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In many European countries over the last few decades, arable fields dominate agricultural landscapes, leading to very intensive land-use practices. This seems to be the main cause of population declines for numerous farmland species, including the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778). The Research Institute for Animal Production (National Agricultural and Food Centre—NPPC, Luzianky, Slovakia) has been engaged in a long monitoring project (a project currently running), collecting certain indicators of brown hare population dynamics during hunting season from 1987 to 2023 in the Slovak Danubian Lowland. In the same macro-area (Čiližská Radvaň and Lehnice), a study was conducted on the influence of permanent semi-natural vegetation in relation to recruitment, population density and production. The entire monitored period was aggregated into 5-year intervals (for a total of seven time intervals), with the aim of analyzing the brown hare population dynamics. Spring hare density in the Danubian Lowland is currently 20.8 hares/km2, with harvests of 4.6 hares/km2. During the monitoring period, bag animals have been examined following the regular hunting operations for the purpose of age determination (weight of eye lenses), sex ratio and productivity. There was a large positive effect of set-aside with special mixtures created for hares in large-scale farmed agrarian landscapes on brown hare density, bag and recruitment. In-model hunting grounds with such set-asides increased the spring stock by 25%, bag by 100% and recruitment by 20%. This study reveals that the management of European brown hare is not sustainable in the Slovak Danubian Lowland, and the population is decreasing. This is proven through the decline in harvest brown hares and by population dynamic parameters. Our data suggest that improvements in the habitat quality of arable landscapes by the adoption of permanent semi-natural vegetation may be more effective in the increase in the brown hare population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woodland expansion is widely promoted to address the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. Woodland expansion undoubtedly delivers biodiversity and other ecosystem service benefits, but there is debate about where to place extensive new woodland in multi-use landscapes without negatively affecting existing biodiversity, and there is a need to better understand the biodiversity trade-offs associated with woodland expansion. Using the Cairngorm National Park (CNP) in northeast Scotland as a case study, we assessed how proposed woodland expansion targets might affect the distribution of mountain hares, an open moorland species strongly associated with moorland management. Using mountain hare survey, bioclimatic and land use data, we built a Species Distribution Model of mountain hares within the CNP and used this to predict their occurrence under current and proposed woodland expansion scenarios. Simulating the effects of an additional 70 and 350 km2 of new woodland cover showed that combined, these targets would see hares lost from 246 1-km squares, a 7% reduction in their occurrence compared to their 2006/2007 distribution. Changes in hare occurrence were driven by changes in management associated with landcover change more than by landcover change itself. Our results show that afforestation can negatively affect species occurrence directly through changes in landcover, and indirectly through changes in management associated with land landcover change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study is devoted to the history of game management laboratories as one of the most obscure pages of Ukrainian theriology. The prerequisites for the formation of such laboratories as a system of applied research related primarily to ‘useful’ fauna are considered. These laboratories form a continuous chain of research centres that have existed in different cities. They were founded in 1929 by V. Averin in Kharkiv, developed by A. Mygulin and his followers in Zavorychi (1936–1962), K. Kopein at the fur farm in Kolo-Mykhailivka near Vinnytsia (1963–1973), and M. Yevtushevskyi in Cherkasy (1973–2004). The final phase was completed by two academic game management laboratories: at the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (in 1975–1989, led by V. Kryzhaniv­skyi) and the Institute of Forestry of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences (in 1991–2022, in Oleshky, led by I. Sheihas). The stages of research development in a series of successive transformations, in the wake of socio-political events and changes in public demands are analysed. The distinct sequence and, in fact, continuity of their existence in time (despite their movement in space) indicates a corresponding demand for them from the state, including the support of state budgetary programmes. Their tasks were constantly changing, and each period had its own specifics. The first period (Kharkiv) was supposed to put the system of survey, monitoring, and rational use of game resources on a scientific basis, as well as to streamline and direct the work of hunting communities. The second phase (‘Zavorychi’) was focused on providing the state with the necessary amount of fur for the needs of international trade and (undoubtedly) the military. The third phase remains the most obscure and is most likely associated with the formation of elite hunting grounds. The fourth phase (Cherkasy) was characterised by increased attention to fur farming and a waning interest in hunting as such. The fifth phase (Kyiv and Oleshky) was characterised by a distinct cooperation with the State Committee of Forestry, the Ukrainian Society of Hunters and Fishermen, and certain (elite) farms. It is shown that the origins of many well-known scientific schools in Ukraine are related to hunting practices and that game management laboratories became leaders in developing action plans to maintain populations of game animals.

