Thesis (M.E. Des.)--University of Calgary, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

The projected growth in human population, rapid urbanization, and expansion of structures like highways and canals pose a major threat to the future survival of wildlife, particularly large terrestrial mammals. In many cases, wild animal populations have been restricted to fragmented habitat islands due to anthropogenic developments, endangering them to local extinction. Current and future wildlife conservation and management strategies are leading to the implementation of mitigation measures such as creation of wildlife habitat corridors. In this light, novel and interdisciplinary research methods such as approaches in the field of landscape genetics are proving to be increasingly useful and necessary for assessing the status of wildlife populations and furthering efficacy of conservation programs and management efforts. In this 5-year research study, I review literature in the field of landscape genetics, highlighting studies and their applications toward wildlife conservation over the past decade (2005-2014). I then use a landscape genetic approach to understand the potential impact of natural and human-made barriers in and around the northern Sonoran Desert on one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, the mountain lion (Puma concolor). I employ recently developed genetic tools to assess the current population genetic status of mountain lions in this region and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to relate observations to landscape features through interpretive maps. I further investigate the utility of GIS and expert-based models in connectivity conservation and suggest validating them with information on genetic relatedness and functional connectivity among mountain lions. Lastly, in many parts of this document, I emphasize the use of these methods and data sharing in conservation planning as well as wildlife management.

This study examines urban wildlife conservation in Arizona as a function of public opinion and agency involvement. In the fall of 1985, a questionnaire was mailed to 1000 randomly chosen households. Respondents answered questions about urban wildlife-related activities, preferred species and locations for urban wildlife conservation, wildlife-related pest problems, a public agency's responsibility for urban wildlife, and potential agency-sponsored urban wildlife programs. Analysis of the survey data indicate that Tucsonans are aware of, have favorable opinions about, and actively encourage the presence of urban wildlife. An analysis of urban wildlife conservation as a public issue yields additional information pertinent to the design and implementation of a state agency urban wildlife conservation program. The combined results of these analyses suggest that state agency involvement in urban wildlife conservation is publicly acceptable; an urban constituency can potentially benefit an agency's support base; and urban wildlife conservation's unique characteristics warrant special attention during program and policy development.

The use of geospatial technologies, including radio telemetry, GPS collars, and mapping software, has proliferated in wildlife conservation. In addition to being tools for research, though, tracking devices are increasingly used to control animals that have been reintroduced to natural areas. Animals with radio or GPS collars can be tracked, and when considered necessary, trapped and relocated or removed to captivity, a common practice in projects to reintroduce and conserve endangered carnivores. The assumption is that such actions will help to defuse conflicts over wildlife between wildlife managers and land users. Conservation has come to mean surveillance and control, a situation recently made possible by technology. This dissertation examines the role of geospatial technology in conservation through an examination of the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project taking place in Arizona and New Mexico. Major findings include: 1. Policies to monitor and control Mexican wolves represent a deferral of the struggle over priority uses of public lands; 2. State and local government agencies seized on the discourse of adaptive management to gain control over the reintroduction project and expand their institutional authority. Rather than a practice of "learning by doing" and collaboration, however, the adaptive management program that was implemented only operated smoothly when it held together a prior political consensus and fell apart when external factors worked to dissolve that consensus; 3. The policies of controlling "problem wolves" rest on a series of assumptions about human and wolf behavior that are unsubstantiated and likely false; 4. The embodied production of geospatial data about Mexican wolves is erased in project-authored maps, which privilege a partial perspective on Mexican wolf distribution and territory; and 5. The practices of Mexican wolf monitoring and control are best understood as political technologies of governance that constitute Mexican wolves as individualized, domesticated and, I argue, racialized subjects. The policies and practices governing the Mexican wolf reintroduction project, this dissertation shows, have relied on technological surveillance and control, with complex and contradictory results for people-wolf relations and the politics of conservation.

The Mud Bay, British Columbia study site is located on eastern shores of Mud Bay, south of the Serpentine River, west of the King George & 99 highways, and north of the Nicomekl River in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. The site consists of approximately 400 hectares of land. The site is bordered by a growing community on Panama Ridge to the north and Crescent Beach to the south who are exploring the study area. The site is also a rich biologically productive area that lies on the Pacific Flyway route for migratory birds. With the increasing population and the rich ecological significance of the site, it seems natural to explore the possibilities for a greenway on the site. This is further proven when looking at a map. One notices that Mud Bay sits as a greenway gap in Boundary Bay. To the east is the Boundary Bay Park Network, and to the south is Crescent Beach. If Mud Bay were to become a greenway, then one could potentially follow the Boundary Bay shore and walk from Blaine to Point Roberts USA and would form part of a border to border trail. Currently, when one reaches Mud Bay, one must leave the shore and travel far inland to regain the waterside trail. A Mud Bay greenway would fill in the gap for a greenway corridor along Boundary Bay. A Mud Bay greenway would also fill in the gap that the Serpentine Fen Nature Reserve has with Mud Bay. Currently, the Serpentine Fen Nature Reserve is separated from the Bay. With the creation of a Mud Bay greenway that is designed for the sensitive habitat, Serpentine Fen would be better connected with the bay and it would help maintain the site as important feeding and resting ground along the Pacific Flyway. These are the issues and factors that were considered in the project. The project developed a greenway that is sensitive to wildlife while allowing for recreation to take place within it. The greenway design is structured so that it can be implemented over a period of time to form the final design.

