International cooperation, including through international legal instruments, appears important for the conservation of large carnivores worldwide. This is due to, inter alia, the worrying ...conservation status and population trends of many large carnivore species; the importance of large carnivores for biodiversity conservation at large; their occurrence at low densities, with many populations extending across various countries; and the international nature of particular threats. For the 31 heaviest species in the order Carnivora, this study (i) documents to what extent existing international legal instruments contribute to large carnivore conservation, and (ii) identifies ways of optimizing their contribution in this regard. From this dual perspective, it reviews all global wildlife conservation treaties—Ramsar Wetlands Convention, World Heritage Convention, Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—and selected regional instruments, using standard international law research methodology. Results indicate that a substantial body of relevant international law already exists, whereas simultaneously there is clear potential for enhancing the contribution of international law to large carnivore conservation. Avenues for pursuing this include promotion of instruments’ effective implementation; clarification of their precise implications for large carnivore conservation; development of formal guidance; expansion of instruments’ scope in terms of species, sites and countries; and creation of new instruments. The CMS and CBD hold particular potential in some of these respects. The experiences being gained under European legal instruments constitute an interesting ‘laboratory’ regarding human coexistence with expanding large carnivore populations and transboundary cooperation at the (sub)population level.
Intraspecific communication in mammals is well-documented but generally restricted to chemical and acoustic signaling. However, other overlooked channels, such as visual signaling, may be used to ...communicate among conspecifics. Here, by using experimental manipulations together with camera traps on 13 brown bear (Ursus arctos) rubbing trees in the Cantabrian Mountains (northwestern Spain), we document detailed temporal patterns and behavioral aspects of a recently discovered novel communication channel for this species, visual signaling through the trunk debarking of focal trees. Video footage showed that visual marking is a sex-, age-, and time-specific means of communication in brown bears, being performed exclusively by adult males during the mating season (mainly April–June in the study area). Trunk debarking was always associated with chemical marking and was never an isolated behavior, suggesting that visual and chemical signals might be complementary. Visual and chemical marks may provide different information; for example, visual marks could be an indicator of individual size and, thus, the dominance status of adult males looking for mating opportunities. This is the first time that evidence is provided showing that visual signaling in a large carnivore is exclusive to a specific class of individuals (adult males) and linked to reproductive needs only. Bear visual signaling not only represents an advance in our comprehension of animal communication but may also serve to easily locate the mating areas of mammals, which are crucial for large carnivore species, such as the brown bear, that frequently need specific and urgent plans for conservation and management. La comunicación intraespecífica en los mamíferos está bien documentada, pero generalmente se limita a la señalización química y acústica. Sin embargo, otros canales ignorados, como la señalización visual, pueden ser utilizados para comunicarse entre conespecíficos. Aquí, utilizando manipulaciones experimentales junto con cámaras trampa en trece árboles de marcaje de oso pardo Ursus arctos en la Cordillera Cantábrica (noroeste de España), documentamos patrones temporales detallados y aspectos conductuales de un nuevo canal de comunicación recientemente descubierto para esta especie, es decir, la señalización visual a través del descortezado del tronco de árboles focales. Las imágenes de vídeo mostraron que el marcado visual es un medio de comunicación específico de sexo, edad y tiempo en los osos pardos, siendo realizado exclusivamente por los machos adultos durante la época de celo (principalmente entre abril y junio en el área de estudio). El descortezado del tronco siempre estuvo asociado al marcaje químico, y nunca fue un comportamiento aislado, lo que sugiere que las señales visuales y químicas podrían ser complementarias. Las marcas visuales pueden proporcionar una información diferente a las químicas, como por ejemplo el tamaño del individuo y, por tanto, el estatus de dominancia de los machos adultos en busca de oportunidades de apareamiento. Es la primera vez que se aportan pruebas que demuestran que la señalización visual en un gran carnívoro es exclusiva de una clase específica de individuos (los machos adultos) y está vinculada únicamente a las necesidades reproductivas. La señalización visual de los osos no sólo representa un avance en nuestra comprensión de la comunicación animal, sino que también puede servir para localizar fácilmente las zonas de celo de los mamíferos, lo cual es crucial para las especies de grandes carnívoros, como el oso pardo, que con frecuencia necesitan planes específicos y urgentes de conservación y gestión.