Referees face various challenges in officiating games as there is no consensus on the complexity of tasks and the approaches that guarantee optimum performance. Most researchers and sports administrators agree that the best way to cope with these challenges is consistent decision making and efficient communication with the players. This holistic approach to refereeing is referred to as game management. However, existing models only give few insights into how referees can utilise game management. This paper introduces a decision-flow model that explains the different stages a referee must consider when implementing game management, namely the fast, intuitive decision in-game, the deliberate evaluation of this decision, and the chosen compensation if the evaluation regards the decision as an error. We argue that compensations need to be implemented differently depending on the severity of misjudgement and its impact on the game. Furthermore, we conclude that our decision-flow model applies to every decision that a referee makes when applying game management. Therefore, optimum game management is a continuous evaluation and compensation process in which the judgment scale is adjusted based on the evaluation of the previous decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game species with home ranges exceeding the area of the management units may entail conflicts over hunting rights and cause damage to crops and forest stands in surrounding areas. This is currently the case in the Mendro Mountain Range (Portugal), inhabited by free-ranging red (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) populations. This study's primary goal was to uncover the processes underlying these tensions and identify solutions to overcome them, thus reconciling the economic, social, and ecological functions of hunting. We analyzed data from three different sources of information regarding the surveyed management units: biophysical and anthropical spatial data collected using a GIS; typology, whether fenced, area and game bag results, data provided by a public institute; crop and forest damage locations reported by game managers. Approximately half of the surveyed open management units reported damage. We found no relationship between damage and game bag results, regardless of the typology and habitat quality index. To address this disconnection between the negative and positive values associated with deer locally, we proposed habitat management solutions. It is of chief importance to keep valuable crops apart from deer's refuge cover, such as bushy areas, to minimize damage in management units where deer hunting is a subsidiary activity. Conversely, in management units where deer hunting is of significant economic importance, the food and refuge cover should be closely interspersed to increase the management unit's carrying capacity. To improve the efficacy of measures such as this at a regional scale, as in the Mendro Mountain Range, we recommend implementing a so-called Global Management Plan. In Portuguese law, this governance instrument applies to the entire biologic unit where the deer populations occur, thus implying arrangements between the involved stakeholders and multiple other concerned institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land degradation due to bush encroachment and drought threatens the well-being of land users and forage production in the semi-arid savannas of southern Africa. This study aimed to analyse how herbaceous vegetation in the Kalahari savanna can recover from drought, and how this is affected by previously implemented bush control measures. We compared plant species composition and diversity of the herbaceous layer across a drought-release (2021) and post-drought (2022) year within two land use types (game and livestock) in bush-encroached and controlled areas, respectively. Diversity decreased significantly during the post-drought year. Annual species dominated in the drought-release year, which were replaced by perennial forbs and dwarf shrubs in the post-drought year. Selective bush control enhanced herbaceous species abundance and richness due to decreased competition. The species richness was higher in the game ranch compared to the cattle farm during the drought-release year. Herbaceous abundance, however, increased on the cattle farm. The management strategies, feeding behaviour and animal movement may have contributed to these differences in these two contrasting land use types. This study showed that herbaceous plant communities can recover rapidly after a drought period and in areas where bush control was applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the nutritional needs and food preferences of animal species is important to design appropriate habitat improvement actions, in particular in agricultural environments. The European brown hare Lepus europaeus is a game species of European conservation interest, typical of open areas, and with declining populations in Eurasia. In this work, the authors summarised the current knowledge on European brown hare feeding habits and also discussed potential management relapses of this species. The European brown hare has developed a particular digestive process called caecotrophy, which consists of a double passage of food through the alimentary canal. Hares compensate for this disadvantage by selecting foods with a high nutritional value, poor in fibre and rich in fats and proteins. The European brown hare thrives in farmland habitat as crops have a high nutritional value, even if monoculture and reduction of crop variety are considered the main causes of the decline of this species. Even in the agricultural environment, spontaneous weeds are an important part of the European brown hare diet, covering the nutritional needs when cultivated plants have a low nutritional value or have been harvested. The restoration of crop rotation and polycultures (cereals and cover crops), and the establishment of agri-environmental measures such as wildflower strips and patches, represent effective strategies to favour the European brown hare and the biodiversity of farmland habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring faunal observations and surveys in the State Enterprise ‘Skadovsk Experimental Forestry and Hunting Enterprise’ have been carried out on both the mainland and island (Dzharylhach Island) parts during annual expeditions since 1991, including since 2009 in cooperation with the Dzharylhach National Nature Park. One of the goals of these studies was to improve survey methods. The last (pre-war) planned wildlife survey on Dzharylgach Island was carried out on 1 February 2022, just before the war. The island resembles a narrow sandy spit with a total area of 5.5 thousand hectares, which extends 42 km east of the mainland into the Black Sea. Its territory is covered with dense cereal and sedge grass, and much less often with shrubs (mainly olive). It is the widest island (up to 4 km) in the area of Hlyboka Bay. The current level of hunting intensity on the island, especially in recent years, is low. The main reason for this is the traditional change in the use of the land after the creation of a national park in the territory of the experimental hunting grounds in 2009. At the same time, given the importance of the economic and conservation status of the national park, it is necessary to fundamentally address the issue of increasing the productivity of the common territory by users of the provided lands, based on the long-term positive examples of the work of national parks in the vast majority of countries. The main objects of monitoring are the red deer (Cervus elaphus), the fallow deer (Dama dama) and the mouflon (Ovis gmelini). Over the 32-year period of observation, the number of deer on the island has almost halved, from 385 to 194 individuals. However, this is about 2% of the country’s deer population and 111 times higher than the average density. The situation is further complicated by the imbalanced age and sex structure of the herd. In recent years, the number of adult male deer has decreased from 32.9 to 9.9% due to unsystematic hunting in previous years and limited population regulation in recent years. The situation is similar for the island’s fallow deer population, and especially for mouflon. Thus, the search for realistic ways to regulate the quantitative and qualitative state of wild ungulates populations is the basis of faunal research on the island.

