| We examined predation on livestock by wolf (Canis lupus) in Dalai Lake Nature Reserve, Neimenggu, China, through field survey and studying claims made by residents from Jul 2004 to Jan 2007. There were 95 claims and a total of 425 livestock were killed in these claim, costing at least 186575.00 RMB lost. Data includes kills number, type, age, wolf trail and the GPS data of the predation spots. We use Mann-Whitney U to test the significance of difference. GIS analysis was employed to quantify these spots with 9 ecological variables. We use PCA to identify the principal components among the 9 variables. Results show that sheep, cattle and horses were the main species of livestock preyed on. Considering the ratio of total numbers, wolves showed preference for sheep (94.16%) to horses or cattle, less predated camel and donkey. Most predation claims occurred during the frozen season (Sep- Feb, 89.74%). Location of predation, in order of importance of the 9 ecological variables: Human disturbance, habitat type, Species, Distance to rest site, Sheltering class, Distance to water source, Predation Season, Number of killed, Distance to stockade. According these ecological variables, Result of principal component analysis showed that the first 3 principal components explained 81.544% of the total variance among all predation habitat variables. According to absolute value of coefficient, the 3 components were classified separately as sheltering class factor, disturbance factor and water factor. Sheltering class factor is the chief factor in predation habitat site selection.We discussed what cause wolf predated livestock. Food supply is key reason; habitat and influence of humans are main reason. Improvements in farm management practices may reduce the present number of conflicts. The reintroduction of wild large herbivores should be advocated as a means of reducing attacks on livestock. |
PDF Full Text Request