Insight into occupancy determinants and conflict dynamics of grey wolf (Canis lupus) in the dry temperate zone of Hindukush Range

Rehman, Ejaz Ur; Din, Jaffar Ud; Ahmad, Shakeel; Hameed, Shafqat; Shah, Khurshid Ali; Mehmood, Tahir; Nawaz, Muhammad Ali

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01402

Cited by 11 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Active guarding of livestock is essential to keep carnivores at bay and to ensure minimum losses by large carnivores [73]. The losses in guarded situations were 12.395 times higher than non-guarded circumstances and this was a novel trend observed in this study, contrary to others studies conducted in northern Pakistan [35,40]. The reason may involve some underlying factors and needs further investigation for better understanding.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

“…The non-forested area was classified as villages and surrounding open fields and meadows used as grazing ground for livestock. Interestingly, this was a novel trend observed in contrast to other existing conflict studies carried out in Pakistan [23,35,40,46]. The reason for this pattern is the open and weakly-built pen structures constructed in villages at a reasonable distance from human settlements for hygiene purposes, ideal for predators to enter, resulting in surplus killings [35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Young animals are more vulnerable to predation, and a similar trend was observed in this current study. Usually, the young ones from the herd are separated and kept in pens while adults are let loose for grazing [35,40], which can possibly minimise predation by wild carnivores. Active guarding of livestock is essential to keep carnivores at bay and to ensure minimum losses by large carnivores [73].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The number of incidences of wild animals' attacks on humans and the number of wild animals killed were also recorded. Colour-printed photographs of wild mammal species reported from Nowshera district [59] were displayed to the respondents to collect reliable information during the interview sessions [35].…”

Section: Questionnaire Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Livestock predation by wild carnivores results in significant economic losses for the poor pastoral communities across the world, including Pakistan [30][31][32][33][34]. Any kind of livestock including cattle, goats, sheep, equines, and poultry can fall prey to wild carnivores [35]. Pakistan is an agricultural country [36] where livestock is a key sub-sector of agriculture and accounts for 37.5% of agriculture values addition and about 9.4-23.3% of Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP) [37][38][39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding the Dynamics of Human–Wildlife Conflicts in North-Western Pakistan: Implications for Sustainable Conservation

et al. 2021

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The high economic costs of human–wildlife conflicts (HWC) hinder long-term conservation successes, especially in developing countries. We investigated HWC by interviewing 498 respondents from 42 villages in Nowshera district, Pakistan. According to respondents, six species—the common leopard (Panthera pardus), grey wolf (Canis lupus), golden jackal (Canis aureus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Indian porcupine (Hystrix indica), and wild boar (Sus scrofa)—were involved in livestock predation and crop-raiding. Livestock predation (N = 670) translated into a total annual economic loss of USD 48,490 across the 42 villages, with the highest economic loss of USD 57.1/household/year attributed to the golden jackal. Crop damage by wild boar and porcupine incurred a total annual economic loss of USD 18,000. Results further showed that livestock predation was highly affected by location, prey type, prey age, and herding practices, while cereals and vegetables were preferred crops for wild boar and Indian porcupine. The grey wolf was declared as the most dangerous carnivore, followed by the golden jackal and common leopard. Negative attitude about golden jackal and wild boar prevails among 90% of the respondents of the study area. We strongly assume that the abundance of apex predators can control the economic impacts of meso-carnivores and wild boar on the community’s livelihood. Keeping relatively smaller herds may reduce carnivore attacks and educating the populous and compensation can minimise negative perceptions of HWC. To reduce HWC in the study area, there should be an incessant and timely coordination between wildlife officials and the local community.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Questionnaire Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding the Dynamics of Human–Wildlife Conflicts in North-Western Pakistan: Implications for Sustainable Conservation

et al. 2021

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Understanding carnivore interactions in a cold arid trans‐Himalayan landscape: What drives co‐existence patterns within predator guild along varying resource gradients?

Justa

Lyngdoh

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Predators compete for resources aggressively, forming trophic hierarchies that shape the structure of an ecosystem. Competitive interactions between species are modified in the human‐altered environment and become particularly important where an introduced predator can have negative effects on native predator and prey species. The trans‐Himalayan region of northern India has seen significant development in tourism and associated infrastructure over the last two decades, resulting in many changes to the natural setting of the landscape. While tourism, combined with unmanaged garbage can facilitate red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), it also allows free‐ranging dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ), an introduced mesopredator to thrive, possibly more than the native red fox. We look at the little‐known competitive dynamics of these two meso‐carnivores, as well as their intra‐guild interactions with the region's top carnivores, the snow leopard ( Panthera uncia ) and the Himalayan wolf ( Canis lupus chanco ). To study interactions between these four carnivores, we performed multispecies occupancy modeling and analyzed spatiotemporal interactions between these predators using camera trap data. We also collected scat samples to calculate dietary niche overlaps and determine the extent of competition for food resources between these carnivores. The study found that, after controlling for habitat and prey covariates, red fox site use was related positively to snow leopard site use, but negatively to dog and wolf site use. In addition, site use of the dog was associated negatively with top predators, that is, snow leopard and Himalayan wolf, while top predators themselves related negatively in their site use. As anthropogenic impacts increase, we find that these predators coexist in this resource‐scarce landscape through dietary or spatiotemporal segregation, implying competition for limited resources. Our research adds to the scant ecological knowledge of the predators in the region and improves our understanding of community dynamics in human‐altered ecosystems.

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Conservation and mitigation approaches for human–gray wolf (Canis lupus) conflicts in Shigar Valley, Northern Pakistan

Zaman,

Riegert,

Chen

et al. 2024

Wildlife Letters

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Human‐gray wolf conflict over livestock depredation and absence of mitigation measures is a key threat leading to the decline of wolf populations in Pakistan, where gray wolves are endangered. In this study, we collected data from January 2019 to September 2021, and human–wolf conflict and mitigation measures were investigated by interviews with 200 shepherds that were randomly selected from 43 different human settlements. We used binary logistic GLM models to predict landscape features related to gray wolf conflict patterns. Over the 3 years of the study, the gray wolf was responsible for 963 livestock losses and 244.50 million rupees (1,381,388.14 USD) in economic loss in summer, and 798 livestock losses along with 169.31 million rupees (956,608.1356 USD) economic loss in winter for the same 200 shepherds in Shigar valley. Our questionnaires revealed that shepherds hold negative attitudes toward the species when there is inadequate compensation by the several government department.

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Insight into occupancy determinants and conflict dynamics of grey wolf (Canis lupus) in the dry temperate zone of Hindukush Range

Cited by 11 publications

References 44 publications

Understanding the Dynamics of Human–Wildlife Conflicts in North-Western Pakistan: Implications for Sustainable Conservation

Understanding the Dynamics of Human–Wildlife Conflicts in North-Western Pakistan: Implications for Sustainable Conservation

Understanding carnivore interactions in a cold arid trans‐Himalayan landscape: What drives co‐existence patterns within predator guild along varying resource gradients?

Conservation and mitigation approaches for human–gray wolf (Canis lupus) conflicts in Shigar Valley, Northern Pakistan

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