In many European countries over the last few decades, arable fields dominate agricultural landscapes, leading to very intensive land-use practices. This seems to be the main cause of population declines for numerous farmland species, including the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778). The Research Institute for Animal Production (National Agricultural and Food Centre—NPPC, Luzianky, Slovakia) has been engaged in a long monitoring project (a project currently running), collecting certain indicators of brown hare population dynamics during hunting season from 1987 to 2023 in the Slovak Danubian Lowland. In the same macro-area (Čiližská Radvaň and Lehnice), a study was conducted on the influence of permanent semi-natural vegetation in relation to recruitment, population density and production. The entire monitored period was aggregated into 5-year intervals (for a total of seven time intervals), with the aim of analyzing the brown hare population dynamics. Spring hare density in the Danubian Lowland is currently 20.8 hares/km2, with harvests of 4.6 hares/km2. During the monitoring period, bag animals have been examined following the regular hunting operations for the purpose of age determination (weight of eye lenses), sex ratio and productivity. There was a large positive effect of set-aside with special mixtures created for hares in large-scale farmed agrarian landscapes on brown hare density, bag and recruitment. In-model hunting grounds with such set-asides increased the spring stock by 25%, bag by 100% and recruitment by 20%. This study reveals that the management of European brown hare is not sustainable in the Slovak Danubian Lowland, and the population is decreasing. This is proven through the decline in harvest brown hares and by population dynamic parameters. Our data suggest that improvements in the habitat quality of arable landscapes by the adoption of permanent semi-natural vegetation may be more effective in the increase in the brown hare population.

Simple Summary: We examined a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population with evidence of decline in the Southern Appalachian region of the United States. In the Chattahoochee National Forest (CNF) in northern Georgia, deer harvest numbers and hunter success rates have drastically reduced over the last few decades, suggesting a decline in deer density. Low fawn survival (16%) was also recently recorded, prompting further concern regarding deer population sustainability. In the CNF, we radio-collared 14 yearling and 45 adult female white-tailed deer along with 71 fawns during 2018–2020 to estimate the annual survival and fecundity of each age class. We modeled future population growth (λ) over 10 years to evaluate the current rate of decline and various other management scenarios. Projections indicated that the white-tailed deer population will decline by an average of 4.0% annually under current conditions, and only scenarios that incorporated both antlerless harvest restrictions and improved fawn survival will lead to positive population growth. Thus, these approaches should be emphasized in future management plans within the Southern Appalachian region to facilitate recovery. This methodology can be applied by other wildlife managers with knowledge of site-specific vital rates to inform potential management strategies. Although generally abundant, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in the southeastern United States have recently experienced several localized declines attributed to reduced fawn recruitment following the establishment of coyotes (Canis latrans). The Southern Appalachians is a mountainous region suggested to be experiencing white-tailed deer declines, as harvest numbers and hunter success rates have substantially decreased in northern Georgia since 1979. Low fawn survival (16%) was also recently documented in the Chattahoochee National Forest (CNF) in northern Georgia, necessitating further examination. We radio-collared 14 yearling and 45 adult female white-tailed deer along with 71 fawns during 2018–2020 in the CNF to estimate field-based vital rates (i.e., survival and fecundity) and parameterize stage-structured population models. We projected population growth rates (λ) over 10 years to evaluate the current rate of decline and various other management scenarios. Our results indicated that the observed population would decline by an average of 4.0% annually (λ = 0.960) under current conditions. Only scenarios including antlerless harvest restrictions in addition to improved fawn survival resulted in positive growth (λ = 1.019, 1.085), suggesting these measures are likely necessary for population recovery in the region. This approach can be applied by wildlife managers to inform site-specific management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) is an endemic species distributed in Spain and Portugal. Myxomatosis outbreaks affecting this species were detected in 2018 in Central and Southern Spain, spreading afterward. Aiming to evaluate factors affecting the status of hare population after the arrival of myxomatosis, we conducted 108 nocturnal hare counts in Central Spain during two study periods (winter/spring and summer/autumn) in 54 different hunting grounds, covering 1071 km and observing 884 individuals. The mean density in winter/spring was 7.66 hares/100 ha, (range 6.14–9.54/100 ha), while in summer/autumn, it was 3.4 hares/100 ha (range 2.6–4.4/100 ha). Densities of hares were not affected by the dominant habitat and the presence/absence of myxomatosis outbreaks. Hares were more abundant at hunting grounds at a higher altitude and in those conducting targeted management, while detection of myxomatosis was related to lower altitude and higher levels of game management. A MaxEnt model used to generate a risk map for myxomatosis occurrence showed that the temperature annual range was the most important predictor, which suggests that environmental factors affecting myxomatosis vectors (mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks) could play a key role in disease transmission. As myxomatosis in hares is becoming endemic, hare densities may be improved by game management and the monitoring and surveillance of this emerging disease. These surveillance programs could be the basis of effective collaborations between hunters, researchers, and environmental managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game species with home ranges exceeding the area of the management units may entail conflicts over hunting rights and cause damage to crops and forest stands in surrounding areas. This is currently the case in the Mendro Mountain Range (Portugal), inhabited by free-ranging red (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) populations. This study’s primary goal was to uncover the processes underlying these tensions and identify solutions to overcome them, thus reconciling the economic, social, and ecological functions of hunting. We analyzed data from three different sources of information regarding the surveyed management units: biophysical and anthropical spatial data collected using a GIS; typology, whether fenced, area and game bag results, data provided by a public institute; crop and forest damage locations reported by game managers. Approximately half of the surveyed open management units reported damage. We found no relationship between damage and game bag results, regardless of the typology and habitat quality index. To address this disconnection between the negative and positive values associated with deer locally, we proposed habitat management solutions. It is of chief importance to keep valuable crops apart from deer’s refuge cover, such as bushy areas, to minimize damage in management units where deer hunting is a subsidiary activity. Conversely, in management units where deer hunting is of significant economic importance, the food and refuge cover should be closely interspersed to increase the management unit’s carrying capacity. To improve the efficacy of measures such as this at a regional scale, as in the Mendro Mountain Range, we recommend implementing a so-called Global Management Plan. In Portuguese law, this governance instrument applies to the entire biologic unit where the deer populations occur, thus implying arrangements between the involved stakeholders and multiple other concerned institutions.

