Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Wildlife damage'

In its search for sustenance and cover, wildlife imposes costs on agricultural property owners. A mosaic of privateand public contractual arrangements has evolved to address this problem, with private agricultural organizations,county commissions, wildlife agencies and state and federal departments of agriculture all involved. A set ofprevalent contractual arrangements over wildlife damage is formally examined in this dissertation, includingabatement labor sharing, abatement cost sharing, and damage sharing contracts. Wildlife is modeled as a publicand potentially common-property good that is affected by and destructive to private agricultural inputs.Independent production choices that affect the wildlife stock may impose externalities on neighboring landownersor other interested parties. Contracts develop to account for these externalities, and contract structure isdependent on the costs associated with potential contract mechanisms. A fundamental problem of contractingover wildlife damage is that abatement labor effort is difficult to monitor by participants. Contract structures reflectthis difficulty. Two of the theoretical models form the basis for empirical examinations. First, livestock producersin many western states maintain cost-share programs for predator control. A contract value function is developedfor a prevalent cost-sharing rule, and the model is used to explain the observed structure and incidence of theseprograms across counties and states. Second, landowner incentives to alter crop choice in the face ofdeer-inflicted crop damage are examined. A multicrop econometric model allowing for differential damage ratesacross crops is estimated using data from Wisconsin. The model provides implications about the effects ofchanges in certain wildlife agency policy instruments. This dissertation expands the existing economic literature onwildlife damage, as well as the literature on joint production of private and public goods, the economics of pestand wildlife management, and the empirical literature on contracting over common-property and public goods.Private landowners provide much of the land on which wildlife resides, and their incentives are important in thecalculus of wildlife management. This dissertation hopefully will provide a framework useful to wildlife managersfor understanding the impacts on and the reactions of private landowners to wildlife damage policy.

In early 1994 the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Damage Control agency implemented a directive providing guidance to help avoid competition between themselves and private businesses, known as Wildlife Control Operators (WCOs) engaging in similar work. Nearly two decades later some WCOs still complain about having to compete with the Animal Damage Control agency, now named Wildlife Services. Other businesses report enjoying a cooperative relationship with the agency. I analyzed four policies that regulate competition between Wildlife Services and WCOs and found that there is a good amount of guidance given to Wildlife Services in regards to their competitive relationship with WCOs. These guidelines do not carry the force of law, however, and are subject to change and deletion. I conducted interviews with representatives from the WCO community and Wildlife Services and found that the top four factors contributing to conflict are an overlap in similar services, agency advantages, money and pricing, and policy. The top four factors contributing to cooperation were cooperative work, communication, clarified roles, and training and education. Working to decrease the conflict factors and emphasize the cooperative factors will lead to a better relationship between Wildlife Services and WCOs.

Land use changes have been shown to have significant effects on wildlife species. Sixty three percent of the national Parks and Reserves in Kenya are located in the savannas. Because of the seasonality associated with savanna ecosystems, 75% of the wildlife species and numbers in Kenya occur in savanna nonpark areas. Therefore, conservation of wildlife in Kenya has to address the changes that are taking place in savanna areas outside parks. I studied land use changes and their effects on elephant habitat quality in Amboseli Basin, Kenya. I used visual interpretation to analyze land use changes from satellite images for 1975, 1988, and 1993. I determined that during the evaluation period, conversion of areas to agricultural land has been unidirectional. The hectarage under cultivation was 2,937, 10,950, and 24,476 for 1975, 1988, and 1993 respectively. Trend analysis seems to suggest that during the evaluation period, conversion of areas to agricultural land has followed an exponential function (R² = 0.99) in Amboseli Basin. The area under cultivation was 6.9% of the total area studied. This is small but significant considering that agricultural land was almost exclusively located in areas that form the dry season fall back areas. Such areas are important for the survival of elephants and other species during critical periods. I developed a dry season habitat suitability index (HSI) model for the African elephant based on the density of acacia trees (# of trees > 5 cm dbh/ha) and distance (km) to natural sources of water in the basin. The amount of good quality habitat (i.e., HSI > 0.6) declined from 74,666 ha in 1975 to 54,890 ha in 1988, to 23,208 ha in 1993. This is a drop of 51,890 ha (65.5%) of good quality habitat in the basin. On the other hand, low quality habitat (HSI < 0.2) increased by 272% between 1975 and 1993. The weighted HSI values in the basin showed a decline, as did the habitat units for the 3 evaluation years. The weighted HSI declined by 0.13 between 1975 and 1993, while the total habitat units (ha) declined by 40,567 ha during the 18 year period. It appears that elephant habitat quality has steadily declined in the Amboseli Basin during the period considered in this study. The use of nonpark areas by elephants leads to direct interaction and conflicts with humans. Between June 1996 and July 1997, I recorded a total of 489 elephant damage incidents while the Amboseli National Park authorities recorded 143. The damage types were crops, livestock deaths, and human deaths and injuries. The majority of the damage cases involved crop depredation. The Amboseli National Park authorities significantly under-reported the number of elephant damage incidents in the basin (P < 0.0001).
Ph. D.

