GREY WOLF EXPRESS FREE

Wolf is listed as endangered in the red list of Pakistan mammals, while it is rated as “Least Concern” globally. Grey wolf belongs to the family Canidae, which is distributed throughout Pakistan.

Wolf species were once broadly distributed in most of the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographic areas in the past. They keep an ecosystem in balance by regulating population of different species, mainly their prey. Large carnivores are the top predators and considered the keystone species of an ecosystem. Active herding techniques, vaccinating livestock, educating locals about wildlife importance, and initiating compensating schemes for affected families could be helpful to decrease negative perceptions. Herders having larger herd size displayed more deleterious behavior towards wolves than those having smaller herd size. The herders shared more negative attitude (z = −3.21, p = 0.001) than businessman towards the species. Most of the respondents (75.45%) showed aggressive and negative attitudes towards grey wolf.

GREY WOLF EXPRESS FREE

Unattended livestock were more prone to grey wolf attack during free grazing in forests. High depredation was observed during the summer season 58.42% (n = 59) followed by spring and autumn.

Out of the total economic loss (USD 46,736, USD 424.87/household), grey wolf was accountable for USD 11,910 (USD 108.27 per household), while disease contributed 34,826 (USD 316.6 per household). Goat and sheep were the most vulnerable prey species as they accounted for 80 (79.2%) of the total reported depredations. Of the total livestock loss, grey wolf was held responsible for a total 101 livestock losses. During the year (2016), a total of 358 livestock were lost to grey wolf predation and disease. The grey wolf was declared as a common species in the area by 51.3% of the locals with an annual sighting rate of 0.46 each. For this purpose, a total of 110 local male respondents from all walks of life were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. This study aims to determine the status and nature of human–wolf conflict across different villages in the Hind Kush region of Pakistan during the period January 2016–December 2016. Very limited research has been carried out to evaluate the pattern and nature of livestock depredation by wolf. Pastoralist–wolf conflict over livestock depredation is the main factor affecting conservation of grey wolf worldwide. Therefore, we suggested that vaccination of the livestock and compensation schemes will help to change the perception of locals towards wolf. In our study area the economic loss of the locals due to livestock mortalities from diseases was higher than that from wolf depredation. Respondents having larger herd size and higher dependency on livestock for earning livelihoods shared more negative attitudes towards the wolves. The locals considered the species a serious threat to their livestock, causing them economic losses, and wanted to reduce or even eliminate it from their area. Using semi-structured questionnaires, we found that grey wolf is in a serious conflict with the locals, causing economic loss to them at the expanse of its own life. Locals share negative attitudes towards the wolf due to conflicts over livestock depredation. Despite higher loss due to disease, human–carnivore conflicts over livestock depredation is one of the major problems in carnivore conservation, both locally and globally.

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