In the Hungarian Great Plain the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is one of the most important species for wildlife management. The supplementary feeding of roe deer in Hungary is a traditional habit, it can be beneficial for deer to survive and keep body condition during winter. In our study, we aimed to know the behavioural habits of roe deer at feeding places. The data were collected in two wildlife management units in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in Hungary from the winter of 2019 until the spring of 2020. Roe deer followed a temporal trend, with higher numbers around feeders in colder months and lower numbers in warmer months. Their visits followed a bimodal activity pattern that was characterized by peaks of activity at dawn and dusk. We were able to link the presence of snow cover and precipitation to an increase in the feeding activity of roe deer. It is important to understand that the presence of deer at the feeder does not reflect the actual biological effect of the use of feeders on deer. Game managers should identify what the main goal of the feeding is and think of how to validate the effectiveness of this expensive intervention. We suggest at least measuring how much of the supplemented feed actually makes up the diet of roe deer individuals. However, it would be the most reliable approach to analyse the physiological and biological differences between fed and non-fed deer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game animal damage in the forests and fields of Central Europe, which dramatically increased at the turn of the 21st century, has undermined the reliability of the size of game population estimates. It is hypothesized that this problem can be attributed to errors in the assessment of animal density. This study conducted game inventories in a region characterized by a large ungulate population using a count method with drivers in line formation (direct counts in control plots). The size of the red deer population in the investigated area was estimated using generalized linear models assuming a negative binomial distribution based on the compound distribution (including the zero-inflated model). The mean red deer density in spring 2012 was 21.5 animals/km2 of forest. The number of red deer determined during this study is often higher that hunters indicated in annual game management plans. For the rational management of populations, it is therefore necessary to verify those estimates periodically, e.g. every five years. The statistical analysis of data from tyraliera method counts may show the actual population size during spring. Thus, it can be the basis for adequately planning hunting bags. Adjusting the population density to the carrying environmental capacity should make it possible to reduce the pressure of red deer on forests and agricultural land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife population dynamics are modulated by abiotic and biotic factors, typically climate, resource availability, density‐dependent effects, and predator–prey interactions. Understanding whether and how human‐caused disturbances shape these ecological processes is helpful for the conservation and management of wildlife and their habitats within increasingly human‐dominated landscapes. However, many jurisdictions lack either long‐term longitudinal data on wildlife populations or measures of the interplay between human‐mediated disturbance, climate, and predator density. Here, we use a 50‐year time series (1962–2012) on mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) demographics, seasonal weather, predator density, and oil and gas development patterns from the North Dakota Badlands, USA, to investigate long‐term effects of landscape‐level disturbance on mule deer fawn fall recruitment, which has declined precipitously over the last number of decades. Mule deer fawn fall recruitment in this study represents the number of fawns per female (fawn:female ratio) that survive through the summer to October. We used this fawn recruitment index to evaluate the composite effects of interannual extreme weather conditions, energy development, and predator density. We found that density‐dependent effects and harsh seasonal weather were the main drivers of fawn fall recruitment in the North Dakota Badlands. These effects were further shaped by the interaction between harsh seasonal weather and predator density (i.e., lower fawn fall recruitment when harsh weather was combined with higher predator density). Additionally, we found that fawn fall recruitment was modulated by interactions between seasonal weather and energy development (i.e., lower fawn fall recruitment when harsh weather was combined with higher density of active oil and gas wells). Interestingly, we found that the combined effect of predator density and energy development was not interactive but rather additive. Our analysis demonstrates how energy development may modulate fluctuations in mule deer fawn fall recruitment concurrent with biotic (density‐dependency, habitat, predation, woody vegetation encroachment) and abiotic (harsh seasonal weather) drivers. Density‐dependent patterns emerge, presumably due to limited quality habitat, being the primary factor influencing fall fawn recruitment in mule deer. Secondarily, stochastic weather events periodically cause dramatic declines in recruitment. And finally, the additive effects of human disturbance and predation can induce fluctuations in fawn fall recruitment. Here we make the case for using long‐term datasets for setting long‐term wildlife management goals that decision makers and the public can understand and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for the multipurpose use of forestry accentuates the development of non-timber forest products and services and the search for other sources of financial benefits for forest owners and users. One of the essential market items of non-timber forest production is game production, a very high-quality local food source. Currently, in the Czech Republic, as well as in neighbouring countries, the amount of game being offered is increasing, while the purchase prices of game have stagnated at very low levels for a long time, despite the fact that consumer prices of meat have generally increased. A prerequisite for the development of the market for game products and the effective use of marketing tools is the analysis of important factors influencing the consumer demand for game. Therefore, the possible limiting factors on the customer side, the removal of which can change the demand for game meat and increase the consumption of game production, were investigated. Igor Ansoff's approach is used to analyse growth opportunities in the game market from the point of view of marketing strategies. The preconditions for using Porter's STP process to design a pull strategy on the consumer market are verified. Based on the Parfitt–Collins model, the research mainly focuses on a sample of active consumers who are a subgroup of a representative panel of 1000 respondents. The demographic characteristics and buying behaviour of the subgroup of 523 active consumers who regularly consume game meat were analysed. Significant factors and potential segmentation criteria were identified. On the basis of these research results, the article discusses, in detail, the marketing aspects related to the development of the game market, and marketing procedures are also proposed that can significantly support consumer demand in the game market using a mix of marketing tools. The increased demand for game meat will help to reduce the overpopulation of cloven-hoofed game in the forests of the Czech Republic, which will positively impact the reduction of animal damage to the forest environment, especially in areas newly forested after the bark beetle calamity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although generally abundant, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in the southeastern United States have recently experienced several localized declines attributed to reduced fawn recruitment following the establishment of coyotes (Canis latrans). The Southern Appalachians is a mountainous region suggested to be experiencing white-tailed deer declines, as harvest numbers and hunter success rates have substantially decreased in northern Georgia since 1979. Low fawn survival (16%) was also recently documented in the Chattahoochee National Forest (CNF) in northern Georgia, necessitating further examination. We radio-collared 14 yearling and 45 adult female white-tailed deer along with 71 fawns during 2018–2020 in the CNF to estimate field-based vital rates (i.e., survival and fecundity) and parameterize stage-structured population models. We projected population growth rates (λ) over 10 years to evaluate the current rate of decline and various other management scenarios. Our results indicated that the observed population would decline by an average of 4.0% annually (λ = 0.960) under current conditions. Only scenarios including antlerless harvest restrictions in addition to improved fawn survival resulted in positive growth (λ = 1.019, 1.085), suggesting these measures are likely necessary for population recovery in the region. This approach can be applied by wildlife managers to inform site-specific management strategies.

