Commitment of producers to try non-lethal alternatives to coexist with wild carnivores

Producers must also have to commit not to kill predators and to be part of a more environmentally friendly production. A final key aspect is that the conservationist using this technique will have to invest a considerable amount of time between training the dog, selecting puppy candidates, constant monitoring and much more. If the social factors mentioned before are not taken into account and these commitments are not met, the success of the project would not be possible.

Commitment by participating herders not to kill wildcats.

Recording of depredation events before and after the LGD to provide evidence-based results.

Selected herders should not use poison or traps in the livestock grazing area. It's important that they have a good relationship with their neighbours, otherwise the protection dogs will be at risk. Producers must be accompanied by technicians and be trained to successfully complete the protection dog training. On rare occasions when the puppy starts work it may bite or kill livestock, this behaviour must be corrected immediately using non-aggressive techniques. Producers must sign a pledge not to kill wildcats, mainly those at risk. It’s advisable to work with NGOs, producer associations, government and others to cover costs and ensure sustainability in time.

 

Raising, training and care of future protector puppies and breeding females

Social factors are important in conflicts between humans and predators. Predation has direct economic costs related to loss of income and food, and indirect economic costs such as time spent avoiding predation. There are also underestimated non-economic costs, related to the sense of uncertainty, insecurity and general disruption to livelihoods caused by the unexpected loss of livestock, which strongly influence human-carnivore interactions. Livestock keepers who choose to join this programme must be prepared to make cultural and behavioural changes, including changing their cultural relationship with predators and dogs.  They must be committed to caring for and managing LGDs in a different way to how they normally interact with dogs. The herder must spend time with the dog in the first few months to ensure that it does not get lost, and must provide food and water on a daily basis.

Commitment of the producers to work with, care for and complete the training of the LGD.

Logistical and technical capacity to visit and train the herders during the first months after receiving the puppy. This should be done until the puppy is at least one year old. This is essential to ensure that the puppy does not develop undesirable behaviours.

Producers must be fully committed and convinced that they want to keep, train and care for a puppy and know what is required from them. LGD puppies must be accessible to low-income producers, who are most vulnerable to predation events.

 

Establishment of a livestock guardian dog breeding centre

The establishment of a breeding centre is a fundamental step in carrying out controlled breeding and imprinting of pups. Imprinting is a biological learning process, which is generated in a short period of time, where pups of most species can identify and learn behaviours of any other species. At the centre we provide the conditions for the pups to be in contact with goats and sheep from birth, and until they are four months old, creating a family bond that will make them protective with the livestock. This stage is critical and essential to achieve LGD that are effective in their function and strategic for carnivore conservation. During the imprinting process we take care of the feeding, health, welfare of the puppies and the livestock, while correcting undesirable behaviour in the puppy-livestock bond. After four months the puppies that are already vaccinated, dewormed and neutered, are handed over to the producers where they will finish their training and gradually start working with the livestock.

To have at least one pair of dogs that belong to breeds created for livestock protection.

Physical space and budget for the period of imprinting the puppies, that includes support for a person responsible for the care, cleaning and feeding of puppies and livestock that is used for training.

Veterinary support for health controls and spaying/neutering. 

To build collaborative partnerships between NGOs/government/businesses to reduce costs and make LGD affordable for producers.

During the imprinting process, puppies should be constantly with livestock and contact with people should be minimal but friendly. The health and neutering of puppies is essential for animal welfare and to avoid the spread of diseases in the wild.

 

Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Climate-Smart Agricultural Measures

The five EbA/CSA measures were the fundamental building block that ensured the project's success.

 

They were selected because of their familiarity to, and suitability for, local people.

 

The measures helped project participants adapt their farming practices to climate change while improving and diversifying their livelihoods.

* Participatory intervention selection with farmers and expert staff

* Supportive local extension and rural-development agencies

* Frequent and regular support by expert staff and farmer-to-farmer approaches

* Familiarity with the intervention increases the likelihood of adoption

* Farmers preferred to modify their farming systems with the enhanced knowledge from the project rather than completely change all at once

Building capacity of local partners

Building capacity of local partners was an important part of the project to enable achievement of results.

 

Capacity was built through online training and informal discussions.

 

Without capable partners, no field activities would have been implemented during the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

* Capacity building of key local stakeholders included in project design

* Availability of smartphones, computers and network

* Expert trainers available and able to flexibly adapt to online training

* While most stakeholders prefer in-person capacity-building events, responses to the online training was extremely positivea and could be built into future projects to reduce costs and increase flexibility of delivery options

Partnerships with local partners

Partnerships with the provincial Taskforce, which oversaw the project's activities in general, and the provincial Agriculture Extension Center and Farmers’ Union helped achieve the expected results despite travel restrictions owing to COVID-19.

