Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Attitudes towards compensation for wolf damage to livestock in Viana do Castelo, North of Portugal

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13511610.2011.592071

1469-8412

Sérgio G. Milheiras, Ian Hodge,

Geographies of human-animal interactions

The payment of a compensation as a response to damage to livestock is a measure used by policy-makers to attenuate severe human–wildlife conflicts, which allows that economic burden to be shared with the rest of society. This study focuses on the case of wolf depredation on livestock in the county of Viana do Castelo, located in the north of Portugal. Wolf attacks are frequent in the county, which results in a high expenditure with the current compensation scheme for livestock owners. Nevertheless, illegal killing of wolves continues to occur in the area. The paper aims to evaluate the attitudes of the general public, livestock owners and hunters towards the existing compensation scheme and the presence of wolves in Viana do Castelo. In addition, it analyzes the implications of the results for the management of damage caused by wolves in the county.