EU Sanitary Regulation on Livestock Disposal: Implications for the Diet of Wolves

Lagos, Laura; Bárcena, Felipe

doi:10.1007/s00267-015-0571-4

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…During community meetings held throughout the development of the deadstock removal program, some people questioned whether restricting access to deadstock might make carnivores more likely to depredate livestock. However, research from other areas of the world suggests this is not the case and carcass removal remains a recommended strategy for reducing livestock depredation (Shivik, 2004;Lagos and Bárcena, 2015). Although we have not evaluated the reasons behind increased grizzly bear depredation of livestock, we suggest it may be due to a combination of an increased grizzly bear population that has expanded its geographic distribution Boyce, 2016, 2017), reduced government staff numbers and capacity over a large and dispersed landscape, and the existence of problem bears that are involved in multiple livestock depredation events (e.g., Linnell et al, 1999;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carnivores and Communities: A Case Study of Human-Carnivore Conflict Mitigation in Southwestern Alberta

Morehouse¹,

Hughes

Manners³

et al. 2020

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Facilitating long-term coexistence between people and large carnivores is a persistent, global conservation challenge. Evidence-based decisions to help design and implement programs that promote coexistence between people and carnivores are required. Using a case study approach, we evaluated the effectiveness of conflict mitigation efforts of a community-based program in southwestern Alberta, Canada: the Waterton Biosphere Reserve's (WBR) Carnivores and Communities Program (CACP). The CACP's overall goal is to support coexistence of people and large carnivores through initiatives including reducing livestock loss, damage to stored crops, and safety risks from carnivores by engaging residents in hands-on programming. We used an online survey to assess program participants' general awareness of and motivation to engage in the CACP, safety risks associated with living with large carnivores, and attractant management and deadstock removal programming. We received 116 completed surveys. Survey results indicated that participants felt the CACP effectively reduced conflicts with large carnivores, increased their sense of safety when living with large carnivores, and enabled them to learn skills and gain confidence in using mitigation tools (e.g., bear spray). We also evaluated temporal trends in large carnivore conflicts using occurrence records (i.e., complaint data) from 1999 through 2016. We classified these data into incidents (e.g., situations where carnivores caused property damage, obtained anthropogenic food, killed or attempted to kill livestock or pets) and focussed on incidents related to attractants, including deadstock. We focus our incident review on grizzly bears because most agricultural attractant incidents in the study area are caused by grizzly bears. We used a Chow test to evaluate if the 2009 CACP commencement represented a break point or structural change in the data. Although total reported incidents increased from 1999 through 2016, we show both reported attractant and deadstock-based incidents changed from increasing to decreasing after the CACP implementation in 2009. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of a contextually specific, community-based approach to addressing human-carnivore conflicts. More broadly, our evaluation and lessons learned provide other conservation organizations with a useful framework for addressing human-carnivore or other wildlife conflicts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carnivores and Communities: A Case Study of Human-Carnivore Conflict Mitigation in Southwestern Alberta

Morehouse¹,

Hughes

Manners³

et al. 2020

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…For example, the application of the previous EU sanitary regulation led to changes in the diet of wolves (e.g. increased large domestic ungulate consumption; Lagos & Bárcena ; Llaneza & López‐Bao ), possibly affecting their role in the ecosystem (Lagos & Bárcena ) and exacerbating human–wolf conflicts (Llaneza & López‐Bao ). Regarding U. arctos , carrion is an important resource for this species (Clevenger & Purroy ; Naves et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the network of protection areas for the feeding of scavengers in Spain: from biodiversity conservation to greenhouse gas emission savings