A questionnaire was sent to 1,506 randomly selected agricultural producers and homeowners in Virginia during 1996 to determine perceptions about deer damage and management during 1995 (response rate 52%). Overall, 58% of respondents experienced damage by deer to their plantings during 1995. Producers (71%) were more likely to experience deer damage than homeowners (37%) Among farmers, producers of soybeans, tree fruits, and peanuts were most likely to experience damage and generally rated it as being more severe than that reported by others. Regardless of perceptions regarding damage, most (70%) individuals believed that Virginia's deer population should be reduced to some degree in the future. Respondents' perceptions regarding the level of damage influenced their opinion about the level to which deer populations should be reduced; those perceiving greater damage were increasingly likely to desire a dramatic decrease in Virginia's deer population. Similarly, perception about the level of damage affected a respondent's general opinion about deer; respondents who experienced severe damage also were more likely to believe that deer are a nuisance. Overall, a majority (84%) of respondents favored recreational hunting as a means to manage deer in Virginia. A respondent's gender and the situation in which they were raised (e.g., urban, rural, farm) were strongly related to preference for management options. Female respondents and those raised in more urban areas were more likely to favor "non-lethal" management options (i.e., contraception, trapping and relocating individuals, allowing nature to take its course, fencing, and repellents) than were male respondents and those raised in rural environments. Deer density in a respondent's county of residence was directly related to perception regarding deer damage and desire for future population management (e.g., reduction versus increase).

A pilot study was conducted to assess the impacts of refugia on traditional deer management efforts via recreational hunting during 1996. Two study areas in Virginia were selected and, using information supplied by the county tax office, questionnaires were sent to individuals who owned land in the respective areas to determine distribution of land-uses, extent and severity of deer damage, and role of recreational hunting within each site. Deer damage was strongly related to land-use; respondents who owned lands on which some agricultural activity occurred were more likely to experience damage than respondents who owned non-agricultural lands. Respondents in each study area harvested more deer from their land than the mean harvest rate for the county in which they resided. Thus, it appears that, in some situations, deer harvest did not reduce damage to an acceptable level. The presence of local refugia theoretically had the potential to contribute to this relationship, but more research is needed to make definitive conclusions.
Master of Science

Human wildlife conflict (HWC) is a highly studied but unresolved aspect of wildlife management. To further knowledge on HWC, this study used a multidisciplinary approach to investigate HWC implications for local people living adjacent to two key tiger conservation reserves in Nepal. The study also assessed the potential to redistribute financial benefits accruing from predator conservation to those bearing costs through associated HWC. Secondary data and anecdotal reports suggest that local people experience significant direct and indirect costs from predator conservation through livestock losses following attacks by common leopards and Bengal tigers, and additionally, crop losses due to their prey species plus two mega herbivores (elephant and one-horned rhinoceros). To investigate this situation, data regarding HWC incidents and costs were sourced through interviews with 422 local households, direct observations, and stakeholder interviews. Collected data included livestock loss (5-year time-period) and crop loss (1-year time-period). Complementary direct observation data collated livestock loss and crop damage for 12 months. Interviews were conducted also with park visitors (N=387) and tourism business owners (N=74). Results showed that tigers are involved in significantly fewer depredation events compared to leopards. Leopards predominantly killed small to medium livestock whereas tigers selected both small to medium and large sized livestock. Livestock depredation events occurred more frequently in livestock corrals relative to forest zones or crop fields. Rates of livestock losses per household per year self-reported during interviews with local people were found higher when compared to those observed by direct measurement. Prey species of tigers and leopards (most often wild boar and chital) were involved in more frequently in crop raiding events, and caused more crop damage, when compared that caused by mega herbivores. Quantities of crops lost per household were lowest in communities where effective physical barriers to wildlife were present. Park visitors and tourism business owners indicated willingness to pay for conservation of tigers and for compensation of farmers for the losses caused by tigers and their prey species. Study findings support several key recommendations proposed to mitigate negative HWC effects in the study area. These include financial support for local communities to build predator proof livestock corrals and establishment of effective physical barriers at the park borders. A dedicated tariff for park visitors and a levy for tourism business owners are also recommended to fund ongoing predator conservation and support financial compensation for local farmers affected by HWC.
Doctor of Philosophy

