With a shrinking supply of wilderness and growing recognition that top predators can have a profound influence on ecosystems, the persistence of large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes has emerged as one of the greatest conservation challenges of our time Carnivores fascinate society, yet these animals pose threats to people living near them, resulting in high rates of carnivore death near human settlements We used 41 y of demographic data for more than 2,500 brown bears-one of the world's most widely distributed and conflict-prone carnivores-to understand the behavioral and demographic mechanisms promoting carnivore coexistence in human-dominated landscapes Bear mortality was high and unsustainable near people, but a human-induced shift to nocturnality facilitated lower risks of bear mortality and rates of conflict with people Despite these behavioral shifts, projected population growth rates for bears in human-dominated areas revealed a source-sink dynamic Despite some female bears successfully reproducing in the sink areas, bear persistence was reliant on a supply of immigrants from areas with minimal human influence (ie, wilderness) Such mechanisms of coexistence reveal a striking paradox: Connectivity to wilderness areas supplies bears that likely will die from people, but these bears are essential to avert local extirpation These insights suggest carnivores contribute to human-carnivore coexistence through behavioral and demographic mechanisms, and that connected wilderness is critical to sustain coexistence landscapes

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/117/30/17876.full.pdf

The ecology of human–carnivore coexistence

Human–wildlife conflict is a pressing issue, and the majority of mitigation measures focus upon reducing wildlife damage. However, conflict situations are often about issues that go far beyond wildlife damage, such as conflicts between different groups of stakeholders; myths, perceptions and knowledge about certain species; economic and political factors; and religious and cultural beliefs. Furthermore, conflict may have a ‘contagious’ element, where views towards one species affect others as well, while events such as man-eating have a particularly devastating impact. Here, we discuss how those complex factors can shape peoples’ attitudes towards wildlife, and highlight the need for conservationists to consider a broad, interdisciplinary approach for effective conflict mitigation with the ultimate aim of coexistence.

Money, Myths and Man-Eaters: Complexities of Human–Wildlife Conflict

No single solution: application of behavioural principles in mitigating human–wildlife conflict

Attacks on humans by wildlife are a leading cause of ‘human–wildlife conflict’ and are on the rise due to increasing human populations and competition over space and resources. Thus far, little attention has focused on attacks by wild great apes on humans compared to other large mammals. This chapter reviews the complexities of human–great ape interactions, and examines the context and causes of ape attacks, including assessment of species differences in propensity to direct aggression towards humans. Physical attacks on people by wild great apes in Africa and Asia are overall rare. Most reports involve chimpanzees and, to a lesser extent, gorillas; wild orangutans and bonobos seem to rarely attack humans. Reports suggest that most gorilla attacks target adult humans and are motivated by defensive instincts (e.g. in response to hunting threat). In contrast, victims of wild chimpanzee attacks are overwhelmingly children, and attacks fall more evenly into provoked (i.e. in response to harassment) and unprovoked categories (e.g. predation on young children). Among great apes, the increased propensity of chimpanzees to attack humans is likely due to a combination of greater ecological flexibility that enables them to exploit disturbed habitats near people, their multimale social systems, tendencies for aggressive behaviours in day-to-day life, and more prevalent hunting behaviour. We discuss how improved knowledge of the contexts of ape attacks, along with a better understanding of human cultural attitudes and causes of conflict among different human stakeholder groups, are required to develop effective mitigation strategies to reduce likelihood of attacks.

The Aggressive Apes? Causes and Contexts of Great Ape Attacks on Local Persons

Wildlife attacks on people in and around protected areas have
become one of the main challenges for wildlife management
authorities We assessed all correlates of wildlife attacks
during 2003–2013 in the vicinity of Chitwan National Park,
Nepal We used data from various sources (discussion with
stakeholders, field observations, questionnaire surveys)
Wildlife attacks were significantly correlated to factors such
as site, season and time, activity, gender and awareness
Moreover, 89% of recorded attacks occurred outside the Park
The number of attacks fluctuated widely and patterns of attacks
were significantly uneven across seasons and months Of the 87%
of attacks that occurred during the day, 87% occurred in the
morning Most victims were male and c 45% of attacks occurred
when people were collecting forest resources or working on
croplands Attacks were carried out predominantly by rhinoceros
Rhinoceros unicornis (38%), tigers Panthera tigris (21%), sloth
bears Melursus ursinus (18%), elephants Elephas maximus (9%)
and wild boar Sus scrofa (8%) The people attacked lived close
to the Park, depended on farming for their livelihoods, and had
little knowledge of animal behaviour Attacks can be mitigated
through proper management of habitats inside the Park and
raising awareness of wildlife behaviour among local people We
recommend establishing a participatory emergency rescue team to
deal with problematic animals in high-risk areas

/pdf/when-where-and-whom-assessing-wildlife-attacks-on-people-in-1ntbyxd3y0.pdf

When, where and whom: assessing wildlife attacks on people in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

We examined human and ecological attributes of attacks by tigers Panthera tigris and leopards Panthera pardus on humans in and around the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in the Chandrapur District of central India to provide recommendations to prevent or mitigate conflicts between people and large carnivores. During 2005–2011 132 carnivore attacks on humans occurred, 71 (54%) of which were lethal to humans. Tigers and leopards were responsible for 78% and 22% of attacks, respectively. Significantly more victims were attacked while collecting minor forest products than during other activities. Probability of attack significantly decreased with increasing distance from forests and villages, and attacks occurred most frequently in the forested north-eastern corridor of the study area. Human activities near the Reserve need to be regulated and limited as much as possible to reduce human mortality and other conflicts. Increasing access to alternative fuel sources (e.g. biogas, solar) may reduce the pressure of timber harvesting on protected areas. Residents should be trained in identifying carnivore sign and in ways to reduce their vulnerability when working outdoors.

