Controversial host culling is often used to mitigate emerging wildlife diseases. Preemptive host culling, while accepted for livestock, conflicts with wildlife conservation. This paper proposes 'proactive hunting surveillance' for early disease detection, targeting demographic groups with high infection likelihood and low reproductive value. Applying this to reindeer populations, the study shows proactive hunting surveillance achieves a 99% probability of freedom from infection (fewer than 4 infected reindeer) within 3–5 years, compared to ~10 years with ordinary harvest surveillance. However, social implementation challenges remain.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Sep 01, 2020
Authors
Atle Mysterud, Petter Hopp, Kristin Ruud Alvseike, Sylvie L. Benestad, Erlend B. Nilsen, Christer M. Rolandsen, Olav Strand, Jørn Våge, Hildegunn Viljugrein
Tags
host culling
wildlife diseases
proactive hunting surveillance
reindeer populations
disease detection
conservation
infection control
Related Publications
Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.
