Management of wolf and lynx conflicts with human interests

In many areas viable populations of large carnivores are political goals. One of the most important factors in order to achieve viable large carnivore populations is human tolerance for presence of large carnivores. Thus, management of large carnivore populations in multi use landscapes will involve mitigating conflicts with human interests. In order to mitigate conflicts in a effective way, managers need tools for predicting likelihood of large carnivore occurrence, knowledge on which conflicts are considered as most important by humans in different areas, and the most efficient ways of mitigating the experienced problems. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to some parts of this toolbox for large carnivore managers. A habitat suitability model, with density of roads and built up areas as the most important variables, classified 79% of Scandinavia outside the reindeer husbandry area as suitable wolf habitat. Human tolerance towards wolves was lowest inside wolf territories and slowly increased amongst residents living up to 200 km from the nearest wolf territory. Human tolerance towards wolves may however be affected by mitigation measures such as subsidising electric fences in order to reduce the risk of wolf depredation on livestock. Management actions as subsidies for pro active measures or predator control should be targeting specific areas or individuals in order to be effective. It is also important to use the “right” management actions at the right time. Therefore it is, among other things, important to know if a reported bold wolf is acting in a way that most wolves would not, given the same circumstances. Wolves moved away from an approaching human on average at a distance of about 100 m. Wind velocity and wind direction influenced the distance heavily and humans may come as close to wolves as 17 meters before the wolves become aware of the human and react

Group Size Effect on the Success of Wolves Hunting

Social foraging shows unexpected features such as the existence of a group size threshold to accomplish a successful hunt. Above this threshold, additional individuals do not increase the probability of capturing the prey. Recent direct observations of wolves in Yellowstone Park show that the group size threshold when hunting its most formidable prey, bison, is nearly three times greater than when hunting elk, a prey that is considerably less challenging to capture than bison. These observations provide empirical support to a computational particle model of group hunting which was previously shown to be effective in explaining why hunting success peaks at apparently small pack sizes when hunting elk. The model is based on considering two critical distances between wolves and prey: the minimal safe distance at which wolves stand from the prey, and the avoidance distance at which wolves move away from each other when they approach the prey. The minimal safe distance is longer when the prey is more dangerous to hunt. We show that the model explains effectively that the group size threshold is greater when the minimal safe distance is longer. Although both distances are longer when the prey is more dangerous, they contribute oppositely to the value of the group size threshold: the group size threshold is smaller when the avoidance distance is longer. This unexpected mechanism gives rise to a global increase of the group size threshold when considering bison with respect to elk, but other prey more dangerous than elk can lead to specific critical distances that can give rise to the same group size threshold. Our results show that the computational model can guide further research on group size effects, suggesting that more experimental observations should be obtained for other kind of prey as e.g. moose.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, 8 references. Other author's papers can be downloaded at http://www.denys-dutykh.com

Measuring the Impacts of Wolves on the 'Market' for Elk Hunting: Hunter Adjustment and Game Agency Response

