Article

Welfare Implications of Culling Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus)

February 2000
Animal Welfare 9(1):3-24

DOI:10.1017/S0962728600022703

Authors:

Elizabeth Bradshaw

Patrick Bateson

University of Cambridge

In southwestern England, red deer, Cervus elaphus, are culled by rifle ('stalking') or by hunting with hounds ('hunting'). We compare the welfare costs of the two culling methods. Observations of hunts revealed that likely stressors such as close proximity to humans and hounds, active pursuit, noise, obstruction and physical restraint prior to despatch were very common. Other stressors, such as wounding, were rare. The blood profiles of hunted deer were compared both with injured deer, which were put down because they were thought to be suffering, and with stags stalked in the rutting season, when mature males rapidly lose weight and may be damaged in fights. Extensively hunted deer did not differ from severely injured deer in measures of muscle disruption: in hunted deer measures of red blood cell damage and psychological stress were higher. Hunted stags killed during the rut showed markedly higher levels of measures of blood and muscle cell disruption, psychological stress and fat reserve mobilization than stalked stags killed during this season. Estimates of wounding rates by stalkers showed that 11 per cent of deer required two or more shots to kill, 7 per cent took 2-15 min to die and 2 per cent escaped wounded. Overall, we judged that the welfare costs associated with hunting red deer were higher than those associated with stalking, and reducing the welfare costs associated with hunting was much less feasible than reducing those associated with stalking.

Characterising a unique recreational hunting method: hound hunting of sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) in Victoria, Australia

Article

Dec 2022

Context Scent-trailing dogs (‘hounds’) are used to hunt introduced sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) in south-eastern Australia, but little is known about this recreational hunting technique. Aim The aim of this study was to characterise hound hunting of sambar deer in Victoria, Australia. Our study had three objectives as follows: (1) to report the hunting success of the technique; (2) to estimate pursuit times and distances; and (3) to investigate the landscape features associated with kill sites. Methods Data were collected from four hound-hunting crews during 2020–2021. GPS data from collars fitted to hounds were used to quantify hunt duration (min) and hunt distance (m). Logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of deer sex and hound pack size on the probability of hunting success. We used a Bayesian multinomial regression resource selection function (RSF) to identify the characteristics of sites where deer were killed (elevation, aspect, and distances to water and roads). Key results The four hunting teams ranged in size from 2 to 10 people and from one to eight hounds. Of 136 hunts, most (88%) harvested a deer, with pursued deer escaping on the other 12% of occasions. Pursuit times and distances were highly variable, with pursuit time >60 min for 46% of hunts and pursuit distance >5 km for 30% of hunts. The probability of killing a pursued male and female deer were similar, and there was not a positive relationship between pack size and hunt success. The RSF showed that both male and female deer were more likely to be killed on steeper slopes and closer to roads. Conclusions Successful hound hunting of sambar deer involves pursuits of considerable duration and requires a network of roads, with geographical features associated with deer kills sites being related to hunter access. Implications Hound hunting may be a useful wildlife management tool for land managers, but further studies are needed to assess its efficacy for achieving management goals.

Some physiological parameters of spiny mice Acomys cahirinus in the wild and captivity

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2011

The present study was carried out to investigate the hematological and biochemical parameters changes of two groups of Egyptian spiny mice Acomys cahirinus from the wild and captivity. The heamatology: The results showed a significant decrease in blood hemoglobin concentration of the captive spiny mice compared to the wild group. The results indicated that decreased significantly in each of red blood cells count (RBC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and in red blood cells distribution width (RDW) in captive group compared with the wild group. On the other hand, average volume of the red blood cells (MCV) & mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) increased significant in the captive mice compared with the wild. The results indicated that a significant decrease in haematocrit percentage (PCV) in the captive group compared to the field group. The results showed that higher significant increased in each white blood cells count, lymphocytes and granulocytes percentage, while decreased significant was found in monocytes percentage in captive group compared with wild group. The results showed that increased significant in numbers of platelets in the captive group compared to the field group. The blood serum chemistry was found a significant difference between in the two groups. The results showed highly significant decrease in each total protein, triglycerides and sodium of captive group compared with wild group. On the other hand, significant increase in serum of each glucose, total cholesterol, urea, uric acid and calcium of the captive group compared with field group. Aspartate aminotransferase AST was found to be decreased significantly, while, there was no significant difference of serum alanine transminase ALT in the two groups. Water consumption: The spiny mice consumed water as 2.4 ml/day this measured in the captive mice but not can be measured the consumed water of wild group. INTRODUCTION Stress will be defined as the experience of having intrinsic or extrinsic demands that exceed an individual's resources for responding to those demands (Dantzer, 1991). Living systems have evolved to reduce these demands and maintain the status through a series of physiological and sometimes behavioral responses. The tendency of systems to maintain a steady state is referred to as homeostasis, and for some authors a stressor is anything that challenges homeostasis (Michelson et al., 1995). Studies of haematology and blood chemistry are useful for monitoring and treating animals held in captivity as basic information about a range of body systems (Asper et al., 1990). Studies on captured

62A)comparative physiology 227-250

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2011

62A)comparative physiology 227-250

Article

Jan 2011

Underaddressed animal‐welfare issues in conservation

Article

Dec 2018

Much progress has been made improving animal welfare in conservation over the past two decades. However, several glaring knowledge gaps remain where animal welfare concerns exist but animal welfare studies have not been performed in politically sensitive contexts. We use examples from Australia to identify four such issues lacking meaningful analysis; the absence of animal welfare oversight for operations designated as “management” (as opposed to research), the lack of consideration for the animal welfare impacts of biological agents that are used to control invasive animals, the paucity of studies to examine the welfare of animals that are hunted recreationally, and the scarcity of studies to examine the animal welfare impacts associated with Indigenous wildlife use. We suggest how animal welfare science may be applied to these sensitive topics and provide examples of studies that have effectively addressed animal welfare concerns in similarly contentious contexts. For discussions of animal welfare in conservation to be evidence‐based, courageous research is required in the four key areas of missing science that we have identified. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Quantitative analysis of animal-welfare outcomes in helicopter shooting: A case study with feral dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2014

Context. Helicopter shooting is a common and effective tool for reducing overabundant wildlife populations. However, there is little quantitative information on the humaneness of the method, leading to uncertainty in wildlife-management policy. There is, subsequently, a need for an improved understanding of the welfare implications of helicopter shooting. Aim. A study was undertaken to infer the humaneness of helicopter shooting for a case study species, the feral dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius). Methods. Seven post-mortem studies (n = 715) and one ante-mortem study (n = 192) were undertaken during routine helicopter shooting programs of free-ranging camels. In these studies, we measured four animal-welfare parameters to allow inference on the humaneness of the technique. These parameters were time to death, instantaneous death rate (proportion of animals for which time to death = 0), wounding rate and location of bullet-wound tract. We also modelled these welfare variables against hypothesised explanatory variables to assist improvement of future programs. Key results. The mean wounding rate was 0.4%, and the killing efficacy of the technique was 99.6%. Mean time to death was 4 s, and mean instantaneous death rate was 83%. Each animal displayed a mean 2.4 bullet-wound tracts, with 75%, 63% and 35% of animals shot at least once in the thorax, cranium and cervical spine, respectively. Regression analysis revealed that the identity of the shooter and the nature of the local vegetation were the most important factors associated with an animal experiencing an inferred instantaneous death or not. Conclusions. Helicopter shooting of feral camels produces a very low wounding rate and rapid time to death. Shooter identity is the most important consideration for determining animal-welfare outcomes. Improvements to the humaneness of programs can be made by increasing the rigour of shooter selection and training. Implications. Wildlife killing methods must be demonstrated to be humane to receive public support; however, few shooting methods are objectively examined. Helicopter shooting can be independently examined and operators assessed. Adoption of this examination template may allow continual improvement by industry as well as increasing societal acceptance of helicopter shooting.

The welfare ethics of the commercial killing of free-ranging kangaroos: An evaluation of the benefits and costs of the industry

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2014

The commercial killing of kangaroos provides multiple benefits to society, but also causes both deliberate and unintended harms to kangaroos. The ethics of the kangaroo industry is assessed in terms of whether the assumed benefits justify the welfare costs. An analysis of the stated benefits indicates that killing for damage mitigation is beneficial mainly during drought and not at current levels; that there is a commercial value, although considerably lower than previously estimated, and that demonstrable environmental benefits from commercial killing of kangaroos are lacking; and that the commercial kill may ameliorate the suffering of kangaroos during drought. Welfare practices are very difficult to assess and regulate due to the size and remote nature of the industry. A combination of empirical data on welfare outcomes and inferences drawn from behavioural and reproductive knowledge of the commercially killed species are utilised to assess harm. The welfare costs include deliberate and indirect harm to dependent young (a by-product of the commercial kill), and a number of unintended harms to adult kangaroos, including increased mortality during drought, inhumane killing of a portion of adult kangaroos, and a disruption of social stability and the evolutionary potential of individuals. Furthermore, a substan- tial gap exists between the intended welfare standards of the code of practice governing the kangaroo industry and the welfare outcomes for both dependent young and adult kangaroos. We found that, on balance, the benefits are lower than expected and the welfare costs are likely to be considerably higher than acceptable. More research, particularly at the point of kill, is necessary to verify and assess the extent of harms. A number of improvements are suggested to the code of practice to improve welfare outcomes

Meat from wild ungulates: Ensuring quality and hygiene of an increasing resource

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2010

Wild ungulate populations are increasing in Europe and Italy, with a consequent increase in culling rates and availability of their meats. Objectives of this review were to evaluate the trends of availability of meat from wild ungu-lates in Italy, to review the present knowledge on nutritional properties, sensorial characteris-tics, and hygiene problems of wild ungulate meat and to examine the critical steps that influence their hygiene and quality. Wild ungu-late meat in Italy derives mainly from wild boar, roe deer and red deer and its availability has been increasing in the last decade. Total con-sumption of wild ungulate meat is low (0.1-0.3 kg per capita/year), but in some regions rises to significant levels, especially for hunters' fami-lies (1.0-4.0 kg per capita/year). Wild ungulate meats generally have a low fat content, although with a certain variability associated with gender, hunting season, age and physio-logical conditions, and a favourable fatty acid composition. In general, they are darker, less tender and characterised by a more intense and peculiar flavour than meats from domestic ruminants. However, these properties also show a great inter-and intra-specific variabili-ty. Risks for the consumer associated with con-taminants (heavy metals, radionuclides, organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls) and zoonoses are considered to be low. Critical steps from shooting in the field to the final marketing should be considered to ensure hygiene and quality of meats. Future research should focus on the variability of hunting modes, accuracy of shooting, field dressing and carcass processing, in order to understand how these practices influence the final microbiological and sensorial quality of wild ungulate meats.

The Morality of Trophy Hunting

Chapter

Apr 2023

The most basic moral dilemma in sport hunting is the dispute between deontologists, arguing that animals have inalienable rights to life, and consequentialists, arguing that hunting can lead to less total suffering and the conservation of species and habitats. This dilemma has already been presented in the historical chapter, mainly in Chapters 2.9 and 2.10.What we will attempt to demonstrate in Chapter 8 is that deontology vs. consequentialism is not the only important conflict between paradigms of normative ethics in the trophy hunting discourse. What seems to be unique about the conflict over trophy hunting compared to the conflict over sport hunting is that there is less emphasis on the death of animals per se and more emphasis on the persons who cause said deaths. The emphasis is on the character, motivations, behaviour, and attributes of the hunter.Our claim, following from this observation, is that in order to understand the moral conflicts underlying the trophy hunting discourse, it is no longer enough to understand the obvious incompatibilities between deontology and consequentialism. We must also be open to the possibility of incompatibilities between virtue ethics (i.e. the character of hunters) and consequentialism.To illustrate this, we present in Chapter 8.1 and 8.2 our observations from Twitter, where comments to trophy photos were categorized as pertaining to either the character of hunters or animals/the death of animals. A far greater number of comments about the character of hunters were found, supporting the notion that virtue ethics play an important role in antihunting sentiments.