Community Based Natural Resource Management has been espoused by many as a way to move global environmental agendas for biodiversity protection forward. CBNRM places the locus of control and management of resources closer to the communities that depend on them. This idealized view of community based resource management has often proven to be challenging to implement. In this thesis the CBNRM literature is reviewed and a framework developed identifying the main criteria for successful CBNRM and the main explanations of failure in CBNRM. I then look at the role of CBNRM as a tool for rural economic development and wildlife conservation in Botswana with a case study of the village of Xai Xai. I spent approximately one year in Botswana, gaining a greater understanding of the implications of CBNRM in the country as a whole. I conclude overall, that CBNRM has not been successful in promoting either biodiversity protection or local economic development though there are certain exceptions throughout the country. I spent over three months in Xai Xai conducting interviews. I conclude that the project has led to limited wildlife conservation (or it is impossible to tell as there is no data), and has contributed in only a limited way to rural economic development and empowerment of the Basarwa. But the project has potentially led to increasing hostilities and declining cooperation and relationships within and among the ethnic groups in the village. This thesis shows through a specific case study, that there are many complexities at play when implementing a CBNRM project. The local context, knowledge and perspective must be taken into consideration or the success of the project may be doomed from the start. Possibly the premise of CBNRM may not be a realistic approach to begin with and other options should be considered.

This mini-dissertation is a comparison, by repeat survey, of farmer-related threats to cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) survival on specific commercial farms in central Namibia. The research was conducted, to investigate if there had been changes in these threats to cheetah survival over a ten-year period (June 1991 to October 2001). A sub-sample of 31 farmers who were originally interviewed by the Cheetah Conservation Fund in June 1991, were re-interviewed between July and October 2001. These farmers were exposed to the Cheetah Conservation Fund awareness-raising programme. The results of this survey were compared to the results of the original survey of these farmers. This study showed that changes in farmer-related threats to cheetah survival have taken place. These include changes in land use, the attitude and behaviour of farmers towards cheetah, and cattle management practices. The land use changes include an increase in game farming, as a major source of income, by 19% of the farmers, since 1991. This increase in game farming was associated with an increase in game proof fencing and the introduction of alien antelope species into game fenced areas. The attitude of farmers towards the presence of cheetah on their farms was found to have changed significantly (p = 0.024), with 13% more farmers than before 1991 favouring cheetah presence on their farms. The behaviour of farmers towards cheetah has also changed in favour of cheetah survival. During the ten-year period from 1991 to 2001, 23% of the farmers removed no cheetah, compared to 10% for the ten-year period before 1991. Thirteen percent of the farmers were found to remove cheetah by trophy hunting only, as opposed to none prior to 1991. During the ten-year period from 1991 to 2001, the number of cheetah removed by the same farmers had declined by 243 (55%) cheetah when compared to the previous ten-year period. Game farmers were found to remove on average 3.75 times more cheetah than livestock farmers. Five game farmers were responsible for removing 92 cheetah, representing 47% of the total number of cheetahs removed. The majority (88%) of cattle farmers experienced calf losses to cheetah predation. In contrast to this, only 44% of smallstock farmers experienced losses to cheetah predation. The mean loss of livestock to predation by cheetah was found to be low, less than one animal per year for both calves and smallstock. The majority (73%) of cattle farmers implement only one livestock management strategy to prevent predation on calves by cheetah. The majority (88%) of smallstock farmers implemented more than one strategy to prevent predation. Changes in management practices to protect calves from cheetah predation since 1991 included a 14% decline in farmers using a technique known as 'calving camps' and an increase of 42% in the number of farmers monitoring their cows during the calving season. In conclusion, during the ten-year period from 1991 to 2001, both positive and negative changes in farmer-related threats to cheetah survival were recorded amongst the farmers interviewed. The positive changes include changes in the attitude and behaviour of farmers in favour of cheetah survival. However, this progress was tempered by change in land use from livestock to game farming, since game farmers pose a greater threat to cheetah survival than livestock farmers. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

Biodiversity losses are often influenced by humans due to increased demand over natural resources and retaliatory killing of wildlife as a result of human–wildlife conflicts. Large carnivores are in decline globally due to the current human–carnivore conflicts. This study was conducted in the Maasai steppe of northern Tanzania to understand the role of traditional husbandry techniques in reducing livestock predation, herding challenges that place livestock at risk for predation, willingness of pastoralists to participate in schemes for livestock security improvement, and the role of Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) in mitigating human–carnivore conflicts. Data were collected using interviews with individuals in households and with herders in grazing fields and were reinforced with field observations. The primary husbandry strategies for livestock protection in homesteads were the bomas where livestock were enclosed at night, while in the grazing fields the strategies included: splitting livestock herds, herder among livestock, herder carrying weapons, and noise. There was no significant correlation between the wealth of an individual and the type of livestock protection strategy used at homesteads. All traditional strategies used by pastoral communities were equally ineffective in preventing livestock predation both at homesteads and in the grazing fields. However, over a four year period, there were no successful predations in any boma reinforced with chain-links, suggesting that reinforcing bomas with studier materials such as chain-link can be effective against livestock predation. Grazing in groups was found to provide more effective livestock protection in the grazing fields than any other strategy. While losing livestock by herders in the grazing fields contributed most to increased livestock predation, other herding challenges exposing livestock to predation included the seasonal nomadic lifestyle and long distances travelled by pastoral communities. The majority of respondents (91%) were willing to improve their livestock security by the use of chain-link fences at homesteads, while 87% were willing to participate in an insurance scheme for livestock security. Neither experience of livestock attack nor level of awareness of insurance scheme influenced willingness to participate in the scheme. There is growing awareness among pastoral communities of the benefits provided by carnivores and wildlife at large. Therefore, major conservation agencies such as TANAPA, Wildlife Division (WD) and other stakeholders should focus more than they have been on addressing the actual conflicts i.e. human–carnivore conflicts and helping to improve husbandry practices against predation to achieve conservation objectives by reducing retaliatory killing of carnivores.

No description available.