Forest Sciences Commons^™

Tragic Trade-Offs Accompany Carnivore Coexistence In The Modern World, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, John A. Vucetich, Sophie L. Gilbert, Neil H. Carter, Kelly A. George

Michigan Tech Publications

Two vital policy aims—biodiversity conservation and food production—are increasingly in conflict. Efforts to evaluate trade-offs between agriculture and conservation have shaped scholarly discourse around two broad strategies to agricultural production that seek to either “share” land with biodiversity or “spare” land from agriculture. However, efforts to negotiate these trade-offs are challenged by rising concern for the welfare of individual animals, both wild and domestic. We use recent efforts to “coexist” with large carnivores to illustrate how sharing and sparing strategies both create tragic, and often unacknowledged trade-offs between livestock production and carnivore conservation. We conclude the best means of conserving …