What is it about?
Livestock guarding dogs are commonly classified as a non-lethal, environmentally friendly means of reducing livestock losses to farmers. We examined this classification by interviewing Namibian farmers in the Cheetah Conservation Fund's guarding dog breeding programme. Our results suggest that the guarding dogs kill more black-backed jackals than the farmers did before receiving their dogs. Additionally, a few of the dogs in the survey killed animals that do not threaten livestock. Nonetheless, the dogs seemed to reduce the number of farmers killing cheetahs, which are the main predator of conservation concern in Namibia.
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Why is it important?
Our work gives a more realistic look at livestock guarding dogs than is currently available in the literature. By quantifying the number of animals dogs kill themselves relative to the farmers, we give a balanced view of the role guarding dogs play in predator conservation in Namibia. The future use of guarding dogs in this and other countries should consider both the costs and benefits of guarding dogs to conservation when encouraging farmers to use guarding dogs.
Perspectives
When introducing large dogs on farms, one must consider the other species they may interact with whilst guarding their livestock. Special care should be given if endangered carnivores are present in the area, particularly if they are smaller than the dogs. In Namibia, the smaller carnivores (jackals and caracals) are quite common, and are often the main causes of livestock loss on farmlands. Larger carnivores (cheetah and leopard) are more threatened, and their numbers may decline where farmers retaliate to livestock using indiscriminate methods to control jackals. Although it would require more research, it is likely that the dogs are assisting with cheetah conservation by reducing the jackal and caracal problems encountered by farmers.
Miss Gail Christine Potgieter
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: More bark than bite? The role of livestock guarding dogs in predator control on Namibian farmlands, Oryx, May 2015, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0030605315000113.
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