/pdf/large-carnivore-attacks-on-humans-in-central-india-a-case-2aw9sf4akt.pdf

Large carnivore attacks on humans in central India: a case study from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve

The status of early-successional habitats and wildlife species associated with them recently has become a concern in the eastern United States. Although federal farm programs have the potential to create early-successional habitats for wildlife, relatively few studies have assessed wildlife response to these land use changes. During 2006–2007 we studied habitat factors associated with occupancy and detection of 2 species of lagomorphs, swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) and eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), in agricultural lands recently afforested via federal farm programs in southern Illinois. Lagomorphs were live captured, and habitat variables were measured at 27 bottomland sites. Detection probabilities of eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits were 0.44 (SE  =  0.05) and 0.12 (SE  =  0.03), respectively. Canopy closure (i+(i) > 0.94) had the most influence on detection probability for both eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits. Detection probability decreased with increasing canopy closure...

https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-mammalogy/volume-92/issue-4/10-MAMM-A-078.1/Occupancy-detection-and-habitat-associations-of-sympatric-lagomorphs-in-early/10.1644/10-MAMM-A-078.1.pdf

Occupancy, detection, and habitat associations of sympatric lagomorphs in early-successional bottomland forests

We estimated survival, examined habitat factors that affect home range size, and estimated colony reproduction for beavers (Castor canadensis) radio-tagged in east-central Illinois, an intensively farmed region. We monitored 42 radio-tagged beavers occupying the Embarras River and its tributaries from Sept. 2004 through Aug. 2006. Trapper harvest and disease contributed equally to low survival in 2004–2005 (0.29 ± 0.08), but had a lower impact in 2005–2006, resulting in higher survival (0.59 ± 0.13). Linear home ranges were longer for beavers in the river (50%  =  1.2 km; 95%  =  3.6 km) than for those in streams (50%  =  0.7 km; 95%  =  1.8 km). Distance of the den to crop fields, stem density of least preferred woody species, and water fluctuations around dens were positively correlated with home range size. Two colonies on the main river produced 59% of the kits observed from 13 colonies. Food does not appear limited in the region; however, the distribution of food resources and extreme fluctu...

https://bioone.org/journals/The-American-Midland-Naturalist/volume-169/issue-1/0003-0031-169.1.17/Survival-Home-Range-and-Colony-Reproduction-of-Beavers-in-East/10.1674/0003-0031-169.1.17.pdf

Survival, Home Range, and Colony Reproduction of Beavers in East-Central Illinois, an Agricultural Landscape

Conspecific aggression may play an important role in partitioning resources and maintaining territories among beavers (Castor canadensis), yet few studies have examined physical evidence of agonistic encounters. We trapped and examined pelts from 147 beavers harvested between 2006 and 2012 from the Sangamon River (n  =  96) and tributary streams (n  =  51) in central Illinois. We modeled the influence of sex, age class, season (predispersal or dispersal), and habitat (river or tributary stream) on the number of recent injuries caused by conspecifics. One-third (51/147) of beavers had ≥1 injury; of those, the median number of injuries was 2.0. Kits had fewer injuries than adults (βKit  =  −2.24 ± 0.63), but yearlings and subadults did not (βyearling  =  0.02 ± 0.38, βsubadult  =  −0.22 ± 0.48). Beavers on small streams had only one-quarter of the injuries recorded for beavers on the river (βStream  =  −1.34 ± 0.82). We failed to detect differences in injuries between the sexes. Our results suggest...

/pdf/conspecific-aggression-by-beavers-castor-canadensis-in-the-58vcv5rwix.pdf

Conspecific aggression by beavers (Castor canadensis) in the sangamon river basin in central Illinois: Correlates with habitat, age, sex and season

Lagomorphs are important consumers and prey in ecosystems worldwide, but have declined due to land use changes and habitat loss, and such losses may be exacerbated for specialist species. We compared survival and habitat use of two closely related lagomorphs, the swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus (Bachman, 1837)), a bottomland hardwood (BLH) forest specialist, and the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus (J. A. Allen, 1890)), a habitat generalist. We tested whether survival and habitat use differed between radio-collared swamp rabbits (n = 129) and eastern cottontails (n = 72) monitored during December 2009 – December 2013 in southern Illinois. We found interactive effects of species and season on survival rates: swamp rabbits had higher annual survival (0.37 ± 0.05 (estimate ± SE)) than did cottontails (0.20 ± 0.05), but this difference occurred primarily during the growing season. Swamp rabbits were located closer to watercourses in areas characterized by higher basal area and more mature BLH fore...

/pdf/survival-and-habitat-use-of-sympatric-lagomorphs-in-2varzz59v0.pdf

Joanne C. Crawford

Papers

Large carnivore attacks on humans in central India: a case study from the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve

Occupancy, detection, and habitat associations of sympatric lagomorphs in early-successional bottomland forests

Survival, Home Range, and Colony Reproduction of Beavers in East-Central Illinois, an Agricultural Landscape

Conspecific aggression by beavers (Castor canadensis) in the sangamon river basin in central Illinois: Correlates with habitat, age, sex and season

Survival and habitat use of sympatric lagomorphs in bottomland hardwood forests