Wolf predation on cattle in Portugal: Assessing the effects of husbandry systems

摘要: Abstract Mitigating conflicts associated with predation on livestock is essential for conserving large carnivores in human dominated landscapes. This generally addressed by targeting at individual management practices affecting risk, often disregarding that different husbandry systems (i.e., groups of farms sharing similar resource bases, production patterns and practices) vulnerabilities to may coexist within predator ranges, each which requiring tailored prescriptions reduce predation. Here we evaluated the importance considering both mitigate due cattle wolves Portugal, where attacks increased > 3 times 1999–2013. Government records from 2012 2013 indicated only  10 attacks per year. We found were concentrated free-ranging system, was characterized multi-owner herds, largely grazing communal land far shelter, seldom confined. Protecting these herds night winter most important factor reducing wolf attacks, could be achieved changing ≈ 25% farmers this system. Attacks much lower semi-confined probably because grazed pastures closer they confined fences or barns. Farms bringing calves