Title of presentation:
of Native Predators
Speaker:
Date:
June 30, 2020
Description:
Project Coyote Science Advisory Board Member Dr. Adrian Treves founded the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research on how to balance human needs with wildlife conservation entails deep exploration of people’s conflicts with large carnivores, with a particular focus on livestock predation in the USA and abroad. This line of inquiry includes livestock husbandry, wildlife management, human and carnivore behavior, and methods for preventing human-carnivore conflicts. In this free webinar, Adrian presented a critical evaluation of the legal and illegal killing of native predators, discussed whether scientific evidence supports the hypothesized benefits of predator-killing policies, and gave a scientific perspective on future policy recommendations.
Webinar replay:
Related Links:
Dr. Adrian Treves ~ Carnivore Coexistence Lab
Santiago-Ávila, F.J., Chappell, R.J., Treves, A., 2020. Liberalizing the killing of endangered wolves was associated with more disappearances of collared individuals in Wisconsin, USA. Scientific Reports in press.
Questions & Answers from Webinar:
Q: Will the studies showing how legalized lethal control of wolves doesn’t diminish poaching be made available via links? I really want to read this as this will help make my own cases when I advocate for wolves.
A: Yes, we will pay for free online access. Please contact me at atreves@wisc.edu and I will put your name on a list to be notified when they come out.
Q: Liberal gun policies always seem to lead to more shootings and killings in general. It seems that science doesn’t matter to hunters. Passion for hunting and killing is what counts. The killing of wildlife is similar to the killing by cops of African Americans. It is systematic and embedded in the “gun” culture of the people. It’s my understanding that predator contests go on in many states and that the main reason is to cull populations of predators and protect the deer for hunters. It is not understood that nature does its own population control. In some cases, bobcats are hunted, also wolves, foxes— what are the reasons for allowing this?
A: You might be right. Our results here and here suggest killing begets more killing. Stay posted for more upcoming analyses of the effect of liberalizing wolf-killing.
Q: Does your research have correlations with mountain lion populations?
A: We are just starting a project where mountain lions are a focus. I would steer you to the paper by John Laundré cited in my webinar for an eye-opening and mind-expanding look at cougar-hunting and what it does not achieve. See my response during the webinar. And the name I could not remember under pressure was Helen Cooley. She and her colleagues Kayley Peebles and Hugh Robinson did terrific work in Rob Wielgus’ lab. Super question.
Q: Great presentation! A few questions: Can you share your thoughts on the provisions being reviewed by the House to make U.S. roadways safer for wildlife? Seems like a win for wildlife and coexistence! Are there other policies the U.S. gov is looking at to help protect wildlife? Lastly, what is the latest on the red wolf and Mexican gray wolf programs and protecting the wolves that are released as well as getting more released?
A: For the latest on Mexican wolves, please see the other webinar in this series by Dave Parsons and Kim Crumbo. We have some results for Mexican and red wolves here . For more updates on their conservation status, check out the USFWS webpages and for independent experts, see the writings of Carlos Carroll and Dave Parsons.
Q: Can we extrapolate these findings with wolves (i.e. disproven these first two fact claims) to other predators like coyotes?
A: Probably some of them. Sadly, coyotes are under-studied. I can point you to more work on them if you email me at atreves@wisc.edu.
Q: I have to sign off soon, but am working with Wildlands Network on a research paper on building ranchers’ tolerance for large carnivores in the American West. Will this presentation be shared and is there a way to contact you via email?
A: Yes to both questions. 🙂
Q: Any studies looking at how tolerance of wolves among ranching communities shift (or don’t shift) during periods of economic uncertainty? I’m asking because we’ve seen an unusually large amount of Mexican Gray Wolves killed (legally through wildlife services) this year in NM/AZ and this is obviously a bad year for beef. Wondering if rancher anxieties are possibly playing into more wolf killings.
A: See my response during the webinar. Also please follow the link (if you can) to my public comments on Mexican wolves submitted in June. If you can’t access it, email me at atreves@wisc.edu. Super question.
Q: Why aren’t we exploring conditioned taste aversion as a means of non-lethal control?
A: Folks are studying it these days, especially in Europe. It behaves a bit like a fad I have observed. It was tested in the 1970s, then revived in the 1990s, and now again in the past 5 years. The big problem I see with it is that predatory behavior (hunting and killing) is different from feeding behavior so no one has been able to show that CTA works to stop a predator from hunting and killing — at least not yet. As far as I know, CTA has been tested on pieces of meat placed in front of captive predators, not on wild predators encountering live domestic animals.
Q: How big of a role would you say poaching has played in the post-2012 decline of the wild Red Wolf population in eastern North Carolina to the alarming level they are at now?
A: See my answer in the webinar. If you want me to put you in touch with the researchers who measured it most recently, please contact me at atreves@wisc.edu. We have some results for red wolves here.
For the wild,