Acceptance of forest management and its park, game and wildlife management is decreasing in Europe. Building a positive attitude toward game and wildlife management is a field of work of forest educators. To design and conduct effective activities, it was crucial to identify the specific needs. We conducted a survey among Polish high school students from cities and towns (1947 individuals) to find out answers to the following questions: What kind of attitude toward hunting (ATH) do Polish teenagers have? What shapes their ATH? Is this attitude and its drivers similar to the ones of adults? Half of Polish urban teenagers recognized that hunting in Poland is necessary. From socio-demographic factors, forest and hunting experience had the largest impact on teenagers' attitude toward hunting. Gender and social network had a smaller but still significant impact. Other factors, e.g., place of residence, had no impact on the ATH. Our results show that forest education should be focused on all young residents, no matter if they are from a big city or a small town, as teenagers' ATH is the same. Field trips and other active methods are recommended because personal experience has the largest impact on shaping ATH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Wildlife-based tourism, including hunting, is attracting interest from governments, the tourism industry, and researchers. Capital investment in renewable resources, like forests, represents spatial and temporal management, which is significantly limited by the natural potential of a particular habitat (e.g., volume increment, the quantity of food for wildlife, etc.). Therefore, the return rate expected by the investor is quite fixed and the only tool by which the investor can increase it is by adding further business activities and/or expanding the existing value chain. In the Republic of Croatia, the only forests which can be purchased by individual or institutional investors, and in which it is possible to establish both active forest management and commercial hunting, are private forests. Based on these insights, we analysed characteristics of capital invested in a large-scale private forest, where game management is carried out in addition to extensive forest management. Of the 1,104 hunting grounds in Croatia, the one with the largest percentage of forest cover (92%) and privately owned (61%) was taken as the subject of this case study (name of the hunting ground: VIII/120 “Permani” (10,017 ha)). A theoretical approach was used in which the investor buys all private forests (predominantly consisting of common beech), conducts forest management activities, and makes a profit by selling timber (30-year period). Furthermore, the hunting segment consisting of game management for red deer, roe deer, wild boar and brown bear is evaluated. At the lowest cost of capital (5.41%), the results of the separate forest management revealed an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 5.10%, a negative Net Present Value (NPV) (-760,000 €) and a 30-year discount payback period. Joint forest and game management resulted in an IRR of 5.69%, a positive NPV (680,000 €), and the same length of a discount payback period.

Hog deer were introduced to Australia in the 1860s, where they have spread across the Gippsland region of Victoria. Due to its status as an introduced species and an important game animal within Victoria, management of the species is complex. Given this complexity, genetic studies can provide important information regarding population structure and diversity which can assist in controlling problematic populations of hog deer, while also ensuring viable game stock in sites managed as game reserves. The aim of this study was to investigate the population genetic structure and diversity of the Victorian hog deer 150 years after introduction using short tandem repeats (STRs). Hog deer samples were collected across 15 sites of differing management regimes in the Gippsland region of Victoria and genotyped for 13 polymorphic STR loci. Up to four distinct genetic clusters were identified across the sites sampled, suggesting that despite low observed genetic diversity, population structure is present across their range. It was also possible to detect evidence of recent translocations among populations. This study suggests that the presence of distinct genetic clusters may enable management of separate genetic units, considering invasive species and game management objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Due to human‐induced climate and landscape changes, distribution and abundance of many ungulate species have increased worldwide. Especially in areas where natural predators are absent, hunting is the essential management tool for regulating ungulate populations. Therefore, understanding the factors associated with harvest rates is the first step toward an adaptive management approach. Weather influences hunter and ungulate behavior and thus presumably harvest, but how and which meteorological parameters are linked to harvest numbers have rarely been evaluated. We used nearly 65,000 “sit and wait” and driven hunt harvests of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Bavaria, Germany, and weather data from 2008 to 2017 to test for factors affecting roe deer harvests (i.e., temperature, rain hours, wind speed, sunshine duration, snow depth, workdays vs. weekends, month) using zero‐inflated negative binomial mixed‐effect models. Our results reveal that, besides workdays, high temperatures and prolonged rain resulted in fewer harvested animals, whereas sunshine duration in summer and snow height in snow‐rich areas partially favored harvests during sitting hunts in summer and winter, respectively. The influence of wind speed varied over the course of the year. In summer and autumn, wind speed commonly had a negative effect, positively affecting harvests in winter in some regions. Daily harvest numbers decreased during the summer and autumn hunting periods (May till mid‐October), while they increased during the winter period (mid‐October till mid‐January). Interestingly, harvest success during driven hunts, which are planned well in advance and therefore take place largely independent of weather conditions, was similarly affected by the weather. This result suggests that the inferred weather influence is not only due to the hunters' decisions but also due to deer behavior. Since many ungulate populations may further benefit from climate change, building an understanding of the relationship between hunting success and weather will aid adaptive ungulate management.

