Hunting Pressure Research Articles

Population Genetic Structure of the Wolf (Canis lupus L.) in Eastern Fennoscandia under Conditions of Intensive Hunting Pressure Based on mtDNA Analysis

Population Genetic Structure of the Wolf (Canis lupus L.) in Eastern Fennoscandia under Conditions of Intensive Hunting Pressure Based on mtDNA Analysis

Evaluation of multiple behavioral responses of sika deer to human hunting pressures

AbstractSeveral ungulate populations have become overabundant worldwide, resulting in ecological and social effects. Wildlife managers must establish effective population control programs to mitigate these negative influences. Hunting is a significant mortality factor for ungulates, which exhibit sensitive behavioral responses toward hunting activities. Wildlife managers need a comprehensive understanding of the ungulate responses to different hunting pressures across seasons. We developed a conceptual method to evaluate multiple behavioral responses to human hunting pressures and applied this to sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Hokkaido, Japan, during August and November in 2015. We measured flight behavior, spatial avoidance, and temporal activity shift during non‐hunting and hunting seasons in 4 regions with different hunting pressures. Although we did not observe a clear difference in flight initiation distance among study areas or seasons, sika deer showed significant spatial avoidance during the hunting season in areas with high hunting pressure. Furthermore, sika deer were more active at night in areas with higher hunting pressures, regardless of the season. Collectively, these results suggest that sika deer responded to hunting pressure by changing diel activity to nocturnal throughout the year and avoiding risky areas (i.e., around hunting roads) during hunting season, rather than by increasing flight distance when they encounter humans. Our method can be used for a more efficient population control program for wildlife managers, as it considers the spatiotemporal variations of flexible ungulate behaviors in response to hunting pressures.

Genetic Monitoring of Grey Wolves in Latvia Shows Adverse Reproductive and Social Consequences of Hunting.

Nowadays, genetic research methods play an important role in animal population studies. Since 2009, genetic material from Latvian wolf specimens obtained through hunting has been systematically gathered. This study, spanning until 2021, scrutinizes the consequences of regulated wolf hunting on population genetic metrics, kinship dynamics, and social organization. We employed 16 autosomal microsatellites to investigate relationships between full siblings and parent-offspring pairs. Our analysis encompassed expected and observed heterozygosity, inbreeding coefficients, allelic diversity, genetic distance and differentiation, mean pairwise relatedness, and the number of migrants per generation. The Latvian wolf population demonstrated robust genetic diversity with minimal inbreeding, maintaining stable allelic diversity and high heterozygosity over time and it is not fragmented. Our findings reveal the persistence of conventional wolf pack structures and enduring kinship groups. However, the study also underscores the adverse effects of intensified hunting pressure, leading to breeder loss, pack disruption, territorial displacement, and the premature dispersal of juvenile wolves.

Additional data confirms the impact of the COVID19 lockdown on the behavior and fattening of migratory snow geese

The COVID19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to study the impact of human activities and conservation measures on wildlife. However, most lockdown studies were opportunistic and based on limited data, because this ‘natural experiment’ was unexpected and short-lasting. Replication of scientific results is the cornerstone of the scientific method and ensures that conclusions from such short-term studies are robust. Here, we test predictions arising from a previous study where we showed the impact of the lockdown-induced reduction in hunting disturbance on the body condition and behavior of greater snow geese (Anser caerulescens a.), a species whose management is crucial for the conservation of northern ecosystems. The analysis of two additional years of data confirmed our predictions. The return to a high hunting pressure in springs 2021–2022 (post-lockdown) reduced overall goose body condition compared to the lockdown year. Goose fattening in post-lockdown springs was very similar to pre-lockdown years, differing from 2020 when a high body condition was reached earlier in spring than in any other year. Radio-tracked birds spent more time in profitable but risky agricultural lands in 2021 compared to 2020, as was the case in the pre-lockdown year. Our study provides robust evidence confirming the impacts of spring hunting on greater snow goose physiology. It demonstrates the long-lasting efficiency of the spring conservation hunt established two decades ago to limit the size of the population with the aim of preserving Arctic ecosystems from overgrazing and associated negative impacts on other arctic-nesting birds.

