Interactions between livestock guarding dogs and wildlife in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania

Tools

Smith, B.R. ORCID: 0000-0002-7435-9265, 2023. Interactions between livestock guarding dogs and wildlife in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

Preview

Text
Bethany Smith 2023.pdf - Published version
Download (18MB) | Preview

Abstract

Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) are often suggested as a tool to help facilitate human-wildlife coexistence because they are considered effective at preventing livestock losses and reducing persecution of large carnivores. As LGDs have been observed chasing and killing wildlife, they could be perceived as predators or competitors in the environment, yet little is known about how the use of LGDs affects co-occurring wildlife. This research aimed to understand the ecological effects of using LGDs by 1) determining the wildlife species chased, killed, and/or consumed by LGDs, 2) quantifying LGD roaming behaviours by breed, sex, age, and reproductive status, and 3) quantifying spatial and temporal responses of wildlife to LGD presence.

A detailed overview of the potential and currently reported ecological effects of using LGDs was gathered via a literature review. Then, in 2021, LGD-wildlife interactions were investigated in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. Thirteen sites were visited where shepherds were interviewed, 129 scats collected, and a total of twelve sheep and 40 LGDs GPS-tracked for an average of three weeks. Camera traps were deployed across 315 km2 covering both pasture and forest. Wildlife remains in the scats were identified via traditional methods including microscopic hair analysis. Roaming behaviours were investigated from the GPS data by calculating pairwise distances between each sheep and LGD and the overlap in their daily home ranges, which were estimated using the Local Convex Hull (LoCoH) method. Habitat use by grey wolves, brown bears, red foxes, red deer, and wild boars was investigated from the camera trap data via detection rates, single- and two-species occupancy models, and activity patterns estimated by a nonparametric kernel density approach.

There were 56 records in the literature widely reporting, mostly anecdotally, LGDs interacting with wildlife. Similarly, all thirteen shepherds reported that their LGDs chased wildlife and seven reported that their LGDs had injured or killed wildlife. However, there were low occurrences of wildlife in LGD scats with only 9% containing wild vertebrate remains (mostly wild boar in scats collected at one site on one day). Some roaming occurred with LGDs being found up to 4 km away from sheep, but LGDs predominantly remained in close proximity to livestock. On average, LGDs were within 200 m of the sheep during the day and within 100 m at night whilst sheep were enclosed in the sheepfold. Differences in distances between LGDs and sheep, and overlap in daily home ranges, were not predicted by LGD breed, sex, age, or reproductive status. Only red deer showed potential spatial and temporal avoidance of LGDs with lower detection rates, lower occupancy, and a reduction in daytime activity in areas of more frequent LGD use. Grey wolves were potentially attracted to areas used by LGDs. However, it was not possible to disentangle the effects of LGDs alone and the effects of LGDs, sheep, and shepherds combined.

This is the first large-scale study assessing multiple elements of LGD behaviours and wildlife responses. Overall, there was little empirical evidence to suggest that LGDs have substantial detrimental effects on co-occurring wildlife in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains. These results help to establish that LGDs, both purebreds and mixed-breeds, are a suitable candidate tool for reducing the need for lethal control of wild predators and possibly helping to facilitate human-wildlife coexistence.

Item Type:

Thesis

Creators:

Smith, B.R.

Contributors:

Name	Role	NTU ID	ORCID
Uzal, A.	Thesis supervisor	EVT3UZALA	orcid.org/0000-0001-6478-1895
Whitehouse-Tedd, K.	Thesis supervisor	AEQ3WHITEK	orcid.org/0000-0003-0061-489X
Yarnell, R.	Thesis supervisor	ARE3YARNER	orcid.org/0000-0001-6584-7374

Date:

August 2023

Rights:

The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.

Divisions:

Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences

Record created by:

Melissa Cornwell

Date Added:

21 May 2024 13:07

Last Modified:

21 May 2024 13:07

URI:

https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51456