Volume 52, Issue 6, December 2013, Pages 1334-1340
a
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 Jiaochang Donglu,
Kunming 650223 Yunnan, China
b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
c China Exploration and Research Society (CERS), Hong Kong, Hong Kong
b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
c China Exploration and Research Society (CERS), Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Abstract
Alleviating
human-carnivore conflict is central to large carnivore conservation and
is often of economic importance, where people coexist with carnivores.
In this article, we report on the patterns of predation and economic
losses from wild carnivores preying on livestock in three villages of
northern Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve, northwest Yunnan during a 2-year
period between January 2010 and December 2011. We analyzed claims from
149 households that 258 head of livestock were predated. Wolves (Canis
lupus) were responsible for 79.1 % of livestock predation; Asiatic black
bears (Selenarctos thibetanus)
and dholes (Cuon alpinus) were the other predators responsible.
Predation frequency varied between livestock species. The majority of
livestock killed were yak-cattle hybrids or dzo (40.3 %). Wolves killed
fewer cattle than expected, and more donkeys and horses than expected.
Wolves and bears killed more
adult female and fewer adult male livestock than expected. Intensified
predation in wet season coincided with livestock being left to graze
unattended in alpine meadows far away from villages. On average,
carnivore attacks claimed 2.1 % of range stock annually. This predation
represented an economic loss of 17 % (SD = 14 %) of the annual household
income. Despite this loss and a perceived increase in carnivore
conflict, a majority of the herders (66 %) still supported the reserve.
This support is primarily due to the benefits from the collection of
nontimber resources such as mushrooms and medicinal plants.
Our study also suggested that improvement of husbandry techniques and
facilities will reduce conflicts and contribute to improved conservation
of these threatened predators. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media
New York.
Author keywords
Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve; Conflicts; Livestock; Northwest Yunnan; Predator
Indexed keywords
Conflicts; Livestock; Nature reserves; Northwest Yunnan; Predator
Engineering controlled terms: Losses; Rural areas
Engineering main heading: Agriculture
GEOBASE Subject Index: bear; canid; carnivore; cattle; conservation management; horse; livestock; predation; predator; predator-prey interaction
EMTREE medical terms: adult; animal husbandry; article; bear;
carnivore; cattle; China; community; conflict; controlled study; Cuon
alpinus; dog; donkey; grazing; horse; household; human; income;
livestock; medicinal plant;
mushroom; nonhuman; organismal interaction; predation; season;
Selenarctos thibetanus; socioeconomics; species conservation; wildlife;
wolf; animal; Bovinae; Carnivora; economics; environmental protection;
female; interview; male; physiology; predation; procedures; statistics
and numerical data
Regional Index: China; Yunnan
Species Index: Basidiomycota; Bos; Bos grunniens; Canidae; Canis lupus; Cuon alpinus; Equidae; Selenarctos thibetanus; Ursus americanus
MeSH: Animal Husbandry; Animals; Carnivora; Cattle;
China; Conservation of Natural Resources; Female; Humans; Interviews as
Topic; Livestock; Male; Predatory Behavior; Seasons; Wolves
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