Fair Chase and Sport Hunting

Chapter

Apr 2023

“Sport Hunting” is highly contentious and confusing, because it can have two meanings. One meaning of sport hunting is to hunt in a sporting way and give the animal a sporting chance. This is equivalent to the ideal of fair chase. The other meaning is to hunt for sport. It portrays hunting as competition and fun.In Chapter 6, we summarize the history of these terms – also discussed in Chapter 2 already – and discuss the meaning of sport hunting. We then discuss how fair chase is sought achieved by decreasing the power gap between hunter and prey through technological handicaps (like using a bow instead of a rifle – Chapter 6.1) and behavioural handicaps (like not shooting a deer on ice or in water or deep snow – Chapter 6.2).We then cover in Chapter 6.3 what we suggest could be an inverse relationship between fair chase and animal welfare. Bowhunting is one such example where, by making the hunt more difficult and therefore “fair,” evidence suggests that wounding rates and thereby animal suffering may increase.Finally, canned hunting is the practice of hunting animals that are fenced in, thus limiting their chance of escape. We discuss the very controversial issue of canned hunting in Chapter 6.4, as it is generally held up as an example of the opposite of fair chase. Plenty of hunting ranches in America, notably Texas, offer canned hunting, and captive-bred lions in South Africa for lion-petting tourism and canned hunting has until now been a big industry but seems to be shutting down. We cover all of this in 6.4.

Trophy Hunting and Conservation

Chapter

Apr 2023

This chapter investigates conservation claims and issues as they pertain to hunting. After a description of the major regulations governing trophy hunting imports and exports (5.1 Trophy Hunting Regulations), this chapter examines the conservation situation in two geographically different sections.The first section (5.2 Hunting and Conservation in Africa) concerns the stereotypical perception of trophy hunting. The trophy hunting situation and conservation issues are completely different in Africa than in Europe and USA and the problems are more diverse and complex. African hunting is more controversial because the species involved (lions, elephants, giraffes, etc.) are iconic, highly anthropomorphized, and sometimes endangered. Both species extinction and species overpopulation are issues in Africa. Corruption, poverty, poaching, and the West imposing their wildlife ideals on Africa are also important factors that we cover here.The second section (5.3 Hunting and Conservation in Eurasia and the Americas) concerns trophy hunting mostly in Europe and USA, where they have few natural predators of deer, so hunting is broadly considered the most feasible way of keeping deer populations from outgrowing carrying capacities of habitats. There are issues, however, with keeping populations down, because hunters favour bucks (because of trophy-fixations and ingrained fair chase ideals), and shooting bucks does little to keep populations in check. Also, shooting the wrong bucks or shooting them too early leads to genetic problems in the populations. These are the primary conservation issues that we discuss in a European- and US context.Other conservation-related matters discussed in this chapter are hunting and genetics, management alternatives to hunting, photography, and poaching.

Trophy Hunting Now

Chapter

Apr 2023

In this final chapter, we present the challenges that recent years and especially 2020–21 have presented in the context of trophy hunting.In Chapter 9.1, we cover Covid-19 and how it has affected hunting and conservation differently in Africa, Europe, and the US. African countries and communities have suffered greatly economically from a lack of tourism, which has led to increased poaching and habitat loss; British venison could not be offhanded as it is largely supplied to restaurants, which have been closed because of Covid; and rural hunting and self-sufficiency mentality has increased in the US.In Chapter 9.2, we deal with the increasingly prominent issues of misinformation and disinformation in science communication and communication about trophy hunting especially, and with how social media amplifies misinformation. We describe a couple of the major trophy hunting disinformation campaigns on both sides of the fence and note how both celebrities and certain celebrity scientists seem to use anti trophy hunting campaigning as a popularity booster.

Trophy Hunting

Book

Jan 2023

Hunters and Antihunters

Chapter

Apr 2023

We have three goals in Chapter 4.The first goal is to describe who hunters are (and to a lesser extent antihunters). Demographical information about hunters is much better for USA than for Europe, and trophy hunting is ten times the scale in USA as in the rest of the world combined, so we focus on a portrayal of American hunters. We use mainly the United States Fish and Wildlife Service statistics and the Virginia based Responsive Management survey research firm combined with demographical information about members of the Boone and Crockett Club and Safari Club International. Education, income, gender, ages, race, hunting efforts, and prey species of American hunters is laid out in Chapter 4.1, and we discuss common backgrounds of antihunters in Chapter 4.4.Our second goal (in Chapter 4.2 Hunting, Privilege, and Social Schisms) is to present and defend the hypothesis that hunter-antihunter conflicts are not just about hunting, but about many other social and sociocultural differences and conflicts. The trophy hunter stereotype (based on the demographics described in Chapter 4.1) is a male, white, conservative, protestant, wealthy, pro-gun, business owner. The antihunter (Chapter 4.4) is typically a female, non-white, liberal, anti-gun student. Hunting is just one representation of a mutual dislike that stems from many underlying societal tensions.Our third goal (in Chapters 4.3 and 4.5) is to explore why hunters hunt. We take our departure in the works of Stephen R. Kellert, and supplement with scholars like Jan E. Dizard, Simon Bronner, and Allen Morris Jones to discuss the three different archetypes of hunters (the nature hunter, the meat hunter, and the sport hunter), their reasons for hunting, and what hunting means to them. In Chapter 4.5, we discuss hunting motivations outside or not fully covered by Kellert’s framework and motivations that pertain specifically to trophies.

Anthropomorphism and “Viralability”

Chapter

Apr 2023

Anthropomorphism – assigning human characteristics to nonhuman entities – plays an important role in trophy hunting, because the animals that are hunted for trophies are generally some of the most anthropomorphised animals with prominent and often highly anthropomorphized representation in movies. Deer are Bambis, lions are Simbas, elephants are Dumbos, etc. We argue that anthropomorphism is an important reason that trophy hunting is so disdained.We introduce this subject in 7.1 by way of an examination of a giraffe called Marius, who was killed in Copenhagen Zoo in 2014. We use Marius to introduce a discussion of what makes some animals anthropomorphised and loved while others are hated. The various features of animals that research has shown elicit human empathy are covered and the strategies of zoos in using those features for their benefit are explored. We also consider what makes some stories about animals more likely to go viral than others, such as animal names.We discuss what this all means and how it matters in a trophy hunting context in 7.2 and demonstrate that trophy hunted animals have many of the relevant features.

A History of Hunting and Hunting Perceptions

Chapter

Apr 2023

The purposes of our second chapter are to provide a summary of hunting’s historical role and show how attitudes toward hunting have evolved. Our goal with this book is to foster a comprehensive understanding of trophy hunting, but to understand any hunting today, we must understand its history. Hunting’s association with privilege today stems from Medieval Europe, where hunting was the prerogative of nobility. The perception of hunting as courageous challenge and test of manhood comes from Antiquity in Greece and China. Conservation arguments in favour of hunting rely on the conservation experiences of late nineteenth century American sport hunters like Theodore Roosevelt and their confrontation with market hunters. Animal rights arguments against hunting today are mostly identical to those of Henry Stephens Salt in 1892. The impression of hunters as indiscriminate exterminators of wildlife comes from market hunters’ decimation of bison- and passenger pigeon populations in colonial America and Great White Hunter stereotypes and their autobiographies from colonial Africa. Etc. This chapter also serves as a chronological literature review of hunting-as-conservation and antihunting arguments. We do not dwell on general explanations of e.g. animal rights, transcendentalism, or ecofeminist theory, as this is covered in other literature. We examine specifically the attitudes of these positions to hunting.

Hunting Trophies

Chapter

Apr 2023

The third chapter is about the namesake of trophy hunters: The trophy. We have roughly four goals in this chapter:We start this chapter by explaining how we define a Hunting Trophy in this book. Next, we provide a thorough technical description of hunting trophies in two categories. First category (3.1 Taxidermy) is taxidermy. We summarize the history of taxidermy, dating back to the use of animal skins in the Palaeolithic, the much later embalming practices of Ancient Egypt, and its modern professional history. We detail how a mounted trophy is made, how the techniques have evolved, and what the attitudes toward taxidermy are and have been over time. In the second category (3.2 Skulls, Antlers, Skins, and Other Trophies) we describe everything that can be considered a hunting trophy but isn’t taxidermy. Most famous of these is the half-skull mount (euromount). We also make note of various related subjects, such as the freeze drying of dead pets, Gunther von Hagen’s plastination, mock trophies, etc.Second goal (in 3.3 Trophies and Record Books) is to make clear the connection between hunting trophies, trophy scoring, and trophy record keeping. We explain the history of trophy evaluation methodology and scoring methods/award systems and histories of six hunting organisations that are responsible for six established scoring methods for hunting trophies in chapters 3.3.1 to 3.3.6. In Chapter 3.4 we discuss the consequences of trophy scoring for hunting ethics.Our third goal is to discuss the meanings of trophies (3.5 The Meanings of Hunting Trophies). The two sides to this discussion are what trophies symbolize and mean to hunters and to nonhunters/antihunters.Last goal (in 3.6) is to provide an analysis of trophy photos. Trophy photos are important because they are all the public sees from trophy hunting, so they come to represent the activity in general, and the hunters in them come to shape the trophy hunter stereotype.

The Detection and Quantification of Deer Populations for Impact Management on Thorne Moors; Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve

Thesis

Full-text available

Nov 2018

Thomas William Logan

Wildlife management often requires adjusting the density of a specific species within the environment and are usually justified around meeting the objectives of landowners. This study focussed upon Thorne Moors (Humberhead Peatlands NNR) and the ecology of the deer species present on site: red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). This study evaluated deer activity and impact levels on site, estimated population abundances and habitat use, and tested a novel method of improving the daytime detection of deer. This study utilised the deer activity and impact survey method used by The Deer Initiative; selected as a consistent method and allowing the data to incorporate into the annual reports of The Deer Initiative. The random encounter model was used to estimate abundance with trail cameras, and the utility of thermal imagers for the daytime detection of deer was tested by a series of transects. Deer activity and impact was High and Moderate-High (respectively), with an estimated 311-333 red and 59-63 roe deer on site. Five Reeve’s muntjac deer (Muntiacus reevesi) were observed during field studies, though none were detected by camera. The surveys with thermal imagers detected significantly more deer during the daytime than surveys with binoculars; and it was identified that the deer were more active at twilight then during hours of daylight. The activity and impact of deer demonstrated that the red deer population was at too high a density (17km-2). The abundance estimates would assist in providing approximate targets for future culls. The selectivity index performed demonstrated that the deer were congregating on the “Waterway Footpaths” – providing a corridor on site for deer stalkers to consider active management. The deer were most active during the twilight and were best detected with a thermal imager; assisting the deer stalkers in locating optimal areas to be active.

Animal welfare outcomes of professional vehicle-based shooting of peri-urban rusa deer in Australia

Article

Full-text available

May 2022

Context. Vehicle-based shooting has been widely used to kill deer, but the animal-welfare outcomes of this technique have not been evaluated in Australasia. Aim. To assess the animal-welfare outcomes of peri-urban deer culling by quantifying the fates of deer seen and shot at, the duration of procedures, and the number and location of bullet wounds in deer. Methods. We assessed vehicle-based night shooting of peri-urban rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) by professional contractors in eastern Australia. Shooters targeted the heads of deer using .223 Remington ® rifles and 55 grain bullets. Independent veterinarians conducted ante-mortem (i.e. from the shooting vehicle) and post-mortem (i.e. inspecting the carcass) observations. The ante-mortem data were used to estimate the proportion of deer seen that were shot at, killed, wounded, and escaped. The influence of variables predicted to affect shooting outcomes was assessed. The numbers and locations of bullet wounds were recorded post-mortem. Key results. Of the 269 deer seen in 21 nights, 48% were shot at and 85% of those shot at were killed by either one (87%), two (10%) or three (3%) shots. The frequency of non-fatal wounding (i.e. escaping wounded) was 3.5% for those shot at and hit, and the median time to insensibility for the deer that were shot multiple times was 289 s. There was variation among shooters in their ability to hit a deer, and also to do so with a killing shot. The number of bullet wounds per deer ranged from 1 to 3 (mean = 1.1), with 83% of shots striking the brain and 17% striking the anterior skull, neck and jaw. Conclusions. The animal welfare outcomes we observed were comparable to those reported from other professional ground-based shooting programs for ungulates, but were poorer than those reported for professional ground-based shooting of peri-urban kangaroos. Implications. Our results suggest that one way to improve the animal welfare outcomes of vehicle-based shooting of peri-urban deer is by improving shooter training. Assessment of shooter performance should be a routine part of ground-based shooting programs.

