Revisiting Hunter Perceptions toward Chronic Wasting Disease: Changes in Behavior over Time.

Angela M Holland,T Brian Eyler,Mark D Duda,Jacob L Bowman,Jacob M Haus

doi:10.3390/ani10020187

Abstract

Simple SummaryHunters play a vital role in the management of wildlife diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease, but their harvest rates may change based on their perception of disease risk. Our objective was to estimate how hunter harvest may change over time based on perception of disease and proximity to disease location. We found that hunters harvested fewer deer in the 4 years following disease discovery but that in the next 4-year period harvest rates increased to be similar to those from before the discovery of the disease. This indicates that changes in behavior due to disease presence may diminish over time. Understanding how hunters’ change their behavior in relation to disease presence will aid wildlife managers in creating plans to manage wildlife populations and diseases.Hunter behavior varies in relation to perceived risk of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and changes in perceptions of CWD will lead to changes in behavior over time. During 2018, we surveyed deer (Odocoileus virginianus or Cervus nippon) hunters from Maryland, USA, regarding behavioral changes due to CWD. We matched 477 respondents to their harvest record and created two geographical groups based on harvest history in counties closest to disease presence. We compared the proportion of hunters who claimed to have changed their behavior in each group and estimated the effects of CWD on harvest rate for the 4 years immediately after the discovery of CWD and the following 4-year period. We found no difference between the groups in the proportion of hunters who changed their behavior due to CWD. We found a significant decline in harvest rate for hunters who claimed to change their behavior in the group closest to CWD presence during the period immediately after the discovery of CWD; however, these same hunters increased their harvest rates in the next time period to pre-CWD levels. Overall, we found that time alleviates some perceived risk of CWD and that this is reflected in hunting behavior.

Highlights

The fatal neurological disease, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), is known to affect deer (Odocoileus spp.), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni), moose (Alces alces), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)Animals 2020, 10, 187; doi:10.3390/ani10020187 www.mdpi.com/journal/animalsAnimals 2020, 10, 187 and may affect other cervids [1,2,3,4,5]
We investigated how harvest rates changed over time for negative and non-negative attitudes by comparing average annual harvest rate before, immediately after, and 4-years post CWD discovery
Similar to Haus et al [10], we found that negative hunters, hunting in the CWD discovery area, had a significant decrease in harvest rates after the discovery of CWD

Summary

Introduction

Animals 2020, 10, 187 and may affect other cervids [1,2,3,4,5]. The spread and management of this or any disease which affects game species is a primary concern for state biologists and stakeholders [6]. CWD is spread through contact with contaminated material; transmission rates are likely greater in areas with higher cervid densities and access to artificial bait [4,6]. To manage spread of CWD, legislation enacted may be directly related to harvest regulations (e.g., increased harvest limits), bans on artificial feeding, or carcass translocation [6,7]. When using increased harvest limits to decrease population sizes, success is dependent on hunter participation which in turn is dependent on hunter perceptions of CWD and CWD management [9,10]

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