Bird strike accidents are critical threats for aviation safety especially in airport airspaces. Environment friendly solutions are preferred for wildlife managements to achieve harmonic coexistence between airports and surrounding environments. Avian radar systems are the most effective remote sensing approach for long-range and all-weather birds monitoring. Massive historical avian radar datasets and other data sources provide an opportunity to explore relevance between bird behaviour and environments. This paper proposes a bird behaviour characterisation and prediction method to reveal bird behaviour dependency with weather parameters. Bird behaviours are modelled as indices and grades from selected avian radar datasets. Weather dependence are studied from single parameter to multivariable parameters. The random forest model is selected as a behaviour grade prediction model taking four weather parameters as system inputs. Radar datasets for diurnal and nocturnal birds are constructed to validate their behaviour characters and prediction performance, respectively. Experiment results verify the feasibility of bird behaviour prediction using weather parameters, but also reflect some insufficiencies within the proposed method. Data sufficiency and severe weather considerations are also discussed to analyse their impact on prediction accuracy. A more comprehensive prediction model with standardised avian radar data quality and enhanced weather information accuracy is promising to further elevate the application significance of the proposed method.

The success of translocation as a management tool is based on reversing the factors that led to a population becoming threatened or locally extinct. We assessed whether translocating a jaguar Panthera onca into the surroundings of a protected area in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest with a resident jaguar population was effective. We captured a male jaguar in an urban area where there were no substantiated previous records of jaguars. In the capture area only one predation event had been recorded, when the jaguar killed several chickens a few days before capture. After capture we translocated the jaguar to a forested area 240 km from the capture site, adjacent to the Rio Doce State Park. To investigate whether the potential geographical origin of the individual was any nearby fragment of the Atlantic Forest or nearby fragments of the Cerrado ecoregion, we genotyped it for 12 microsatellite loci and compared the results to a database developed previously. We fitted the jaguar with a GPS/VHF collar from which we recovered 2.5 months of data. Post-release monitoring with camera traps indicated the jaguar established residence within the region of the Park and we recorded no events of predation on livestock. The genetic analysis indicated that the jaguar resembled individuals from the Inner Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and Amazon. Translocation was an important tool for avoiding potentially negative interactions between the jaguar and local people, and may have benefitted the jaguar population at the release site.

Avian radar systems are effective for wide-area bird detection and tracking, but application significances need further exploration. Existing radar data mining methods provide long-term functionalities, but they are problematic for bird activity modelling especially in temporal domain. This paper complements this insufficiency by introducing a temporal bird activity extraction and interpretation method. The bird behaviour is quantified as the activity degree which integrates intensity and uncertainty characters with an entropy weighing algorithm. The method is applicable in multiple temporal scales. Historical radar dataset from a system deployed in an airport is adopted for verification. Temporal characters demonstrate good consistency with understandings from local observers and ornithologists. Daily commuting and roosting characters of local birds are well reflected, evening bat activities are also extracted. Night migration activities are demonstrated clearly. Results indicate the proposed method is effective in temporal bird activity modelling and interpretation. Its integration with bird strike risk models might be more useful for airport safety management with wildlife interference.

A new, external non-invasive telemetric heart rate (HR) monitoring system was evaluated on eight wapiti, Cervus elaphus canadensis, yearlings in July and August 1996. The assembly consisted of a leather girth strap, onto which a HR transmitter and a customized carriage bolt electrode system were fixed. To prevent the girth strap from rotating on the animal, it was secured with adjustable nylon straps extending anteriorly between the forelegs up to an adjustable neck collar. In preliminary testing, audible tones were received during 99 per cent (n = 902) of the 15s intervals when the animals were active, but only during 33 per cent (n = 156) when they were bedded. After 2 weeks, the equipment remained functional (and was removed); the effective signal range was consistently beyond 500m. This HR monitoring system is easy to attach externally, obviates complications from surgery, and provides coverage over an extended range.

