Paying for an Endangered Predator Leads to Population Recovery

Abstract

Keeping viable predator populations on a human-dominated planet will require innovative approaches that promote local coexistence with human activities. Conservation performance payments, which are linked specifically to the production of a desired environmental output, have received increasing attention but their effectiveness in predator conservation remains undocumented. Here, we show that paying Sámi reindeer herders for wolverine (Gulo gulo) reproductions has been instrumental in the recovery of wolverines in Sweden. Adult female wolverines were significantly less exposed to illegal killing and this allowed the population to more than double in a decade. We argue that this program provides protection for adult female wolverines through a combination of direct monetary value and indirect protection because of monitoring activities. The program's success, even in a system where livestock is the main prey for the predator, reveals an exceptional potential for future implementations in large carnivore conservation.