Livestock farmers’ traits, perceptions and knowledge on vertebrate scavengers in Central Nepal

1. There is a long-standing relationship between humans and vertebrate scavengers, as scavengers’ contributions take on regulating (e.g. nutrient recycling, disease control), material (e.g. competition, livestock depredation) and non-material (e.g. sky burials, ecotourism) roles in society. A social-ecological approach to studying biodiversity is increasingly needed, since the inclusion of local perceptions and knowledge has proven critical for effective conservation programs and ecosystem management.
2. We examine livestock farmers’ perceptions and knowledge related to vertebrate scavengers in the highly diverse Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (Nepal), and assess the sociodemographic traits that influence their perceived value of scavengers’ ecosystem services provisioning (ESP), and function via scavenging services (SS). 
3. Farmers’ perceptions of functional importance (SS) showed species-specific gradation, unlike ESP, where only avian scavengers were perceived as beneficial. Our result...