Targeting hunter distribution based on host resource selection and kill sites to manage disease risk

Cherie J Dugal,Ryan K Brook,Eric Vander Wal,Floris M Van Beest

doi:10.1002/ece3.788

Cherie J Dugal, Ryan K Brook + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.788

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Abstract

Endemic and emerging diseases are rarely uniform in their spatial distribution or prevalence among cohorts of wildlife. Spatial models that quantify risk-driven differences in resource selection and hunter mortality of animals at fine spatial scales can assist disease management by identifying high-risk areas and individuals. We used resource selection functions (RSFs) and selection ratios (SRs) to quantify sex- and age-specific resource selection patterns of collared (n = 67) and hunter-killed (n = 796) nonmigratory elk (Cervus canadensis manitobensis) during the hunting season between 2002 and 2012, in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. Distance to protected area was the most important covariate influencing resource selection and hunter-kill sites of elk (AICw = 1.00). Collared adult males (which are most likely to be infected with bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) and chronic wasting disease) rarely selected for sites outside of parks during the hunting season in contrast to adult females and juvenile males. The RSFs showed selection by adult females and juvenile males to be negatively associated with landscape-level forest cover, high road density, and water cover, whereas hunter-kill sites of these cohorts were positively associated with landscape-level forest cover and increasing distance to streams and negatively associated with high road density. Local-level forest was positively associated with collared animal locations and hunter-kill sites; however, selection was stronger for collared juvenile males and hunter-killed adult females. In instances where disease infects a metapopulation and eradication is infeasible, a principle goal of management is to limit the spread of disease among infected animals. We map high-risk areas that are regularly used by potentially infectious hosts but currently underrepresented in the distribution of kill sites. We present a novel application of widely available data to target hunter distribution based on host resource selection and kill sites as a promising tool for applying selective hunting to the management of transmissible diseases in a game species.

Highlights

Human hunting influences animal movements, resource selection, and population dynamics of wildlife (Lindsey et al 2007; Juillet et al 2012)
Most management-oriented research has traditionally focused on the evolutionary consequences of selective hunting on the population dynamics of wildlife
Our goal was to assess the risk of disease spread among wild populations, nonmigratory elk Cervus canadensis manitobensis Millais populations based on sex- and age-specific tracking data and hunter-kill sites collected in the Greater Riding Mountain Ecosystem in southwestern Manitoba, Canada

Summary

Introduction

Human hunting influences animal movements, resource selection, and population dynamics of wildlife (Lindsey et al 2007; Juillet et al 2012). Most management-oriented research has traditionally focused on the evolutionary consequences of selective hunting on the population dynamics of wildlife Resource Selection and Hunter Mortality of Elk rud et al 2013). Few studies have considered the direct and indirect implications of hunting for managing disease risk in wild populations (Wasserberg et al 2009; Wild et al 2011). Wildlife managers are faced with the challenge of limiting the spread of disease among infectious wild animals (e.g., Cross et al 2007)

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