Schüttler Elke, Jiménez Jaime E
Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, Universidad de Magallanes, Teniente Muñoz 166, Puerto Williams 6350000, Chile.
Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), O'Higgins 310, Puerto Williams 6350000, Chile.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Dec 16;12(24):3564. doi: 10.3390/ani12243564.
Dogs are the most abundant carnivores on earth and, as such, negatively impact wildlife. Free-ranging dogs roam in many protected areas, which in turn are often tourist destinations. Whether tourists influence their roaming is largely unexplored but highly relevant to wildlife conservation. To address this question, we obtained (i) 81 completed questionnaires from tourists on their experience with free-ranging dogs in the remote Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, Chile, and (ii) photographs of three camera-traps placed next to trekking trails ( = 87 trap days). A third of the participants were followed by dogs for up to four days, and 39% saw free-ranging dogs on their hikes, but neither feeding dogs nor fear of them had any influence on whether tourists were followed by dogs. Camera-traps yielded 53 independent dog sequences, recorded 32 individuals plus 14 unidentified dogs, of which only one was leashed, with a frequency of one dog every 28 person. In 17% of 53 sequences, dogs were photographed together with hikers carrying large backpacks for several-day trips. We conclude that tourists are facilitators for the movement of dogs and highlight the importance of the engagement of the tourism sector in wildlife conservation in and close to protected areas.
狗是地球上数量最多的食肉动物，因此对野生动物产生负面影响。散养的狗在许多保护区游荡，而这些保护区往往是旅游目的地。游客是否会影响它们的游荡在很大程度上尚未得到研究，但这与野生动物保护高度相关。为了解决这个问题，我们获取了：（i）81份来自游客的完整问卷，内容是他们在智利偏远的合恩角生物圈保护区与散养狗的经历；（ii）放置在徒步小径旁的三个相机陷阱拍摄的照片（共87个陷阱日）。三分之一的参与者被狗跟随长达四天，39%的人在徒步旅行中看到了散养的狗，但给狗喂食或对狗的恐惧对游客是否被狗跟随均没有任何影响。相机陷阱产生了53个独立的狗的影像序列，记录了32只个体加上14只身份不明的狗，其中只有一只系着 leash，频率为每28人有一只狗。在53个序列中的17%里，狗与背着大型背包进行数日旅行的徒步者一起被拍摄到。我们得出结论，游客是狗移动的促进因素，并强调了旅游部门参与保护区及其周边野生动物保护的重要性。
