44 research outputs found
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Ett halvöppet, lövtrÀdsdominerat landskap med betande hjortdjur, visenter, förvildad nötboskap och vildsvin, jagade av livskraftiga populationer av varg, björn och lo. Utopier och vilda fantasier? Kanske i delar, men nÄgot hÄller definitivt pÄ att hÀnda med bevarandet, Äterskapandet och skötseln av de europeiska vildmarkerna
Extensive husbandry and animal welfare are important for acceptance of rabbit meat production among Swedish youth
[EN] Global meat production and consumption are increasingly unsustainable. One way to counteract this development is to change the type of meat consumed. Rabbit meat has relatively lower climate impact than many other types of meat, but consumer acceptance is crucial for a socially sustainable production. In this study we examine the acceptance of industrial, extensive and urban rabbit production among Swedish senior high school youth, 17 to 19 yr old. An electronic survey was sent to ten randomly selected senior high school classes with 17 to 19 year-old students. The survey included inquiries about background, scaled responses and open-end questions with the opportunity to comment. A total of 111 students completed the survey, of which 62 were women, 74 from rural areas and 91 with previous animal experience. Extensive production was more accepted than industrial and urban production, while no difference was observed between industrial and urban production. Thus, the results advocate a farming system with more animal movement, less productivity and higher space requirements. In general, male respondents were more accepting of all production systems than women, while no difference could be detected between rural and urban citizens. The scaling shows that animal welfare, local production and meat quality was given priority over climate impact, biodiversity and price. Our study suggests useful prerequisites to consider for the meat industry in general, and for the development of Swedish rabbit production.Gunnarsson, S.; Thulin, C. (2023). Extensive husbandry and animal welfare are important for acceptance of rabbit meat production among Swedish youth. World Rabbit Science. 31(4):263-276. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2023.1931626327631
Ethical Considerations for Wildlife Reintroductions and Rewilding
The recovery of many populations of large carnivores and herbivores in major parts of Europe and North America offers ecosystem services and opportunities for sustainable utilization of wildlife. Examples of services are hunting, meat, and skin, along with less invasive utilization such as ecotourism and wildlife spotting. An increasing number of studies also point out the ecosystem function, landscape engineering, and cascading effects of wildlife as values for human existence, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem resilience. Within this framework, the concept of rewilding has emerged as a means to add to the wilderness through either supplementary release of wildlife species already present or reintroduction of species formerly present in a certain area. The latter involves translocation of species from other geographical areas, releases from captivity, feralization, retro-breeding, or de-domestication of breeds for which the wild ancestor is extinct. While all these initiatives aim to reverse some of the negative human impacts on life on earth, some pose challenges such as conflicts of interest between humans and wildlife in, for example, forestry, agriculture, traffic, or disease dynamics (e.g., zoonosis). There are also welfare aspects when managing wildlife populations with the purpose to serve humans or act as tools in landscape engineering. These welfare aspects are particularly apparent when it comes to releases of animals handled by humans, either from captivity or translocated from other geographical areas. An ethical values clash is that translocation can involve suffering of the actual individual, while also contributing to reintroduction of species and reestablishment of ecological functions. This paper describes wildlife recovery in Europe and North America and elaborates on ethical considerations raised by the use of wildlife for different purposes, in order to find ways forward that are acceptable to both the animals and humans involved. The reintroduction ethics aspects raised are finally formulated in 10 guidelines suggested for management efforts aimed at translocating wildlife or reestablishing wilderness areas
EXTENSIVE HUSBANDRY AND ANIMAL WELFARE ARE IMPORTANT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF RABBIT MEAT PRODUCTION AMONG SWEDISH YOUTH
