The ecological effects of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) on target and non-target wildlife

Title:

The ecological effects of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) on target and non-target wildlife

Creator:

Smith, Bethany R., Yarnell, Richard W., Uzal, Antonio, and Whitehouse-Tedd, Katherine

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:5c583dad-bb45-4031-ac33-c10cf4bd4e42
uuid:5c583dad-bb45-4031-ac33-c10cf4bd4e42
doi:10.25225/jvb.20103

Subject:

conservation, free-ranging domestic dogs, human-wildlife coexistence, human-wildlife conflict, livestock protection dogs, and predator control

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

počítač and online zdroj

Description:

Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) are used across the world to reduce livestock depredation by free-ranging predatory wildlife. In doing so, they reduce the need for lethal predator control and are considered beneficial for conservation. However, LGDs might be perceived as predators by wildlife and induce a multitude of both positive and negative ecological effects. We conducted a literature review to evaluate the ecological effects of LGDs and found 56 publications reporting LGDs interacting with or affecting wildlife. Featuring in 77% of the publications, LGDs were widely reported to chase and kill wildlife, leading to species-specific behavioural responses. A total of 80 species were affected by LGDs, 11 of which are listed as Near Threatened or higher on the IUCN Red List. Of the affected species, 78% were non-target species, suggesting that any benefits arising from the use of LGDs likely occur simultaneously with unintended ecological effects. However, the frequency of LGD-wildlife interactions and the magnitude of any resulting ecological effects have rarely been quantified. Therefore, more empirical studies are needed to determine the net ecological outcome of LGD use, thereby ensuring that negative outcomes are minimised, while benefiting both farmers and wildlife.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

1-17

Source:

Journal of Vertebrate Biology | 2020 Volume:69 | Number:3

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false