Keeping predators out 467


PLATE 1 A traditional corral in the Tost Mountains in southern Mongolia, with a fence built around it to reduce livestock depredation by snow leopards Panthera uncia and wolves Canis lupus. The purpose of the traditional corrals is not to keep predators out but to keep the herd together and to provide shelter from the wind.


Wangchuck, 2004). The development and implementation of effective means to reduce night-time losses for large live- stock holdings is therefore important for establishing con- ditions that enable coexistence of carnivores and livestock herders. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of


tall fences to reduce livestock losses at night-time corrals and to examine whether these fences affected herder atti- tudes towards snow leopards and wolves. Specifically, we built 2 m tall fences at night-time corrals and we compared self-reported livestock losses and herder attitudes before and after the fences were built.


Study area


We conducted this study in the Tost Mountains in South Gobi, Mongolia, during April 2014–September 2016. Annual precipitation is ,130 mm, temperature range is


c. −35–40 °C and strong winds are common throughout the year. The area is home to c. 90 semi-nomadic herder families who move c. 2–4 times per year, with most herders staying in the mountains in winter (early November–late March) and in the surrounding steppes during the rest of the year (Mijiddorj et al., 2018). Livestock comprised mostly of goats Capra aegagrus and sheep Ovis aries but herders also kept horses Equus ferus caballus and camels Camelus bactrianus. Goats and sheep were herded during the day and kept at corrals near herder camps at night (Mijiddorj et al., 2018). Horses and camels were largely free-ranging and not brought back to herder camps at night (Mijiddorj et al., 2018). Traditional corrals are generally made of stone and wood, with walls seldom higher than 1 m


(Plate 1). The main purpose of traditional corrals is not to keep predators out but to keep the herd together and pro- vide shelter from the wind. Large carnivores in the study area included snow leopards, wolves and occasionally lynxes Lynx lynx. Snow leopards occurred almost exclusively in the mountains, so herders generally lost herded livestock (goats and sheep) to snow leopards only in winter (Johansson et al., 2015). Wolves occurred both in the mountains and on the steppes and attacked herded livestock throughout the year.


Methods


Surveys on livestock losses and herder attitudes We interviewed 60 herder families on losses of herded livestock and attitudes towards snow leopards and wolves in March 2014. Later in the spring and summer 2014,we built 10 fences at 10 winter camps with a high number of self-reported losses (Fig. 1). These camps were identified jointly by the herder community at a workshop in the Tost Mountains in April 2014. We conducted the survey of self-reported losses and attitudes before we discussed our planned intervention with the herders, to avoid poten- tial bias arising from expectations to receive fences. Because we conducted the survey of self-reported losses and attitudes before identifying localities where fences should be built, three families that received fences were not included in the survey prior to building the fences (i.e. sample size was reduced from 10 to 7 for analyses of effects of fenced corrals on herder attitudes). Our attitude survey followed the protocol by Suryawanshi et al. (2014), with attitude scores ranging from−8 (very negative) to +8 (very positive),


Oryx, 2021, 55(3), 466–472 © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605319000565


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