Can an old dog learn a new trick? Efficacy of livestock guardian dogs at keeping an apex predator away from people

Abstract

Historic practices to reduce dangerous interactions between people, livestock, and large carnivores are returning alongside the recovery of some large carnivore populations. Emerging novel scenarios where people and carnivores interact make it important to identify nonlethal tools to reduce risk to people and facilitate coexistence. We tested an ancient practice in a novel way by placing livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) at farmsteads (i.e., areas with a family home and grain bins) with chronic interactions with grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). Grizzly bears are attracted to spilled grains around storage bins, causing concern over human safety near homes. Although we were only able to place five LGDs at four farmsteads, we found several lines of evidence supporting the use of LGDs to deter bears and protect people. There were 58-fold fewer camera-trap detections of bears visiting farmsteads with LGDs and an increase in behaviors suggesting bear discomfort compared to paired neighbor farmsteads that did not receive an LGD (i.e., control sites). After LGDs were deployed, there was an 87.8 % reduction in GPS-collar locations of bears within 300 m of farmsteads relative to before. Farmers had a positive experience using LGDs and would recommend them to others. Our results suggest LGDs could serve to protect specific locations and offer a new use of an old tool, but we recommend further research to broaden the scope of inference because of the small sample size of this study.