Effects of shepherds and dogs on livestock depredation by leopards (Panthera pardus) in north-eastern Iran

Abstract

Human-carnivore conflicts over livestock depredation are increasingly common, yet little is understood about the role of husbandry in conflict mitigation. As shepherds and guarding dogs are most commonly used to curb carnivore attacks on grazing livestock, evaluation and improvement of these practices becomes an important task. We addressed this issue by studying individual leopard (Panthera pardus) attacks on sheep and goats in 34 villages near Golestan National Park, Iran. We obtained and analyzed data on 39 attacks, which included a total loss of 31 sheep and 36 goats in 17 villages. We applied non-parametric testing, Poisson Generalized Linear Modelling (GLM) and model selection to assess how numbers of sheep and goats killed per attack are associated with the presence and absence of shepherds and dogs during attacks, depredation in previous years, villages, seasons, ethnic groups, numbers of sheep and goats kept in villages, and distances from villages to the nearest protected areas. We found that 95.5% of losses were inflicted in forests when sheep and goats were accompanied by shepherds (92.5% of losses) and dogs (77.6%). Leopards tended to kill more sheep and goats per attack (surplus killing) when dogs were absent in villages distant from protected areas, but still inflicted most losses when dogs were present, mainly in villages near protected areas. No other variables affected numbers of sheep and goats killed per attack. These results indicate that local husbandry practices are ineffectual and the mere presence of shepherds and guarding dogs is not enough to secure protection. Shepherds witnessed leopard attacks, but could not deter them while dogs did not exhibit guarding behavior and were sometimes killed by leopards. In an attempt to make practical, low-cost and socially acceptable improvements in local husbandry, we suggest that dogs are raised to create a strong social bond with livestock, shepherds use only best available dogs, small flocks are aggregated into larger ones and available shepherds herd these larger flocks together. Use of deterrents and avoidance of areas close to Golestan and in central, core areas of neighboring protected areas is also essential to keep losses down.

Cattle selectivity by leopards suggests ways to mitigate human–leopard conflict

“…Mazandarani is the main local cattle breed of low introgression and better genetic quality than other native breeds (Karimi, Koshkoiyeh, Fozi, Porto‐Neto, & Gondro, ; Karimi, Strucken et al., ). Stud cattle and cows with juveniles are kept in village corrals, and a majority of cattle graze in forest, usually unattended by shepherds and dogs (this study; Babrgir et al., ; Ghoddousi et al., ; Khorozyan et al., ; Khorozyan et al., ). Sometimes, cows with juveniles are also left grazing in forest.…”

“…Mazandarani is the main local cattle breed of low introgression and better genetic quality than other native breeds (Karimi, Koshkoiyeh, Fozi, Porto-Neto, & Gondro, 2016;Karimi, Strucken et al, 2016). Stud Khorozyan et al, 2015;Khorozyan et al, 2017). Sometimes, cows with juveniles are also left grazing in forest.…”

“…Many owners leave cattle in forest all the time during the warm season and drive them to corrals in autumn and winter (this study). As a result of lax practices, forest-grazing cattle suffer from high depredation by leopards throughout the Hyrcanian forest, usually during the warm season (Babrgir et al, 2017;Ghoddousi et al, 2016;Khorozyan et al, 2015Khorozyan et al, , 2017.…”

A framework of most effective practices in protecting human assets from predators

“…For example, herding is not practiced in areas where depredation is quite low and the costs of shepherd hiring do not offset the costs of livestock loss (Breitenmoser et al, 2005). Although herding is widely perceived as one of the best interventions preventing depredation, it is becoming increasingly rare and socially problematic due to limited workforce, job searching in towns, and less interest in animal husbandry than in other agricultural businesses (Khorozyan et al, 2017;Tumenta, de Iongh, Funston, & Udo de Haes, 2013). The use of guarding dogs is ineffectual in areas where proper dog training is not customary (Khorozyan et al, 2017).…”

Surplus killing by pumas Puma concolor: rumours and facts

“…For this review, we defined SK events as those predation events in which two or more prey individuals were killed, but not consumed (Khorozyan et al. ). We reviewed two distinct sources of data for information on SK events attributed to pumas: 1) a database of publications obtained through a literature search; and 2) an original database of puma depredation events from central Argentina (Guerisoli et al.…”