"A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science." Title from PDF of title page (Georgia Southern University, viewed on June 19, 2010). Bruce A. Schulte, major professor; Lissa M. Leege, J. Michelle Cawthorn, committee members. Electronic version approved: December 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p.76-78).

This study examined the attitudes of employees of the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Damage Control (ADC) Program. This research examined ADC employees' attitudes about wildlife, the ADC program and ADC employment, wildlife damage management methods, euthanasia and the killing process, and the role of various public and private groups on ADC policy. This study also applied the theory of organizational capture to the ADC program to test its utility in explaining the attitudes and behaviors of employees. Results were based on a survey of ADC employees conducted in January 1995. Survey responses were analyzed to explore associations between employee attitudes and job type or time of service at ADC. Job type was found to be a better indicator of employee attitudes than time of service. Field and management employees tended to have more positive views of ADC and ADC employment compared with research employees. Respondents with different job types perceived different levels of effectiveness and humaneness for wildlife control methods. In general, field employees viewed lethal techniques as more effective and humane than research employees. Similarly, research employees reported nonlethal techniques to be more effective and humane than field employees. Finally, research employees felt that outside interest groups should have more influence on ADC practices than field and management employees felt they should. ADC employees were found to have some characteristics indicative of organizational capture. They had a homogeneous client base, and were resistant to reaching out to nontraditional clients in the face of opposition from traditional clients. However, they were not deflected from the ADC mission. Because respondents indicated conformity to the ADC mission, ADC was found to be at most variably captured by its traditional farming and ranching clientele.

Röjningsinstruktioner och virkesinköpare anser att rönn, asp, sälg/salix och ek (RASE) ska sparas i ungskogsröjningar för att det ska finnas annat foder åt skogslevande vilt än produktionsskog. Dessutom är ett vanligt råd till skogsägare av virkesköparna att satsa på foderskapande åtgärder för att avleda hjortdjuren. Undersökningen av ungskogsröjning visar dock att teori och praktik inte går ihop, där få stammar av RASE sparas och det är troligare att björk sparas. Enstaka RASE kan sparas i lucka där de inte kan konkurrera med en huvudstam av det planterade trädslaget. En alternativ skogsskötsel, som Öster Malma-modellen, ser blandskog som en mer ekonomiskt stabilt skogsbestånd och det bidrar samtidigt med mer lövskog än traditionell skötsel som sköter bestånd utifrån monokulturer. Forskning har även visat att foderkonkurrens mellan hjortdjuren kan göra att älg betar mer tall än bärris. En kunskapsbaserad viltförvaltning som omfamnar fler arter än en skulle kunna vara en del av lösningen.

My thesis examines the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which is the site of ongoing debate between environmentalists and the oil industry. I begin by analyzing both sides’ claims about the area’s value and establishing that the coastal zone of the ANWR, whose fate is the most precarious, should be protected for both environmental and cultural reasons. I then examine two methods for protection: the common law, and regulation. I conclude that only through proactive regulation can the ANWR continue to thrive.

This thesis examines the environmental damages done by humans, such as plastic pollution, harmful energy production, and habitat destruction, and the things we are doing to correct them. It analyzes the costs and benefits government policies such as the ban of plastic products, along with creative innovations such as a sea vacuum and a cannon that shoots fish. Are we doing enough to heal the damage we have caused? Furthermore, can we change our behaviors to prevent more damage in the future?