Human dimension is an important component of large carnivore management and conservation. Here, we focus on the human-wildlife conflict related to depredation of livestock by Pyrenean brown bears ...(Ursus arctos), despite the population being among the smallest in the world. Two reintroductions were performed in the past to ensure the survival of the population, yet its conservation status remains critical due to small size, heavy inbreeding and disagreements over its management. We investigated the often-neglected spatial variations in attitude towards predator presence to improve our understanding of the human dimensions surrounding this conflict. We used a questionnaire to assess the drivers explaining the attitude of the local human population (n=577) of the Pyrenees towards bear presence. Our results show that spatial variables (place of birth and county of residence of the respondent) are strong predictors of attitude. The residents of two counties in particular (Haute-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques) displayed a positive attitude, while the residents of the Hautes-Pyrénées county had the most negative attitude. People born outside of the Pyrenees also showed a more positive inclination towards bear presence than people born and raised in France's southwestern mountain range. Both these results may imply a link between the history of local communities with predator presence and their current attitude. Accounting for small-scale spatial heterogeneity in social–ecological studies of human-wildlife conflicts will prove useful to get a more accurate mapping of attitudes and inform subsequent management decisions.
•It is the first quantitative analysis of attitudes towards bears in France.•Significant variations in attitude were observed from one county to another.•The birthplace of the respondents affected their attitude towards bears.•Small-scale spatial variables can influence attitudes towards large predators.
Abstract Large carnivores play a crucial role in their native ecosystems, but their populations are rapidly declining across the African continent. West Africa is no exception, with large protected ...areas often forming the last strongholds for these species. Little is known about the population status and ecology of large carnivores in the region, hampering the design and implementation of effective conservation strategies. We conducted a camera-trap survey during the dry season in Niokolo-Koba National Park, the largest terrestrial protected area in Senegal and the second largest in West Africa, to investigate the spatio-temporal ecology of the four large carnivores inhabiting the Park: the spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta , leopard Panthera pardus , West African lion Panthera leo leo and African wild dog Lycaon pictus . Spotted hyaenas and leopards had the widest spatial distribution and highest probability of site use. Spotted hyaena site use was positively associated with leopard relative abundance index and negatively associated with normalized difference vegetation index, whereas only distance to the nearest road influenced leopard site use. Distance to the Gambian River was the most important covariate positively affecting site use by lions. African wild dog site use was negatively associated with the relative abundance indices of lions and leopards. Lions, spotted hyaenas and leopards showed strong overlap in their activity patterns. By providing new information on the ecology of large carnivores in West Africa, including where they range and which habitats are critical for their survival, our study will facilitate conservation planning. Our findings lay the foundations for future research to conserve these threatened species in West Africa effectively and to guide ranger patrol efforts, which are key for their long-term survival.
Reference conditions are necessary to assess the conservation status of species, understand their declines, and manage their recovery. Historical documents offer large amounts of records of a wide ...variety of species, which may be used to generate reference baselines on the historical distribution range of species. We collected information on the Iberian wolf Canis lupus signatus presence or assumed absence for 6734 localities in Spain from the geographical dictionary edited by Pascual Madoz in the mid‐19th century. We used probabilistic distribution models to estimate the wolf historical range with unprecedented detail, allowing the quantification of the historical reduction in occupancy area. Wolf records were widely distributed in mid‐19th century Spain, being present in all its mainland provinces. The probability of occurrence was positively associated with landscape roughness and negatively with human population density and the landscape suitability for agriculture. The area estimated to be occupied by wolves ranged between 212 200 and 317 600 km2, depending on the approach used to set cut‐off values from the predictions. Our estimations represented an average range reduction of 68% between the mid‐19th century and present time, resulting in the current restriction of the species to the country's north‐western quadrant. The putative recent recovery of the wolf in Spain consists mainly of the accumulation of wolf records in areas where the species had persisted and the recolonization of some peripheral areas, but there is no indication of widespread recovery of the historical distribution range. We show that the compilation of historical species records allows producing baseline range scenarios with much higher resolution than usually available to inform species status and set recovery targets, an approach that can be implemented in other areas and taxa.
Over 6700 citations of wolf and other wildlife species from a 19th century Spanish geographical dictionary were used in a modelling approach to estimate the historical range of the wolf, showing that the present range is on average 68% smaller than it was around 1850.