Animal welfare outcomes of helicopter-based shooting of deer in Australia

Article

Dec 2021

Context Helicopter-based shooting has been widely used to kill deer in Australasia, but the animal welfare outcomes of this technique have not been evaluated. Aim To assess the animal welfare outcomes of helicopter-based shooting of deer in Australia by quantifying the fates of deer seen and shot at, the duration of procedures and the number and location of bullet wounds in deer. Methods Three deer control operations were assessed. These operations targeted: (1) chital deer (Axis axis) in Queensland, (2) fallow deer (Dama dama) in Australian Capital Territory and (3) fallow deer in New South Wales. For each operation, an independent veterinarian conducted ante-mortem (i.e. from the helicopter as shooting occurred) and post-mortem (i.e. from the ground after shooting had ceased) observations. The ante-mortem data were used to estimate the proportion of deer seen that were shot, chase time (CT), time to insensibility (TTI) and total time (TT; CT + TTI). The numbers and locations of bullet wounds were recorded post-mortem. Key results Ante-mortem and post-mortem observations were performed for 114–318 and 60–105 deer, respectively, in the three operations. Shots were fired at 69–76% of deer that were observed. Median CT ranged from 73 to 145 s. Median TTI ranged from 17 to 37 s and median TT ranged from 109 to 162 s. The mean number of bullet wounds per deer ranged from 1.43 to 2.57. Animal welfare outcomes were better in the two fallow deer operations than in the chital deer operation. In both fallow deer operations, most deer were shot multiple times and at least once in the head or thorax. In contrast, chital deer were shot fewer times and less often in the head or thorax, and non-fatal wounding was observed. Conclusions The best animal welfare outcomes were achieved when helicopter-based shooting operations followed a fly-back procedure and mandated that multiple shots were fired into each animal. Implications Animal welfare outcomes for helicopter-based deer shooting in Australia could be improved with a national-level standard operating procedure requiring helicopters to fly back over shot animals and repeatedly shoot animals in the head or thorax.

The importance of considering age when quantifying wild animals’ welfare

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2021

Luke Hecht

Wild animals experience different challenges and opportunities as they mature, and this variety of experiences can lead to different levels of welfare characterizing the day-to-day lives of individuals of different ages. At the same time, most wild animals who are born do not survive to adulthood. Individuals who die as juveniles do not simply experience a homogeneous fraction of the lifetimes of older members of their species; rather, their truncated lives may be characterized by very different levels of welfare. Here, I propose the concept of welfare expectancy as a framework for quantifying wild animal welfare at a population level, given individual-level data on average welfare with respect to age. This concept fits conveniently alongside methods of analysis already used in population ecology, such as demographic sensitivity analysis, and is applicable to evaluating the welfare consequences of human interventions and natural pressures that disproportionately affect individuals of different ages. In order to understand better and improve the state of wild animal welfare, more attention should be directed towards young animals and the particular challenges they face.

Accounting for demography in the assessment of wild animal welfare

Preprint

Full-text available

Oct 2019

Luke Hecht

Welfare is experienced by individual animals, but the quantity and average quality of welfare an individual is likely to experience in their lifetime is bounded by population demography; namely, age-specific survivorship and the ecological forces that shape it. In many species, a minority of the individuals who are born survive to adulthood, meaning that the lives of those we observe in nature are often unrepresentative of the typical individual born into their population. Since only living animals are capable of experiencing welfare, lifespan is effectively an upper bound on the amount of affectively positive or negative experience an animal can accrue. Life history strategies that increase the probability of a long life are therefore more permissive of good welfare; but even holding life expectancy constant, specific patterns of age-specific mortality may enable a larger proportion of individuals to live through periods characterized by above-average welfare. I formalize this association between demography and welfare through the concept of welfare expectancy, which is applied to published demographic models for >80 species to illustrate the diversity of age-specific mortality patterns and entertain hypotheses about the relationship between demography and welfare.

Animal welfare and the killing of wildlife by captive bolt in Australia

Article

Mar 2019

“Feelings and Fitness” Not “Feelings or Fitness”–The Raison d'être of Conservation Welfare, Which Aligns Conservation and Animal Welfare Objectives

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2018

Increasingly, human activities, including those aimed at conserving species and ecosystems (conservation activities) influence not only the survival and fitness but also the welfare of wild animals. Animal welfare relates to how an animal is experiencing its life and encompasses both its physical and mental states. While conservation biology and animal welfare science are both multi-disciplinary fields that use scientific methods to address concerns about animals, their focus and objectives sometimes appear to conflict. However, activities impacting detrimentally on the welfare of individual animals also hamper achievement of some conservation goals, and societal acceptance is imperative to the continuation of conservation activities. Thus, the best outcomes for both disciplines will be achieved through collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Despite this recognition, cross-disciplinary information-sharing and collaborative research and practice in conservation are still rare, with the exception of the zoo context. This paper summarizes key points developed by a group of conservation and animal welfare scientists discussing scientific assessment of wild animal welfare and barriers to progress. The dominant theme emerging was the need for a common language to facilitate cross-disciplinary progress in understanding and safeguarding the welfare of animals of wild species. Current conceptions of welfare implicit in conservation science, based mainly on “fitness” (physical states), need to be aligned with contemporary animal welfare science concepts which emphasize the dynamic integration of “fitness” and “feelings” (mental experiences) to holistically understand animals' welfare states. The way in which animal welfare is characterized influences the way it is evaluated and the emphasis put on different features of welfare, as well as, the importance placed on the outcomes of such evaluations and how that information is used, for example in policy development and decision-making. Salient examples from the New Zealand and Australian context are presented to illustrate. To genuinely progress our understanding and evaluation of wild animal welfare and optimize the aims of both scientific disciplines, conservation and animal welfare scientists should work together to evolve and apply a common understanding of welfare. To facilitate this, we propose the formal development of a new discipline, Conservation Welfare, integrating the expertise of scientists from both fields.

Defining animal welfare standards in hunting: body mass determines thresholds for incapacitation time and flight distance

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2018

Shooting is an important tool for managing terrestrial wildlife populations worldwide. To date, however, there has been few quantitative methods available enabling assessment of the animal welfare outcomes of rifle hunting. We apply a variety of factors to model flight distance (distance travelled by an animal after bullet impact) and incapacitation from the moment of bullet impact. These factors include body mass, allometric and isometric scaling, comparative physiology, wound ballistics and linear kinematics. This approach provides for the first time a method for quantifying and grading the quality of shooting processes by examining only body mass and flight distance. Our model is a universally applicable tool for measuring animal welfare outcomes of shooting regimes both within and among species. For management agencies the model should be a practical tool for monitoring and evaluating animal welfare outcomes regarding shooting of mammalian populations.

Assessment of animal welfare for helicopter shooting of feral horses

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2017

Context: Helicopter shooting is an effective tool for reducing feral horse (Equus caballus) populations that are considered overabundant. However, this tool has been less commonly used in recent years because of concerns about animal-welfare outcomes, which have not previously been quantified. Aims: The aims of the present study were to assess the helicopter shooting of feral horses to determine (1) the duration of stress, (2) the frequency of adverse animal-welfare events and (3) the influence of explanatory variables in determining welfare outcomes. Methods: We quantified the welfare outcomes of three helicopter shooting programs in central Australia during 2013 and 2015. We conducted ante-mortem observations of 937 horses and post-mortem observations of 630 horses. We measured the following three parameters to estimate the duration of stress from pursuit and the mode of death: chase time (CT), time to death (TTD) and total time (TT; CT+TTD). We quantified the frequency of adverse animal-welfare events, namely instantaneous death rate (IDR; percentage of animals for which TTD was zero), the apparent frequency of non-fatal wounding, and the frequency of bullet-wound tracts in different anatomical locations. We investigated the role of explanatory variables in determining whether or not a horse had an inferred instantaneous death. Key results: For all horses, the median CT was 42 s, the median TTD was 0 s (median TTD for horses not killed instantaneously was 15 s), and median TT was 52 s. At least 1% of horses were non-fatally wounded, IDR was 63% (60–66%), and 3% (2–5%) of horses were not shot in the cranium, neck or thorax. Shooter skill was the most important determinant of whether or not a horse had an instantaneous death. Conclusions: The animal-welfare outcomes of helicopter shooting appear to be similar for feral horses and feral camels (Camelus dromedarius), the only other species that has been studied using these methods, and could be refined by improving shooter skill. Implications: Quantifying animal-welfare outcomes is particularly important for contentious wildlife management techniques. Wildlife managers should integrate the results of welfare studies into decision-making processes rather than excluding contentious techniques from consideration on the basis of perception.

Handbook of Cognitive Science

Book

Jan 2008

The Handbook of Cognitive Science provides an overview of recent developments in cognition research, relying upon non-classical approaches. Cognition is explained as the continuous interplay between brain, body, and environment, without relying on classical notions of computations and representation to explain cognition. The handbook serves as a valuable companion for readers interested in foundational aspects of cognitive science, and neuroscience and the philosophy of mind. The handbook begins with an introduction to embodied cognitive science, and then breaks up the chapters into separate sections on conceptual issues, formal approaches, embodiment in perception and action, embodiment from an artificial perspective, embodied meaning, and emotion and consciousness. Contributors to the book represent research overviews from around the globe including the US, UK, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Can a Swarm Be Embodied?

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2008

This chapter explores the concept of embodiment from the perspective of biological and artificial swarms, with the aim of determining the presence or absence of weak and strong embodiment, and the form that each takes. It begins by describing the main characteristics of three examples of swarms: swarm intelligence algorithms, swarm robotics, and biological swarms; before exploring questions about their embodiment. This exploration is pursued in two parts-first in terms of artificial swarms, and secondly in terms of biological swarms. A consideration of the individuals in artificial swarms led to the conclusion that they were not strongly embodied, even though collective effects emerged as a result of their interactions. Unlike living organisms, they are not autopoietic systems, and they are neither mechanistically nor phenomenally embodied. The embodiment of biological swarms is considered. It is argued that the individual insects in such swarms are strongly embodied: whether they should be viewed as mechanistically or phenomenally embodied could be seen as a matter of personal preference. The question of whether a biological swarm could itself be viewed as strongly embodied is also addressed.

Factors Associated with Shooting Accuracy and Wounding Rate of Four Managed Wild Deer Species in the UK, Based on Anonymous Field Records from Deer Stalkers

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2014
PLOS ONE

The amount of wounding during routine culling is an important factor in the welfare of wild deer. Little information exists on factors determining shooting accuracy and wounding rates under field conditions in the UK. In this study, 102 anonymous stalkers collected data on the outcomes and circumstances of 2281 shots. Using hot-deck imputation and generalised linear mixed modelling, we related the probability that a shot hit its target, and the probability that the shot killed the deer if it was hit, to 28 variables describing the circumstances of the shot. Overall, 96% of deer were hit, of which 93% were killed outright. A reduced probability of hitting the target was associated with an uncomfortable firing position, too little time available, shooting off elbows or freehand, taking the head or upper neck as point of aim, a heavily obscured target, a distant target, shooting at females, lack of shooting practice and a basic (or no) stalker qualification. An increase in the likelihood of wounding was associated with an uncomfortable firing position, shooting with insufficient time, a distant target (only when time was not sufficient), a bullet weight below 75 grains, a target concealed in thicket or on the move and an area rarely stalked. To maximise stalking success and deer welfare, we recommend that stalkers ensure a comfortable firing position, use a gun rest, aim at the chest, use bullets heavier than 75 grains, avoid taking a rushed shot, shoot a distant animal only if there is plenty of time, fire only when the target is stationary, avoid shooting at an obscured animal, take care when the ground is unfamiliar, and do shooting practice at least once a month. The high miss rate of basic-level stalkers suggests that training should include additional firing practice under realistic shooting conditions.

