Abstract
Big game populations have been rapidly increasing in temperate and boreal ecosystems worldwide, which has prompted the need to study the socio-ecological issues related to their management. In addition, the use of game-fencing has been spreading in certain rural areas, especially in French Sologne. These two parallel trends raise the issue of the new socio-spatial arrangements developing in rural areas. We set up an in-depth case-study combining stakeholder-interviews and ecological surveys (red deer trails, pellets and bed sites) to understand how game fences may affect both animal and human mobility, and why this may raise human conflicts. The study site was a 17.52 km² fenced landscape comprising a public forest bordered on the north and south by two privately owned fenced lots. Both the interviews and the ecological data indicated that the fences were crossable for red deer. We did not find any fencing effect on the location of red deer trails, though red deer pellet groups were significantly more frequent outside fenced lots. On the other hand, we recorded more bed sites within fenced lots, in accordance with the stakeholders’ statements that fenced lots had a high sheltering value for red deer. This implies that stakeholders have contrasting opportunities to encounter red deer because the fences deter non-owners from trespassing. Although any private owner has the legal right to fence his or her land under French law, our finding calls for more attention to how the fencing is designed, since its effects may impact the surrounding landscape. For instance, fences can allow a single owner to impose game management policies in the areas surrounding his or her estate. 
Highlights
Since the past century, rural areas in Europe have undergone critical socio-economic mutations and land use changes (van Vliet et al 2015)
To avoid confounding effects stemming from red deer site fidelity and group behavior, we summarized the bed-site recordings for each walking event with a binary variable which we set to 0 if no bed sites were observed during the walk, and to 1 if at least one bed site was observed
In the past 40 years, socio-ecological mutations in rural areas have triggered an increase in big game populations in many temperate landscapes, especially in France (Poinsot & Saldaqui 2009; ONCFS 2011; Chollet 2012)
Summary
Rural areas in Europe have undergone critical socio-economic mutations and land use changes (van Vliet et al 2015). Assessments of land-use trajectories have shown that forest expansion over previously cultivated areas is a common trend across Europe (Levers et al 2015), and in France (Mather et al 1999). This forest transition together with hunting regulations, wild predator eradication, mean annual temperature increase and low winter mortality have triggered an increase in large ungulate populations all across Europe (Burbaite & Csányi 2009; 2010; Massei et al 2015). New conflicts are arising concerning land management and the placing of wild animals within post-rural landscapes (Heley and Jones 2012; Philo & Wilbert 2000)
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