The necropsy of an adult male leopard, Panthera pardus, shot in the Kruger National Park, revealed the presence of large numbers of Armillifer armillatus nymphs in the intestine, liver, spleen, ...mesentery, peritoneal fold, mediastinum and lungs. The animal had been observed to be blind in the right eye and severely debilitated. The infection with A. armillatus clearly contributed to its emaciation and anaemia. Armillifer armillatus is a parasite of snakes, using mammals that form part of the snakes' prey as intermediate hosts. It is also one of the pentastomids with the highest zoonotic potential in Africa. It is unclear if the leopard's partial blindness and injuries of its extremities forced it to forego larger prey items for easier prey, such as snakes, and this in turn led to exposure to this unusual parasite, or if he had simply developed a preference for snakes. The incidental finding of A. armillatus in a large carnivore emphasises the importance of necropsies in expanding our knowledge on wildlife diseases.
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•Incidental report on a severe infection with Armillifer armillatus nymphs in a leopard, Panthera pardus, from South Africa.•Infection with A. armillatus contributed to the leopard's emaciation and anaemia.•Snakes and their natural prey are definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively, of A. armillatus.•External injuries may have forced the leopard to hunt easier prey, such as snakes, and led to its exposure to A. armillatus.•This case emphasises the importance of necropsies in expanding our knowledge on wildlife diseases.
Do bears know they are being hunted? Ordiz, Andrés; Støen, Ole-Gunnar; Sæbø, Solve ...
Biological conservation,
08/2012, Volume:
152
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Behavioral effects of living under predation risk may influence the dynamics of prey species more than direct demographic effects. Human recreation, especially hunting, can also force prey to ...increase their vigilance and can influence distribution and habitat use even more than natural predators. However, behavioral effects do not play a prominent role in conservation or wildlife management. Whereas the demographic consequences of hunting are documented for large carnivores, behavioral effects of hunting on their dynamics remain unexplored. We studied the movement patterns of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Scandinavia as a model species, before and after the start of the annual bear hunting season. Bears were expected to become more active at daytime as the season progressed due to shortening daylight. However, the start of hunting disrupted this pattern. Solitary bears subject to hunting increased movements during the dark hours after hunting started, losing their nocturnal rest, probably to compensate for decreased daytime activity. Females with cubs-of-the-year, which are protected from hunting, also modified their movement pattern, but much less than hunted bears. Bears altered their movement pattern at a critical time of the year, during hyperphagia, when they must store fat reserves before hibernation, which is critical for reproduction. Behavioral effects of hunting should be a relevant issue for the conservation and management of large carnivores, especially when hunting occurs during highly sensitive periods of the year. This concern applies to many species managed under hunting regimes.
After centuries of intense persecution, several large carnivore species in Europe and North America have experienced a rebound. Today's spatial configuration of large carnivore populations has likely ...arisen from the interplay between their ecological traits and current environmental conditions, but also from their history of persecution and protection. Yet, due to the challenge of studying population‐level phenomena, we are rarely able to disentangle and quantify the influence of past and present factors driving the distribution and density of these controversial species. Using spatial capture‐recapture models and a data set of 742 genetically identified wolverines Gulo gulo collected over ½ million km2 across their entire range in Norway and Sweden, we identify landscape‐level factors explaining the current population density of wolverines in the Scandinavian Peninsula. Distance from the relict range along the Swedish–Norwegian border, where the wolverine population survived a long history of persecution, remains a key determinant of wolverine density today. However, regional differences in management and environmental conditions also played an important role in shaping spatial patterns in present‐day wolverine density. Specifically, we found evidence of slower recolonization in areas that had set lower wolverine population goals in terms of the desired number of annual reproductions. Management of transboundary large carnivore populations at biologically relevant scales may be inhibited by administrative fragmentation. Yet, as our study shows, population‐level monitoring is an achievable prerequisite for a comprehensive understanding of the distribution and density of large carnivores across an increasingly anthropogenic landscape.
African lions (
Panthera leo
) are in decline across many parts of the continent with retaliatory killing of lions for attacks on livestock being an important cause. In East Africa, projects are ...fortifying bomas to reduce large carnivore conflicts with the specific goal of preventing the indiscriminate killing of lions. A lack of evidence-based studies evaluating the impact of these efforts means their efficacy for lion conservation is not yet scientifically verifiable. We evaluated fortified bomas by comparing large carnivore attack rates at 84 unprotected bomas and 62 fortified bomas called Living Walls. The latter were 99.9 % successful in preventing nighttime carnivore attacks over 1,790 boma-months. Following Living Wall installation, there were no lion deaths at fortified bomas. Our results demonstrate the importance of predator-proof enclosures as a tool for lion conservation across the continent in areas where they inhabit human–and livestock–dominated landscapes. This study also contributes more broadly by highlighting the importance of scientifically evaluating conservation efforts.
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