Herdsmen’s attitudes towards rangeland fencing, protection of Przewalski’s gazelle and control of wolf predation on livestock
Jianbin Shi A C , Wenyuan You B , Feiying Lu B , Zihui Zhang B and Xiaowen Li A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
B School of Life Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100043, China.
C Corresponding author. Email: jianbin.shi@gmail.com
The Rangeland Journal 37(1) 21-29 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ14055
Submitted: 5 May 2014 Accepted: 29 August 2014 Published: 17 December 2014
Abstract
This study was conducted in the Hudong-Ketu area to the south-east of Qinghai Lake, China, one of the main habitats of Przewalski’s gazelle (Procapra przewalskii). The objective was to understand herdsmen’s perceptions and attitudes towards rangeland fencing, gazelle protection and control of wolf predation on livestock. A total of 251 families of herdsmen were randomly selected for face-to-face interviews in March 2011 (100 families), 2012 (65 families), and 2013 (86 families). The interview results showed that the herdsmen had a strong willingness to protect the gazelle and most of the interviewees were willing to reduce the height of their rangeland fences, but few herdsmen were willing to completely remove fencing without compensation. Although the responses from the herdsmen suggested that they would like to see some gazelle grazing on their rangeland, they considered the gazelle as a competitor with their livestock for grass herbage. The majority of herdsmen interviewed had suffered from some loss of livestock due to wolf predation, and most of them considered wolf predation a serious problem, particularly to their sheep. Most of them thus did not want to see an increase in the number and distribution of wolves, but none of the interviewees would kill wolves. The herdsmen’s belief in Tibetan Buddhism played an important role in influencing the attitudes of the herdsmen towards wolves and the gazelle. These interview results suggest that the herdsmen, as key stakeholders, need to be considered and involved in the development and implementation of any program to protect the gazelle, recovery of wolf populations and maintain rangeland ecosystems.
Additional keywords: grazing pastures, interviews, questionnaire.
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