Assessing mammal trapping standards in wild boar drop-net capture

Area of Science:

• Wildlife Management
• Animal Welfare Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Increasing wild boar populations lead to human-wildlife conflicts.
• Hunting is a primary management tool, but not always feasible.
• Existing trapping standards lack guidelines for methods like drop nets.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate the humaneness and effectiveness of drop nets for Eurasian wild boar capture.
• Assess drop nets against current and proposed international trapping standards.
• Provide data for developing adapted procedures for non-mechanical traps.

Main Methods:

• Drop nets were used to capture Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa).
• Capture success, selectivity, and injury rates were recorded.
• Humaneness was assessed based on AIHTS (Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards) thresholds.

Main Results:

• Drop nets achieved 100% capture success and selectivity.
• Less than 20% of wild boar sustained moderate/severe injuries, meeting outdated AIHTS criteria.
• Humaneness scores ranged from 66-78% based on newer proposed standards, falling below the 85% requirement.
• Drop nets minimized stress duration compared to other live-capture methods.

Conclusions:

• Drop nets are a highly successful and selective capture method for wild boar.
• Current assessment results are unconclusive regarding humaneness under new standards.
• Adapted procedures and acceptance thresholds are needed for non-mechanical traps like drop nets.