Wolf in the Alps: Recommendations for an Internationally Coordinated Management
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KORA Bericht Nr. 72 März 2016 ISSN 1422-5123 Wolf in the Alps: Recommendations for an internationally coordinated management 2 KORA Bericht Nr. 72 KORA Bericht Nr. 72 Wolf in the Alps: Recommendations for an internationally coordinated management Arbeitsgruppe AT – Georg Rauer, Martin Janovsky Groupe de travail DE – Harald Martens, Manfred Wölfl Working group IT – Piero Genovesi, Paolo Molinari SL – Marko Jonozovic, Rok Černe CH – Reinhard Schnidrig, Caroline Nienhuis Bearbeitung Reinhard Schnidrig, Caroline Nienhuis, Adaptation Regula Imhof, Roland Bürki, Urs Editorial Breitenmoser Bezugsquelle Als PDF: http://www.kora.ch Source Source KORA Thunstr. 31 CH-3074 Muri +41 (0)31 951 70 40 [email protected] Titelbild Wolf pictured above Pfäfers, SG, Switzerland Page de titre on 8 March 2014 © ANJF, Amt für Natur, Front cover picture Jagd und Fischerei St. Gallen, and KORA Vorgeschlagene Zitierung/Citation proposée/Suggested citation: Schnidrig R., Nienhuis C., Imhof R., Bürki R. & Breitenmoser U. (Eds) 2016. Wolf in the Alps: Recommendations for an internationally coordinated management. RowAlps Report Objective 3. KORA Bericht Nr. 72. KORA, Muri bei Bern, Switzerland, and BAFU, Ittigen, Switzerland, 70 pp. Anzahl Seiten/Pages: 70 ISSN 1422-5123 © KORA März 2016 März 2016 3 Wolf in the Alps: Recommendations for an internationally coordinated management Report of the RowAlps Project (Recovery of Wildlife in the Alps) in the framework of the WISO (Wildlife and Society) Platform of the Alpine Convention Edited by Reinhard Schnidrig, Caroline Nienhuis, Regula Imhof, Roland Bürki & Urs Breitenmoser 4 KORA Bericht Nr. 72 Acknowledgments This report was financed by the MAVA Foundation, the Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland and the Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Germany. März 2016 5 Index Index ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................ 8 1.1 Assignment and context of the present recommendations for an internationally coordinated management ............... 8 1.2 Main goals and general orientation of the guidelines „Large carnivores, wild ungulates and society“ of the Alpine Convention ............................................................................................................................................................................ 9 1.3 Goals of the RowAlps project and current specification of the tasks ............................................................................ 10 1.4 Management definition ................................................................................................................................................. 11 1.5 Scope of the recommendations .................................................................................................................................... 11 1.6 Addressees .................................................................................................................................................................... 12 2 Framework for large carnivore management ........................................................................................................................ 12 2.1 Legal framework of international and national treaties on large carnivores and population level management ........ 12 2.2 Administrative framework concerning current management of large carnivores at national and local level of Alpine countries .............................................................................................................................................................................. 17 2.3 Human developments in the Alps ................................................................................................................................. 19 2.4 Ecological framework .................................................................................................................................................... 19 3. Current situation of the wolf population in the Alps ............................................................................................................ 22 3.1 Return of the wolf to the Alps and population development ........................................................................................ 22 3.2 Present status and distribution of the Alpine wolf population ...................................................................................... 23 3.3 Diet and predation of wolf ............................................................................................................................................ 26 3.4 Wild ungulates ............................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.4.1 Wild ungulate availability ...................................................................................................................................... 27 3.4.2. Wild ungulate management ................................................................................................................................. 28 3.5 Livestock husbandry ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 3.5.1 Development of livestock husbandry and pastoral systems in the Alps ................................................................ 30 3.5.2 Mountain pastures and pastoral systems today .................................................................................................... 31 3.5.3 Present figures and distribution of livestock ......................................................................................................... 32 3.5.4 Livestock protection measures .............................................................................................................................. 33 3.6 Perception of interest groups and individuals regarding large carnivores .................................................................... 36 3.6.1 Direct interaction of large carnivores and those affected ..................................................................................... 37 3.6.2 Factors in social and political conflicts with large carnivores as a trigger for conflicts .......................................... 38 3.6.3 Interaction of both levels – social/political and direct interaction ........................................................................ 39 3.6.4 Management implications ..................................................................................................................................... 39 6 KORA Bericht Nr. 72 4 Discussion, interpretation and assessment of a future Alpine wolf population and main threats ....................................... 44 4.1. Minimum viable population (MVP), ecological carrying capacity (ECC), and favourable conservation status (FCS) for the Alpine wolf population........................................................................................................................................ 44 4.2 Potential distribution of the wolf in the Alps and hypothetical expansion of the population .................................. 47 4.3 Assessment of a future Alpine wolf population ........................................................................................................ 50 4.4. Challenges for the recovery and conservation of the Alpine wolf population......................................................... 51 4.4.1. Management challenges ....................................................................................................................................... 51 4.4.2. Most important threats and/or shortcomings ...................................................................................................... 53 5 Practical goal ......................................................................................................................................................................... 54 6 Management options and implications ................................................................................................................................. 54 6.1 Secure sustainable damage prevention and compensation systems for livestock damages ........................................ 55 6.2 Foster dialogue among authorities, with wildlife managers, hunters and foresters by establishing information and consultation mechanisms for the wolf ................................................................................................................................ 56 6.3 Integrate local people in the wolf monitoring ............................................................................................................... 58 6.4 Prevent and persecute illegal action through law enforcement ................................................................................... 59 6.5 Control of wolf-dog hybrids and domestic dogs ...........................................................................................................