Abstract
ABSTRACTMost populations of large mammals in developed countries are managed by human hunting, but there are surprisingly few empirical studies about the benefits and limitations of using recreational hunters to achieve specific management objectives. In particular, the extensive host culling required to markedly reduce population densities to combat some wildlife diseases may conflict with the management aims of landowners and hunters. This is particularly acute in the case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids, which has now emerged in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Norway. We analyzed the relative efficacy of approximately 1,000 recreational hunters and 30 professional marksmen during the eradication of the entire CWD‐infected population of >2,000 reindeer in Norway. The government changed a series of legislation that would normally limit the efficacy of recreational hunters; these changes were linked to the duration of the hunting season, the specificity and size of the quotas, and spatial access rights. Efforts were taken to reduce both the searching time (hunters were given information on herd whereabouts) and handling time (helicopter aid for transport) of the recreational hunters. We compared 1) recreational hunting under ordinary legislation (up to 2016), 2) recreational hunting with less legislation (2017), and 3) culling by marksmen that were allowed to use both snowmobile and helicopter. Despite all of the changes in legislation, harvest by recreational hunters only increased from 241–316 during 2014–2016 to 582 reindeer in 2017 and was below management targets, while marksmen culled 1,399 reindeer, with a daily average and maximum offtake well above that of the hunters. The hunters shot more animals in the early season and during weekends. Offtake by both the hunters and marksmen were equally negatively affected by fog, which reduced visibility. We discuss the relative merits of using hunters and marksmen for wildlife control in general and limits to how legislation can increase offtake. We highlight the need for more research into how the use of marksmen comes with a cost in terms of social conflict. © 2019 The Authors. Wildlife Society Bulletin published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.
Highlights
The ability of ordinary recreational hunters to control ungulate populations is of increasing concern, when facing severe wildlife disease epidemics (Holsman et al 2010)
The most urgent cases are African swine fever spreading among wild boar in Europe (European Food Safety Authority Panel on Animal Health and Welfare et al 2018), and the outbreak of CWD in cervids that poses a great challenge for wildlife management in Europe (Mysterud and Edmunds 2019), as it does in the United States and Canada
Chronic wasting disease was only recently discovered in Europe (Benestad et al 2016); hunters in Europe have little knowledge and understanding about CWD and the necessity of taking such drastic actions
Summary
There are currently declining numbers of hunters in both Europe and North America (Riley et al 2003, Heberlein 2007, Winkler and Warnke 2013) This is already regarded as a severe limitation for the ability of hunters to control wild boar populations in Europe (Massei et al 2015) and white‐tailed deer populations in the United States (Brown et al 2000). Host culling is currently the best supporting management tactic to combat CWD (Manjerovic et al 2014); the Norwegian government decided to eradicate the whole reindeer population (>2,000 individuals) via a legal regulation (Department of Agriculture and Food 2017). We further quantify how much low visibility due to fog limited offtake
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