Assessing the relationship between illegal hunting of ungulates, wild prey occurrence and livestock depredation rate by large carnivores

1. Illegal hunting of ungulates can reduce the prey base of carnivores, which can increase human-carnivore conflict (HCC) through livestock depredation. However, the relationship between ungulate poaching, wild prey abundance and livestock depredation has rarely been empirically studied.
2. We surveyed 18 sites across the Hyrcanian forest in northern Iran; a global biodiversity hotspot under pressure of illegal hunting of ungulates, prey depletion, livestock grazing and HCC. We conducted three field surveys across 1204 km in 93 4×4 km cells to count signs of ungulate poaching as well as encounters with livestock and prey species of the Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor and the grey wolf Canis lupus. We documented sheep/goat and cattle depredation from interviews with 201 herders and analysed the effects of illegal hunting of ungulates, forest cover, IUCN categories of reserves, elevation, distance to villages, and wild prey and livestock encounter rates on carnivore depredatio...

1. 非法捕猎有蹄类动物（ungulates）会缩减食肉动物（carnivores）的猎物基础，进而通过牲畜盗食（livestock depredation）加剧人兽冲突（human-carnivore conflict, HCC）。但目前鲜有针对有蹄类盗猎、野生猎物丰度与牲畜盗食率之间关联的实证研究。
2. 本研究对伊朗北部希尔卡尼亚森林（Hyrcanian forest）内的18个样地开展调查——该区域是受有蹄类非法捕猎、猎物枯竭、家畜放牧以及人兽冲突威胁的全球生物多样性热点地区（global biodiversity hotspot）。我们在93个4千米×4千米的样方内，沿总长1204千米的调查路线开展了3次野外调查，以统计有蹄类盗猎痕迹，并记录波斯豹（Panthera pardus saxicolor）与灰狼（Canis lupus）的野生猎物及家畜的遇见率。我们通过对201名牧民的访谈，记录了绵羊/山羊与牛的遭捕食情况，并分析了有蹄类非法捕猎、森林覆盖率、国际自然保护联盟（International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN）保护区分级、海拔、距村庄距离、野生猎物遇见率以及家畜遇见率对食肉动物被捕食率的影响……