Blind shots: non‐natural mortality counteracts conservation efforts of a threatened waterbird

AbstractWaterbirds are particularly affected by the high hunting pressure they face in many regions, which in some cases is compromising conservation actions for threatened species. The marbled teal Marmaronetta angustirostris is one of the most endangered waterbirds in Europe. In order to restore its population, several conservation actions have recently been undertaken, including a population reinforcement programme in Spain using captive‐bred birds. With the aim of assessing the success of the reinforcement programme to establish a long‐term self‐sustaining population, we identified mortality causes of marbled teal, evaluated the survival of individual birds of the reinforcement programme and estimated the viability of the population under different management scenarios. We used data from wild and captive‐bred individuals tracked by GPS since 2018 (n = 42) and from a mark–recapture programme initiated in 2015 (n = 297). We recovered 15 dead birds or transmitters: 20% died of natural causes, 60% of non‐natural causes (including all anthropic causes) and 20% of unknown causes. Furthermore, the GPS tags of 24 birds unexpectedly stopped transmitting without any indication of malfunction, and for 66.7% of these disappeared birds, the cessation was suspected to be caused by illegal shooting. Survival during the hunting season was higher for males (31.3%) than for females (12.5%), and for the wild (50%) than for the captive‐bred birds (9.4%), probably due to differences in migration patterns to North Africa. Population viability models revealed that maintaining the breeding population at the current mortality rates is only possible with a permanent release programme of captive‐bred individuals, and that in order to establish a self‐sustaining population, non‐natural mortality would have to be reduced by at least 40%. We recommend management measures to reduce marbled teal mortality, such as limiting legal hunting to hours with clear visibility, prosecuting illegal shootings, controlling exotic predators and improving water management to reduce disease outbreaks. Some improvements can be implemented in captive‐breeding programmes, such as earlier release times and incorporating anti‐predator training.

Eastern Fennoscandian Wolf (<i>Canis lupus</i> L.) under the Heavy Hunting Pressure: mtDNA Analysis as a Tool to Assess Hunting Impact on the Population-Genetic Structure

One of the most ancient aspects of human impact on the wild animals is hunting. The degree of human impact on one of the Eastern Fennoscandian wolf (Canis lupus L.) population based on the analysis of data on the population dynamics of the predator and its preys, “hunting bag” data, changes in the spatial-temporal structure and genetic characteristics, is shown. In the presented work, a genetic analysis of the control region mtDNA of the wolf of the Republic of Karelia (Russia) and the experimental territory (Kondopozhsky district of Karelia) was performed on a time slice of 10 years. The modern mtDNA haplotypic diversity of Russian Karelian and Finnish wolf population, in comparison with the general diversity characteristic for the species, is poor. In total, only two haplotypes common in Eurasia have been identified here, which is obviously explained by the history of the species – the stages of severe population decline.

Passive acoustic monitoring using smartphones reveals an alarming gibbon decline in a protected area in the central Annamite Mountains, Vietnam.

Monitoring populations is critical for understanding how they respond to anthropogenic disturbance and for management of protected areas. The use of passive acoustic monitoring can improve monitoring efforts as it allows for collection of data on vocal animals at spatial and temporal scales that are difficult using only human observers. In this study, we used a multiseason occupancy model to monitor occurrence, apparent extinction, and colonization probabilities of a northern yellow-cheeked gibbon, Nomascus annamensis population with acoustic data collected from mobile smartphones in Dakrong Nature Reserve, Vietnam. Forty-five sites were randomly selected for repeated surveys in 2019 and 2022. At each site, a mobile smartphone was attached to a tree and recorded sounds for 4.2 days and 3.89 days on average, in 2019 and 2022, respectively. We manually annotated spectrograms for the presence of gibbon calls, and we detected gibbons at 24 and 12 recording posts in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Estimated local apparent extinction from occupancy models was high with 67% of occupied sites in 2019 becoming unoccupied in 2022. Apparent colonization was low with ~25% of unoccupied sites in 2019 becoming occupied in 2022. As a result, the apparent occurrence probability declined from 0.58 in 2019 to 0.30 in 2022. If the absence of calls indicates that cells are unoccupied this would mean an alarming decline of the gibbon population in the nature reserve. We suggest that in the areas with high hunting pressure, monitoring intervals should be shortened to at least yearly. In addition, urgent actions, such as patrolling, or gun confiscation, should be implemented to conserve the gibbon populations in Dakrong Nature Reserve and other protected areas with the same management context.