The monitoring system offers a reliable, humane and inexpensive method for short-term measurement of HR in captive or wild ungulates. Further tests may reveal a potential for long-term application. The ability to measure physiological responses under different management regimes can aid ungulate farmers in selecting optimal herd sizes and social structures for their animals; and in developing superior housing, enclosure designs, handling and transport methods. This improves the animals’ welfare, and ultimately leads to an increase in animal growth and herd productivity. In addition, information about heart rates can help wildlife managers to improve their management strategies, by gaining an understanding of the energy expenditure associated with various activities and environmental influences.

Three types of fertility control, surgical sterilization, hormonal chemosterilization, and immunosterilization, are reviewed with regard to their potential for controlling problematic populations of carnivores. The fertility control agent and delivery protocol of choice may vary considerably according to: (i) the reason for control; (ii) the degree, urgency and duration of population reduction required; (iii) concerns about ethics and public opinion; and (iv) the status, population dynamics, social structure, mating system, size, behaviour and reproductive endocrinology of the target animals. Although they are often perceived and advocated as more preferable methods of population control than lethal approaches, it is important that wildlife managers as well as members of the public realize that the ethical acceptability of the various fertility control techniques may differ considerably - and that numerous questions regarding their effectiveness, humaneness and ecological safety remain unanswered.

In choosing among alternative wildlife management techniques, trade-offs between animal welfare and conservation, utility or economics are often apparent. This paper reviews the roles of science, scientists, regulators and educators in attempts to overcome this inter-dependence and to make simultaneous progress on all fronts. Illustrations are drawn in particular from trapping and pest population control. Against the real progress that can undoubtedly be made through scientific study, there is a regrettable lack of structure because of poor philosophical and logical coherence within the welfare movement.

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are considered one of the most significant vertebrate pests globally, because of their impacts on human and animal health. There are legal and moral obligations to minimise the impacts of wildlife management on animal welfare, yet there are few data on the relative welfare impacts of rat trapping and baiting methods used in the UK with which to inform management decisions. Two stakeholder workshops were facilitated to assess the relative welfare impacts of six lethal rat management methods using a welfare assessment model. Fifteen stakeholders including experts in wildlife management, rodent management, rodent biology, animal welfare science, and veterinary science and medicine, participated. The greatest welfare impacts were associated with three baiting methods, anticoagulants, cholecalciferol and non-toxic cellulose baits (severe to extreme impact for days), and with capture on a glue trap (extreme for hours) with concussive killing (mild to moderate for seconds to minutes); these methods should be considered last resorts from a welfare perspective. Lower impacts were associated with cage trapping (moderate to severe for hours) with concussive killing (moderate for minutes). The impact of snap trapping was highly variable (no impact to extreme for seconds to minutes). Snap traps should be regulated and tested to identify those that cause rapid unconsciousness; such traps might represent the most welfare-friendly option assessed for killing rats. Our results can be used to integrate consideration of rat welfare alongside other factors, including cost, efficacy, safety, non-target animal welfare and public acceptability when selecting management methods. We also highlight ways of reducing welfare impacts and areas where more data are needed.

Moles are widely trapped as pests on farms and amenity land in Britain. Spring traps for killing mammals generally require welfare approval in the UK, but mole traps are exempt. Previous research demonstrated wide variation in the mechanical performance of mole traps. In this context, we aimed to produce new data on the welfare impact of kill-trapping moles in the field. We collected 50 moles trapped in southern England (November 2008-August 2009). Captures peaked during the peak in male breeding activity, when captures were almost exclusively male. Post mortem and x-ray (radiation) examinations were conducted to determine injuries and likely cause of death. No moles sustained damaged skulls or upper cervical vertebrae (which could cause unconsciousness immediately). The primary identifiable cause of death for all but one mole was acute haemorrhage; this contrasts with the findings of the only previous such study, in which only one mole showed clear evidence of haemorrhaging. Some moles may have asphyxiated although it was not possible to determine this. Moles most likely became unconscious before death, but times to unconsciousness, and death, can be determined only through killing trials and further investigation is urgently needed. This should be done through the spring traps approval process; this could improve the welfare standards of trapping for many thousands of moles each year. Mole trapping for long-term population control might be better targeted after the peak in male breeding activity, when females are more likely to be caught, but this would threaten the welfare of dependent young underground.

