Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, H.W. Pearson Building, University of Cape Town, University Avenue North, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa.
Panthera, 8 W 40th Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY, 10018, USA.
Ambio. 2023 Oct;52(10):1635-1649. doi: 10.1007/s13280-023-01892-7. Epub 2023 Jun 30.
The use of poison against predators is pervasive and negatively impacts biodiversity and ecosystem health globally. Little is known about the correlates of poison use as a lethal control method on small-livestock farmland. We used a mixed-methods approach to investigate commercial farmers' experience with and perceived effectiveness of predation control methods, reported poison use and its correlates in the Central Karoo. Farmers perceived lethal methods to be cheaper and more effective than non-lethal methods in protecting their livestock from predation. They reported more experience with lethal methods, and over half reported having used poison. This is higher than other estimates in southern Africa and consistent with other survey-based evidence from the Karoo. Reported poison use was positively related to perceived efficacy, declining on-farm employment and perceived threats of predators. It was negatively related to terrain ruggedness. Our findings provide an understanding of the context and motivations shaping this illegal behavior.
全球范围内，使用毒药来对付捕食者的现象十分普遍，这对生物多样性和生态系统健康造成了负面影响。关于毒药作为一种致命的小牲畜农田控制方法的使用情况，我们知之甚少。我们采用混合方法，调查了商业农民对捕食控制方法的经验以及对其有效性的看法，报告了在中央卡鲁地区使用毒药及其相关情况。农民认为，在保护牲畜免受捕食方面，致命方法比非致命方法更便宜、更有效。他们报告说，他们更多地使用了致命方法，超过一半的人报告说使用过毒药。这高于南部非洲的其他估计，也与卡鲁地区的其他基于调查的证据一致。报告的毒药使用与感知效果呈正相关，与农场就业减少和感知捕食者的威胁呈负相关。它与地形崎岖度呈负相关。我们的研究结果提供了对塑造这种非法行为的背景和动机的理解。
