Studying conflict with black bears, cougars and wolves, Joanna

Joanna van Bommel studies the patterns of human-wildlife conflicts with black bears, cougars and wolves in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. She uses conflict reports and camera trap data to understand where it happens and how that relates to how carnivores are using space in human areas.

Joanna, 23, is a Master’s student at the University of British Columbia

The path of Joanna in wildlife research started in the University of Saskatchewan, where she had an opportunity to do a Honour´s thesis working with feral horses in Sable Island. Now, she is focusing on three emblematic carnivores of North America: black bears, cougars, and wolves, that range through large metropolitan areas, rural farms, and the wilderness.

Black bears (Ursus americanus) are some of the most iconic large carnivores in North America. Joanna is helpin understand which factors may model why they get into conflict with humans.

She is comparing camera traps images and conflict reports from conservation officers

to compare where the animals are versus where the conflicts occur and determine whether environmental or human factors predict conflict. One of the most interesting questions she is addressing is if densely human populated areas are more prone to conflict than rural areas.

"Conservation will fail if the people who live in contact with the species you’re trying to save are not invested in the same goal. My aim in conservation science is to find solutions to conflicts between humans and animals so that they can coexist safely and we don’t have to chose between protecting the interests of one or the other." -Joanna

Q&A with Joanna

Q: From your perspective, which is the greatest challenge of studying Human-Wildlife Conflicts?

A: Humans! We all have different ideas about where wildlife should be allowed to exist, how to manage that, and how to respond to conflicts. It’s a challenge because wildlife conflicts endanger people’s safety and livelihoods so you have to consider not just science, but also historic and cultural relations with a species, economic consequences of actions, and public perception.

With carnivores, people have very strong emotions tied to their experiences, both positive and negative. In my study area there are locals who love the bears and work to avoid conflicts, or naturally have less attractants like livestock to worry about, so they get the benefits of seeing an incredible species. But others nearby may not know or are unable to reduce conflicts and so they have a detrimental relationship. As a biologist I can help the latter by testing mitigation methods for their effectiveness or uncover conflict patterns, but another level of research studying the sociological side of the conflicts is needed. It can be difficult to do interdisciplinary work but ignoring half of the conflict will not generate sustainable solutions. Luckily there are lots of people in my field that are collaborating with social scientists to improve future research.

Cougars (Puma concolor) are carnivores distributed from Canada to Argentina, making them the most common large carnivore in America.

Q: What steps do you think could improve human coexistence with large carnivores in your area of study?

A: In my study area black bears, cougars, and wolves have been present long before large human settlements arrived. It is a resource rich land base, so the animals can survive off their natural food sources. However, when humans bring in easily accessed, calorie dense food it can be too good to ignore. Garbage, compost, livestock, pets, bird feeders, fruit trees, etc. are often aggregated and unguarded so they attract the carnivores into human spaces. By managing those attractants, conflicts can be avoided. Keeping all waste inside until collection day, picking ripe fruit, building and maintaining electric fences around livestock or orchards, and keeping a close eye on pets has a huge impact on the number of conflicts experienced.

Education often isn’t enough, people need incentives or consequences to change their behaviour. Some areas have tax breaks or support for the start-up costs of electric fences. And the best way to ensure garbage bins aren’t put out the night before collection day is to have a large fine for those who don’t comply. This requires government buy-in to conflict reduction initiatives, which often doesn’t happen until the conflict is significantly bad. Ideally these measures should be seen as proactive before the problems start.

Q: How would you describe the importance of women in wildlife conservation and the challenges we face?

A: As with other diversity challenges in conservation, it is vital that researchers reflect the average population so that everyone feels represented, that means all genders should be participating from volunteering to primary investigator. As I said above, if the local people you are working with aren’t invested in your goals, the conservation likely won’t work, and one way to get people invested is to make them feel included.

Because of the history of western wildlife conservation being male dominated, women are tenacious and work hard to make it in the field. That work ethic and passion are great attributes for researchers, but also having missed some of the “Old Boys Club” culture can allow women to be more open and collaborative. Beyond that, having different life experiences, such as being a woman, allows for a unique worldview that can lead to new ideas for conservation solutions. We are under a time crunch to save species and ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate, so the more ideas we can generate the better chance we have at success.

There are a lot of challenges for women in wildlife, including overt sexism, sexual harassment and assault, and devaluing of our ideas. I am lucky to have mostly avoided the first two, but when working with carnivores it is hard not to feel as though being a woman makes people take me less seriously. In Canada, conferences for large mammalian carnivores often have a large quantity of female graduate students and but mainly male professors/senior professionals. While I have had many positive experiences and mentors within these ranks, it is still hard to imagine myself among them. And though there are so many women at my career stage, I notice the young men being commended and interacted with more regularly. Having a strong lab team behind you and grants from organizations that are well known can increase your authority, but for now how the work of different genders is perceived is still unbalanced.

Q: Do you think 10 years from now our relations with wildlife and large-carnivores will change?

A: In my study area a lot of conflicts occur as urban people move into the interface with wild areas and have carnivores around their homes for the first time. This leads to growing pains as they (hopefully) adjust to containing attractants and learn to respect the balance of space needed for them to coexist with the animals. Historically, humans either figure out a way to live alongside carnivores or exterminate them. The benefit of modern technology is scientists and activists have access to social media to show millions of people successful examples of coexistence, the natural lives of carnivores, and overall remove some of the mystery that can generate fear.

When I explain my project to people around the world, responses are predominantly positive, excited, and curious. There are frequent questions about safety, but nature documentaries and other media has made huge strokes towards making people see carnivores as charismatic, important, balancing predators of their ecosystems. It is also easier to change the perception of cute, beautiful species that have similarities to common pets – beings that humans already love and value. Because of their relatively slow reproductive rates and need for large home ranges, mammalian carnivores still deserve conservation attention, but I worry more about species that are less aesthetically appealing. However, I see a trend globally of students my generation and younger being taught about biodiversity and the importance of intact food webs, so we have the opportunity to include all wildlife in the conservation conversation.

---

Our need to prevent and manage human-wildlife negative interactions meets with ongoing efforts to learn which factors model it and how we can better predict where the new conflict hot-spot is going to surge. If we can effectively map the risk, preventive measures to foster coexistence can be executed more efficiently and improve the positive impact of conservation actions.

Some clues, like black bear hair, allow Joanna to find areas that would be good sites to set camera traps.

Joanna´s research may provide clues on these three iconic carnivores negative interactions with humans, and help conservation efforts on the ground. Her approach is unique, and because it can be reproduced in many other regions of the world easily, it can become a standardised methodology to study human-wildlife interactions.

You can follow Joanna in Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoannaKvB

Thank you Joanna for sharing your perspectives on human-wildlife conflicts. We are looking forward to learn more about your results!

- Xim Neri