For many mammal species, converting dung density into population density requires accurate estimates of defaecation rate and dung survival time. The latter parameter probably varies seasonally. In Nki National Park, south-east Cameroon, we monitored 216 dung piles of the blue duiker Philantomba monticola and 373 of the red duiker group (Cephalophus spp.), major game animals in Central Africa, and estimated dung survival time across seasons. Mean survival time was 6.83 days in the major dry season and 1.21–1.81 in other seasons for the blue duiker, and 7.37 and 1.53–4.05 for red duikers, lower than the values conventionally used for density estimations in Central Africa (i.e. 18 days for the blue duiker and 21 days for red duikers). Overall, beetles removed half of the dung within 1 day of deposition. However, the proportion of dung piles that beetles removed was significantly lower in the major dry season, and other dung piles remained longer until they disappeared as a result of other factors. As shorter dung survival time results in higher estimates of population density, our findings imply that in forests with intense beetle activity, duiker densities are higher than those based on the conventional values of dung survival time. Duiker densities and dung survival time should be estimated simultaneously. To minimize the bias introduced by rapid removal of fresh dung by beetles, only fresh dung (< 3 hours old) should be monitored when estimating mean dung survival time.

Recreational activities may have negative effects on wildlife, but there are very few studies specifically on the effects of free-flight activities (i.e., hang-gliders, paragliders and their powered derivatives) on wildlife. We review the existing scientific studies on this issue in order to identify the gaps in knowledge at the taxonomic-group level in order to develop guidelines to minimize the impacts of recreational free-flight on wildlife. We found that studies mainly concerned the effects on four ungulate species (chamois, red deer, roe deer and Alpine ibex) and, to a lesser extent, on raptors such as the golden eagle and two vulture species (bearded vulture and cinereous vulture). The studies have generally been carried out in high mountain areas (e.g., the European Alps). Data show that free-flight activities create disturbances and have negative effects on wildlife, resulting in increased energy expenditure, reduction of feeding time, abandonment of feeding areas, reduced breeding output, loss of body condition, increased predation risk and harm from flight accidents. However, the lack of studies on many species and areas, along with the small number of long-term studies, prevents proper assessment of the current situation regarding the impact of this activity on wildlife. We provide recommendations to improve the regulation of this activity.

Data extraction from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery has proved effective in animal surveys and monitoring, but to date has scarcely been used for detailed population analysis and individual animal feature extraction. We assessed the zoometric and feature extraction of the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) using data acquired from a captive population for comparison with reintroduced populations monitored by UAVs. Highly accurate scaled and geo-rectified imagery derived from UAV surveys allowed precise morphometric measurements of the oryx. The scaled top-view imagery combined with baseline data from known sex, age, weight and pregnancy status of captive individuals were used to develop predictive models. A bracketed index developed from the predictive models showed high accuracy for classifying the age group ≤16 months, animals with a weight >80 kg and pregnancy. The pregnancy classification decision tree model performed with 91.7% accuracy. The polynomial weight predictive model performed well with relatively high accuracy when using the total top-view surface measurement. Photogrammetrically processed UAV-acquired imagery can yield valuable zoometric data, feature extraction and modelling; it is a tool with a practical application for field biologists that can assist in the decision-making process for species conservation management.