Alien mammal species have a very long history of anthropogenic introductions and have been extensively studied due to their severe impact on native biodiversity and ecosystems. One of the most detrimental species is the sika deer (Cervus nippon), a native Asian deer that has settled in several districts of the Czech Republic and has widely colonized the area with increasing population numbers. In this study we aimed to investigate the trend of the number of sika deer culled in the country between 1994 and 2018, and to highlight limits and flaws in the current management and hunting strategy. We identified three hunting subpopulations based on both the official hunting records and the environmental and urban features of the Czech Republic. The analyses of the subpopulations over the period between 1994 and 2018 revealed very different trends, some of which are alarming. The average annual increase in culling was 7.4% for Subpopulation 1 (SP1), 1% for Subpopulation 2 (SP2), and 3.7% for Subpopulation 3 (SP3). Considered the increased percentages of culled deer, and the environmental features of the country, we evaluated the central subpopulation (SP2) as the easiest to manage due to its small area of extension, the scarcity of forested regions and, as possible contribution, the natural occurrence of predators. Being the other two subpopulations spread across larger forested areas and hosting a higher number of deer, we concluded that an increasing effort, and a more well-designed strategy to ensure accuracy of hunting plans seems to be impelling for the country.

Releasing gamebirds in large numbers for sport shooting may directly or indirectly influence the abundance, distribution and population dynamics of native wildlife. The abundances of generalist predators have been positively associated with the abundance of gamebirds. These relationships have implications for prey populations, with the potential for indirect impacts of gamebird releases on wider biodiversity. To understand the basis of these associations, we investigated variation in territory size, prey provisioning to chicks, and breeding success of common buzzards Buteo buteo, and associations with variation in the abundances of free‐roaming gamebirds, primarily pheasants Phasianus colchicus, and of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus and field voles Microtus agrestis, as important prey for buzzards. The relative abundance of gamebirds, but not those of rabbits or voles, was weakly but positively correlated with our index of buzzard territory size. Gamebirds were rarely brought to the nest. Rabbits and voles, and not gamebirds, were provisioned to chicks in proportion to their relative abundance. The number of buzzard chicks increased with provisioning rates of rabbits, in terms of both provisioning frequency and biomass, but not with provisioning rates for gamebirds or voles. Associations between the abundances of buzzards and gamebirds may not be a consequence of the greater availability of gamebirds as prey during the buzzard breeding season. Instead, the association may arise either from habitat or predator management leading to higher densities of alternative prey (in this instance, rabbits), or from greater availability of gamebirds as prey or carrion during the autumn and winter shooting season. The interactions between gamebird releases and associated practices of predator control and shooting itself require better understanding to more effectively intervene in any one aspect of this complex social‐ecological system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Releasing gamebirds in large numbers for sport shooting may directly or indirectly influence the abundance, distribution and population dynamics of native wildlife. The abundances of generalist predators have been positively associated with the abundance of gamebirds. These relationships have implications for prey populations, with the potential for indirect impacts of gamebird releases on wider biodiversity. To understand the basis of these associations, we investigated variation in territory size, prey provisioning to chicks, and breeding success of common buzzards Buteo buteo, and associations with variation in the abundances of free‐roaming gamebirds, primarily pheasants Phasianus colchicus, and of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus and field voles Microtus agrestis, as important prey for buzzards. The relative abundance of gamebirds, but not those of rabbits or voles, was weakly but positively correlated with our index of buzzard territory size. Gamebirds were rarely brought to the nest. Rabbits and voles, and not gamebirds, were provisioned to chicks in proportion to their relative abundance. The number of buzzard chicks increased with provisioning rates of rabbits, in terms of both provisioning frequency and biomass, but not with provisioning rates for gamebirds or voles. Associations between the abundances of buzzards and gamebirds may not be a consequence of the greater availability of gamebirds as prey during the buzzard breeding season. Instead, the association may arise either from habitat or predator management leading to higher densities of alternative prey (in this instance, rabbits), or from greater availability of gamebirds as prey or carrion during the autumn and winter shooting season. The interactions between gamebird releases and associated practices of predator control and shooting itself require better understanding to more effectively intervene in any one aspect of this complex social‐ecological system.

ABSTRACT Deer can show transitional use between agricultural fields and forests for foraging and shelter. Such transitional use may affect forest damage as nutrient balancing theory suggests that if deer ingest large amounts of nutrient‐rich food, complementary browse, such as bark, may be required to balance the diet. We investigated the relationship between the level of red deer Cervus elaphus bark‐stripping damage in 68 Norway spruce Picea abies stands and the presence of rapeseed Brassica napus fields – an energy‐rich crop preferred by red deer – in the surroundings, hypothesizing that damage increases with decreasing distance to rapeseed fields. We also considered other potentially influencing factors, such as supplemental feeding, alternative forage availability, and deer use of spruce stands as indexed by a pellet group count. Spruce stands closer to rapeseed had a significantly higher proportion of damaged stems. The increased level of bark‐stripping damage was not explained by a higher stand use of deer closer to rapeseed fields, indicating that deer increase their consumption of bark in order to balance their diet. Similarly, spruce stands closer to supplemental feeding stations had significantly higher damage levels. In line with earlier findings, damage levels were negatively related to the amount of available browse in the forest. This emphasizes the importance of alternative forage for reducing the damage risk in forest plantations. Our study shows that the availability of fields with nutrient‐rich food, such as rapeseed, as well as supplemental feeding needs to be considered when predicting the level of forest damage. With a high availability of nutrient‐rich food in the vicinity of forest stands, a higher damage level can be expected and counteractions could be taken such as increased disturbance, harvest or changed choice of both crop and supplemental feed types. These actions may also be combined with a push–pull strategy where the deer are steered to disturbance‐free zones insensitive to damage and with alternative forage. The importance of alternative forage availability on damage levels highlights the necessity for managers to actively promote tree and shrub forage within and around their production stands.

