Human-wildlife conflict research has often focused on ways such apex predators as lions, tigers and wolves endanger humans, impact livelihoods and threaten livestock, but a pair of Clemson University researchers has expanded the discussion to include two non-traditional culprits: “vampire elephants” and “ecological zombies.”
Invasive feral hogs are trapped on a rural property.
Better known simply as elephants and hogs than by those macabre monikers, the species are not carnivores traditionally associated with loss of livestock — nor do they have supernatural powers — but they can have a similar impact.
New research by Shari Rodriguez and Christie Sampson in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, examines the effects of these less-studied relationships, particularly for feral hogs and elephants, and the potential consequences of excluding these animals from research focused on mitigating wildlife impact on livestock.
“When we deal with livestock issues and human-wildlife conflicts, it’s not enough right now to just talk about carnivores,” Rodriguez said. “We have to talk about at least hogs and elephants, as well, because there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel with (mitigating the impact of) elephants and hogs when we’ve got a wheel that exists for carnivores that can be applied to at least two other groups of species.”
Continue reading at Clemson University.
Image via Susan Sullivan.