Investigating the hidden costs of livestock guarding dogs: a case study in Namaqualand, South Africa

Title:

Investigating the hidden costs of livestock guarding dogs: a case study in Namaqualand, South Africa

Creator:

Drouilly, Marine, Kelly, Caitlin, Cristescu, Bogdan, Teichman, Kristine J., and O'Riain, M. Justin

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:34dcaa21-3ae6-4ab3-9be1-f42d88c9734f
uuid:34dcaa21-3ae6-4ab3-9be1-f42d88c9734f
doi:10.25225/jvb.20033

Subject:

Anatolian shepherd dog, depredation, diet, Ecoranger, GPS, cluster, and livestock predation

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

počítač and online zdroj

Description:

The use of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) has been widely advocated as a responsible tool for reducing livestock predation and conserving wildlife. However, their hidden ecological costs have rarely been investigated. We analysed scats (n = 183) from six LGDs and visited Global Positioning System (GPS) location clusters (n = 352) from nine GPS-collared LGDs to reconstruct their diet and assess impacts on wildlife and livestock in Namaqualand, South Africa. Wild mammals, including 10 native species, and small-livestock were the main secondary foods (i.e. besides dog food pellets). A total of 90% of scats and one third of GPS clusters investigated had associated animal remains. When accompanied by a human attendant, fewer LGD scats contained animal matter (39.9%; of which 32.3% wild mammals and 4.6% livestock), in contrast to scats of LGDs on their own (93.2%; 14.4% wild mammals, 75.4% livestock). Similarly, few clusters of accompanied LGDs included animal remains (5.7%; of which 43.8% wild mammals and 31.3% livestock), whereas unaccompanied dogs clustered frequently at carcasses (92.4%; 16% wild mammals, 74% livestock). While sample sizes were relatively small and some dogs might have scavenged, we emphasize the importance of rigorous training and intensive monitoring of LGDs to correct unwanted predation behaviour and to maximize their ecological and protective benefits.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

1-16

Source:

Journal of Vertebrate Biology | 2020 Volume:69 | Number:3

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false