Active involvement of hunting organizations in wolf population management and development of strategy for a predator-prey-hunters relationship evaluation

Hunters often perceive wolves as a competitor for shared prey species, and this might be the cause for a widespread conflict among wolves and hunters. Wolves in the Alps feed mainly on large mammals, which are all game species and thus in the main interest sphere of hunters. Hence, hunters often blame the predators for reducing game abundance and availability, and claim to be partners in monitoring and management of the species. This happened in recent years especially in relation to a general documented decrease in roe deer populations. We will increase hunters’ involvement in the development of the knowledge on wolves, as well as to consider their suggestions and discussion in any management strategy.

We will therefore develop the work on predator prey dynamics using a participatory approach. Local platforms in action E3 will be also organized, together with the production of informative publications on predator-prey dynamics in action E1.2. Furthermore, the technicians of the Alpine hunting districts and hunters will be directly involved in the work.

This preparatory action will be implemented through at least 2 steps:

• Development of the strategy and design for the implementation of the predator-prey-hunter relationship evaluations, to be carried on in a dedicated workshop by the Scientific Committee involving international experts, and definition of the 4 core areas for the implementation of the work that will be carried on in action C3. 
• Active involvement of hunting organization and hunters in the development of the action C3.