The illegal shooting and snaring of legally protected wolves in Poland

Nowak, Sabina; Żmihorski, Michał; Figura, Michał; Stachyra, Przemysław; Mysłajek, Robert W.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109367

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Recent studies have documented human attitudes becoming more negative toward wolves after their killing was legalized for a period of time 23 – 26 . Remarkably, Fuller 27 reported similarly high levels of wolf mortality in a 1980–1985 radio-tracking study of 81 wolves, with even higher human-caused mortality than that observed following the 2012–2014 hunting and trapping seasons—even though the wolf population was smaller in the 1980s.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-caused wolf mortality persists for years after discontinuation of hunting

Oliynyk

2023

Sci Rep

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By the mid-twentieth century, wolves were nearly extinct in the lower 48 states, with a small number surviving in northern Minnesota. After wolves were placed on the endangered species list in 1973, the northern Minnesota wolf population increased and stabilized by the early 2000s. A wolf trophy hunt was introduced in 2012–2014 and then halted by a court order in December 2014. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources collected wolf radiotelemetry data for the years 2004–2019. Statistical analysis showed that wolf mortality remained close to constant from 2004 until the initiation of the hunt, and that mortality doubled with the initiation of the first hunting and trapping season in 2012, remaining at a nearly constant elevated level through 2019. Notably, average annual wolf mortality increased from 21.7% before wolf hunting seasons (10.0% by human causes and 11.7% natural causes) to 43.4% (35.8% by human causes and 7.6% natural causes). The fine-grained statistical trend implies that human-caused mortality increased sharply during the hunting seasons, while natural mortality initially dropped. After the hunt’s discontinuation, human-caused mortality remained higher than prior to the hunting seasons throughout the five years of the available after-hunt radiotelemetry data.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-caused wolf mortality persists for years after discontinuation of hunting

Oliynyk

2023

Sci Rep

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“…In 2012 alone, nearly 20% of the estimated wolf population was hunted and trapped [6]. However, mortality remaining high after hunts were discontinued may indicate human attitudes becoming more negative toward wolves after their killing was legalized for a period of time [19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-caused wolf mortality persists for years after discontinuation of hunting

Oliynyk

2022

Preprint

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By the mid-twentieth century, wolves were nearly extinct in the lower 48 states, with a small number surviving in Northern Minnesota. After wolves were placed on the endangered species list, the Northern Minnesota wolf population increased and stabilized by the early 2000s. A wolf trophy hunt was introduced in 2012-2014 and halted by a court order in December 2014. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources collected wolf radiotelemetry data for the years 2004-2019. Our statistical analysis showed that wolf mortality was close to constant from 2004 until the initiation of the hunt, and mortality doubled with the initiation of the first hunting and trapping season in 2012 and remained at an almost constantly elevated level through 2019. Notably, the average annual wolf mortality increased from 21.7% before wolf hunt seasons (10.0% by human causes and 11.7% naturally) to 43.4% (35.8% by human causes and 7.6% naturally). The fine-grained statistical trend implies that human-caused mortality increased sharply during hunting seasons, while naturally attributable mortality initially dropped. The human-caused mortality, while gradually diminishing after the hunt discontinuation, remained high, perhaps indicating a lasting shift in human attitudes and a post-hunt change in wolf pack composition and size as well as wolf behavior.

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“…For example, in some countries, despite legal controversies, active government‐driven population control of wolf occurs, such as in Norway, Sweden and Finland (e.g., Trouwborst, Boitani, et al., 2017; Trouwborst, Fleurke, et al., 2017). Additionally, illegal killing and other human‐induced mortality of wolves is widespread (Musto et al., 2021; Nowak et al., 2021).…”

Section: Wolves Recolonizing Novel Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wolves recolonize novel ecosystems leading to novel interactions

Kuijper,

Diserens,

Say‐Sallaz

et al. 2024

Journal of Applied Ecology

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The wolf (Canis lupus) is arguably the most successful species at recolonizing its now human‐dominated former ranges in Europe and North America. Over the centuries while the wolf was absent, humans have transformed ecosystems to a large extent. In this paper, we highlight key aspects of these human‐modified ecosystems that include changes to (meso)carnivore communities, wolves themselves (genetics, behaviour), woody plant communities and the playing field for predator–prey interactions (landscape structure). We argue that the recognition of the novelty of human‐modified ecosystems logically leads to novel pathways of how wolves can influence ecosystem functioning. Thus far, the ecological impacts of wolves in human‐dominated systems have largely been predicted based on the documented effects they have on prey species or lower trophic levels in well‐preserved systems with low human impact. However, wolves in human‐modified ecosystems will engage in an array of novel interactions and potential novel trophic cascades that do not occur in more natural ecosystems with lower human impact. This should encourage us to re‐assess the questions we ask about wolf impacts in novel systems. A promising direction for future studies is exploring what novel interactions establish and under what conditions wolves can exert their ecosystem impacts (context dependence) in the human‐modified ecosystems wolves are recolonizing. Policy implications. Understanding these novel interactions and the context dependence of ecosystem impacts could guide us to act to improve conditions to enable wolves to exert their ecosystem impacts again. These novel interactions may be the true ecological and societal value of having wolves returning to human‐modified landscapes.

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The illegal shooting and snaring of legally protected wolves in Poland

Cited by 16 publications

References 58 publications

Human-caused wolf mortality persists for years after discontinuation of hunting

Human-caused wolf mortality persists for years after discontinuation of hunting

Human-caused wolf mortality persists for years after discontinuation of hunting

Wolves recolonize novel ecosystems leading to novel interactions

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