It is well known that dogs are often considered man’s best friend. But what was not known, until recently, is that they may not exactly be the best friends of native fauna. In fact, according to recent scientific research conducted by an Argentine biologist, our pets can become one of the most ubiquitous predators of wild animals. According to a recent study published last year in the magazine scientific Biological Conservation by a group of Argentine researchers working at the University of Comahue (UNC) and Conicet, surveyed to more than a thousand people, from all over the country, to report on incidents and dog attacks on different species of wildlife. The main conclusion of the report is that 68% of those consulted said they had seen, at least once, loose dogs -or in a pack-, attacking or killing wildlife specimens.
“Following the descriptions that the respondents gave us, we were able to identify at least 80 different species of wild animals that were attacked by dogs. In addition, 7% of these species are classified as ‘nationally threatened with extinction,'” he told NEWS Dr. Lucía Zamora, Conicet postdoctoral fellow, who coordinated the study carried out together with Sergio Lambertucci and Agustina di Virgilio, members of the UNC Conservation Biology Research Group, based in Bariloche.
This study is pioneering since there is not much systematic research that measures the environmental impact that dogs have on wildlife and the environment. However, what is known is not very encouraging. “Argentina,” say the researchers, “is a ‘pet-friendly’ country, with one of the highest rates in the world of animal ‘companions’ per capita. And the dog is, of course, the most frequent companion, since 66 % of those who say they have a pet state that their pet belongs to the species Canis lupus familiaris”
In fact, there are censuses that show that, in some provinces and regions of our country, there is an average of one dog for every three people, a situation that far exceeds the recommendations of the World Health Organization, which speaks of an “ideal” rate of a dog every ten people, in order to guarantee a sustainable and healthy coexistence.
This situation of promiscuity perruna, added to the carelessness of the owners and non-responsible ownership, has led to the fact that in some Patagonian regions the authorities have declared dogs an “invasive exotic species” and numerous alerts have been launched due to attacks by packs of dogs ” feral” on various types of livestock (sheep and cows) and -in some cases- directly on people.
The impact on wildlife seems to be greater in areas where human settlements are very close to protected natural areas. Normally, dogs are not allowed in these areas (with the exception of guide dogs) since they are spaces intended for the conservation of species and natural environments. However, in 75% of the 240 different protected areas visited by the people who participated in the survey, dogs were observed loose without supervision. And in 62%, at least one hunting event or persecution of wildlife specimens was observed. This, according to experts, suggests that the problem generated by dogs is present in many natural environments that should protect high-value wild species.
Old friend
Zamora recalled that “there are archaeological indications that show that dogs were domesticated and accompany humans from 33,000 to 15,000 years ago. And, of course, this strong bond has countless positive aspects. However, if the dogs are loose and do not live together in a responsible ownership format, their presence in the field can cause numerous problems environmental effects and affect the wildlife of a wide area”.
According to Zamora, a dog on the loose, without the control of its owner, is a highly mobile animal and can travel circuits of up to 30 kilometers daily. In this “wandering” it can interact -in a negative way- with specimens of various species of wildlife, generating harmful interactions of all kinds: “we have been studying the issue since 2019 and the interaction of unsupervised loose dogs can be of different types and severity: in fact, just by barking and smelling they are known to generate stress in the fauna and drive them away from their shelters and natural habitats.This is aggravated with dogs that live near national parks or protected areas.
But, in addition, dogs can function as vectors of disease transmission. Or they can destroy nests and eggs. On the other hand, it often happens that abandoned pet dogs get “wild” and end up chasing, attacking and killing numerous specimens of wildlife or domestic livestock for food.
attacked
Although the survey of the experts confirmed that the wild species attacked were of all kinds – although various birds predominated – the researchers highlighted that some of the examples mentioned by those interviewed in attack events were carried out against specimens of species threatened with extinction. “While the most common incidents reported were against shorebirds or located on the banks of rivers and lakes (for example against flamingos, penguins and cauquenes) there are also mentions of attacks on huemules, pudúes, tarucas, huillínes and corzuelas”, commented Zamora, who -in addition- highlights that due to the methodology used, “Surely we obtained conservative numbers and it is possible that attacks on fauna are even more frequent than what is reported in these surveys.”
As for the geographies with the most incidents of this type reported in relation to species under threat of extinction, the incidents that occurred in the Paraná jungle of Misiones and in several Patagonian parks and reserves are located. But what is significant is that the problem is widespread and reports reveal that, to a greater or lesser extent, these attacks are recorded in all ecoregions of the country.
Future
The next step that Zamora plans to take to deepen this line of environmental research is corroborate this type of reports and incidents referred by the respondents, through a sampling that uses camera traps, with motion sensors, placed in strategic areas of the parks, near people’s settlements. With these devices they will seek to leave filmed records of the attacks on fauna. Identifying and understanding the phenomenon in detail is the basis for being able to design effective measures to counteract it.
How to do it? Taking in principle the usual precautions that imply adequate tenure. This includes -among other things- regularly vaccinating and deworming our pets; sterilize them in order to reduce the number of offspring and the phenomenon of abandonment. That dogs and cats remain within our land or house. And, if they are taken for a walk, let it be on a leash and always on trails or spaces designated for pets, since it is known that 70% of dog attacks occur when their owners are not present.
Obviously, if we cannot take care of the animals, we should not abandon them on public roads or in vacant lots, but rather look for adopters or shelters. “What we propose,” concludes Zamora, is to mitigate the problem basically by practicing responsible ownership.”
extended problem
This work, which tries to begin to measure this environmental problem in Argentina, is an evil that is already widespread in other countries. According to Dr. Zamora, “for our research, we did a review of background information and similar situations in other countries, and there are studies that show that dogs are a possible threat for at least 188 different wild species“. In fact in a paper published in 2017 already mentions that the action of domestic dogs has contributed to the extinction of 11 different types of vertebrates and speculates that these numbers are possibly lower than the real ones due to the difficulty of estimating the real ecological impact. The form of the attacks ranges from acts of predation to disturbances in populations, contagion of diseases, competition for the ecological niche and hybridizations. And the geographical areas where the registered greatest impact were the countries of East Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, and the countries of South America.”
