The ecological benefit of tigers (Panthera tigris) to farmers in reducing crop and livestock losses in the eastern Himalayas: Implications for conservation of large apex predators

Title
The ecological benefit of tigers (Panthera tigris) to farmers in reducing crop and livestock losses in the eastern Himalayas: Implications for conservation of large apex predators
Publication Date
2018
Author(s)
Thinley, Phuntso
Rajaratnam, Rajanathan
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5932-7935
Email: rrajarat@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:rrajarat
Lassoie, James
Morreale, Stephen
Curtis, Paul
Vernes, Karl A
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1635-9950
Email: kvernes@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:kvernes
Leki, Leki
Phuntsho, Sonam
Dorji, Tshering
Dorji, Pema
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Place of publication
Netherlands
DOI
10.1016/j.biocon.2018.01.015
UNE publication id
une:22814
Abstract
Ecologists have primarily focused their attention on how predator loss influences ecosystem structure and function in intact ecosystems, but rarely tested these ecological concepts in agricultural landscapes. We conducted a study in western Bhutan on the inter-specific dynamics between tigers, leopards, and dholes, and their subsequent impact on livestock and crop losses faced by agro-pastoralists. We found that when a tiger was present in forests surrounding villages, leopards and dholes occupied areas closer to village croplands and preyed on a higher relative abundance of wild herbivore crop raiders, thereby significantly reducing crop (β = −2.25, p < .0001) and livestock losses (β = −2.39, p ≤.0001). In contrast, leopards and dholes occupied areas in deep forests farther from croplands when a tiger was absent in the village vicinity, leading to increased predation on a higher abundance of untended free-ranging livestock. We posit that justifications for large predator conservation based on their iconic status is not persuasive to rural farmers residing close to their habitat and suffering crop and livestock loss. There is a need to determine ecological services from apex predators to farmers which may dissuade them from retaliatory killings. We recommend conservation practitioners conserve large apex predators to maintain optimal inter-specific interactions in a large predator guild to benefit rural socio-economy.
Link
Citation
Biological Conservation, v.219, p. 119-125
ISSN
1873-2917
0006-3207
Start page
119
End page
125

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