 

Partnerships with these local partners also led to the later integration of the project’s interventions into provincial partner’s programmes.

* Engagement with all levels of government in the province, specifically, at the project's sites, was critically important to establish the partnerships

* Endorsement of the project at national level was critical to ensure provincial and local buy-in

* Widespread availability of smartphones and access to network and desktop computers was vital to ensuring progress even during the pandemic's travel restrictions

* Building strong partnerships is a risk-reduction strategy, as shown during the pandemic wherein local partners were able to conduct many activities with guidance remotely by expert staff

 

Wildlife surveillance for One Health intelligence

Financing support for multi-sector surveillance of zoonotic diseases in wildlife and along wildlife trade chains is essential to improve understanding of pathogen diversity, disease dynamics and potential risks posed by wildlife trade, to support evidence-based decision making, monitor emerging pathogens and support targeted future surveillance and mitigation investments

Long-term financial support for sustained wildlife surveillance: in the field, in the laboratory and for associated data analysis to inform decision-makers and support reporting through One Health coordination platforms 

It is a challenge to secure funding for longer than the typical short cycles associated with government priorities to really make a difference in capacity and system building. Wildlife and environment sectors typically receive less funding and attention compared with livestock and human health, despite their clear linkages to both and increasing risks of emerging diseases of wildlife origin. 

 

Building long-term, multi-sectoral, trans-disciplinary partnerships and capacities

Building long-term partnerships and capacity for multi-sector surveillance of zoonotic diseases along wildlife trade chains promotes and supports effective One Health collaboration from the spillover frontlines to national and international policy makers, and improved understanding of pathogen diversity, disease dynamics and potential risks posed by wildlife trade. Platforms for regular multi-sector discussion between animal health, environment, enforcement, and human health sectors, as well as with and amongst international and multi-lateral partners, is essential for open discourse and sharing of information on the risks, challenges and opportunities for pandemic prevention. This is critical to improve cross- sectoral trust, understanding, communication and coordination to increase opportunities for effective legislative change and cultural shifts.

Openness of host governments to coordination between environment, law enforcement, animal health and human health sectors and investment of time and personnel from those sectors in wildlife surveillance for One Health intelligence; patience; funding; One Health coordination platforms

Trans-sectoral coordination and support from the government is essential from the beginning to ensure effective surveillance for diseases of zoonotic origin along wildlife trade chains and to promote understanding and sharing of findings. Openness of national governments to make science-based policy changes to reduce health risks posed by wildlife trade is essential for meaningful, long-term impact. 

Detection

Through monitoring efforts, diseases among wolves are detected at an early stage, diagnostic capacity is improved, and interventions can be implemented as soon as possible, saving the lives of many wolves. Through our integrated disease management initiative, we provide training and technical manuals for local veterinary staff and develop Disease Alert Networks to improve the ability to detect, diagnose, and contain outbreaks in wolves and dogs.

A team of highly trained monitors, working on foot or horse-back, closely observe wolf packs. During outbreaks, they are the first to detect dead wolves, and swiftly conduct post-mortems and collect diagnostic samples, while a wider network also alerts EWCP of outbreaks of rabies or distemper in dogs. The strengthening of laboratory systems and veterinary services are key enabling factor to support robust rabies detection and monitoring in the country. 

Many dogs roam freely in the rural highlands, where they encounter wolves and can transmit diseases. The presence of domestic dogs, paired with increased agricultural activity in the area, makes ongoing monitoring critically important to detect evolving threats and help guide appropriate conservation action. The awareness and participation of many stakeholders forms a vital network to support detection.

Vaccination

To be effective, vaccination campaigns in domestic dogs have to achieve and maintain 70% coverage, which presents a practical challenge in a remote landscape with a high turnover in the dog population. Under the EWCP initiative, a comprehensive approach is taken to prevent and prepare for disease introduction and spread in wolf populations: vaccination campaigns are carried out in domestic dogs in and around wolf habitat, preventive oral vaccination of wolves is conducted, and emergency vaccination of wolves is administered in response to a confirmed disease epizootic.

Research, including a successful field trial, resulted in the EWCP being able to conduct preventive vaccination of wolves against rabies using an oral bait (a vaccine sachet hidden inside a piece of meat). Oral vaccination is cheaper, less stressful for wolves, and easier to scale up than injectable vaccines.

While the injectable rabies vaccine is used routinely in domestic dogs around the world, successful vaccination in wolves required a different approach: oral rabies vaccination. While oral baiting approach is used in some wild carnivores in North America and Europe, this was the first time that the SAG2 rabies vaccine was used in an endangered species. Trials were conducted on bait preferences and vaccine delivery in wolf populations in the Bale Mountains.