Human-wildlife conflicts with crocodilians, cetaceans and otters in the tropics and subtropics

PeerJ

article

Patrick Cook¹  Joseph E. Hawes³  João Vitor Campos-Silva⁴  Carlos A. Peres¹ 

[1] School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia;Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling;Applied Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University;Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management ,(MINA), Norwegian University of Life Sciences;Instituto Juruá;Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas;Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia

关键词: Human-wildlife conflict;    Fisheries;    Animal attack;    Carnivore;    Predator;    Crocodile;    Otter;    Dolphin;    Amazon;    Aquatic mammal;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.12688

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Conservation of freshwater biodiversity and management of human-wildlife conflicts are major conservation challenges globally. Human-wildlife conflict occurs due to attacks on people, depredation of fisheries, damage to fishing equipment and entanglement in nets. Here we review the current literature on conflicts with tropical and subtropical crocodilians, cetaceans and otters in freshwater and brackish habitats. We also present a new multispecies case study of conflicts with four freshwater predators in the Western Amazon: black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), boto (Inia geoffrensis) and tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis). Documented conflicts occur with 34 crocodilian, cetacean and otter species. Of the species reviewed in this study, 37.5% had conflicts frequently documented in the literature, with the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) the most studied species. We found conflict severity had a positive relationship with species body mass, and a negative relationship with IUCN Red List status. In the Amazonian case study, we found that the black caiman was ranked as the greatest ‘problem’ followed by the boto, giant otter and tucuxi. There was a significant difference between the responses of local fishers when each of the four species were found entangled in nets. We make recommendations for future research, based on the findings of the review and Amazon case study, including the need to standardise data collection.

【 授权许可】

CC BY