A comparison between the effects of two cropping methods on the meat quality of impala (Aepyceros melampus)

Article

Mar 2004
S AFR J ANIM SCI

Impala (Aepyceros melampus) constitute one of the most commercially important species in game farming in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of day and night cropping on the meat quality characteristics of impala. Emphasis was placed on the influence of the cropping method on muscle pH 45 (45 minutes post mortem), pH u (ultimate pH), pH decline, and the related influence on drip loss, cooking loss, toughness and colour of the meat in the M. longissimus lumborum. Measurements taken from 16 animals cropped at night were compared to those taken from 24 animals cropped in daytime. A mean pH 45 of 6.67 ± 0.11 was recorded for the night cropped animals compared to a mean pH 45 of 6.55 ± 0.23 for the day cropped animals. A mean pH u of 5.39 ± 0.08 for animals cropped at night was recorded compared to a mean pH u of 5.45 ± 0.11 for the animals cropped in the day. Regression analysis showed the rate of pH decline to be slower in the night cropped animals compared to those cropped in the day. This persisted when the pH values were adjusted to correct for ambient temperature. The cooling rate of the M. longissimus lumborum was twice as fast in the night cropped group. Shear force values and drip losses respectively, for the night-cropped animals were 19.11 ± 5.68 g/mm 2 and 2.93 ± 1.59%, whereas for the day cropped animals the values were 23.42 ± 8.13 g/mm 2 and 4.15 ± 2.34%. The results of this study indicate that night-time cropping does have a beneficial effect on certain meat quality parameters.

Four Types of Activities that Affect Animals: Implications for Animal Welfare Science and Animal Ethics Philosophy

Article

Oct 2011

People affect animals through four broad types of activity: (1) people keep companion, farm, laboratory and captive wild animals, often while using them for some purpose; (2) people cause deliberate harm to animals through activities such as slaughter, pest control, hunting, and toxicology testing; (3) people cause direct but unintended harm to animals through crop production, transportation, night-time lighting, and many other human activities; and (4) people harm animals indirectly by disturbing ecological systems and the processes of nature, for example by destroying habitat, introducing foreign species, and causing pollution and climate change. Each type of activity affects vast numbers of animals and raises different scientific and ethical challenges. In Type 1 activities (keeping animals), the challenge is to improve care, sometimes by finding options that benefit both people and animals. In Type 2 activities (deliberate harm), the challenge is to avoid compounding intentional harms with additional, unintended harms, such as animal suffering. For Type 3 and 4 activities, the challenges are to understand the unintended and indirect harms that people cause, to motivate people to recognise and avoid such harms, and to find less harmful ways of achieving human goals. With Type 4 activities, this may involve recognising commonalities between animal welfare, conservation and human well-being. Animal welfare science and animal ethics philosophy have traditionally focused on Type 1 and 2 activities. These fields need to include Type 3 and 4 activities, especially as they increase with human population growth.

Physiological monitoring of welfare for conservation of Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx Submitted by

Article

Full-text available

Mansoor Aljahdhami

Behavioural and physiological consequences of capture for shearing of vicuñas in Argentina

Article

Jul 2010
APPL ANIM BEHAV SCI

Behavioural, physical and physiological responses of Argentinean vicuñas to capture, handling and shearing were studied for the first time. The research was undertaken in a study area of 2414ha with a mean density of 12–40vicuñas/km2. Captures were conducted on groups of wild vicuñas that had not received any prior management. Groups were herded into a funnel system that ended in a corral with several internal subdivisions. Three distinct capture methods were compared, according to the method by which the animals were herded into the corral (vehicles system: vehicles only; mixed system: people on foot and vehicles; and Chaku system: people on foot only). Attempts to escape, alarm calls, increased vigilance, vocalizations, and kicking were measured to quantify the stress response. A total of 478 vicuñas were captured between May 2003 and November 2005. Vicuñas captures by mixed system showed alert and active behaviours and vocalized more in the handling corral. The most active animals inside the corrals showed higher respiratory and heart frequency during handling (r=0.44, P

Welfare implications of commercial kangaroo killing: Do the ends justify the means?

Data

Full-text available

Jan 2011

Debate on the pros and cons of kangaroo management in Australia has recently centred on the awareness that commercial killing (commonly referred to as harvesting), a by-product of management, is difficult to regulate and that there are animal welfare costs that the current regulatory framework is yet to resolve. Moreover, public interest in animal welfare is at an unprecedented height and is expected to increase over time. At the core of animal welfare law and policy is a question of ends and means. Animal welfare laws have existed for around 200 years, and presently attempt to prevent ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unreasonable’ suffering by animals. Yet at the same time, large scale animal industries have developed that often involve high levels of harm and suffering being inflicted upon a great number of animals in order to produce food and other products for human use. From a policy perspective, industrial suffering of animals is ‘necessary’ or ‘reasonable’ where there is both legitimacy of purpose and legitimacy of means. As a fairly recent animal industry to evolve, Australia’s kangaroo industry provides meat, leather and other products from the killing of about three million adult kangaroos each year. This report provides an analysis of the kangaroo industry and seeks to answer the question: ‘do the ends justify the means?’

Efficacy of Cartridge Type and Projectile Design in the Harvest of Beaver

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2009

In Norway, Sweden, and Finland most beavers (Castor spp.) harvested are shot with center-fire rifles. Shooting entails problems not encountered in trapping including pelt damage from bullet holes (body shots are common) and escape of wounded animals. It was predicted that beavers shot in the body with splinter projectiles designed to fragment after impact would experience fewer exit holes (i.e., less pelt damage) and less wounding, but more meat loss, than those shot with conventional controlled expansion projectiles. Twenty-two hunters shot 163 beavers during normal hunting. As predicted, exit frequency was lower for splinter (22%) than controlled expansion projectiles (95%) but neither wounding frequency nor meat damage varied significantly. The combined wounding frequency for both projectile types was 4.3%. Ninety-eight percent of the body-shot animals retrieved (n = 111) appeared to die instantly. Beaver hunting with center-fire rifles was considered humane. (WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLETIN 34(1):127–130; 2006)

Dr Bradshaw and Professor Bateson reply:

Article

Jan 2023

Patrick Bateson

Edmund Marriage raises three main concerns about the welfare implications of stalking: specifically, the proportion of deer that escaped injured, the length of time taken to die by body-shot deer, and the effect of disturbance on the behaviour of deer.

Comparison of effects of different methods of culling red deer (Cervus elaphus) by shooting on behaviour and post mortem measurements of blood chemistry, muscle glycogen and carcase characteristics

Article

Jan 2023

Methods for culling wild red deer (Cervus elaphus) were compared by observing behaviour and collecting post mortem samples from wild deer shot: (i) by a single stalker during daytime; (ii) by more than one stalker during daytime; (iii) by using a helicopter for the deployment of stalkers and carcase extraction; or (iv) by a single stalker at night, and compared with farmed red deer shot in a field or killed at a slaughterhouse. Culling by a single stalker during the day and shooting in a field were the most accurate in achieving placement of a shot in a target area, but when compared across all methods, there were no significant differences in the percentages of deer that were either wounded or appeared to have died immediately after the first shot. Plasma cortisol concentrations in deer shot using helicopter assistance were similar to those in deer at the slaughterhouse, but higher than deer shot at night or during the day by a single stalker, or in a field. Deer shot using helicopter assistance and also deer culled by a collaborative and single stalking during the day had lower muscle glycogen concentrations than those culled by a single stalker at night. There was no evidence that a particular culling method was associated with an increased risk of accidental or pre-culling injury. If a helicopter is used to assist culling, the deer are more likely to be disturbed before they are shot and therefore, measures should be taken to minimise the disturbance to the deer.

Cost-effectiveness of volunteer and contract ground-based shooting of sambar deer in Australia

Article

Dec 2022

Context Introduced sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) are increasing in south-eastern Australia, and both volunteer and contract ground-based shooters are being used by management agencies to control their undesirable impacts. However, little is known about the effectiveness and costs of volunteer and contract shooters for controlling deer populations in Australia. Aims We evaluated the effectiveness and costs of volunteer and contract ground-based shooters for controlling sambar deer and their impacts in a 5-year management program conducted in and around alpine peatlands in Alpine National Park, Victoria. Methods Ground-based shooting operations were organised in two blocks. Within each block, four ~4200-ha management units were delimited, of which two were randomly assigned as treatment (ground-based shooting) and two as non-treatment (no organised ground-based shooting). In the treatment units, ground-based shooting was conducted using either volunteers or contractors. Each shooting team recorded their effort and the numbers of deer seen and shot, and used a GPS to record their track log and the time and locations of deer shot. Key costs were recorded for both shooter types. Key results The catch per unit effort of contract shooters was four times greater than that of volunteer shooters. Both shooter types were most effective during the first half of the night and prior to sunrise, and when using a vehicle with a spotlight or walking with thermal-vision equipment. During the day, the use of gundogs to indicate deer significantly increased the success rate of volunteer shooters. Both volunteer and contract shooters used roads and tracks to move in the landscape, but contractors covered more ground than did volunteers. After accounting for key operational costs, the cost per deer killed was 10.1% higher for contract than volunteer shooters. Conclusions The effectiveness of ground-based shooters is increased by operating at night using vehicles, spotlights and thermal-vision equipment. Contract shooters kill sambar deer at a faster rate, but are slightly more expensive per deer killed, than are volunteer shooters. Implications Ground-based shooting is likely to be most effective when conducted at night with thermal-vision equipment, and in areas with a high density of roads and tracks.

An approach to assess stress in response to drive hunts using cortisol levels of wild boar (Sus scrofa)

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2021

Hunting can easily be linked to stress in wildlife. Drive hunts performed two to three times in one area during the respective hunting period, are thought to decrease the pressure hunting places on wildlife. Nevertheless, the expression of cortisol—one of the main mammalian stress hormones—is considered to have negative impacts on animals’ well-being if expressed excessively, which may occur during some (especially repeated) hunting events. We explored the effect of drive hunts on cortisol levels in wild boar in Lower Saxony, Germany, compared these cortisol levels to reference values given by a similar study, and investigated the effect of age, sex, and pregnancy. Blood collected from wild boar shot on drive hunts was analysed using a radioimmunoassay. As expected, we observed elevated cortisol levels in all samples, however, we still found significant differences between age groups and sexes, as well as an influence of pregnancy on cortisol levels. The effect of drive hunts on cortisol levels appears to be weaker than predicted, while the effects of other variables, such as sex, are distinct. Only half of the evaluated samples showed explicitly increased cortisol levels and no significant differences were found between sampling months and locations. Group living animals and pregnant females showed significantly higher cortisol levels. The impact of hunting is measurable but is masked by natural effects such as pregnancy. Thus, we need more information on stress levels in game species.

Cortisol response of wild ungulates to trauma situations: hunting is not necessarily the worst stressor

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2018
EUR J WILDLIFE RES

Animal welfare concerns are becoming a central issue in wildlife management and conservation. Thus, we investigated stress response of wild ungulates to potentially traumatic situations (shooting injuries, vehicle collisions, entanglement, injuries or diseases) and hunting methods (stalking, battues and hunts with dogs) by means of serum cortisol concentrations from blood collected from killed animals. Cortisol levels in roe deer ranged below and in wild boar above levels for moose, red deer and fallow deer (hence, pooled as a group “deer”). Apart from species, cortisol concentration in trauma situations was mainly explained by trauma type and presence of disturbance after the trauma event. Effect of trauma type differed significantly for “deer”, with animals caught in fences and suffering vehicle collisions experiencing higher cortisol levels than animals injured by shooting. Differences between hunting methods were observed in the cervids (“deer” and roe deer), with stalking leading to lower cortisol levels than hunts with dogs (both groups) and battues (roe deer). Events both before and after the shot, such as duration of pursuit prior to shooting, location of injury, trauma length and presence of disturbance after the shot were relevant for cortisol levels in hunted cervids. Our results indicate that search teams tracking and euthanising wounded animals should behave in a calm way to minimise disturbance. Still, it is important to acknowledge that many situations described in the literature, i.e. reindeer handling, roe deer captures and red deer yarding, seem even more stressful, beside vehicle collisions, than most hunting methods.

