Predator mediated indirect effects of livestock on native prey

Abstract

Livestock are common in many protected areas and due to their negative effects pose a considerable challenge to protected area managers attempting to conserve native ecosystems. Negative effects include resource competition with native herbivores, habitat modification, and conflicts between pastoralists and livestock-killing carnivores. A literature review on livestock in conservation areas indicates that research has predominantly focused on negative effects which are known to be major threats to the survival of many mammalian prey and predator species. However the potential role of predator-mediated indirect interactions between native herbivores and livestock via shared predation has been overlooked or ignored in natural areas dominated by human-livestock settlements.