ACTION C.2 – Conflict mitigation in the hot spot areas – damage cases
Damage to human property (e.g. beehives, livestock, orchards, fields, gardens, silage bales) is one of the most important causes for human-bear conflicts. Beside the loss of property, these locations also act as additional attractant for bears to approach human settlements and can cause bear habituation to human presence and food-conditioning.
In Slovenia and in Italian province Regione del Veneto best practice examples on the hotspots with frequent bear damages will be implemented. This will involve protection of livestock, beehives, orchards or individual fruit trees, fields, and gardens. We will use different protection techniques, which include electric fences and other devices for deterring brown bears from causing damages.
Two crucial goals of this project will be achieved within this action. With proper protection of human property the appearance of damage cases will be prevented so we expect that human acceptance of local inhabitants will be raised. At the same time attractants for bears in the vicinity of human settlements will be protected and for bears consequently removed. So they will not cause habituation of bears on human presence any more.
One of the most effective methods for damage protection is the use of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs), which has been almost entirely abandoned in Slovenia. Within a LIFE+ project on wolves (SloWolf) we already donated guarding dogs to some interested sheep breeders and started to educate individual breeders how to properly raise LGDs. In this action we would like to build upon this foundation and establish a working line of LGDs and a network of dedicated livestock guarding dog breeders in Slovenia and in Italy. We will select at least five motivated livestock breeders who will prove their interest and competences to develop a working line of livestock guardian dogs. The breeders will also become future advisors/experts in the area of breeding, advising on LGDs upbringing, and later follow up on the dogs placed with their new owners.
Latest C.2 actions:
Meeting of livestock guarding dog breeders
In March 2019, we held a meeting with livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) breeders and cynology experts, who participate in the [...]
Testing the efficiency of electric-doormats as a protection measure
Since Autumn 2018 and within action C.2, we have been testing the efficiency of electric-mats as an alternative protection measure [...]
“Safe grazing” – website about the measures for protecting property
Within the LIFE DINALP BEAR project, the new website “Safe grazing” was established. The purpose of this website is to [...]
About protection measures with AGRIDEA from Switzerland
Coexistence between human and large carnivores is a challenge for numerous countries worldwide, which is being confronted in various ways. [...]
Are you interested in protecting your herd with the livestock guarding dogs? You can find all the necessary information in the newly issued handbook
Livestock guarding dog protecting the herd. Photo: T. Berce, LIFE DINALP BEAR If we want to maintain the [...]
Intervention kit to help livestock breeders in emergency cases
On Tuesday 30th May, project team from Slovenia assisted a livestock breeder, who suffered from a large-scale depredation by large [...]