Mapping to explore the challenges and opportunities for reconciling artisanal gem mining and biodiversity conservation

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) provides a vitally important livelihood for millions of people in many low- and middle-income countries. ASM can result in habitat clearance, increased hunting pressure, pollution, and sedimentation of waterways. Consequently, where mineral and biological wealth coincide, there are trade-offs. Here, we combine geological data with four datasets capturing conservation priorities, to evaluate where, and to what extent, mining may impact biodiversity, and to explore opportunities for both to co-exist. We use Madagascar as a case study: a biodiversity hotspot rich in economically important minerals where artisanal gem mining has conflicted with biodiversity conservation. We identify areas of Madagascar most likely to host primary deposits of gems and find that 11%–14% of the most important area for biodiversity on the island could host primary gem deposits. However, we also identify 7 million hectares (80%) of potentially prospective land which is outside of these areas. Establishing decentralised, community-managed zones for licensed ASM in such areas could help to incentivise formalisation and minimise social and environmental trade-offs. Our mapping approach could be applied in other countries to encourage the establishment of designated zones for ASM in places where mining does not conflict with conservation.

Prevalence of imbedded and ingested shot gun pellets in breeding sea ducks in the Baltic Sea—possible implications for future conservation efforts

Several sea duck species in Europe face dwindling population numbers with following increased conservation focus. Shot gun practices may put extra pressure on populations not only by direct hunting mortality but also crippling and lead poisoning from ingestion of pellets. In this study, we examined three sea duck species breeding in the Swedish Archipelago of the Baltic Sea by x-raying trapped incubating females to detect prevalence of imbedded and ingested shot gun pellets. The study was carried out during the 2021 and 2022 breeding seasons and designed to aid our understanding of the role of physical restraints of putative pellets to breeding performance at our study site. A total of 205 individual females of common eider (n = 113), velvet scoter (n = 57), and red-breasted merganser (n = 35) were x-rayed without finding any imbedded or ingested pellets. For this study, a combination of decreasing hunting pressure, remoteness of study site, improved hunters’ shooting performance along the flyway and depletion of crippling rates due to life-long negative effects of carrying imbedded pellets may explain our finding on non-detection. For common eider, specific interventions to reduce the negative impacts of shotgun practices have been reported successful, and our data suggest a continuing positive trend. Based on our findings, we advise future conservation efforts for the three species, breeding in this part of the flyway, to focus on other factors that may have negative impact on incubating female survival and reproduction.

Вовк (Canis lupus) у степовій зоні України на зламі ХХ–ХХІ ст. та динаміка його чисельності

