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Non-lethal control of fox predation: the potential of generalised aversion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

DW Macdonald  and
SE Baker
DW Macdonald*
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
SE Baker
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
*
* Correspondence: david.macdonald@zoology.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Traditionally, game-keepers and agriculturalists have controlled predators using lethal methods, but there are circumstances under which these may be ineffective or inappropriate for animal welfare or conservation reasons. Generalised aversion is potentially a form of non-lethal control, in which predators are conditioned to avoid foul-tasting bait, causing them subsequently to generalise this avoidance to similar, but untreated, prey, thereby affording it protection. In this exploratory study, a group of captive red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was successfully conditioned to avoid untreated milk after drinking milk containing BitrexTM, a bitter substance that they were unable to detect except by taste. Our foxes were members of a family group and so housed together to reduce stress, and therefore the individuals’ responses to the various treatments may not have been independent. As a result, we combined data from the three animals, and our most conservative analyses consider the sampling population to be this fox group; we do not make inferences about foxes in general, but confine them to this fox-group. This trial was a pilot to reveal the potential for future work on wild animals. Successful application of generalised aversion to non-lethal predator control has far-reaching implications for the sport hunting industry, nature reserve management and the conservation of threatened predators requiring control, as well as clear animal welfare benefits.

Keywords

animal welfareBitrex™conditioned taste aversiongeneralised aversionred foxrepellency
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , February 2004 , pp. 77 - 85
Copyright
© 2004 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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