The demand for the multipurpose use of forestry accentuates the development of non-timber forest products and services and the search for other sources of financial benefits for forest owners and users. One of the essential market items of non-timber forest production is game production, a very high-quality local food source. Currently, in the Czech Republic, as well as in neighbouring countries, the amount of game being offered is increasing, while the purchase prices of game have stagnated at very low levels for a long time, despite the fact that consumer prices of meat have generally increased. A prerequisite for the development of the market for game products and the effective use of marketing tools is the analysis of important factors influencing the consumer demand for game. Therefore, the possible limiting factors on the customer side, the removal of which can change the demand for game meat and increase the consumption of game production, were investigated. Igor Ansoff’s approach is used to analyse growth opportunities in the game market from the point of view of marketing strategies. The preconditions for using Porter’s STP process to design a pull strategy on the consumer market are verified. Based on the Parfitt–Collins model, the research mainly focuses on a sample of active consumers who are a subgroup of a representative panel of 1000 respondents. The demographic characteristics and buying behaviour of the subgroup of 523 active consumers who regularly consume game meat were analysed. Significant factors and potential segmentation criteria were identified. On the basis of these research results, the article discusses, in detail, the marketing aspects related to the development of the game market, and marketing procedures are also proposed that can significantly support consumer demand in the game market using a mix of marketing tools. The increased demand for game meat will help to reduce the overpopulation of cloven-hoofed game in the forests of the Czech Republic, which will positively impact the reduction of animal damage to the forest environment, especially in areas newly forested after the bark beetle calamity.

We studied diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) inhabiting south-east Poland, based on kills found during GPS-GSM telemetry and opportunistic winter tracking. Among 64 lynx kills were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (91%), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (3%) and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) (6%). From the ungulate community, lynx selected roe deer (D = 0.845) and avoided all other ungulates. We recorded one case of surplus and two cases of parallel killing. Lynx visited the same killed roe deer on average for 2.3 days, and for up to six days when surplus or parallel killing occurred. High numbers of the roe deer in south-east Poland supports the persistence of the lynx, but we urge managers to take under consideration food requirements of the lynx when planning game management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) inhabiting south-east Poland, based on kills found during GPS-GSM telemetry and opportunistic winter tracking. Among 64 lynx kills were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (91%), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (3%) and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) (6%). From the ungulate community, lynx selected roe deer (D = 0.845) and avoided all other ungulates. We recorded one case of surplus and two cases of parallel killing. Lynx visited the same killed roe deer on average for 2.3 days, and for up to six days when surplus or parallel killing occurred. High numbers of the roe deer in south-east Poland supports the persistence of the lynx, but we urge managers to take under consideration food requirements of the lynx when planning game management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Disagreements and disputes over the management of predatory animals are a frequent feature of conservation conflicts. In the UK, there are long‐standing conflicts surrounding legal and illegal killing of predators as part of management fostering game species as quarry for sport shooting. Despite the central role of gamekeepers as stakeholders and actors in this predominant form of predator management, little direct attention has been paid to their perspectives and motivations. We conducted semi‐structured interviews on the subject of predator management with 20 gamekeepers across the south of England and applied a social‐psychological approach to explore the underlying beliefs, norms and information sources associated with their actions. Data were analysed for patterns in terminology, rationalization or subject and synthesized into broad ‘motivations’, which were structured using a framework from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Six primary motivations for predator management emerged: professional identity, personal norms, potential penalties, perceived impact, personal enjoyment and perceived ease. Perceived impact of predators on released game, and wildlife more broadly, was a central driver of predator killing. We identified three indirect influences on how this impact is judged: ‘maintaining balance’, ‘appeal to nature’ and ‘problem individuals’. We find that predator killing by gamekeepers is not solely a function of perceived economic loss but a product of multiple factors, including perceived professional norms, a sense of personal responsibility for game and non‐game wildlife, and assessments of predator populations and behaviours based on personal encounters. Motivations were well characterized within the TPB framework, with links to subjective norms, attitudes and perceived behavioural control. Our use of this social‐psychological approach to understanding the actions and preferences of these key stakeholders highlights how behaviours that are central to conservation conflicts have multiple social and ecological drivers. Characterizing the multiple motivations behind predator killing might help address aspects of the social conflicts with which sport shooting is currently associated, if actions, deliberation and, where appropriate, mediation, can be targeted at the key concerns of these central stakeholders and actors. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

The common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus L. 1758) is an allochtonous game species of great importance to the hunting sector in Serbia. Growing concerns over a decline in its population raise issues about the proper management and hunting of common pheasants. As this research tends to identify the importance of common pheasants to Serbian hunters, the present study is based on a mixed research model combining traditional analyses with social studies on Serbian hunters. The data utilized have been collected from the annual management plans of 272 hunting grounds across Serbia and the interviews with 377 hunters. The results obtained suggest that there are significant differences between the analyzed variables in the management plans examined, which indicates that the pheasant hunting management in Serbia is not harmonized. However, the social studies conducted identify the common pheasant as the most hunted and popular game species with Serbian hunters. Accordingly, the common pheasant hunting and management in Serbia has to be improved in order to meet the hunters’ expectations and ensure their satisfaction.