Morales‐Reyes

Pérez‐García

Moleón

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Protected areas are one of the most common strategies for wildlife conservation world‐wide. However, their effectiveness is rarely evaluated. In Europe, after the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a restrictive sanitary regulation (EC 1774/2002) prohibited the abandonment of dead livestock in extensive farming (extensive livestock) in the field, which led to negative consequences for scavengers. As an attempt to mitigate this negative impact, a new regulation was approved (EC 142/2011) to allow farmers to leave extensive livestock carcasses in the so‐called ‘Protection areas for the feeding of necrophagous species of European interest’ (PAFs). Our general aims were to quantify (i) the proportion of breeding distribution of targeted scavenger species overlapping PAFs; (ii) the extensive livestock carrion biomass available inside PAFs; (iii) the proportion of breeding distribution of non‐targeted scavenger species falling within PAFs; (iv) the overlap between the home range of vultures and PAFs, as well as the extent to which vultures move through different administrative units; and (v) the savings in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in relation to the pre‐PAF scenario. After assessing the status of PAF implementation in every region of peninsular Spain, we analysed the large‐scale spatial information of extensive livestock carrion availability and scavenger breeding distribution, movement data of GPS‐tracked vultures, and the annual GHG emissions associated with the transport of livestock carcasses. Most regions established PAFs in their territories, although design criteria were variable. The breeding distribution of targeted species was better represented within PAFs than that of non‐targeted species. The extensive livestock carrion biomass potentially available for scavengers within PAFs represented 34·9% of the annual extensive livestock biomass generated in peninsular Spain. The overlap between the home range of GPS‐marked vulture populations and PAFs ranged between 63·4% and 100%. The minimum convex polygon of these and other GPS‐tracked vulture populations in peninsular Spain encompassed 3–14 Spanish regions and 1–4 countries. Post‐PAF there was a potential reduction of c. 55·7% of GHG emissions compared to pre‐PAF. Synthesis and applications. The implementation of the new sanitary regulation by means of areas for the feeding of scavengers could mean an important improvement in scavenger conservation and a noteworthy reduction in greenhouse gas emissions: in Spain, extensive livestock carrion availability might increase to 33 474 t yr−1, and 43 344 t of CO2 eq. might be saved annually. However, we identified some gaps related to the distribution of endangered facultative scavengers. Moreover, given that vultures are highly mobile organisms, the design and management of these feeding areas should be coordinated at both the supra‐regional and supra‐national scales.

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“…In areas with carnivore presence, an additional layer of complexity is added because deadstock can be a major attractant for large carnivore species (Northrup and Boyce, 2012;Morehouse and Boyce, 2017;Wilson et al, 2017). Across the globe, carnivores have been documented scavenging on livestock carcasses (Servheen, 1983;Wilson et al, 2005;Lagos and Bárcena, 2015;Ciucci et al, 2020). Not only does this behavior have nutritional ecology implications for the wildlife species (Robbins et al, 2004;Coogan and Raubenheimer, 2018), but it also raises concerns about disease spread (Gwyther et al, 2011;Ogada et al, 2012;Cunningham et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, regulations that govern the disposal of deadstock are becoming more common across many countries, and livestock disposal and associated policies have implications beyond the ranch that need to be considered (e.g., Gwyther et al, 2011;Northrup and Boyce, 2012;Lagos and Bárcena, 2015). These regulations, for instance, can impact wildlife species that have become accustomed to the availability of carcasses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing With Deadstock: A Case Study of Carnivore Conflict Mitigation From Southwestern Alberta

Morehouse¹,

Hughes

Manners³

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Livestock deaths are an unfortunate reality for livestock producers and dead livestock (i.e., deadstock) disposal options can have implications beyond the ranch itself. In Alberta, Canada, natural disposal (i.e., disposing of the carcass in a manner that allows for scavenging) has increased since the 2003 detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canadian cattle. Prior to BSE, rendering companies removed deadstock for free. However, rendering companies started charging producers to remove deadstock to offset costs associated with new regulatory requirements enacted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which has resulted in increased on-farm natural disposal of deadstock. This increase has ecological implications because deadstock are a major attractant for large carnivores. Carnivores feeding on deadstock are often near other agricultural attractants such as stored grain and feed, silage, and living livestock, which can exacerbate conflict potential and pose a risk to human safety. To help mitigate conflicts associated with deadstock, the Waterton Biosphere Reserve's (a local non-profit) Carnivores and Communities Program (CACP) supported expansion of community deadstock removal efforts beginning in 2009, including reimbursement of on-farm removal costs, bear-resistant deadstock bins, and a livestock compost facility (operational 2013–2014). Here, we present an evaluative case study describing the development, implementation, and results of the deadstock removal program, including the compost facility. We tracked the number of head of livestock removed each year, the number of participating landowners, the average cost per head, and total program costs. We also used an online survey to assess participants' perspectives of the deadstock removal program and future needs. To date, the CACP has removed >5,400 livestock carcasses, representing between 15.1 and 22.6% of available carcasses in the program area, and 67.3% of livestock owners indicated they currently use the deadstock removal program to dispose of deadstock. Average cost to compost an animal was significantly less than other removal methods ($36.89 composting vs. $79.59 non-composting, one-tailed t-test, unequal sampling variances: t = 4.08, df = 5.87, p = 0.003). We conclude by discussing both ecological and social implications for deadstock removal as a conflict mitigation measure and make suggestions for future management considerations.

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EU Sanitary Regulation on Livestock Disposal: Implications for the Diet of Wolves

Cited by 17 publications

References 51 publications

Carnivores and Communities: A Case Study of Human-Carnivore Conflict Mitigation in Southwestern Alberta

Carnivores and Communities: A Case Study of Human-Carnivore Conflict Mitigation in Southwestern Alberta

Evaluation of the network of protection areas for the feeding of scavengers in Spain: from biodiversity conservation to greenhouse gas emission savings

Dealing With Deadstock: A Case Study of Carnivore Conflict Mitigation From Southwestern Alberta

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