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The article explores the significance of Indigenous research and co-stewardship of wildlife, particularly in the United States and Canada. It acknowledges the vast amount of land managed by Indigenous groups, which holds valuable natural resources. The article emphasizes the value of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in wildlife management and conservation, when combined with Western science. It introduces a special issue on Indigenous research and co-stewardship facilitated by The Wildlife Society and the Journal of Wildlife Management, highlighting the integration of IK and Western Science. The text also discusses challenges in publishing IK, including issues of Indigenous data sovereignty and the need for privacy. It emphasizes the importance of building trust and respecting Indigenous culture and perspectives when establishing relationships with Indigenous groups. The authors raise questions about the publication process for IK, including citation methods and authorship considerations, and stress the need for flexibility and collaboration to incorporate IK into scientific journals. [Extracted from the article]

Hemorrhagic disease (HD) of deer is caused by epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) or bluetongue virus (BTV) and is considered one of the most important viral diseases of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Despite evidence of changing patterns of HD in the northeastern and upper midwestern US, the historical and current patterns of HD in the Great Plains remain poorly described. We used results from an annual survey documenting HD mortality to characterize historic and current patterns of HD in the northern and central Great Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma), US, between 1982 and 2020. Further, we assessed temporal change using linear regression to determine change in annual reporting intensity (percentage of counties in a state with reported HD) and change in reporting frequency (the number of years a county or state reported HD) during each decade between 1982 and 2020. Across the 38-yr study period, HD reports expanded northeast across latitude and longitude. Intensity of HD reports significantly increased during this period for three (North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas) of five states examined. Frequency of reports also increased for all five states. Such changes in northern latitudes might lead to increased deer mortality in regions where HD epizootics have been historically less frequent. Understanding how patterns of HD are changing on the landscape is important when considering future deer management in the face of other mortality factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predators elicit antipredator behaviors such as proactive and reactive movements in prey, but both are rarely investigated simultaneously. Impacts of human predation risk on antipredator behaviors can be greater than those of nonhuman predators, resulting in increased effects on populations and community structure. We compared the influence of human and nonhuman predation risk on proactive and reactive antipredator movement behaviors of male Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo, hereafter turkey). We used simultaneously collected GPS locations from 31 turkeys and 36 coyotes (Canis latrans) to investigate the antipredator behavior of turkeys to coyotes. To assess antipredator behaviors of turkeys to hunters, we used 1661 hunting tracks collected while monitoring 109 turkeys. For proactive movements, we quantified how predation risk influenced resource selection. To investigate reactive movements, we quantified changes in movement behavior of turkeys after encountering hunters and coyotes. Coyote and turkey home range overlap was high, but lack of core area overlap, encounters, and similar resource selection suggested the use of different areas on the landscape. Turkeys selected areas associated with decreased coyote risk and closer to hardwoods. Coyotes preferred shrubs and open areas, suggesting turkeys avoided coyote risk and the habitats coyotes preferred. We detected 17 coyote and turkey contacts, and the probability of contact decreased by 16.6% for every 100 m farther from a forest edge. Turkeys did not display reactive movement behaviors after a direct encounter with coyotes, as step lengths were similar prior to and after encounters, which did not differ from random step lengths. After hunting, turkeys selected areas farther from public access points and closer to private property, suggesting proactive avoidance of hunter risk. We detected 31 hunter and turkey contacts; increased step lengths after hunter contacts suggested fleeing behavior. The probability of a hunter–turkey contact decreased by 5.5% for every 100 m farther from a secondary road. Antipredator movement behaviors by turkeys suggest coyote risk to be low over a broad temporal window, while hunter risk is high for a narrow temporal window. We provide insight into how human‐induced fear can cause antipredator behavioral responses greater than nonhuman fear, potentially causing changes in species distribution and community structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the ecology of fear has highlighted the importance of perceived risk from predators and humans in shaping animal behavior and physiology, with potential demographic and ecosystem‐wide consequences. Despite recent conceptual advances and potential management implications of the ecology of fear, theory and conservation practices have rarely been linked. Many challenges in animal conservation may be alleviated by actively harnessing or compensating for risk perception and risk avoidance behavior in wild animal populations. Integration of the ecology of fear into conservation and management practice can contribute to the recovery of threatened populations, human–wildlife conflict mitigation, invasive species management, maintenance of sustainable harvest and species reintroduction plans. Here, we present an applied framework that links conservation interventions to desired outcomes by manipulating ecology of fear dynamics. We discuss how to reduce or amplify fear in wild animals by manipulating habitat structure, sensory stimuli, animal experience (previous exposure to risk) and food safety trade‐offs to achieve management objectives. Changing the optimal decision‐making of individuals in managed populations can then further conservation goals by shaping the spatiotemporal distribution of animals, changing predation rates and altering risk effects that scale up to demographic consequences. We also outline future directions for applied research on fear ecology that will better inform conservation practices. Our framework can help scientists and practitioners anticipate and mitigate unintended consequences of management decisions, and highlight new levers for multi‐species conservation strategies that promote human–wildlife coexistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imperfect detection is ubiquitous among wildlife research and is therefore commonly included in abundance estimation. Yet, the factors that affect observation success are largely unknown for rare and elusive species, such as large carnivores. Here, we took advantage of intensive ground-based monitoring effort and an extensive GPS data set (2000–2018) and developed a winter sightability model for gray wolves (Canis lupus) in northern Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Our resulting sightability model indicated that observation success was positively affected by the topographic nature of where wolves were in relation to observer locations (viewshed), areas being less forested (openness), and wolf group size, and negatively affected by distance from observer locations. Of these, viewshed had the strongest effect on the probability of observing a wolf, with the odds of observing a wolf being four times more likely when wolves were in the predicted viewshed. Openness was the next most influential covariate, and group size was the least influential. We also tested whether a wolf being harvested from a pack when they were outside of Yellowstone National Park had an effect on wolf sightability. We did not, however, find support for human-induced mortality affecting wolf sightability inside of Yellowstone National Park. Our results indicate that the ability to observe wolves was greatly affected by ecological and landscape-level factors, a finding that is likely to generally extend to other large carnivores. As such, our sightability model highlights the importance of considering landscape structure and variation in large carnivore use of the landscape when conducting observational-based studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent to which prey space use actively minimizes predation risk continues to ignite controversy. Methodological reasons that have hindered consensus include inconsistent measurements of predation risk, biased spatiotemporal scales at which responses are measured and lack of robust null expectations.We addressed all three challenges in a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal responses of adult female elk (Cervus elaphus) to the risk of predation by wolves (Canis lupus) during winter in northern Yellowstone, USA.We quantified spatial overlap between the winter home ranges of GPS‐collared elk and three measures of predation risk: the intensity of wolf space use, the distribution of wolf‐killed elk and vegetation openness. We also assessed whether elk varied their use of areas characterized by more or less predation risk across hours of the day, and estimated encounter rates between simultaneous elk and wolf pack trajectories. We determined whether observed values were significantly lower than expected if elk movements were random with reference to predation risk using a null model approach.Although a small proportion of elk did show a tendency to minimize use of open vegetation at specific times of the day, overall we highlight a notable absence of spatiotemporal response by female elk to the risk of predation posed by wolves in northern Yellowstone.Our results suggest that predator–prey interactions may not always result in strong spatiotemporal patterns of avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]