Global meat production and consumption are increasingly unsustainable. One way to counteract this development is to change the type of meat consumed. Rabbit meat has relatively lower climate impact than many other types of meat, but consumer acceptance is crucial for a socially sustainable production. In this study we examine the acceptance of industrial, extensive and urban rabbit production among Swedish senior high school youth, 17 to 19 yr old. An electronic survey was sent to ten randomly selected senior high school classes with 17 to 19 year-old students. The survey included inquiries about background, scaled responses and open-end questions with the opportunity to comment. A total of 111 students completed the survey, of which 62 were women, 74 from rural areas and 91 with previous animal experience. Extensive production was more accepted than industrial and urban production, while no difference was observed between industrial and urban production. Thus, the results advocate a farming system with more animal movement, less productivity and higher space requirements. In general, male respondents were more accepting of all production systems than women, while no difference could be detected between rural and urban citizens. The scaling shows that animal welfare, local production and meat quality was given priority over climate impact, biodiversity and price. Our study suggests useful prerequisites to consider for the meat industry in general, and for the development of Swedish rabbit production
Black Stork Back: Species distribution model predictions of potential habitats for Black Stork Ciconia nigra in Sweden
Increased understanding of the need to save endangered and locally extinct species has led to restoration or preservation of populations through reintroductions. Reintroduction of a species is worthwhile if the prerequisites for existence at the historical location have improved. Thus, background information about the habitat requirements of a target species is important for introduction programmes to be successful. The Black Stork Ciconia nigra was lost as a breeding species in Sweden during the 20th century, but recent observations and reports of potential breeding indicate that habitat conditions for Black Stork in Sweden may have improved. In this study, we used species characteristics and references to identify habitats in Sweden suitable for potential reintroduction of Black Stork. We identified several suitable areas in the former distribution range of this species in southern Sweden. Seven Swedish counties contained more than 18â% suitable habitat within their total area, with highest proportions in Jönköping County (25.8â%), Blekinge County (23.9â%), VĂ€stra Götaland County (22.1â%) and Kronoberg County (20.7â%). We suggest these areas to be made the primary targets for Black Stork reintroduction in Sweden
Effects of experimental rewilding on butterflies, bumblebees and grasshoppers
Grassland ecosystems are species-rich habitats that are rapidly declining globally posing serious concerns for biodiversity conservation. This situation is particularly relevant in agricultural areas in Europe. As traditional management practices and livestock grazing regimes ceased, rewilding could be a potential avenue to tackle current biodiversity declines. To test this hypothesis, we set up a 3-year experiment where 12 horses were introduced in three 10-hectare enclosure replicates (four horses per enclosure). Horses were kept without supplementary feeding to mimic ecosystem functions of wild horses. We applied Generalized Linear Mixed Effects Models and a backward stepwise model selection procedure to elucidate factors that modulate insect richness induced by grazing. Our results show that plant species richness, the proportion of flowers and plant height play a significant role for butterfly and bumblebee richness, while the opposite effect was detected for grasshoppers. However, the effect on grasshoppers was counterbalanced by increased grasshopper species richness in habitats adjacent to horse latrines. Implications for insect conservation Rewilding with horses may offset current biodiversity declines by maintaining important functional links between plants and pollinators in grassland ecosystems. Horse grazing can however have different effects on diverse functional groups of insects. Application of integrative landscape scale approaches may be needed to elucidate the effects of rewilding for certain functional groups such as grasshoppers. With current biodiversity declines, up-scaling rewilding research and practice might be crucial to mitigate the pervasive effects on insects as their services and functions are critical for our existence
Mountain-and brown hare genetic polymorphisms to survey local adaptations and conservation status of the heath hare (Lepus timidus sylvaticus, Nilsson 1831)
We provide the first whole genome sequences from three specimens of the mountain hare subspecies the heath hare (Lepus timidus sylvaticus), along with samples from two mountain hares (Lepus timidus timidus) and two brown hares (Lepus europaeus) from Sweden. The heath hare has a unique grey winter pelage as compared to other mountain hares (white) and brown hares (mostly brown), and face regional extinction, likely due to competitive exclusion from the non-native brown hare. Whole genome resequencing from the seven hare specimens were mapped to the Lepus timidus pseudoreference genome and used for detection of 11,363,883 polymorphic nucleotide positions. The data presented here could be useful for addressing local adaptations and conservation status of mountain hares and brown hares in Sweden, including unique subspecies