Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Hunting Contests In New York State, Tyler Caffrey

Honors College Theses

The world is currently in a biodiversity crisis and hunting contests cannot continue. Hunting contests are not legitimate wildlife management tools, but exist for entertainment and killing for a prize. Many of the species targeted can be killed without bag limits. Additionally, many wildlife management practices are retroactive, meaning they are in response to an issue. Within New York State, these contests are not regulated by the NYSDEC beyond adhering to hunting regulations. With these factors together, animals targeted by these contests can be hunted to a detrimental point, and then management agencies would step in. These contests face significant …

Indigenous Guardianship And Moose Monitoring: Weaving Indigenous And Western Ways Of Knowing, Jesse N. Popp, Pauline Priadka, Megan Young, Kevin Koch, James Morgan

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Increasing global rates of wildlife species extinctions, extirpations, and declines warrant improvements to population monitoring and management approaches. To address regional environmental and wildlife issues, Indigenous communities globally are re-establishing traditional roles as stewards of the land through emerging Indigenous Guardianship Programs (IGPs). By providing the opportunity for community-level participation in monitoring and management, IGPs help foster cohesive solutions for long-term conservation of species while promoting environmental stewardship at the community level. Addressing challenges in monitoring and management of wildlife is especially critical for species that are of cultural and ecological importance at both community and distribution-wide scales. Herein, we …

Public Perspectives And Media Reporting Of Wolf Reintroduction In Colorado, Rebecca Niemiec, Richard E.W. Berl, Mireille Gonzalez, Tara Teel, Cassiopeia Camara, Matthew Collins, Jonathan Salerno, Kevin Crooks, Courtney Schultz, Stewart Breck, Dana Hoag

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In the state of Colorado, a citizen ballot initiative to reintroduce gray wolves (Canis lupus) is eliciting polarization and conflict among multiple stakeholder and interest groups. Given this complex social landscape, we examined the social context surrounding wolf reintroduction in Colorado as of 2019. We used an online survey of 734 Coloradans representative in terms of age and gender, and we sampled from different regions across the state, to examine public beliefs and attitudes related to wolf reintroduction and various wolf management options. We also conducted a content analysis of media coverage on potential wolf reintroduction in 10 major daily …

Charismatic Predators In Modern Africa: Spotted Hyena (Crocuta Crocuta) And Human Coexistence In The Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana, Jazmin Castillo

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increasing human populations has led researchers to investigate the impacts of high human population density and its impact on carnivore populations. Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) hold a unique place in African ecosystems due to being a very successful top predator with an adaptable diet whereas other top predators, like the African lion, are rapidly decreasing in abundance. We investigated past and current spotted hyena abundance within the Northern Tuli Game Reserve to better aid in wildlife management. Spotted hyenas showed no significant difference in the change in population abundance throughout the different years of the study (2008-2016). Spotted …

The Pocatello Supply Depot: A History And Update, Patrick A. Darrow

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Since the Pocatello Supply Depot (PSD) was created in 1936, the PSD has gone through many transformation and organizational changes. The most recent of these changes occurred in 2014, when the PSD transitioned from a cooperative service agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce, to a fully federal facility within USDA. Despite the many organizational changes, the purpose of the PSD has remained the same. The PSD manufactures and provides specialized wildlife damage management materials and services that are not readily available from commercial sources, for use by USDA Wildlife Services (WS), …

Effect Of Vaccination With A Novel Gnrh-Based Immunocontraceptive On Immune Responses And Fertility In Rats, Giovanna Massei, D. Cowan, Douglas C. Eckery, Richard E. Mauldin, M. Gomm, P. Rochaix, Fergal Hill, R. Pinkham, Laura A. Miller

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. As human-wildlife conflicts increase worldwide, novel methods are required for mitigating these conflicts. Fertility control, based on immunocontraceptives, has emerged as an alternative option to lethal methods for managing wildlife.

2. Immunocontraceptives are vaccines that generate an immune response to key components of an animal's reproductive system. Some of these vaccines target the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and have been used successfully as contraceptives for many wildlife species. However, the need to capture animals for treatment limits the field applications of injectable vaccines. The availability of orally delivered immunocontraceptives would increase the breadth of applications of fertility control for wildlife …

An Investigation Into The Spatial Distribution, Habitat Selection And Resource Usage Of The Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Inhabiting Urban Reserves Within Perth, Western Australia, Michael Thomas Main

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

I attempted to track a population of urban foxes in Kings Park, but due to collar failure, only one collar was retrieved. The GPS telemetry data from this fox produced home range estimates for minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel density (KD) of 0.302 km² and 0.331 km², respectively. The fox was predominantly active at night, with a ten-fold increase in movement during nocturnal periods when compared to daytime movements. Roads and man-made tracks were important for facilitating movement of the fox through its home range, with almost 97% of location fixes recorded within 100m of these features. The fox …