Betesskador på skog kostar både skogsägare och industri stora summor pengar. Ett sätt att minska betesskador kan vara bättre kontroll över populationsstorleken av klövvilt. I Sverige används flera olika etablerade viltinventeringsmetoder. Svagheten är att de baseras på trender, index och avskjutningar mer än att få fram en siffra på antalet djur. En tillförlitlig inventeringsmetod är av stor vikt som beslutsunderlag till förvaltningsplaner. Drönare är ett obemannat luftfartyg som kan utrustas med olika kameror och sensorer. Tidigare fältstudier har visat att värme från vilt kan plockas upp av en drönare utrustad med termisk kamera. Svårigheten har varit att få tillförlitlighet vid artbestämning av vilt med enbart termiska kamera. I denna studie utfördes en viltinventering av ett 506 ha stort område norr om Ljungby i Kronobergs län under januari 2020. Med hjälp av en drönare utrustad med både termisk och RGB kamera utfördes en totalinventering av området. Resultatet visar att kombinationen av både termisk och RGB kamera ökar tillförlitligheten vid artbestämning av vilt. Metodens svagheter är täta krontak av gran, gällande regelverk från transportstyrelsen samt drönarens begränsande batterikapacitet. Slutsatsen är att vilt säkrare kan identifieras och artbestämmas med kombinationen av termisk- och RGB kamera jämfört med enbart termisk kamera men att metoden behöver vidareutvecklas.

碩士
國立東華大學
自然資源與環境學系
104
The conflicts between wildlife and human occurred around the world. Wildlife could spread zoonosis disease, attack human or livestock or raid crops. Crop raiding by wildlife is the most common conflict. Farmers suffering economic losses might hurt wildlife to eradicate or retaliate them. An effective physical control that can reduce crop raiding without harming wildlife is important. I investigated the crop damage in the Fu-Shing Lipahak Ecological Farm in Hualien county. Ridging, ribbons and weeding were applied in cornfields to control Formosan ring-necked pheasant(Phasianus colchicus) and rodents. Corn saplings were mainly eaten by pheasants. Corn seed were eaten by pheasants and rodents. But rodents were less threatening to corn seed. During sapling phase ribbons decreased pheasant damage of crops, while ridging didn’t reduce damage. In the harvest, ribbon didn’t prevent pheasants feeding corns, however, weed control reduced rodent damage and rodent capture rate.

In both Kenya and Botswana, wildlife is a valuable natural resource in terms of its economic value, nutritional value, ecological value, medicinal value, educational and scientific value, as well as recreational and socio-cultural value. Despite this beneficial value, however, wild animals in both countries also cause damage and impose heavy losses on society. They also disrupt peaceful existence in local communities living in close proximity to wildlife areas. The damage they cause includes attacks on people and livestock, destruction of crops and other property as well as infrastructure. This has resulted in a human-wildlife conflict, with people having negative attitudes towards wildlife. Initially people seem to be the victims when wild animals attack them or destroy their property. Later, the animals are the real victims when people in retaliation start attacking, ensnaring or poisoning them. Contrary to the belief that it contributes to poverty alleviation, many people in the local communities in wildlife areas strongly believe wildlife has contributed to their poverty. Unless the governments of both Kenya and Botswana maintain efficient legal and institutional arrangements for wildlife damage, the future of wildlife conservation in both countries is bleak. These arrangements, if effectively enforced, have the potential to: reduce retaliatory killing of wildlife; ensure incidents of wildlife damage are reported; alleviate the losses and suffering associated with wildlife damage; and bolster public support for conservation programmes. It is encouraging that both countries recognize wildlife damage as a major problem and have put in place legal and institutional arrangements to address this problem. This study evaluated the legal and institutional arrangements in Kenya and Botswana on wildlife damage, assessing their suitability, adequacy as well as their effectiveness. While several studies have been conducted on wildlife damage, most of them mainly focus on institutional arrangements and the actual abatement measures adopted, few of them approach the subject from a legal standpoint, in the way this study does. Those studies do not, for instance, discuss the legal basis of the need for legal arrangements for wildlife damage alleviation and the various approaches and actual forms of legal intervention. This author through the use of semi-structured interviews, self-administered questionnaires, focus group discussions, and literature survey investigated the problem of ii wildlife damage in Kenya and Botswana. A central part of this investigation was on the types of damage, the animals involved, whether and how this problem has influenced public attitudes towards wildlife conservation, and suggestions for solution. Research for this study was conducted in the Laikipia region of Kenya and the Okavango delta region of Botswana between January and December 2006. This researcher interviewed 44 respondents from each country, comprising households from the local communities within wildlife areas, senior ranking government officials, leaders of NGOs that actually work on wildlife issues, experts in natural resource management as well as eminent scholars in environmental and natural resources law and policy. Research for this study established that while the governments of both Kenya and Botswana have established certain legal and institutional frameworks on wildlife damage, there are factors that hamper their efficient operation. These factors include the relevance and suitability of the existing laws, as well as their acceptability to stakeholders; lack of appropriate policy framewoks and dispute resolution mechanisms to support the regulatory regime; institutional problems such as overlapping responsibilities, lack of adequate resources and lack of motivation among staff. These factors together with others have continued to be a major challenge to the quest for appropriate and effective legal and institutional response to the problem of wildlife damage in both countries. The study found that in both countries the law vests in the state the power to manage wildlife wherever it occurs within the national boundaries. Botswana’s community-based wildlife management model, however, offers more incentives for conservation to local communities than Kenya’s state-centered system which largely disregards the role of local communities in wildlife matters. This author has argued that local communities are critical stakeholders and the success of any conservation programmes will depend on their goodwill. Besides, while the state has a duty to protect wildlife from harm by humans, it also has a corresponding duty to protect humans and their property from damage by wild animals and to ensure that wildlife does not undermine the people’s livelihoods and development. This is, however, not usually the case as in practice the state in both countries, and especially in Kenya, iii seems to favour wild animals at the expense of the people. The study has recommended certain reforms which need to be undertaken if Kenya and Botswana have to maintain appropriate and efficient legal and institutional arrangements on wildlife damage.

