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Rapid change in wildlife populations can challenge managers to promote species conservation while maintaining public support for wildlife. Wolf management during recolonization in Wisconsin, United States demonstrates the complexities of inconsistent management authority, public attitudes, and illegal killing of wolves. State management authority to control depredating wolves oscillated during a period of intense sociopolitical conflict over wolf status under the federal Endangered Species Act. We demonstrate that swings in wolf status led to inconsistent management authority, declining local public support for wolves, and possibly the unintended backlash of more illegal kills and a legislatively mandated public wolf hunt. A new Wildlife Management Matrix illustrates an idealized relationship between lethal control options and perceptions of wildlife. Moderating the sociopolitical drivers of swings in policy over short periods is essential to allow wildlife managers greater flexibility in achieving species-specific goals. To our knowledge, this research provides the first demonstrated link between illegal wildlife killing and management authority under the Endangered Species Act, and suggests that illegal behavior may be moderated with responsible and effective wildlife management programs. We recommend states avoid prescriptive harvest legislation, and we suggest a more incremental shift from federal to state management authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large carnivores are difficult to monitor because they tend to be sparsely distributed, sensitive to human activity, and associated with complex life histories. Consequently, understanding population trend and viability requires conservationists to cope with uncertainty and bias in population data. Joint analysis of combined data sets using multiple models (i.e., integrated population model) can improve inference about mechanisms (e.g., habitat heterogeneity and food distribution) affecting population dynamics. However, unobserved or unobservable processes can also introduce bias and can be difficult to quantify. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach for inference on an integrated population model that reconciles annual population counts with recruitment and survival data (i.e., demographic processes). Our modeling framework is flexible and enables a realistic form of population dynamics by fitting separate density-dependent responses for each demographic process. Discrepancies estimated from shared parameters among different model components represent unobserved additions (i.e., recruitment or immigration) or removals (i.e., death or emigration) when annual population counts are reliable. In a case study of gray wolves in Wisconsin (1980-2011), concordant with policy changes, we estimated that a discrepancy of 0% (1980-1995), −2% (1996-2002), and 4% (2003-2011) in the annual mortality rate was needed to explain annual growth rate. Additional mortality in 2003-2011 may reflect density-dependent mechanisms, changes in illegal killing with shifts in wolf management, and nonindependent censoring in survival data. Integrated population models provide insights into unobserved or unobservable processes by quantifying discrepancies among data sets. Our modeling approach is generalizable to many population analysis needs and allows for identifying dynamic differences due to external drivers, such as management or policy changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SNAPSHOT USA is a multicontributor, long-term camera trap survey designed to survey mammals across the United States. Participants are recruited through community networks and directly through a website application (https://www.snapshot-usa.org/). The growing Snapshot dataset is useful, for example, for tracking wildlife population responses to land use, land cover, and climate changes across spatial and temporal scales. Here we present the SNAPSHOT USA 2021 dataset, the third national camera trap survey across the US. Data were collected across 109 camera trap arrays and included 1711 camera sites. The total effort equaled 71,519 camera trap nights and resulted in 172,507 sequences of animal observations. Sampling effort varied among camera trap arrays, with a minimum of 126 camera trap nights, a maximum of 3355 nights, a median 546 nights, and a mean 656 ± 431 nights. This third dataset comprises 51 camera trap arrays that were surveyed during 2019, 2020, and 2021, along with 71 camera trap arrays that were surveyed in 2020 and 2021. All raw data and accompanying metadata are stored on Wildlife Insights (https://www.wildlifeinsights.org/), and are publicly available upon acceptance of the data papers. SNAPSHOT USA aims to sample multiple ecoregions in the United States with adequate representation of each ecoregion according to its relative size. Currently, the relative density of camera trap arrays varies by an order of magnitude for the various ecoregions (0.22-5.9 arrays per 100,000 km 2 ), emphasizing the need to increase sampling effort by further recruiting and retaining contributors. There are no copyright restrictions on these data. We request that authors cite this paper when using these data, or a subset of these data, for publication. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government., (© 2024 The Ecological Society of America.)

Objective: To evaluate the signalment, neurologic examination and imaging findings, and outcome in dogs treated medically or surgically for osseous-associated cervical spondylomyelopathy (OACSM)., Design: Retrospective case series., Animals: 27 client-owned dogs., Procedures: Medical records for dogs with OACSM (diagnosis made in 2000 through 2012) were reviewed. Collected data included signalment, neurologic examination findings (graded from 0 [normal] to 5 [tetraplegia]), imaging findings, treatment, and outcome. From MRI and CT images, measurements were obtained for subjective grading of spinal cord compression., Results: Among the 27 dogs, the median age was 2 years; there were 15 Great Danes, 3 Mastiffs, 3 Newfoundlands, and 6 other large-breed dogs. For medically treated dogs (n = 7), the median initial neurologic grade was 2; for surgically treated dogs (20), the median initial neurologic grade was 3. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed dorsolateral spinal cord compression in 22 dogs and lateral spinal cord compression in 5 dogs. Dogs with more severe compressions were slightly more likely to undergo surgical than medical treatment. Median survival time of medically treated dogs was 43 months, and that of surgically treated dogs was 60 months. Fifteen of 19 dogs treated surgically had improved neurologic grades at 4 to 8 weeks after surgery and had a good to excellent long-term outcome., Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Surgical treatment of dogs with OACSM resulted in neurologic improvement and was associated with a good long-term outcome. For dogs that received medical treatment, neurologic deterioration continued but some patients did well for several years.