By considering the emergence and threat of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Europe, this paper demonstrates the growing role of veterinary rationales in reframing contemporary human-wild boar coexistence. Through comparative ethnographies of human-wild boar relations in the Czech Republic, Spain and England, it shows that coexistence is not a predictable and steady process but is also demarked by points of radical change in form, course and atmosphere. Such moments, or wild boar events, can lead to the (re-)formation or magnified influence of certain discourses, practices and power relations in determining strategies of bio-governance. Specifically, this paper highlights how the spread of ASF in Europe has accelerated an already ongoing process of veterinarization, understood as the growing prominence of veterinary sciences in the mediation and reorganization of contemporary socioecologies. This example highlights how veterinary logics increasingly influence localized human-wildlife relations and, through analogous practices of biosecurity and control, also connect different places and geographic contexts.

The myxoma virus species jump from European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) to Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) has raised concerns. We assess the decline suffered by Iberian hare populations on the Iberian Peninsula and discuss the association between the effect of myxomatosis and the average abundance index, which we estimated by using hunting bags.

Acceptance of forest management and its park, game and wildlife management is decreasing in Europe. Building a positive attitude toward game and wildlife management is a field of work of forest educators. To design and conduct effective activities, it was crucial to identify the specific needs. We conducted a survey among Polish high school students from cities and towns (1947 individuals) to find out answers to the following questions: What kind of attitude toward hunting (ATH) do Polish teenagers have? What shapes their ATH? Is this attitude and its drivers similar to the ones of adults? Half of Polish urban teenagers recognized that hunting in Poland is necessary. From socio-demographic factors, forest and hunting experience had the largest impact on teenagers’ attitude toward hunting. Gender and social network had a smaller but still significant impact. Other factors, e.g., place of residence, had no impact on the ATH. Our results show that forest education should be focused on all young residents, no matter if they are from a big city or a small town, as teenagers’ ATH is the same. Field trips and other active methods are recommended because personal experience has the largest impact on shaping ATH.

Due to human‐induced climate and landscape changes, distribution and abundance of many ungulate species have increased worldwide. Especially in areas where natural predators are absent, hunting is the essential management tool for regulating ungulate populations. Therefore, understanding the factors associated with harvest rates is the first step toward an adaptive management approach. Weather influences hunter and ungulate behavior and thus presumably harvest, but how and which meteorological parameters are linked to harvest numbers have rarely been evaluated. We used nearly 65,000 "sit and wait" and driven hunt harvests of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Bavaria, Germany, and weather data from 2008 to 2017 to test for factors affecting roe deer harvests (i.e., temperature, rain hours, wind speed, sunshine duration, snow depth, workdays vs. weekends, month) using zero‐inflated negative binomial mixed‐effect models. Our results reveal that, besides workdays, high temperatures and prolonged rain resulted in fewer harvested animals, whereas sunshine duration in summer and snow height in snow‐rich areas partially favored harvests during sitting hunts in summer and winter, respectively. The influence of wind speed varied over the course of the year. In summer and autumn, wind speed commonly had a negative effect, positively affecting harvests in winter in some regions. Daily harvest numbers decreased during the summer and autumn hunting periods (May till mid‐October), while they increased during the winter period (mid‐October till mid‐January). Interestingly, harvest success during driven hunts, which are planned well in advance and therefore take place largely independent of weather conditions, was similarly affected by the weather. This result suggests that the inferred weather influence is not only due to the hunters' decisions but also due to deer behavior. Since many ungulate populations may further benefit from climate change, building an understanding of the relationship between hunting success and weather will aid adaptive ungulate management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alien mammal species have a very long history of anthropogenic introductions and have been extensively studied due to their severe impact on native biodiversity and ecosystems. One of the most detrimental species is the sika deer (Cervus nippon), a native Asian deer that has settled in several districts of the Czech Republic and has widely colonized the area with increasing population numbers. In this study we aimed to investigate the trend of the number of sika deer culled in the country between 1994 and 2018, and to highlight limits and flaws in the current management and hunting strategy. We identified three hunting subpopulations based on both the official hunting records and the environmental and urban features of the Czech Republic. The analyses of the subpopulations over the period between 1994 and 2018 revealed very different trends, some of which are alarming. The average annual increase in culling was 7.4% for Subpopulation 1 (SP1), 1% for Subpopulation 2 (SP2), and 3.7% for Subpopulation 3 (SP3). Considered the increased percentages of culled deer, and the environmental features of the country, we evaluated the central subpopulation (SP2) as the easiest to manage due to its small area of extension, the scarcity of forested regions and, as possible contribution, the natural occurrence of predators. Being the other two subpopulations spread across larger forested areas and hosting a higher number of deer, we concluded that an increasing effort, and a more well-designed strategy to ensure accuracy of hunting plans seems to be impelling for the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work compares the net revenues of maintaining grasslands versus shrublands as part of the habitat of the Cervus elaphus big game species in Mediterranean agroforestry ecosystems. For this purpose, data published by the Regional Government of Andalusia (SW Spain) were used to analyze revenues and expenditures under two scenarios: an optimistic one and a pessimistic one. Revenue is generated from both the value of game trophies and the sale of meat. In the grasslands option, expenditure is associated with the need to supply supplemental food since, unlike shrublands, Mediterranean grasslands do not produce forage crops during the summer months. To analyze the expenditure of supplemental feeding, monthly market prices for corn grain in the province of Cordoba (this province covers an area of almost 1.4 million hectares) were obtained for the period 2015–2019. Our results show that, in net revenues terms, substituting shrublands for grasslands is not always the best option under the conditions analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]