The article presents data on the extirpation of the wolf in southern Ukraine in the 18th to the 20th century, which was financially supported by landowners and the state. This contributed to keeping the wolf population at a low level and then led to a reduction in its range. In the 1970s, in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, wolves permanently lived only in Moldova; in the north of Odesa Oblast; in the Pavlohrad district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast; in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts, as well as in the north of Poltava Oblast. From here, they spread to neighbouring territories, where they were quickly extirpated. The level of wolf decline was so significant, that in 1970 only 18 wolves were recorded in the steppe zone, and 270 in the whole of Ukraine. This contributed to the dispersal of the roe deer, wild boar, and elk to the south. After the reduction in the size of wolf hunting premiums, hunting pressure on wolves also decreased. Since there is a significant positive correlation between wolf population and hunting pressure (r = 0.93), the wolf's range and population began to grow rapidly. While in 1970 it was found in 14 regions, in 1976 it was already recorded in 18, and in 1981 in 21; in 2000, the wolf occurred in all regions of mainland Ukraine, and in 2003 it entered the Crimea. The process of restoring the wolf's range was accompanied by the emergence of wolf–dog hybrids, some of which are still occurring. Despite the harvest of 616.8 ± 102.68 wolves per year in 1970–1981, the wolf population increased by 6.5 times in Ukraine, and by more than 10 times in the steppe zone. A significant increase in its numbers was facilitated by a decrease in hunting pressure due to the adoption of the USSR Law ‘On the Protection and Use of Wildlife’ in 1980, which prohibited the use of inhumane methods in hunting on wild animals. In 1982–1992, the volume of wolf culling in Ukraine reached 71.1% (45.3–81.5), and in 1993–1999 was equal to 43.1% (34.9–49.3) per year. Naturally, due to the decrease in wolf hunting, there was a sharp increase in the wolf population, which in the steppe zone increased by 1.51 times from 2000 to 2010, and in our country in general by 1.03 times. The process of intensive growth of its population stabilised only at the beginning of the 21st century, when the annual take increased from 34.9% (2000) to 84.0% (2009).

Drivers and sustainability of bird hunting in Madagascar

AbstractBird conservation depends on robust data on the densities of and threats to each species, and an understanding of the choices and incentives of bird hunters. This first comprehensive study of bird hunting and its effects in Madagascar uses 8 years of data on 87 bird species to determine bird densities and hunting pressure, incentives, choices, methods, spatial variation, and sustainability on the Masoala Peninsula of Madagascar. We find that bird hunting is common, affecting human wellbeing and, for some species, long‐term population viability. Hunters caught more abundant species of lower trophic levels and consumers preferred the flavor of abundant granivores and nectarivores, while they disliked carnivores, scavengers, and species with common cultural proscriptions. Wealth increased species selectivity among consumers, whereas food insecurity increased hunting pressure overall. Projected and documented declines in at least three species are concerning, qualifying at least two for increased IUCN threatened species categories. We provide novel, data‐driven assessments of hunting's threat to Madagascar's birds, identify key species of concern, and suggest both species‐ and consumer‐specific conservation actions.

Predicting the consequences of subsistence poaching on the population persistence of a non-target species of conservation concern

Illegal animal hunting, a contributor to biodiversity loss, occurs along a relative selectivity spectrum from indiscriminate to highly selective. Extensive research has evaluated the impacts of selective hunting on animal populations. In contrast, the ways in which indiscriminate hunting pressure can shape populations of non-target species has not yet received comparable attention. We used empirical field data collection and simulation modelling to predict the persistence of an African lion population (Panthera leo) subject to indiscriminate hunting pressure from non-target subsistence poaching via wire snares in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. Our simulation modelling predicted lion population extirpation following a 50 % rise of lethal poaching pressure above the observed levels. When lethal poaching pressure doubled, the lion population was extirpated in ~70 % of our simulations. We then simulated reductions in lethal poaching pressure to quantify the predicted population recovery of lions. We found that the lion population increased by 40 % with reductions in lethal poaching pressure of 50 %. When we removed lethal poaching pressure entirely, the lion population nearly doubled in just 18 years. Our results demonstrate that by reducing the density of wire snares in the study area by just 2.79/km2, the lion population transitioned from being locally extirpated in 67 % of the simulations to reaching carrying capacity inside of two lion generations. We explore how vulnerable even non-target animals are to subsistence poaching and describe the types of applied practices that can be implemented to reduce wire snaring and effectively promote the population recovery of species of conservation concern.