Towards an Animal Ethics for the Anthropocene

Chapter

Full-text available

Sep 2016

Jozef Keulartz

The complex problems of wildlife conservation during the current stage of the Anthropocene?the ?Great Acceleration ??are forcing us to develop an alternative to the traditional (utilitarian und deontological ) approaches within animal ethics . I will put forward Martha Nussbaum?s capability approach as a promising alternative to these traditional approaches, with the proviso that the current version of her list of basic animal capabilities will need to undergo some revision.

Deer hunting - Dr Bradshaw and Professor Bateson reply

Article

Aug 2000

Deer hunting

Article

Aug 2000

Ruth Harrison

Wounding Rates in Shooting Foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

Article

May 2005

One-hundred-and-ninety-nine shooters in England, Wales and Scotland shot at fox-shaped targets in 35 shotgun regimes including .410 and 12 bore using No 6, BB or AAA shot sizes at 25, 40 or 60 yards with open and full choke barrels, and skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled shooters. A further 16 regimes used rimfire rifles at 50 yards (both supported using a gun rest and unsupported) and centrefire rifles at 100 and 150 yards, by day and by night. The targets were life-sized paper foxes, traced from a longitudinal section of a real fox and mapped with the internal anatomy. For shotgun trials, the targets were moved across a gap, allowing the shooters 3 or 3.5 s to take aim and fire. For rifle trials, the static targets were raised up for 4 s and then lowered. Fifteen dead foxes, shot with the same ammunition, ranges and angle as in the shooting regimes, were assessed for internal injuries caused by each regime. Ammunition was tested in comparative card-penetrotion tests. A total of 1085 shotgun shots and 885 rifle shots at the targets were scored as 'killed, 'seriously wounded, 'lightly wounded' or 'missed'. As shooters' skill level increased, the 'kill' rate increased, the 'miss' rate decreased but the 'wounding' rates stayed much the same. No 6 shot 'wounded' because of poor penetration. AAA had poor pattern density at ranges beyond 40 yards. At ranges of up to 40 yards, both AAA and BB shot performed well, BB being the optimum. .410 shotguns with No 6 shot 'wounded' but seldom 'killed'. Rifles 'killed' better than shotguns and 'wounded' less. There was no regime that had no probability of 'wounding'; however, the latter varied dramatically across the trials with different types of gun, ammunition and shooters' skill level. Mitigating factors such as the use of second shots or dogs are discussed.

Animal Welfare: Limping Towards Eden: A Practical Approach to Redressing the Problem of Our Dominion Over the Animals

Article

Nov 2007

A. J. F Webster

There has been a recent explosion of active concern in matters of animal welfare. The science behind animal welfare has progressed significantly, new codes of practice and legislation have come into to being, and innovative methods to assess welfare schemes for food production have emerged. Part of a major animal welfare series, Animal Welfare: Limping Towards Eden is John Webster's new and groundbreaking work on animal welfare. Building on his first book, the highly acclaimed Animal Welfare: A Cool Eye Towards Eden, it not only critically reviews areas of development, but looks to how animal welfare can be improved in the future. Special consideration is given to: Defining animal welfare ('fit and happy') and establishing a systematic approach for its evaluation (the 'five freedoms'); Providing a sound ethical framework that affords proper respect to animals within the broader context of our duties as citizens to the welfare of society; Developing comprehensive, robust protocols for assessing animal welfare and the provisions that constitute good husbandry; Introducing an education policy that will increase human awareness of animal welfare problems and promote action to reduce suffering. This book is part of the UFAW/Wiley-Blackwell Animal Welfare Book Series. This major series of books produced in collaboration between UFAW (The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare), and Wiley-Blackwell provides an authoritative source of information on worldwide developments, current thinking and best practice in the field of animal welfare science and technology. For details of all of the titles in the series see www.wiley.com/go/ufaw.

Humane pest animal control: codes of practice

Technical Report

Jan 2014

This work covers the codes of practice for the control of rabbits; foxes; cats, goats, horses, pigs; wild dogs and camels acting as vertebrate pests in Australia. Control methods are humane, target specific, cost effective and safe for humans to use. Codes of Practice for each pest animal species provides general information on the best practice management, control strategies, species biology and impact and the humaneness of current control methods. Some of these control methods include the introduction of diseases, baiting, trapping, shooting and poisoning. This work is intended for those engaged in pest animal control, including land managers, pest control officers and researchers.

A model for assessing the relative humaneness of pest animal control methods

Book

Full-text available

Jan 2011

A simple quantitative method for assessing animal welfare outcomes in terrestrial wildlife shooting: The European rabbit as a case study

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2015

Shooting is widely used to reduce the abundances of terrestrial wildlife populations, but there is concern about the animal welfare outcomes ('humaneness') of these programmes. Management agencies require methods for assessing the animal welfare outcomes of terrestrial wildlife shooting programmes. We identified four key issues in previous studies assessing the animal welfare outcomes of shooting programmes: (i) biased sampling strategies; (ii) no direct ante mortem observations; (iii) absence of quantifiable parameters for benchmarking; and (iv) no evaluation of explanatory variables that may cause adverse welfare outcomes. We used methods that address these issues to assess the welfare outcomes of a European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) shooting programme in south-eastern Australia. An independent observer collected ante mortem (distance, timing and outcome of each shot fired) and post mortem (locations of bullet wounds) data. The ante mortem data were used to estimate three critical animal welfare parameters: apparent time to death (ATTD); instantaneous death rate (IDR); and wounding rate (WR). The post mortem data were used to evaluate the location of bullet wounds relative to the Australian national standard operating procedure (SOP). For rabbits, the mean IDR was 0.60, ATTD was 12 s and WR was 0.12. A large proportion of rabbits (0.75) were shot in the cranium or thorax, as required by the SOP. Logistic regression indicated that the proportion of rabbits wounded and missed increased with shooting distance. Hence, reducing shooting distances would increase the humaneness of European rabbit shooting programmes. Our approach enables the animal welfare outcomes of terrestrial shooting programmes to be independently quantified.

TB control strategy

Article

May 2015
VET REC

Mycobacterium bovis remains a hugely significant animal health and welfare issue. Clinical disease in any affected species must be a consideration for policymakers, with disease eradication as the primary objective. Increasing incidence in ‘domesticated’ species regarded as spill-over hosts such as camelids, pigs, goats, cats and dogs is a salutary reminder of a disease situation nowhere near under control. Continuing creep along ‘edge’ areas in the cattle and badger populations, most notably in Cheshire, provides further evidence of the difficulties we face in bearing down on the disease. Clinical infection with M bovis is an animal welfare issue as evidenced by the aggressive nature of infection in camelids and the gradual emaciation and death of deer, wild boar or badgers. The BVA Council has called for continuation and roll out of the badger cull using trapping and shooting only ( VR , April 25, 2014, vol 176, p 423). While we are delighted that the BVA is calling for continuation and …

Physiological monitoring of well-being for conservation of Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx

Thesis

Full-text available

Jan 2010

Mansoor Aljahdhami

Costs of a re-introduction and criteria for success: Accounting and accountability in the Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Program

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1991

Preliminary Field Assessment of a Cabergoline Baiting Campaign for Reproductive Control of the Red Fox ( Vulpes Vulpes )

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1996

The use of poison baiting in Australia to control foxes is impractical in urban areas and some wildlife reserves because of hazards to non-target animals. More acceptable methods of fox control in such environments are needed. Cabergoline is a dopamine agonist that has previously been demonstrated to have an abortifacient effect in cats (Felis catus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). The prolactin-inhibiting action of cabergoline may also result in cessation of lactation. Cabergoline has been shown to be completely palatable to foxes and is easily incorporated into a non-poisonous bait. The ability of bait-delivered cabergoline to effect the birth of viable fox cubs was tested in urban Melbourne and rural Bendigo, Victoria. A sample of 51 natal dens were chosen for this study on the basis that they had been active for 3 consecutive years (1991-93). 30 treatment dens were randomly selected and each treated once during August and again during September 1994 with 8 non-poisonous Foxoff baits containing 170 micro g of cabergoline and 200 mg of tetracycline to act as a biomarker. The remaining 21 dens were used as controls. Baits were randomly placed by burial within a 50-m radius of the den. Activity of all dens was assessed until December 1994 for direct/indirect signs of fox cubs. Bait uptake was >88% overall for the treatment dens. The resulting incidence of cubs was significantly lower in the treatment dens than in the controls. The potential for cabergoline to be used in urban areas and island populations as an adjunct to conventional control methods is discussed.

From an animal's point of view: Motivation, fitness, and animal welfare

Article

Full-text available

Mar 1990
BEHAV BRAIN SCI

Marian Stamp Dawkins

To study animal welfare empirically we need an objective basis for deciding when an animal is suffering. Suffering includes a wide range ofunpleasant emotional states such as fear, boredom, pain, and hunger. Suffering has evolved as a mechanism for avoiding sources ofdanger and threats to fitness. Captive animals often suffer in situations in which they are prevented from doing something that they are highly motivated to do. The “price” an animal is prepared to pay to attain or to escape a situation is an index ofhow the animal “feels” about that situation. Withholding conditions or commodities for which an animal shows “inelastic demand” (i.e., for which it continues to work despite increasing costs) is very likely to cause suffering. In designing environments for animals in zoos, farms, and laboratories, priority should be given to features for which animals show inelastic demand. The care ofanimals can thereby be based on an objective, animal-centered assessment of their needs.

Environmental enrichment: Increasing the biological relevance of captive environments

Article

Full-text available

Sep 1995
APPL ANIM BEHAV SCI

Ruth C Newberry

Environmental enrichment is a vague concept referring to improvements to captive animal environments. Some authors have applied the term to an environmental treatment itself, without any concrete evidence that the treatment represented an improvement for the animals. Others have used the term when the main beneficiaries may have been people rather than their captive animals. The criteria used to assess enrichment have also varied according to animal use (e.g. laboratory, farm or zoo animals). In this paper, environmental enrichment is defined as an improvement in the biological functioning of captive animals resulting from modifications to their environment. Evidence of improved biological functioning could include increased lifetime reproductive success, increased inclusive fitness or a correlate of these such as improved health. However, specifying an appropriate endpoint is problematic, especially for domestic animals. Potential methods of achieving enrichment that require further investigation include presenting food in ways that stimulate foraging behaviour and dividing enclosures into different functional areas. The quality of the external environment within the animals' sensory range also deserves greater attention. A common shortcoming of attempts at environmental enrichment is the provision of toys, music or other stimuli having little functional relevance to the animals. Failure to consider the effects of developmental factors and previous experience can also produce poor results. Environmental enrichment is constrained by financial costs and time demands on caretakers, and providing live prey to enrich the environment of predators raises ethical concerns. Future research on environmental enrichment would benefit from improved knowledge of the functions of behaviour performed in captivity and more rigorous experimental design.

The eradication of muskrats and coypu from Britain

Article

Full-text available

Aug 1989
BIOL J LINN SOC

Introduced vertebrates can cause massive environmental damage but most attempts to remove feral populations have failed. This paper discusses the eradication campaigns against feral muskrats, Ondatra Zibethicus and coypus, Myocastor coypus in Britain. Both species were introduced in the 1920s to be farmed for pelts and feral populations became established following escapes. The risk of environmental damage by muskrats was well known from Europe and an eradication campaign started promptly in 1932 making use of overseas expertise and a control strategy designed by pest control specialists. The campaign was brought to a successful conclusion in 1939 when at least 4388 muskrats had been killed. In the 1930s, few believed that coypus would cause significant environment damage and early trapping efforts were inadequate. An early campaign achieved only limited success partly because of the lack of biological information. The eradication campaign which started in 1981, was based on a long tem study of population ecology. The effect of trapping and cold weather was quantified and detailed population simulations were used to plan the numbers of trappers, the time needed for eradication arid thus the likely cost of the campaign. An incentive bonus scheme was designed to overcome the problem that trappers would be reluctant to work themselves out of a job. Trapper deployment was planned using capture/trapping effort ratios and progress was checked by Ministry of Agriculture field staff. The muskrat campaigns succeeded because technical information to help plan the work was available and because action was taken quickly. Where an introduced population is well established, as with coypus in Britain, a closely integrated programme involving applied population ecology and a well-planned control organization may be essential for succesful removal.

