•  
  •  
 

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

Social tolerance of carnivores can be improved by preventing conflicts through nonlethal predator deterrents (e.g., livestock protection dogs [Canis lupus familiaris] and human presence) that have been used for centuries. However, many livestock producers feel the existing preventative methods are inadequate for extensive production systems where livestock can be spread widely and have less human supervision. To address this issue, we developed and tested a new nonlethal tool called FlashTags to reduce livestock predation. FlashTags are ear tags worn by livestock that flash a random-light pattern at night when motion-triggered. In the first year, we tested the devices on domestic ewes (Ovis aries) and found no effect on sheep behavior. In the second year, we fit FlashTags on livestock at 13 operations in North America to test their efficacy at reducing domestic livestock predation to determine if further development of the FlashTags was warranted. All sites were previously affected by chronic predation by coyotes (C. latrans), gray wolves (C. lupus), and/or grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). We observed a significant reduction in reported predation by coyotes and wolves at 2 operations where rigorous data were collected, and at all but 1 site, livestock producers reported lower or no livestock depredation with FlashTags. However, we encountered a design flaw in our prototype that resulted in the majority of FlashTags breaking before the grazing season ended. These results suggest FlashTags offer a novel, low-maintenance, low-cost, nonlethal deterrent that producers would use if design improvements are made.

Download

Share

COinS