The introduction of mammal predators has been a major cause of species extinctions on oceanic islands. Eradication is only possible or cost-effective at early stages of invasion, before introduced species become abundant and widespread. Although prevention, early detection and rapid response are the best management strategies, most oceanic islands lack systems for detecting, responding to and monitoring introduced species. Wildlife managers require reliable information on introduced species to guide, assess and adjust management actions. Thus, a large-scale and long-term monitoring programme is needed to evaluate the management of introduced species and the protection of native wildlife. Here, we evaluate camera trapping as a survey technique for detecting and monitoring introduced small and medium-sized terrestrial mammals on an oceanic island, Terceira (Azores). Producing an inventory of introduced mammals on this island required a sampling effort of 465 camera-trap days and cost EUR 2,133. We estimated abundance and population trends by using photographic capture rates as a population index. We also used presence/absence data from camera-trap surveys to calculate detection probability, estimated occupancy rate and the sampling effort needed to determine species absence. Although camera trapping requires large initial funding, this is offset by the relatively low effort for fieldwork. Our findings demonstrate that camera trapping is an efficient survey technique for detecting and monitoring introduced species on oceanic islands. We conclude by proposing guidelines for designing monitoring programmes for introduced species.

Human–bear conflicts resulting from livestock depredation and crop use are a common threat to the brown bear Ursus arctos throughout its range. Understanding these conflicts requires the recording and categorization of incidents, assessment of their geographical distribution and frequency, and documentation of the financial costs and the presence of any preventative measures. Damage compensation schemes can help mitigate conflicts and, in some cases, improve acceptance of bears. This study aims to elucidate the major factors determining the patterns of damage caused by bears, examine the effectiveness of preventative measures in reducing such damage, and identify bear damage hotspots in Croatia. Our analysis is based on damage reports provided by hunting organizations to the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture during 2004–2014. The highest number of claims were made for damage to field crops and orchards. Damage to livestock, agricultural crops and beehives resulted in the highest total cost to farmers. Damage to beehives and to automatic corn feeders for game species incurred the highest cost per damage event. We identified a hotspot for bear damage claims in Croatia, located near Risnjak National Park and the border with Slovenia. Damage appears higher in areas that have more villages closer to protected areas and a greater per cent of forest cover, indicating a synergistic effect of protected environments that facilitate bear movements and the presence of human activities that provide easily accessible food for bears.

Bird strikes are a considerable hazard to the aviation industry, which has led airports to develop detailed management strategies to identify and reduce the risk of them. These strategies include plans to modify bird habitats in and around airports to limit the establishment of high-risk species. Although airports are generally located on the outskirts of towns and cities, they may be encroached on by urban sprawl. In this study, we examined how an urbanization gradient affects the bird community around an air force base in Cape Town (South Africa) and quantified how this could modify the hazard of bird–aircraft collision. We surveyed the bird community in and around the Air Force Base Ysterplaat across four seasons and categorized species based on their response to increased urbanization (urban avoiders, adapters and exploiters). By combining this with species-specific information on body size, flock size, flight behaviour and abundance, we showed that although urbanization affects bird composition, the overall hazard of bird–aircraft collision is consistent regardless of urban response. However, urbanization complicates mitigation in the matrix surrounding the airport and creates novel challenges for the management of bird hazards. Therefore, new bird hazard management strategies should be integrated within community-driven land-use planning to minimize the negative effects of bird–aircraft collisions.

Identifying optimal sampling designs for detecting population-level declines is critical for optimizing expenditures by research and monitoring programmes. The Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) network is the most extensive tropical camera-trap monitoring programme, but the effectiveness of its sampling protocol has not been rigorously assessed. Here, we assess the power and sensitivity of the programme's camera-trap monitoring protocol for detecting occupancy changes in unmarked populations using the freely available application PowerSensor!. We found that the protocol is well suited to detect moderate (≥ 5%) population changes within 3–4 years for relatively common species that have medium to high detection probabilities (i.e. p > 0.2). The TEAM protocol cannot, however, detect typical changes in rare and evasive species, a category into which many tropical species and many species of conservation concern fall. Additional research is needed to build occupancy models for detecting change in rare and elusive species when individuals are unmarked.