As areas of agricultural production expand worldwide, complex zones of wildlife-agriculture interface present numerous benefits and challenges to farmers and wildlife managers. In western Canada, free-ranging elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) make frequent use of cereal, oilseed, and pulse crops. However, cervid use of annual crops presents substantial socio-economic concerns for producers. Additionally, use of crops may facilitate cervids co-mingling and increase the risk of intra- and inter-specific transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD). The purpose of my thesis research was to determine the key environmental factors influencing the selection of agricultural crops by elk, white-tailed deer, and mule deer, analyze overlap in species’ selection, and develop predictive models to identify the spatial distribution of crop damage risk. In this study, I analyzed 19,069 damage claims paid by Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation to Saskatchewan farmers for confirmed losses to annual crops (cereals, oilseeds, pulses) from 2000-2012 by elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. These data were used to conduct species-specific ecological niche factor analyses (ENFAs), which relate habitat variables within damaged sites to that of the surrounding landscape. The key habitat variables influencing selection of annual crops were then incorporated into resource selection probability function (RSPF) models. These models characterize and predict the probability of crop damage by elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer, and each possible dual species combination. By integrating damage probability values and historical monetary values of regional crop production, I evaluated the risk of annual crop damage by each of the three species, and dual species combinations, across all sections of agricultural land in Saskatchewan. The ENFAs revealed that elk and white-tailed deer selected for areas where a high proportion of farmland is seeded to oats, barley, canola, and alfalfa, while avoiding areas farther from protected areas, with a high density of paved or unpaved roads and a high proportion of open grassland. Alternately, mule deer favoured open grasslands, shrublands, and areas with a greater density of streams or water bodies, while avoiding areas where a high proportion of farmland is seeded to oats, canola, flaxseed, wheat, and barley. Areas at highest risk for annual crop damage by elk bordered the northern edge of the study area; mule deer damage risk was highest in south-western and central Saskatchewan; while white-tailed deer damage risk was highest in north-eastern and north-central areas of the province. Identifying these specific associations between landscape variables, rates of crop damage, and associated species overlap may provide an important opportunity for agencies to develop cooperative management strategies to efficiently allocate mitigation resources. Efforts to prevent the selection of cereal, oilseed, and pulse crops by free ranging elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer in Saskatchewan could prove to be a valuable step in not only minimizing crop damage and maintaining wildlife tolerance in rural communities, but also in managing the spread of chronic wasting disease throughout western Canada.

The thesis analyses compensations of damages caused by great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) in fish farms in South Bohemian Region pursuant to Act. No 115/2000 Sb. till 2011. In the introductory section is described a development of population of nesting and migrating Great cormorants in Europe, particularly in the Czech Republic from the 80th of last century, and reasons for conflict between this species conservation and fish farming including legal conditions for compensation to pond owners and a development of compensation issues in the Czech Republic. This thesis assesses an overall status of the compensation of damages already paid in South Bohemia, analyses claimants according subject type and compares the amount of compensation of damages in relation to the number and the pond area including the frequency of submitted apllications by different types of claimants and the relationship to individual districts of South Bohemian Region. The survey in five chosen ponds in Třeboňsko region evaluates a current secondary damages caused by Great cormorants in the form of injured fishes obtained during fishing out.