Direct interactions between livestock guarding dogs and wildlife in a transhumance grazing system

Smith, BR, Whitehouse‐Tedd, K, Yarnell, RW ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6584-7374, Marginean, M, Popa, R, Morley, A, Trewby, I and Uzal, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6478-1895, 2025. Direct interactions between livestock guarding dogs and wildlife in a transhumance grazing system. Conservation Science and Practice: e70120. ISSN 2578-4854

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Abstract

Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) are suggested to help facilitate human–wildlife coexistence because they are considered effective at preventing livestock losses and reducing persecution of predators. However, LGDs have been observed harassing and killing wildlife, yet their interactions with wildlife are seldom purposefully investigated. This study documents LGD–wildlife interactions in the southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, where on average five to eight LGDs are used as part of a transhumance grazing system to protect sheep from bears and wolves. Thirteen shepherds were interviewed about their LGDs' behaviors and wildlife remains were identified in their LGDs' scats. All shepherds reported that their LGDs chased predators as well as other non-target wildlife. Seven reported wildlife had been injured or killed by their LGDs but these instances were said to be rare. Wildlife were found in 28% of the LGD scats but mostly consisted of insects with only 9% of scats containing vertebrate wildlife remains. The occurrence of LGD–wildlife interactions was not affected by the number of LGDs used together but did align with whether or not shepherds encouraged LGDs to chase non-target wildlife. These findings lend support to existing evidence that LGDs can be used as a conservation tool without substantial negative effects on wildlife when managed appropriately.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Conservation Science and Practice
Creators:	Smith, B.R., Whitehouse‐Tedd, K., Yarnell, R.W., Marginean, M., Popa, R., Morley, A., Trewby, I. and Uzal, A.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	18 August 2025
ISSN:	2578-4854
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1111/csp2.70120 DOI 2487729 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Conservation Science and Practice published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	22 Aug 2025 16:20
Last Modified:	22 Aug 2025 16:20
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54248

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