Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective

An unexpected human-wildlife conflict between vultures and livestock has emerged in Europe during the last two decades. Farmers attributed changes in vulture behavior, due to food shortages caused by sanitary regulations, to increasing livestock interactions (‘vulture attacks’). To disentangle this...

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Autores: Oliva-Vidal, Pilar, Hernández-Matías, Antonio, García, Diego, Colomer, M. Àngels, Real, Joan, Margalida, Antoni
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/283982
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/283982
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Farmer perception
Human-wildlife conflicts
Restrictive sanitary regulations
Vulture attack
Vulture-livestock conflict
Wildlife damage compensation
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spelling Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspectiveOliva-Vidal, PilarHernández-Matías, AntonioGarcía, DiegoColomer, M. ÀngelsReal, JoanMargalida, AntoniFarmer perceptionHuman-wildlife conflictsRestrictive sanitary regulationsVulture attackVulture-livestock conflictWildlife damage compensationAn unexpected human-wildlife conflict between vultures and livestock has emerged in Europe during the last two decades. Farmers attributed changes in vulture behavior, due to food shortages caused by sanitary regulations, to increasing livestock interactions (‘vulture attacks’). To disentangle this conflict, we analyzed 683 farmer complaints between 1996 and 2020 in Catalonia (northeastern Spain) and investigated the eco-anthropological factors driving their frequency. We also assessed farmers' perception through 127 interviews. Most complaints (80 %) occurred during the birthing season, mainly involving cattle (76.5 %), followed by horses (14.9 %) and sheep/goats (8.6 %). From 2008 to 2020, vulture-livestock conflicts cost the government €192,000 (~22 % of claims compensated). The frequency of complaints was positively associated with extensive livestock density, griffon vulture Gyps fulvus abundance (breeding and non-breeding), shorter distances to landfill sites and, to a lesser extent, to supplementary feeding stations. In contrast, there was a negative relationship between complaints and the number of griffon vulture breeding pairs, suggesting that long-distance foraging movements by both breeding and non-breeding individuals may play a major role in determining the occurrence of conflicts. Farmers (88 %) said that vultures attack livestock and that attacks had increased in recent years because of significant vulture population increases and food shortages due to sanitary regulations. They considered government policies and compensation ineffective. We highlight the critical need for mitigation in areas with high extensive livestock numbers, particularly during birthing times. Scientific assessments and interdisciplinary awareness campaigns on the coexistence of vultures and livestock are necessary to harmonize biodiversity conservation and agro-pastoral practices in rural economies.This study was partially funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by the projects RTI2018-099609-B-C22 and PID2020-117909RB-I00 from the I+D+I National Plan funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. POV and AM were funded within the framework of the project RTI2018-099609-B-C22.Peer reviewedElsevierGeneralitat de CatalunyaAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]202220222022info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/283982reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2020-117909RB-I00info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/RTI2018-099609-B-C22https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109664Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/2839822026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
title Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
spellingShingle Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
Oliva-Vidal, Pilar
Farmer perception
Human-wildlife conflicts
Restrictive sanitary regulations
Vulture attack
Vulture-livestock conflict
Wildlife damage compensation
title_short Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
title_full Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
title_fullStr Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
title_full_unstemmed Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
title_sort Griffon vultures, livestock and farmers: Unraveling a complex socio-economic ecological conflict from a conservation perspective
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Oliva-Vidal, Pilar
Hernández-Matías, Antonio
García, Diego
Colomer, M. Àngels
Real, Joan
Margalida, Antoni
author Oliva-Vidal, Pilar
author_facet Oliva-Vidal, Pilar
Hernández-Matías, Antonio
García, Diego
Colomer, M. Àngels
Real, Joan
Margalida, Antoni
author_role author
author2 Hernández-Matías, Antonio
García, Diego
Colomer, M. Àngels
Real, Joan
Margalida, Antoni
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Generalitat de Catalunya
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Farmer perception
Human-wildlife conflicts
Restrictive sanitary regulations
Vulture attack
Vulture-livestock conflict
Wildlife damage compensation
topic Farmer perception
Human-wildlife conflicts
Restrictive sanitary regulations
Vulture attack
Vulture-livestock conflict
Wildlife damage compensation
description An unexpected human-wildlife conflict between vultures and livestock has emerged in Europe during the last two decades. Farmers attributed changes in vulture behavior, due to food shortages caused by sanitary regulations, to increasing livestock interactions (‘vulture attacks’). To disentangle this conflict, we analyzed 683 farmer complaints between 1996 and 2020 in Catalonia (northeastern Spain) and investigated the eco-anthropological factors driving their frequency. We also assessed farmers' perception through 127 interviews. Most complaints (80 %) occurred during the birthing season, mainly involving cattle (76.5 %), followed by horses (14.9 %) and sheep/goats (8.6 %). From 2008 to 2020, vulture-livestock conflicts cost the government €192,000 (~22 % of claims compensated). The frequency of complaints was positively associated with extensive livestock density, griffon vulture Gyps fulvus abundance (breeding and non-breeding), shorter distances to landfill sites and, to a lesser extent, to supplementary feeding stations. In contrast, there was a negative relationship between complaints and the number of griffon vulture breeding pairs, suggesting that long-distance foraging movements by both breeding and non-breeding individuals may play a major role in determining the occurrence of conflicts. Farmers (88 %) said that vultures attack livestock and that attacks had increased in recent years because of significant vulture population increases and food shortages due to sanitary regulations. They considered government policies and compensation ineffective. We highlight the critical need for mitigation in areas with high extensive livestock numbers, particularly during birthing times. Scientific assessments and interdisciplinary awareness campaigns on the coexistence of vultures and livestock are necessary to harmonize biodiversity conservation and agro-pastoral practices in rural economies.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
2022
2022
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/283982
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/283982
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2020-117909RB-I00
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/RTI2018-099609-B-C22
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109664
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
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