Partitioning the effects of habitat loss, hunting and climate change on the endangered Chacoan peccary

AbstractAimLand‐use change and overexploitation are major threats to biodiversity, and climate change will exert additional pressure in the 21st century. Although there are strong interactions between these threats, our understanding of the synergistic and compensatory effects on threatened species' range geography remains limited. Our aim was to disentangle the impact of habitat loss, hunting and climate change on species, using the example of the endangered Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri).LocationGran Chaco ecoregion in South America.MethodsUsing a large occurrence database, we integrated a time‐calibrated species distribution model with a hunting pressure model to reconstruct changes in the distribution of suitable peccary habitat between 1985 and 2015. We then used partitioning analysis to attribute the relative contribution of habitat change to land‐use conversion, climate change and varying hunting pressure.ResultsOur results reveal widespread habitat deterioration, with only 11% of the habitat found in 2015 considered suitable and safe. Hunting pressure was the strongest single threat, yet most habitat deterioration (58%) was due to the combined, rather than individual, effects of the three drivers we assessed. Climate change would have led to a compensatory effect, increasing suitable habitat area, yet this effect was negated by the strongly negative and interacting threats of land‐use change and hunting.Main ConclusionsOur study reveals the central role of overexploitation, which is often neglected in biogeographic assessments, and suggests that addressing overexploitation has huge potential for increasing species' adaptive capacity in the face of climate and land‐use change. More generally, we highlight the importance of jointly assessing extinction drivers to understand how species might fare in the 21st century. Here, we provide a simple and transferable framework to determine the separate and joint effects of three main drivers of biodiversity loss.

Vigilance of Plains Bison (Bison Bison Bison) does not vary with Human Hunting Pressure: The Influence of Constitutive Defenses

Vigilance of Plains Bison (Bison Bison Bison) does not vary with Human Hunting Pressure: The Influence of Constitutive Defenses

Why Mammals do Not Damage Entire Farmlands Like Insect Pests Do? A Review from a Behavioral Perspective

Crop damage caused by mammals is not uniformly distributed and is more localized near the forest; this damage distribution differs from that of insect pests. Species that cause damage are often forest inhabitants and hence the damage sites are also biased toward the forest edge. However, these species do not necessarily use forests as their home ranges for cover or shelter, but may be entirely urban (e.g., urban bears). Forest vegetation cannot be considered essential for these species, as this contradicts the behavior of animals that use urbanized areas only. Our review illustrates why crop damage is uneven, localized at forest edges, and less likely to occur on farmlands away from forests in terms of population density, food availability, personality, habituation, and human behavior. This review reveals the role and risk perception of human disturbances. If risk of farmland is perceived to be greater than the true risk, mammals prefer farmlands near forests with low degrees of human disturbances (perceptual trap). The current damage distribution is a result of this perceptual trap because hunting pressures are not always higher in farmlands than in forests.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Game Harvests in Sweden

The benefits and costs of wildlife are contingent on the spatial overlap of animal populations with economic and recreational human activities. By using a production function approach with dynamic spatial panel data models, we analyze the effects of human hunting and carnivore predation pressure on the value of ungulate game harvests. The results show evidence of dynamic spatial dependence in the harvests of roe deer and wild boar, but not in those of moose, which is likely explained by the presence of harvesting quotas for the latter. Results suggest the impact of lynx on roe deer harvesting values is reduced by 75% when spatial effects are taken into account. The spatial analysis confirms that policymakers’ aim to reduce wild boar populations through increased hunting has been successful, an effect that was only visible when considering spatial effects.

Are they both the same shit? Winter faeces of roe and red deer show no difference in nutritional components

