Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.
Extension, University of Wyoming, Thermopolis, WY, USA.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 26;7(1):14105. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-14462-1.
Pastoralists have dealt with livestock losses from predators for millennia, yet effective mitigation strategies that balance wildlife conservation and sustainable agriculture are still needed today. In Wyoming, USA, 274 ranchers responded to a retrospective survey, and rated the efficacy of predation mitigation strategies for foxes, dogs, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, mountain lions, bears, and birds (buzzards, eagles, hawks, ravens). Rancher reported efficacy of mitigation varied by predator species, mitigation strategy, and lethality of strategies, but not livestock type. Ranchers perceive they were most effective at mitigating predation by foxes and coyotes, moderately effective at mitigating large carnivores, and the least effective at mitigating birds. Ranchers also reported that avian predators seem to be the most challenging predator type. The general perception was lethal mitigation strategies were more effective than non-lethal strategies, with guard animals showing the most potential among the non-lethal options. In general, ranchers did not perceive non-lethal strategies as a proxy for lethal strategies. However, a few ranchers reported being successful with non-lethal options such as herding, fencing, and stalling at night but more details about such successful applications are needed. Innovation in current or novel non-lethal mitigation strategies, and examples of efficacy, are needed to justify producer adoption.
牧民在过去几千年中一直应对着来自捕食者的牲畜损失，但今天仍需要平衡野生动物保护和可持续农业的有效缓解策略。在美国怀俄明州，274 名牧场主对一项回顾性调查做出了回应，并对狐狸、狗、郊狼、狼、山猫、美洲狮、熊和鸟类（秃鹫、鹰、鹰、乌鸦）的捕食缓解策略的效果进行了评级。牧场主报告的缓解效果因捕食者物种、缓解策略和策略的致命性而异，但与牲畜类型无关。牧场主认为他们在缓解狐狸和郊狼的捕食方面最有效，在缓解大型食肉动物方面效果适中，在缓解鸟类方面效果最差。牧场主还报告说，鸟类捕食者似乎是最具挑战性的捕食者类型。一般的看法是，致命的缓解策略比非致命的策略更有效，而在非致命的选择中，守护动物显示出最大的潜力。总的来说，牧场主并不认为非致命策略是致命策略的替代品。然而，一些牧场主报告说，使用放牧、围栏和夜间阻挡等非致命选择取得了成功，但需要更多关于此类成功应用的详细信息。需要创新当前或新颖的非致命缓解策略，并证明其效果，以证明生产者的采用是合理的。