The Case for Animal Rights

Chapter

May 2017

Tom Regan

Animal Rights: The Changing Debate

Book

Jan 1996

Robert Garner

This book, written by leading academics and activists, examines the development of animal rights over the past two decades and asks where the issue goes from here. The contributions cover animal rights philosophy, strategies of the animal rights movement, the treatment of animals in specific contexts and the political arena within which animal advocates must operate. The unifying theme is provided by an emerging debate about the future direction of the animal protection movement, and, in particular, about the utility of using rights language as a means of achieving further progress.

The sociobiology of captive propagation, in Conservation Biology

Article

Jan 1980

D.G. Kleiman

Partial Protection: Animal Welfare and the Law

Chapter

Jan 1996

Mike Radford

The purpose of this chapter is to consider the law of Great Britain in relation to two specific areas: the treatment of animals in agricultural production, and the use of animals for scientific procedures. The intention is not only to explain the relevant legal provisions, but also to identify some of the important shortcomings which are associated with the legal process.

The Impact of Domestication on Red Deer Immunity and Disease Resistance

Chapter

Jan 1992

Domestication of red deer (Cervus elaphus) in New Zealand has caused changes in patterns of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (M. bovis), malignant catarrhal fever (MCF), and yersiniosis (Y. pseudotuberculosis). Among the factors known to influence disease susceptibility and immunity are: capture from the wild and adaptation to farm conditions, transport, handling, and weaning. A series of experiments has examined the influence of some of the above stressors on immune function in farmed deer. Hematologic parameters, plasma proteins, nonspecific lymphocyte mitogenesis (using concanavalin A), and specific humoral (using ELISA) and cellular immune lymphocyte transformation have been measured in stressed immunized deer. Transport, handling, and nutritional deprivation have an acute but transient impact on immune function, which may be expressed as enhancement or suppression of immunity. Transport and fasting increase the susceptibility of deer to experimental infection with Y. pseudotuberculosis. Behavioral responses may not give an indication of the negative impact of management stress on immunocompetence. The present data show that aggressive animals, which appear to be adversely affected by restraint, have normal or enhanced levels of immune reactivity.

The impact of ecotourism development on rainforest mammals

Chapter

Jan 1996

Nature-based tourism is one of the few economic uses of natural areas that could be compatible with protection of the environment and its wildlife. However, the demands placed on these ecosystems from tourism can destroy or disturb the very attractions the clients pay to enjoy. The impact of ecotourism on distribution, status, and activity of rainforest mammals, will be discussed with reference to the Manu National Park, Peru, The distribution, status and behaviour of a variety of mammal species were assessed in the vicinity of a tourist lodge, along existing trails of varying usage and antiquity, along newly cut trails and in undisturbed forest. A comparison was made of the abundance and diversity of mammals in areas of differing disturbance. The progressive habituation of mammals along newly cut trails was also investigated. Further information on mammalian diversity was obtained by live-trapping within 200 m of the trail system and by radio-tracking selected species (ocelot and marsupials). The results are related to the expectation of what mammals tourist groups might see during a typical sojourn in the jungle. Dawn and dusk forest walks were most profitable for mammal viewing, although many telemetered individuals rested within a few metres of busy tourist trails. Regrowth of disused tourist trails can enhance habitat diversity, providing a patchwork of areas of varying succession and species composition. Since this secondary growth is often more dense than the surrounding forest it can provide refuges for wildlife. In most instances the land lost to trail creation is negligible and telemetered animals frequently used trails within hours of their being cut. Strategies for reducing the disturbance effects on sensitive species are discussed.

Sustainable use of whales: whaling or whale watching?

Chapter

Jan 1996

Vassili Papastavrou

An examination of the history of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) can offer valuable insights to those managing the exploitation of other wild mammals. To understand the many issues one must look further than the IWC’s past inability to manage whaling which resulted in the declaration of an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling. More international effort has been put into determining procedures for the sustainable exploitation of whales than for any other group of wild mammals, yet the history of whaling shows that these substantial efforts have largely failed. Previous attempts to set catch quotas have relied on approaches that were later discovered to be flawed. In addition, science apart, it has never been possible to effectively control whaling. Even when the IWC was setting catch limits that were far too high, those rules were being systematically broken. One example, revealed in 1994 by the Russian Federation, concerns thousands of blue, right and humpback whales that were caught (but not reported to the IWC at the time) by the whaling expeditions of the former Soviet Union years after these species had supposedly received IWC protection. The various policy options before the IWC include the continuation of the moratorium, a resumption of whaling, the declaration of sanctuaries and the management of whale watching. In recognition of previous inadequacies in attempts to exploit whales in a sustainable fashion, the Scientific Committee of the IWC has spent several years putting together a sophisticated and precautionary procedure (known as the Revised Management Procedure, or RMP) for calculating catch quotas. The RMP is a component of the Revised Management Scheme (RMS) which will encompass other matters to ensure that any whaling is effectively regulated and that catch limits are enforced. In contrast to the effort expended on the development of the RMP, little time has been spent on discussion of regulatory matters. The remote Southern Ocean (the feeding grounds for about 80% of the world’s remaining whales) is one area where regulation of whaling operations remains an insuperable problem and in May 1994 the IWC declared this area a sanctuary for an indefinite period. Finally, utilization should not imply that the use must be lethal. Whale watching is a rapidly growing form of non-lethal sustainable utilization which occurs in around 40 countries; it generates substantial tourist revenue and requires regulation to limit disturbance.

The exploitation, sustainable use and welfare of wild mammals

Chapter

Jan 1996

It is difficult to think of any wildlife that is unaffected by humans or their actions. Humans exploit animals big and small, furred or feathered, mainly for subsistence or profit but also for sport and entertainment. If animals are not exploited directly, they may still be affected by human activities — either gaining or losing in terms of protection, food and available habitat. The human population is steadily increasing, requiring more space and demanding more resources. It is apparent that more extensive wildlife management is required to slow the inevitable loss of biodiversity, and that to be effective it must confine any exploitation within sustainable limits.

Studies of English red deer populations subject to hunting-to-hounds

Chapter

Jan 1996

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) around Exmoor and the Quantocks are the only red deer populations in the United Kingdom subject to traditional hunting-to-hounds. The history of deer hunting on Exmoor stretches back at least until the eleventh century and the establishment of the Royal ‘Exmoor Forest’. The present style of hunting by riding to hounds is comparatively modern, revived on Exmoor around the middle of the eighteenth century; staghunting on the Quantocks dates back only to 1920, following reintroduction of red deer there specifically for this sport. This chapter examines current numbers and distribution of red deer herds on Exmoor and the Quantocks and explores trends in population size over the last 20 years. Data are presented on condition (as body-weight) and fecundity. Based on these figures the authors attempt to extrapolate future changes in population size over the next 20 years given a range of hypothetical culling regimes. Against this context they then investigate estimates of the overall cull imposed on these deer populations in the recent past by differing methods, including both hunting and rifle shooting, to assess the impact of hunting-to-hounds on red deer numbers and its potential contribution in regulating population size. Finally, the effects of regular hunting on red deer distribution and social organization are addressed briefly The present studies suggest that these deer populations are highly productive. The annual cull taken by hunting, of around 2–4% of the autumn population, even when taken in combination with an estimated additional cull of 8–12% contributed by rifle shooting, has not prevented substantial population increases over recent decades.

Attempts to reintroduce African wild dogs Lycaon pictus into Etosha National Park, Namibia

Article

Jan 1995
S AFR J WILDL RES

Theory and practice of immunocontraception in wild mammals

Article

Jun 1997

Immunocontraception has been proposed as a technique for managing wildlife populations in urban and suburban settings where traditional, lethal control methods may not be publicly acceptable. Immunocontraception uses an animal's own immune response to disrupt reproductive function. Proteins of eggs, sperm, fertilized eggs, and reproductive hormones have variously been proposed for use in developing a vaccine for fertility control. The most widely tested immunocontraceptive vaccine for wild species is based on developing antibodies to the zona pellucida (ZP), which surrounds the mammalian egg cell. This vaccine has successfully caused infertility in some individual animals, but requires multiple treatments. Enhancement of immune response and efficiency of vaccine delivery will be necessary before this type of management strategy can be applied to wildlife control at the population level. Contraceptive treatment may alter the health and behavior of wildlife populations and therefore must be monitored closely.

Physiological effects of hunting red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Article

Dec 1997

When red deer (Cervus elaphus) were hunted by humans with hounds the average distance travelled was at least 19 km. This study of 64 hunted red deer provides the first empirical evidence on their state at the time of death. Blood and muscle samples obtained from hunted deer after death were compared with samples from 50 non-hunted red deer that had been cleanly shot with rifles. The effects on deer of long hunts were (i) depletion of carbohydrate resources for powering muscles, (ii) disruption of muscle tissue, and (iii) elevated secretion of beta-endorphin. High concentrations of cortisol, typically associated with extreme physiological and psychological stress, were found. Damage to red blood cells occurred early in the hunts; possible mechanisms are discussed. Taken together, the evidence suggests that red deer are not well-adapted by their evolutionary or individual history to cope with the level of activity imposed on them when hunted with hounds.

The impact of sport hunting: a case study

Chapter

Jan 1996

The significance of sport hunting, as a source of rural revenue and infrastructure, a means of wildlife management and a catalyst for conservation, is often debated and less often quantified. A major difficulty in any such evaluation lies in comparing the different, often non-convertible currencies in which different factors may be measured. Such problems are at the root of many conservation dilemmas world-wide. As an example this chapter presents an analysis of some of the factors relevant to the functioning of hunting foxes with hounds in the UK. Although it has welfare implications, this example is not in itself a major conservation issue in terms of preservation of biodiversity, but it serves to illustrate in microcosm many recurrent issues in debates about wildlife. The results of a questionnaire survey of farmers (as users of, hosts to and participants in foxhunting) are presented along with data on the performance (e.g. annual tallies) of packs of hounds. These data are explored in terms of regional differences, and assessed in the context of conservation in the agro-ecosystem and in terms of fox population dynamics. The main aim is to disentangle and, where possible, to make a start at quantifying the threads of what has hitherto often been a muddled debate.

Conflicting cultural values: whale tourism in northern Norway

Article

Jan 1993

M. Ris

This paper examines an example of cultural conflict in the case of a whale tourism project in northern Norway. The project has caused conflict since foreign entrepreneurs and their sponsors have moved in with the explicit purpose of putting an end to whaling by various means of changing the whalers; and local people's conception about whales. It is argued in this paper that the reason behind the introduction of the project follows an increasing ideological trend in the Western world today: the non-consumptive utilization of whales. The entrepreneurs have thus tried to transform the whale from within the traditional cultural context in northern Norway by introducing an alien image of it. Finally, it is concluded that the entrepreneurs have not succeeded in changing either local attitudes towards whales or the economic situation for the whalers, since whaling and other coastal communities in northern Norway show a high degree of cultural resistance. -from Author

Ecotourism and mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes

Chapter

Jan 1996

Alastair McNeilage

Ecotourism has played an important role, along with education and anti-poaching patrols, in conservation projects for mountain gorillas. Small groups of tourists are taken by trained guides to visit habituated groups of gorillas. This chapter examines the available evidence on the effects of tourism on the gorillas, both advantageous and deleterious. Tourism has provided a valuable source of income for the national parks in both Rwanda and Zaire, as well as benefiting the national economies and giving the local governments a strong incentive to protect the gorilla population. In addition, the gorilla groups visited by tourists and the areas of the forest which they inhabit are monitored daily and probably receive improved protection. The levels of illegal human disturbance in areas visited and not visited by tourists are compared. Over half the population is now in groups monitored for research or tourism. However, these visits could cause disturbance and stress to the gorillas and greatly increase the risk of human diseases being introduced into the population. Census results show that the proportion of immature animals in monitored groups is higher than in other groups, suggesting that any adverse effects of human visits are outweighed by the protection received. Civil war in Rwanda has demonstrated how political stability is crucial for successful ecotourism programmes.

