The invisible harm: land clearing is an issue of animal welfare

Finn, Hugh; Stephens, N.

doi:10.1071/wr17018

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 104 publications

(114 reference statements)

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“…Koala populations have suffered massive decline over the last 30 years, particularly in QLD, with recent localised population collapses documented[4,5,69].Emphasising the precarious nature of the koala's survival in South-East QLD, koala admissions were high and constant throughout the study period, consistent with reports from other WRCs[1,[3][4][5]69].Major threats to the koala include habitat fragmentation, road trauma and disease[4,69]. Land clearing, to facilitate urban expansion and agriculture is also having devastating effects on the welfare of native fauna worldwide[37]. Whilst we did not directly measure habitat fragmentation in our study, most koala admissions were from urbanised areas with high numbers of car strikes, dog attacks and animals found in abnormal locations (e.g.…”

supporting

confidence: 76%

The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife

Taylor-Brown

Booth

Gillett

et al. 2018

Preprint

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2Increasing human population size and the concomitant expansion of urbanisation 3 significantly impact natural ecosystems and native fauna globally. Successful conservation 4 management relies on precise information on the factors associated with wildlife population 5 decline, which are challenging to acquire from natural populations. Wildlife Rehabilitation 6 Centres (WRC) provide a rich source of this information. However, few researchers have 7 conducted large-scale longitudinal studies, with most focussing on narrow taxonomic ranges, 8 suggesting that WRC-associated data remains an underutilised resource, and may provide a 9 fuller understanding of the anthropogenic threats facing native fauna. 10We analysed admissions and outcomes data from a WRC in Queensland, Australia Zoo 11 Wildlife Hospital, to determine the major factors driving admissions and morbidity of native 12 animals in a region experiencing rapid and prolonged urban expansion. 13We studied 31,626 admissions of 83 different species of native birds, reptiles, 14 amphibians, marsupials and eutherian mammals from 2006 to 2017. While marsupial 15 admissions were highest (41.3%), admissions increased over time for all species and exhibited 16 seasonal variation (highest in Spring to Summer), consistent with known breeding seasons. 17Causes for admission typically associated with human influenced activities were 18 dominant and exhibited the highest mortality rates. Car strikes were the most common reason 19 for admission (34.7%), with dog attacks (9.2%), entanglements (7.2%), and cat attacks (5.3%) 20 also high. Admissions of orphaned young and overt signs of disease were significant at 24.6% 21 and 9.7%, respectively. Mortality rates were highest following dog attacks (72.7%) and car 22 strikes (69.1%) and lowest in orphaned animals (22.1%). 23Our results show that WRC databases offer rich opportunities for wildlife monitoring 24 and provide quantification of the negative impacts of human activities on ecosystem stability 3 25 and wildlife health. The imminent need for urgent, proactive conservation management to 26 ameliorate the negative impacts of human activities on wildlife is clearly evident from our 27 results. 28Introduction 29There is substantive evidence to suggest that anthropogenic factors are having 30 devastating consequences on native fauna, both in Australia [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and internationally [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].31 The stability of entire ecosystems is consistently compromised through the process of urban 32 expansion and global population growth, which continue to increase at unprecedented rates 33 [27]. The sustained acceleration in human population growth and resulting expansion in 34 anthropogenic activities appear to be the primary causes of an accelerated increase in extinction 35 rates globally [28][29][30][31][32]. 36Global population growth contributes to the destruction, modification and 37 fragmentation of wildlife habitat, reduced genetic diversity, threats fro...

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confidence: 76%

The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife

Taylor-Brown

Booth

Gillett

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…There is a growing awareness of how human activities, including wildlife population management and rehabilitation, land management and other conservation activities, may influence the welfare of free-roaming animals in the wild [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Conservation and wildlife management practices have traditionally focused on assessing animal populations, using metrics like abundance, density and diversity; demographic parameters like sex ratios and age classes; and fitness metrics like survivorship and reproductive success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Ten-Stage Protocol for Assessing the Welfare of Individual Non-Captive Wild Animals: Free-Roaming Horses (Equus Ferus Caballus) as an Example

Harvey

Beausoleil

Ramp

et al. 2020

Animals

102

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Knowledge of the welfare status of wild animals is vital for informing debates about the ways in which we interact with wild animals and their habitats. Currently, there is no published information about how to scientifically assess the welfare of free-roaming wild animals during their normal day-to-day lives. Using free-roaming horses as an example, we describe a ten-stage protocol for systematically and scientifically assessing the welfare of individual non-captive wild animals. The protocol starts by emphasising the importance of readers having an understanding of animal welfare in a conservation context and also of the Five Domains Model for assessing welfare. It goes on to detail what species-specific information is required to assess welfare, how to identify measurable and observable indicators of animals’ physical states and how to identify which individuals are being assessed. Further, it addresses how to select appropriate methods for measuring/observing physical indicators of welfare, the scientific validation of these indicators and then the grading of animals’ welfare states, along with assigning a confidence score. Finally, grading future welfare risks and how these can guide management decisions is discussed. Applying this ten-stage protocol will enable biologists to scientifically assess the welfare of wild animals and should lead to significant advances in the field of wild animal welfare.

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“…Global population growth contributes to the destruction, modification and fragmentation of wildlife habitat, reduced genetic diversity, threats from pathogens, the spread of exotic and invasive species, air, noise and light pollution, alteration in natural hydrologic and fire regimes, and a rapidly changing climate [33–37]. The consequences of these environmental changes for most species include a reduced ability to forage, reduced prey or food availability, altered immune function, and diminished breeding success [38–45].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Increasing human population size and the concomitant expansion of urbanisation significantly impact natural ecosystems and native fauna globally. Successful conservation management relies on precise information on the factors associated with wildlife population decline, which are challenging to acquire from natural populations. Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres (WRC) provide a rich source of this information. However, few researchers have conducted large-scale longitudinal studies, with most focussing on narrow taxonomic ranges, suggesting that WRC-associated data remains an underutilised resource, and may provide a fuller understanding of the anthropogenic threats facing native fauna. We analysed admissions and outcomes data from a WRC in Queensland, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, to determine the major factors driving admissions and morbidity of native animals in a region experiencing rapid and prolonged urban expansion. We studied 31,626 admissions of 83 different species of native birds, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials and eutherian mammals from 2006 to 2017. While marsupial admissions were highest (41.3%), admissions increased over time for all species and exhibited seasonal variation (highest in Spring to Summer), consistent with known breeding seasons. Causes for admission typically associated with human influenced activities were dominant and exhibited the highest mortality rates. Car strikes were the most common reason for admission (34.7%), with dog attacks (9.2%), entanglements (7.2%), and cat attacks (5.3%) also high. Admissions of orphaned young and overt signs of disease were significant at 24.6% and 9.7%, respectively. Mortality rates were highest following dog attacks (72.7%) and car strikes (69.1%) and lowest in orphaned animals (22.1%). Our results show that WRC databases offer rich opportunities for wildlife monitoring and provide quantification of the negative impacts of human activities on ecosystem stability and wildlife health. The imminent need for urgent, proactive conservation management to ameliorate the negative impacts of human activities on wildlife is clearly evident from our results.

show abstract

The invisible harm: land clearing is an issue of animal welfare

Cited by 23 publications

References 104 publications

The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife

The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife

A Ten-Stage Protocol for Assessing the Welfare of Individual Non-Captive Wild Animals: Free-Roaming Horses (Equus Ferus Caballus) as an Example

The impact of human activities on Australian wildlife

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