Quels facteurs géographiques prendre en compte pour mieux gérer la grande faune ?

Abstract

To manage large wildlife, control proliferations or protect species, one needs to work on extensive territories and take the diversity of the geographical environment into account. This is defined by three main factors that are meaningful from both natural and social standpoints, i.e., density, accessibility and shape. Alone or combined, they offer new perspectives on the management of wild boar and wolf. Regarding wild boars, animal as well as human density, sometimes linked to the effects of shape or accessibility, accounts for the diversity of management methods applied in the different French régions. As for wolves, their perception of the environment as either friendly or non-friendly depends both on natural (trophic, intraspecific competition, topographic) factors and social factors (breeding conditions, legal status). Under the pressure of control culling adjusted to local situations, feelings change with increasing densities. The study of Spanish situations shows how wolf distribution is due to a combination of human density, natural preys and cattle farming and also to the relationships between hunters and livestock farmers. To conclude, we propose to include the density ratio between farmers and hunters in management parameters. We argue that the legal status of species should change when densities increase based on a département spatial scale. © 2012 NSS-Dialogues, EDP Sciences.