<br /> <br>Herbivorous ungulate diets affect population performance and overall forest health through balanced interactions on plant-herbivore relations; therefore, understanding them is critical. Faeces are frequently used in ungulate nutritional ecology because they can provide information about animals’ digestive efficiency. Roe deer (<i>Capreolus capreolus</i>) and red deer (C<i>ervus elaphus</i>) have different morpho-physiological and ecological constraints, and these differences should be reflected in their faeces. On the other hand, the lack of information about the animal (sex, age, reproductive status, diet selection, etc.) may be challenging for such studies. This study aimed to detect species’ different susceptibility to these factors reflected in animals’ faeces. Thus, we hypothesised that near-infrared reflectance spectrometry (NIRS) could distinguish between the faecal nutrients of two cervids. We collected 94 usable faeces from both species along the forest transect in Bohemian forests in the Czech Republic, covering 2 500 ha. Roe and red deer overlap was determined using the four faecal nutritional components on two axes. No discrimination occurred, refuting our hypothesis and highlighting that out-of-control variables are critical for faecal studies in uncontrolled settings. Fibrous parts explained the most variance (48%), indicating animals’ strong reliance on nutrition quality. Apparently, uncontrolled supplementary feeding produced similar faecal nutrient outcomes during the nutrition-limiting winter, which was theoretically supported by the animal’s response to predation and hunting pressure. The inability of NIRS to identify the source of N in faeces may also explain the lack of discrimination.

Hunter territoriality creates refuges for threatened primates

SummaryUnsustainable hunting threatens biodiversity in the tropics through the removal of key seed-dispersing frugivorous primates. Traditionally, hunting in the Amazon Basin was managed through hunter territoriality, with the threat of social sanctions for overexploitation. We examined hunter territoriality and differential prey selection as alternative hypotheses to central-place foraging. Territoriality occurred beyond common hunting grounds, which were on major rivers and immediately surrounding the community. Hunters displayed selectivity in prey choice, with 50% of hunters not hunting primates. The combination of hunter territoriality and differential prey selection means that over 22% of the hunted area of the Sucusari river basin could be considered primate refuge. Of the remaining hunted area, 16% was hunted relatively little by primate hunters. We suggest that the combination of territoriality and selection against primates creates refuges, mitigating the effects of sustained hunting pressure and contributing to the conservation of these species.

Resilience of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to human hunting in precolonial New England: The faunal remains from the Morgan Site (6HT120), Rocky Hill, Connecticut

Resilience – the ability of a system to withstand and recover from perturbation – has become an important concept for archaeologists and investigating resilient natural resource use and management has important implications for understanding sustainability. In precolonial eastern North America, it has been argued that white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were resilient to overhunting by humans, but this hypothesis has been only minimally tested. Here, I analyze a zooarchaeological assemblage from the Morgan Site in central Connecticut, dating to the 11th-14th centuries AD, to evaluate whether deer populations at this time experienced any perceptible hunting pressure. These data suggest that deer at the Morgan Site were not being overhunted. Fragmentation of deer skeletal elements for grease and marrow is consistent with intensive exploitation, but the strong dietary dependence on a highly preferred species like deer, evidence for hunting deer in proximity to the site, and minimal juvenile mortality all indicate that deer were not overexploited. Additionally, most of these deer were especially large-bodied. Given the evidence for a lack of hunting pressure, the large body size of deer observed here may have resulted from anthropogenic ecosystem engineering facilitating deer population growth and contributing to the apparent resilience of the species to predation.

Reduced breeding densities associated with spatially concentrated harvest of willow ptarmigan in Alaska

AbstractUnderstanding the effects of harvest on wildlife populations is fundamental to theoretical wildlife science and applied wildlife management. Demographic compensation plays a key role in models of wildlife population dynamics and in developing harvest strategies. The degree and form of compensation in a given population depend on its particular ecological and life‐history characteristics and the timing and magnitude of harvest. Consequently, substantial variation exists in compensatory potential among populations, and it cannot be assumed that a particular population is capable of compensating for harvest. This underscores the importance of population‐specific assessments of responses to harvest. We examined the hypothesis that concentrated hunting pressure in road‐accessible areas reduces subsequent breeding season densities of willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), in Alaska, USA, 2014–2015. We estimated breeding season densities of ptarmigan territories at sites within hunted access corridors and at remote sites with little or no hunting pressure. Estimated densities were substantially higher at remote sites (5.3–5.8 territories/km2) than at accessible sites (1.8–3.7 territories/km2). Two habitat‐proxy covariates, distance to water and elevation (modeled as smoothed effects), exhibited strong associations with the density of ptarmigan territories. These results suggest a possible additive effect of spatially concentrated harvest on local breeding densities.