Animal Liberation

Book

Jan 1995

Peter Singer

We are familiar with Black Liberation, Gay Liberation, and a variety of other movements. With Women’s Liberation some thought we had come to the end of the road. Discrimination on the basis of sex, it has been said, is the last form of discrimination that is universally accepted and practised without pretence, even in those liberal circles which have long prided themselves on their freedom from racial discrimination. But one should always be wary of talking of ‘the last remaining form of discrimination’. If we have learned anything from the liberation movements, we should have learned how difficult it is to be aware of the ways in which we discriminate until they are forcefully pointed out to us. A liberation movement demands an expansion of our moral horizons, so that practices that were previously regarded as natural and inevitable are now seen as intolerable.

What is conservation biology and why is it important?

Article

Jan 1993

David R. Given

Important characteristics of conservation biology are that it is a crisis discipline and it is holistic. It needs integration of research and management, and a range of relevant skills, along with flexible funding to allow for inevitable changes in conservation research programmes. Research agendas are discussed, and four focal points suggested at both the species and the ecosystem levels. Gaps between intention and practice are a current barrier to effective implementation of the principles of conservation biology, and should be overcome by better planning and targeted research. The overall importance of conservation biology lies not only in its contribution to sustaining human life and welfare, but also in maintaining processes fundamental to the health of the biosphere.

Factors Affecting Capture Myopathy in White-Tailed Deer

Article

Apr 1996

Capture myopathy can be a significant cause of mortality for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and other ungulates. Capture and handling may affect rates of myopathy. During 1988-92 we captured 415 white-tailed deer with rocket-nets and Clover traps as part of a deer mortality study in northcentral Missouri. We placed radiotransmitters on 250 of these deer and assumed capture myopathy was the cause of death for 23 deer that died within 26 days of capture. All myopathy suspects were captured with rocket-nets. We examined differences in 6 handling variables for rocket-net-captured deer that died within 26 days of capture and those that lived more than 26 days. We fit a Cox proportional hazard model to these data to determine the capture variables most affecting myopathy for deer captured with rocket-nets. Survival of captured deer was most influenced by the number of deer captured together. Process times should be minimized to reduce stress to captured deer.

The Handbook of British Mammals

Article

Feb 1980

Growth Layers in Dental Cement for Determining the Age of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus L.)

Article

Jun 1967

Brian Mitchell

1. Growth layers in dental cement of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) were studied in samples of material from both sexes, taken throughout the year in various parts of Scotland, and from a limited amount of known-age material (twenty-two animals of which only two were older than 3.5 years). 2. The lower first molar, the first permanent tooth, was the most convenient to use and it was sectioned to expose the layers in the cement pad (under the crown) for viewing by reflected light under a low-power binocular dissecting microscope. 3. Cement comprises broad layers rich in cementocytes, associated with the summer/autumn period of growth, separated by narrower layers deficient in cementocytes, corresponding with the period of winter/early spring food restriction. Some stags also showed a narrow winter-like layer corresponding with the mating season (rutting layers). 4. Seasonal changes in body condition due to changes in diet appear the best explanation for the annual pattern of cement growth, but other factors may be involved. 5. The number of broad white (cementocyte rich) layers found in first molar cement pads mostly gives the correct age in years. Other teeth can also give the age using a correction factor appropriate to each. The present results indicate that the method may be less effective with animals showing irregular or less seasonal variations in growth.

Wapiti Home Range and Movement Patterns in a Sagebrush Desert

Article

Jan 1996
NORTHWEST SCI

Daily mo\ement descriplion., ha\e not beeD a!ailablc lir \\apiti (a.'/fr.t dldltrllr') u\ing sagebrsh (Ark'rrir,./ r-id(nrdtt) nd cfophnd. Ti1us. $c quanljfed home rlges.rnd dail,,-movement pattefns ofrudio collircd $ apiti in a srgebrush cropland rnosiic in \outheasrern ld.rlo. Wapiri in our study had thc largest home-fanse srzes and lrareled the ldrge\t dail)_ dinunccs ol l,l and li in!e\tigalions. respccti|ely. Annurl. mininnrm con!e\ polygon home'range xrca! for nonnligrrtor! $apiti ir our iludy rangcd riom 5.l.1to 555 kmr. Su mer. lllinimum-conlcr poiygon home-f.rnge afeas rangcd tiom 79 to 591 knr . Sumner. harmonic rrcan core .rrers fanged lionr 16 to l,l8 km:. l\,le.rn mininum d.1il,v distmce traveled b.r" naRcd $apiti from June throughAugust w!! 8.8 kn (SE = {1.8. n = 591. I -arge home-mnge sizes hr\c bccn correlrted lvilh l(^v prccipiuljoni however. ju\trpositxn oI habiui conrponeni\ in ouf slud] arca also contributed to long dail,,-mo\ements rnd l.rge holne rangc area!. During dre summer. daltinc bedsites $ere ir nrli!c rrngcland. r\hile nighrtilnc irlocalions $ere in cropl nd. $'c spcculale dral the nlost inpofiant (irtcrrelated) factob behind thc large $apiti molenerls in lhc lNEL afea \lere .ddil]. iul,lBposi!ion of habitat components. habitat reourfements..rnd hunrin distur'brnce.

Lack of Evidence for Stress Being Caused to Pigs by Witnessing the Slaughter of Conspecifics

Article

Jan 1997

The effects of witnessing the slaughter of conspecifics on the stress responses of pigs were investigated. Previously catheterized pigs were allowed to see the stunning and sticking (exsanguination) of pigs in a nearby pen. Heart rate was monitored and serial blood samples were taken to assess stress responses. Packed cell volume (PCV), cortisol and. β-endorphin were determined in the samples. In addition, behavioural observations and subjective assessments of animals' responses were made. Although the levels of hormones, PCV and heart rate tended to be generally high due to handling, there were no specific increases in response to witnessing stunning and slaughter. These results suggest that witnessing the slaughter act does not distress pigs.

Sheep food repellents: Efficacy of various products, habituation, and social facilitation

Article

Feb 1993

The study of food repulsion in ungulates is of practical importance for controlling browsing damage to forest trees and agricultural crops. Experiments with domestic sheep assessed the repulsive value of three natural and two synthetic products, using a food-choice situation. Animals were individually presented with two troughs, each containing 30 g of maize, one treated with a chemical product, and the other a control. The odor of domestic dog feces appeared to be highly repulsive, as none of the treated food was eaten, whereas 3 g ±9 and 6 g ±10 were eaten, respectively, of food treated with fetal fluids from sheep and odor of pig feces. Synthetic odors of lion feces and a commercial deer repellent were less efficient as repellents with 11 g ±13 and 14 g ±15 of food eaten, respectively. Habituation to three of the repellents was tested for a minimum of seven successive days. With dog feces, no habituation to the odor was observed. On the contrary, significant habituation (P < 0.05) was observed as early as the third trial for sheep fetal fluids and the fourth trial for the commercial repellent. To test for the effects of social facilitation, groups of four sheep including no, one, or two anosmic animals were presented with food treated with the odor of dog feces. No social facilitation was observed as none of the intact sheep ate any of the food, although the anosmic animals actively ate it throughout the test. In individual food choice tests, the odor of dog feces appeared to be an especially efficient repellent when compared with the other natural or synthetic products. Such repulsion was nearly complete, and neither habituation nor social facilitation could be observed.

Beyond captive breeding: re-introducing endangered mammals to the wild

Article

Jan 1990

David John Shepherdson

Report of Reintroduction symposium.

Welfare is to do with what animals feel

Article

Jan 1993
J AGR ENVIRON ETHIC

Ian J H Duncan

Effects of behaviour and handling on heart rate in farmed red deer

Article

Jul 1993
APPL ANIM BEHAV SCI

S Price

The heart rate of farmed red deer hinds was affected by behaviour and handling, and the baseline heart rate changed seasonally. Heart rate was measured in five red deer during 14 different behaviours throughout the day in October, January and May. Baseline heart rate in May (85 beats/min) was some 70% higher than in January (50 beats/min). From a minimum (i.e. baseline) when lying idling, heart rate increased by 15 beats/min when the animal stood, by 30 beats/min when it walked and by 63 beats/min when it trotted. Head movements resulted in additional changes; heart rate increased 2 beats/min if the animal started ruminating, 4 beats/min if it started foraging, 6 beats/min if it started grooming, or 13 beats/min for ‘neck-up’. Heart-rate change during routine handling was investigated using 10 deer put through a handling procedure designed to elucidate the effects of various environmental stimuli. The ‘non-motor’ increases in heart rate (in beats/min) produced by handling were: visual isolation, 27; approach by familiar person, 12; approach by unfamiliar person, 14; noises in the housing area, 14. The effect of noises was unexpectedly high and it is suggested that sound-deadening designs would reduce disturbance to deer maintained indoors.

Mesh grids protect loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta nests from red fox Vulpes vulpes predation

Article

Oct 1997
BIOL CONSERV

The efficacy of protecting loggerhead Caretta caretta turtle nests from red fox Vulpes vulpes predation was examined at Dalyan beach, Turkey. Twenty-five nests were protected using individual wire mesh grids. Predation occurred at 63% of the 88 unprotected control nests. In contrast, no protected nests were predated. As a consequence, hatching success was significantly higher at protected nests than at control nests. The feasibility of adopting wire mesh grids as a routine method for turtle nest conservation is evaluated.

Muscular Dystrophy in wild Hunter's Antelope

Article

Aug 1964
AFR J ECOL

Space use by red deer in a Mediterranean ecosystem as determined by radio-tracking

Article

May 1991
APPL ANIM BEHAV SCI

Carranza, J., Hidalgo de Trucios, S.J., Medina, R., Valencia, J. and Delgado, J., 1991. Space use by red deer in a Mediterranean ecosystem as determined by radio-tracking. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 30: 363-371. Space use, movements and activity rhythms of radio-tagged red deer were studied in a Mediterra-nean environment. The deer were found to be mainly crepuscular, nocturnal activity being higher than diurnal activity, which differs from studies of northern European populations of the species. Home ranges were smaller than most reported in the literature, that of the male being about two or three times larger than those of the females. Daily movements ranged from 3 to 4 km day-J according to the size of the home range. Vegetation cover was used more by the male and by all individuals during the summer, whilst open areas were used during the winter and spring, probably because of the high grass production in these seasons. The differences found with respect to other populations indi-cate that further studies in Mediterranean ecosystems are required to provide a basis of knowledge for management decisions.

A scientific concept of animal welfare that reflects ethical concerns

Article

Jan 1997

Scientific research on ‘animal welfare’ began because of ethical concerns over the quality of life of animals, and the public looks to animal welfare research for guidance regarding these concerns. The conception of animal welfare used by scientists must relate closely to these ethical concerns if the orientation of the research and the interpretation of the findings is to address them successfully. At least three overlapping ethical concerns are commonly expressed regarding the quality of life of animals: (1) that animals should lead natural lives through the development and use of their natural adaptations and capabilities, (2) that animals should feel well by being free from prolonged and intense fear, pain, and other negative states, and by experiencing normal pleasures, and (3) that animals should function well, in the sense of satisfactory health, growth and normal functioning of physiological and behavioural systems. Various scientists have proposed restricted conceptions of animal welfare that relate to only one or other of these three concerns. Some such conceptions are based on value positions about what is truly important for the quality of life of animals or about the nature of human responsibility for animals in their care. Others are operational claims: (1) that animal welfare research must focus on the functioning of animals because subjective experiences fall outside the realm of scientific enquiry, or (2) that studying the functioning of animals is sufficient because subjective experiences and functioning are closely correlated. We argue that none of these positions provides fully satisfactory guidance for animal welfare research. We suggest instead that ethical concerns about the quality of life of animals can be better captured by recognizing three classes of problems that may arise when the adaptations possessed by an animal do not fully correspond to the challenges posed by its current environment. (I) If animals possess adaptations that no longer serve a significant function in the new environment, then unpleasant subjective experiences may arise, yet these may not be accompanied by significant disruption to biological functioning. Thus, a bucket-fed calf may experience a strong, frustrated desire to suck, even though it obtains adequate milk. (2) If the environment poses challenges for which the animal has no corresponding adaptation, then functional problems may arise, yet these may not be accompanied by significant effects on subjective feelings. Thus, a pig breathing polluted air may develop lung damage without appearing to notice or mind the problem. (3) Where animals have adaptations corresponding to the kinds of environmental challenges they face, problems may still arise if the adaptations prove inadequate. For example, an animal's thermoregulatory adaptations may be insufficient in a very cold environment such that the animal both feels poorly and functions poorly. We propose that all three types of problems are causes of ethical concern over the quality of life of animals and that they together define the subject matter of animal welfare science.

