimated that 75% of the species' population occurs on private lands. Unfortunately, humans have had direct conflict with Utah prairie dogs since they first began agricultural practices in the area. We must find ways to create a benefit from Utah prairie dogs on private lands, in order to alleviate conflicts, to encourage species conservation, and to recover the species. One program, the Utah Prairie Dog Habitat Credit Exchange (HCE) has done just that. Created by a collaboration of experts working in wildlife biology, sociology, finance, and policy the HCE works with landowners to create conservation easement on parcels of their property where prairie dogs can do little harm. In return, landowners can manage prairie dogs elsewhere on their property AND receive monetary credit for their efforts. These credits are then sold to developers that need ‘take' for their property in order to develop their land. With this system, landowners have a bit of control over Utah prairie dogs on their land, get monetary compensation for protecting Utah prairie dogs on their land, the local towns have an avenue to continue to develop their land, and 'the ultimate goal' more Utah prairie dogs are protected across the landscape.Item Open Access Livestock management for coexistence with large carnivores, healthy land and productive ranches: a viewpoint(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Barnes, Matt, speaker; Breck, Stewart, moderator; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerLivestock – large carnivore coexistence occurs within a broader context of social-ecological systems, specifically ranches and rural communities. Coexistence practitioners can be more effective by expanding from a direct focus on carnivores and predation-prevention tools to livestock management context. Ranchers can apply many of the same approaches that work for rangeland health and livestock production to reduce conflicts with large carnivores. The central anti-predator behavior of wild grazing animals is to form large, dense herds that then move around the landscape to seek fresh forage, avoid fouled areas, and escape predators. They also have their young in short, synchronized birthing seasons (predator satiation). Grazing management involving high stocking density and frequent movement, such as rotational grazing and herding with low-stress livestock handling, can improve rangeland health and livestock production, by managing the distribution of grazing across time, space, and plant species. Short calving seasons can increase livestock production and reduce labor inputs, especially when timed to coincide with peak availability of forage quality. Livestock management approaches based on anti-predator behaviors of wild ungulates, including grazing management and synchronized calving, may directly and synergistically reduce predation risk—while simultaneously establishing a management context in which other predation-prevention practices and tools can be used more effectively. Pilot projects on summer cattle range in the U.S. Northern Rockies involving increased stocking density through intensification of existing grazing rotations with herding suggest methods that can be used to improve grazing distribution and prevent depredations.Item Open Access Human and wildlife conflicts(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014-09) Clark, Larry, speaker; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, producerThe National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) is the research arm of the USDA's Wildlife Services program. The NWRC is charged with developing methods to resolve conflicts between humans and wildlife, spanning the areas of agriculture and natural resource protection, invasive species, wildlife disease, and product development. The broad scope of the NWRC missions illustrates the various levels wildlife interact with human activities, both positively and negatively. It is when the latter occurs that the NWRC becomes engaged to develop methods in a socially sensitive and responsible way to resolve those conflicts. NWRC scientists address issues in a multidisciplinary manner ranging from molecular and analytical chemical disciplines to ecological and wildlife management approaches. Regardless of the scientific approach, NWRC also address risks and solutions to problems within the social and economic context of management, public policy, and various public-private perspectives. Examples illustrating the range and integration of approaches will be discussed.