Summary
Using their own framework, the authors examined case studies of “carnivore-livestock” management involving snow leopards, wolves, and cougars to predict the outcome of a predator-prey interaction. This framework was narrowed to three categories: environmental factors, livestock ecology, and carnivore ecology. The few ways humans currently protect their farmed animals (i.e. livestock) is through hunting, using fear (e.g., guard animals) to create behavioral changes for wildlife, building fences, and altering prey behavior. The first case study showed that snow leopards in Asia rely on farmed animals for about 27% of their diet. However, their population is dwindling as they are hunted to protect farmed animals. Such hunting can be reduced or prevented by rotational grazing, moving farmed animals indoors at night, improved shelters, and keeping farmed animals in lower-risk areas. The second case study focused on the Wood River Wolf Project (WRWP) in Idaho, USA, which aimed to reduce the hunting of sheep by wolves. By increasing human presence, building fences, employing noise makers, and using guard dogs, sheep predation by wolves decreased by 90% in the first seven years. In the third case study, Washington State, USA, attempted to reduce the farmed animals and pets killed by cougars by expanding the sport hunting of cougars. This solution worsened the situation as the cougar population became more male dominated and younger due to young male cougars being attracted to hunting areas. The authors state that management plans must consider ecological and behavioral factors and non-lethal management may be better than lethal management.
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