The reintroduction of the gray wolf to Montana and other western states has to date largely pitted ranchers against environmental groups, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as the central agency for this reintroduction. There is also another group affected by wolves that to date have had little influence on this reintroduction. Hunters have diverse views on wolves, and accordingly have not spoken with one voice concerning their reintroduction. This lack of a common view is mirrored by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's (one of the largest hunting groups in North America) evolving policy statements in 1995 and 2003 that specifically addresses that their membership will take different sides to wolf reintroduction, and that the group supports state control of wolves, 'ultimately achieving an appropriate balance between wildlife, habitat, and people' (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, 2005). Part of the ambivalence of hunters towards wolves stems from the general lack of published knowledge regarding the actual impacts of wolves on game populations, game behavior, and ultimately hunters- satisfaction. This lack of knowledge arises due to the complex nature of the predator/prey relationships, the extensive movements of wolves and their prey, and the difficulty of obtaining good population estimates of both wolves and particularly their prey. Additionally from an economic perspective, hunters- property rights to game are ill-defined, with the political strength of hunting "rights" and their values quite difficult to determine. This paper provides estimates of the effects of wolves on hunter opportunities, where these opportunities are influenced by actions taken by both the game agency and hunters in response to the spread of wolves. We utilize observed measures for these effects -permit availability, hunter success, and measures of hunter - to assess the impacts of wolves on hunters. We focus on elk − a game species that are both vulnerable to wolves and that is in high demand in Montana. Our estimation approach draws from a hedonic model in which hunters compete for a rivalrous good (elk hunting opportunities) that is not allocated through a price mechanism. Hunters in most western states compete for hunting rights by entering a special permit lottery in some cases, while they compete in other cases by undertaking costly activities to obtain a right under open access. Hunters compete for these rights under open access by racing to reach hunting areas early, establishing expertise and customary areas, and in other ways consistent with Barzel (1997). Both types of competition are observable using different instruments as in Nickerson (1990), by Buschena, Anderson, and Leonard (2001), and by Scroggin, Berrens, and Bohara (2000). Hunters are empirically modeled in such a way that allows them to benefit from elk and also from experience value of wolves. The paper provides not only a study of agency decisions in response to impacts of a threatened species, but also applies a relatively little-studied method of determining factors affecting demand and agency decision for goods distributed via a non-price mechanism. Our application (1) uses observable measures of hunter competition that reflect good valuation, (2) statistically accounts for the endogeneity of hunter and agency decision, and (3) models the simultaneous equilibria across numerous and diverse hunting districts (the "goods" being competed for in this case). Our statistical estimation shows that as wolf populations in a particularly high profile region outside Yellowstone National Park become established in a hunting district, (1) the state game agency reduces the supply of special hunting permits, (2) there are fewer hunters hunting in that district under open access licenses, and (3) hunter success rates for both special permits and open access decline with increased wolf pressure in areas with the heaviest wolf pressure. We find that the game agency and hunters respond to reduced hunting opportunities, and that their responses are larger in magnitude for high-profile (political profile) wolf populations. We believe that this paper is quite relevant to numerous parties involved in resource allocation, endangered species policy, state and federal agencies, and recreational users of public and private lands. The paper should be of interest to resource economists as it provides an application of an observable "market" for desirable resources as a complement to elicitation-based valuation methods. We expect the paper to generate a good deal of interest and discussion regarding the methodology and policy implications. Barzel, Yoram. Economic Analysis of Property Rights: Second Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Buschena, D.E., T. Anderson, and J Leonard. "Valuing Non-Market Goods: The Case of Elk Hunting in Colorado and Montana." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 41 (2001): 33-43. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "FWP Takes Lead in Wolf Management in Montana." http://fwp.state.mt.us/news/article_3700.aspx. June 24, 2005. Nickerson, Peter H. (1990) "Demand for the Regulation of Recreation: The Case of Elk and Deer Hunting in Washington State." Land Economics, 66, 437-447. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. "Our Positions" (official position statements on wolves). Bugle, the Journal of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. July/August, 2005. pp 78. Scroggin, David, Robert P. Berrens, and Alok. K. Bohara. (2000). "Policy Changes and the Demand for Lottery-Rationed Big Game Hunting Licenses." Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 25(2): 501-519.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Wolves facilitate the recovery of browse-sensitive understory herbs in Wisconsin forests

We asked whether wolf re-colonization would facilitate increased growth and reproduction of three browse-sensitive plant species. We hypothesized plant size and the proportion of reproductive individuals would be lowest in areas with no wolves, intermediate where wolves had been present for 4-6 years, and highest where wolves had been present for 12-13 years. Two plant species exhibited significantly greater reproduction where wolves were present for 12-13 years. Mean leaf size of indicator plants was significantly greater in areas where wolves were present for 12-13 years, as compared with that in areas where wolves were not present or were present for 4-6 years, but the effect size appears small. While the return of wolves to this region is likely to benefit browse-sensitive plant species, our findings suggest that wolf recovery will not generate atrophic cascade of sufficient magnitude to halt or reverse the loss of plant diversity in the Great Lakes region in the near term

The genetic legacy of extirpation and re-colonization in Vancouver Island wolves

Hybridization between wild and domestic species is of conservation concern because it can result in the loss of adaptations and/or disappearance of a distinct taxon. Wolves from Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Canada), have been subject to several eradication campaigns during the twentieth century and were considered virtually extirpated between 1950 and 1970. In this study, we use control region mitochondrial DNA sequences and 13 autosomal microsatellite loci to characterize Vancouver Island wolves as well as dogs from British Columbia. We observe a turnover in the haplotypes of wolves sampled before and after the 1950-1970 period, when there was no permanent wolf population on the island, supporting the probable local extinction of wolves on Vancouver Island during this time, followed by re-colonization of the island by wolves from mainland British Columbia. In addition, we report the presence of a domestic dog mtDNA haplotype in three individuals eliminated in 1986 that were morphologically identified as wolves. Here we show that Vancouver Island wolves were also identified as wolves based on autosomal microsatellite data. We attribute the hybridization event to the episodically small size of this population during the re-colonization event. Our results demonstrate that at least one female hybrid offspring, resulting from a cross of a male wolf and a female dog or a female hybrid pet with dog mtDNA, successfully introgressed into the wolf population. No dog mtDNA has been previously reported in a population of wild wolves. Genetic data show that Vancouver Island wolves are distinct from dogs and thus should be recognized as a population of wild wolves. We suggest that the introgression took place due to the Allee effect, specifically a lack of mates when population size was low. Our findings exemplify how small populations are at risk of hybridization. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.Peer Reviewe

Menorah Review (No. 50, Fall, 2000)

The Merchant of Venice and Skylock\u27s Christian Problem -- Mishlo\u27ach Manot -- Jews and Slaves -- Lambs and Wolves? -- Gd\u27s Grace, Gd\u27s Rain -- Rabbinic Authority in Babylonia -- Is an Art and Literature of the Holocaust Possible, or Does it Violate A Strict Taboo? -- Golden Bluff Boulder -- Noteworthy Book