Welfare Implications of the Night Shooting of Wild Impala (Aepyceros Melampus)

Article

May 1997

The most common method of culling impala (Aepyceros melampus) and many other antelope species in Africa was evaluated from a welfare point of view. The culling of 856 impala from 401 herds was observed and recorded in the Mkuzi Game Reserve, South Africa. Ninety-three per cent of animals were killed instantaneously by the first shot. Results indicated that herd size and composition, distance of herd from hunting vehicle and shot number all have a bearing on the number of animals wounded and missed. It is concluded that the culling of free-ranging impala by night-hunting in the manner described is a satisfactory method on welfare grounds, although a number of recommendations are made which might render the culling process more humane. It is argued that economic and welfare considerations are not necessarily in conflict, and long-term efficiency is likely to be enhanced by addressing both simultaneously.

Successful Group Housing of Wild-Caught Brushtail Possums (Trichosurus Vulpecula)

Article

Feb 1997

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) , introduced from Australia about 150 years ago, has become a major pest threatening the native biota of New Zealand. It is also an important disease vector, acting as a wildlife reservoir of infection. Conventional methods of control have had little effect on reducing the national population, so there is a quest to find more effective and humane methods. This has led to an upsurge in research aimed at increasing our knowledge of the biology of this marsupial, with an attendant increase in requirements for access to colony-housed animals. Possums kept for research purposes have often been housed in individual cages, and several colonies have experienced high mortality rates. After capture, possums have shown inappetence, weight loss and a predisposition to infection, suggesting that this species is susceptible to post-capture stress. For our reproductive studies, research animals are only useful if maintained under conditions that ensure behavioural and physiological processes remain normal. We have adopted an ‘animal husbandry’ approach for our possum colony, where social interaction and the ability to exhibit instinctive behaviour patterns are considered as important as adequate nutrition and housing. In this colony, group-housed possums show no signs of post-capture stress, and mortality rate has been less than one per cent (of > 600 animals housed to date). Virtually all possums gain weight over the first month of captivity. Procedures for monitoring, handling and the collection of data from these animals, are carried out with little apparent stress to either animals or staff.

Welfare by Design: The Natural Selection of Welfare Criteria

Article

Nov 1996

The scientific study of animal welfare has generated a welter of complex, equivocal and often contradictory results. Consequently, there is little agreement about how impairment of welfare should be measured. While some solutions to this have been suggested, these have usually relied on more sophisticated versions of, or more control over, existing measures. However, we argue that the difficulties arise because of questionable assumptions in the definition and measurement of welfare, in particular the measurement of suffering and the assumed importance of individual well-being. We contend that welfare can be interpreted only in terms of what natural selection has designed an organism to do and how circumstances impinge on its functional design. Organisms are designed for self-expenditure and the relative importance of self-preservation and survival, and the concomitant investment of time and resources in different activities, varies with life history strategy. The traditional notions of coping and stress are anthropomorphisms based on homeostatic mechanisms of self-preservation in a long-lived species. Suffering-like states are viewed as generalized subjective states that are geared to avoiding deleterious circumstances with which the organism does not have specific adaptive mechanisms to deal. Attempts to measure suffering-like states directly are likely to remain inconclusive, at least for the foreseeable future, because such states are private and subjective, may take many forms fundamentally different from our own and are likely to depend on the operation of phenotype-limited priorities and decision rules. However, measuring the impact of circumstances on functional design via the organism's decision rules provides a practicable means of giving benefit of the doubt by indicating when suffering, or an analogous subjective state, is likely.

Why is There no Simple Way of Measuring Animal Welfare?

Article

Nov 1993

Although the physiological and behavioural changes that can indicate poor welfare are generally agreed upon, using these measures in practice sometimes yields results that are hard to interpret. For example, different types of measure may suggest quite different things about an animal's welfare. Such contradictions are often due to the differing properties of the variables being measured. How each variable responds to a stressor can be affected by several factors - the type of unpleasant stimulus to which the animal is exposed; when and for how long exposure occurs; the animal's psychological state, eg does it feel that it is in control?; and the time at which the measurement is made, relative to the stressor. Typical responses also often differ between species and between individuals, and may even change in a single individual over time. Furthermore, some responses used to assess welfare lack specificity: they can be elicited by neutral or even pleasant events as well as by aversive ones. Appreciating these factors is vital when designing experiments, when choosing what to measure along with each welfare variable, and when interpreting results. Even after taking these factors into consideration, interpreting a result can still be difficult. One approach then is to consider the effects on welfare of the changes measured, eg if there is immunosuppression, does the animal succumb to disease? Another is to use the animal's behaviour to indicate its preference for, or aversion to, particular environments. Ultimately, however, interpreting welfare measures involves subjective judgements which will be influenced by the nature of our concern for the animal under consideration. By raising these problems, we hope that this review will highlight and clarify the apparent contradictions that sometimes emerge in scientific studies of animal welfare, and help researchers improve the designs of their experiments for the benefit of the animals concerned.

Effective Feeding Enrichment for Non-Human Primates: A Brief Review

Article

Aug 1997

There is a growing awareness that non-human primates kept in zoos and laboratories deserve more species-appropriate stimulation because of their biological adaptation to a challenging environment. Numerous attempts have been made to effectively emulate the gathering and processing aspects of natural feeding. Whole natural food-items, woodchips mixed with seeds, the puzzle ceiling and the puzzle feeder stocked with ordinary biscuits, cost little or nothing but induce sustained food gathering and/or food processing. Turf and fleece substrates sprinkled with particles of flavoured food, foraging trays, probe feeders and puzzles baited with food treats also promote more foraging behaviour, but they are relatively expensive and require added labour time to load and clean them.

The Welfare of Free-Living Wild Animals in Europe: Harm Caused by Human Activities

Article

Jan 1995

As part of a study into the effects of human activities on the welfare of free-living wildlife, the relative scale and severity of welfare problems in wild mammals and birds in Europe were investigated. Major cases were described and compared in terms of the nature and level of harm (pain, stress and fear) they cause, the duration of these effects and the number of individuals affected. The use of anticoagulant rodenticides, myxomatosis in rabbits, the poisoning of wildfowl by ingested lead shot, the contamination of seabirds with fuel oil, the effects of shooting, injuries due to collisions with road traffic and predation by domestic cats all severely compromise the welfare of large numbers of animals. Practical approaches to the alleviation and prevention of some of these welfare problems are discussed. We suggest that in assessing the environmental impact of new developments and technologies prior to their implementation, possible consequences to wildlife welfare should always be considered.

Reactions of zoo visitors to free‐ranging monkeys

Article

Jan 1994
ZOO BIOL

This study assessed the potential of two types of primate exhibit both for enhancing zoo visitors' interest, knowledge, and enjoyment and for promoting conservation education. Visitors' reactions to a free-ranging group of cotton-top tamarins were compared with their responses to caged tamarins in three ways: 1) timing how long visitors spent at each exhibit, 2) recording the comments made by visitors about the exhibits, and 3) asking visitors to respond to questionnaires about the two exhibits. The results showed that the free-ranging group of tamarins provoked wider comment from members of the public than caged groups and that visitors were willing to spend much more time looking for and watching monkeys in trees than monkeys in cages. Visitors felt that improvements in the animals' welfare were obtained from allowing them to live free in the trees, thought that they could learn more from such groups than from caged animals, and enjoyed seeing the free-ranging tamarins more than the monkeys in cages. These results suggest that developing more naturalistic zoo exhibits can have considerable benefits not only for the animals involved, but also for public education in conservation issues. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Culling Regimes and Sex Ratio Biases in Highland Red Deer

Article

Aug 1994

1. Managers of many ungulate populations seek to maximize the number and quality of mature males that can be harvested each year rather than the total harvest. Since competition between the sexes in dimorphic ungulates is commonly asymmetric and increasing population density depresses the growth and survival of males more than females, different culling policies may need to be applied to the two sexes to realize this objective. 2. In this paper, we use observed density-dependent changes in reproduction and survival in an unculled red deer (Cervus elaphus) population in the North Block of the Isle of Rum to model the responses of males and females to different levels of culling or predation. 3. Red deer populations not subject to predation or culling are likely to show an adult sex ratio with a bias towards females, lying between 1.5 females per male and 2.0 females per male. 4. Where males and females are subjected to the same rates of predation or culling, females will again predominate in the population. Under these circumstances, increasing the overall rate of culling or predation is unlikely to lead to a substantial increase in the number of males present for, as female numbers fall, the number of males produced declines. It may, however, lead to improvements in male growth. 5. Where females are subjected to lower annual culling rates than males (a common situation for red deer populations in Scotland), increasing the proportion of females culled can lead to a substantial increase in the number of mature males in the population as a result of improvements in male survival. Our models suggest that the maximum annual yield of mature males is likely to be achieved if all males of ≥5 years and 16-20% of females ≥1 year old are culled each year. Estates that currently cull less than 5% of their females may be able to raise their annual offtake of mature stags by as much as 30% by raising female culls to these levels.

Wolf predation risk associated with white-tailed deer movements

Article

Oct 1991
CAN J ZOOL

The survival of 159 yearling and adult deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was monitored by telemetry during 282 spring and 219 fall individual migrations to winter deeryards in northeastern Minnesota. A disproportionate number of deer were killed by wolves (Canis lupus) during fall migration relative to the short time they spent migrating, but not during spring migration. Predation was also significantly greater for male and female yearlings and adult females outside deeryards during winter. Survival of 79 yearlings dispersing from natal ranges was high (1.00). It appears that changing climatic conditions combined with unfamiliar terrain and undetermined factors predispose migratory deer to wolf predation during fall. These findings support an earlier hypothesis that winter yarding is an antipredator strategy.

Factors influencing heart rate in free-ranging bighorn sheep: A physiological approach to the study of wildlife harassment

Article

Oct 1979
CAN J ZOOL

The telemetered heart rates (HR) of unrestrained female bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) were recorded under various behavioral and environmental circumstances. In all ewes HR varied positively with activity level and inversely with distance to a road traversing the study area. The HR recorded from animals moving at night or through timber by day were higher than during daytime movement across open slopes.Responses to transient stimuli varied greatly. The appearance of free-ranging canids evoked maximal increases in HR in all ewes. Vehicular traffic and aircraft elicited HR responses only at close range (< 200 m). Most (78.1%) HR responses to disturbing stimuli preceded or occurred in the absence of overt behavioral reactions. The HR usually peaked within 60 s of the onset of the response and recovered to predisturbance base line in less than 200 s. The appearance and continued presence (1–10 min) of a human within 50 m of the sheep resulted in a 20% rise in mean HR. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the behavior, ecology, and bioenergetics of bighorn sheep.

Janis, C. M. and P. B. Wilhelm. Were there mammalian pursuit predators in the Tertiary? Dances with wolf avatars. Journal of Mammalian Evolution

Article

Jun 1993

Fast-running, long-legged pursuit carnivores are familiar members of the present-day ecosystem, and it has been assumed that extinct large predators took similar ecomorphological roles (i.e., were wolf avatars) in past faunas. While these fossil taxa may also have been meat-specialists, we present evidence from limb morphology to show that there was no modern type of pursuit predator until the latest Tertiary. In contrast, ungulates evolved longer legs similar to those of present-day cursorial taxa by the middle Tertiary, some 20 million years earlier. These data suggest the need for the reevaluation of many classical evolutionary stories, not only about assignation of fossil taxa to a wolf-like mode of predatory behavior, but also to issues such as the coevolution of long legs and fast running speeds between predator and prey, and even the implicit assumption that cursorial morphologies are primarily an adaptation for speed. We conclude that evolutionary change in ungulate limb morphologies represents an adaptation to decrease transport costs in association with Tertiary climatic changes and that the present-day predation mode of long distance pursuit is a Plio-Pleistocene phenomenon, related to the development of colder and more arid climates.

Welfare Implications of Culling Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus)

Abstract

No full-text available