Dogs used to guard livestock may have unintended costs to wildlife

By Bethany Smith, PhD Candidate in Ecology & Conservation, Nottingham Trent University
Katherine Whitehouse-Tedd, Anthrozoologist, external advisor, Nottingham Trent University

Over thousands of years, dog breeds like the Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd have been chosen to protect livestock by warding off wolves, leopards and other predators. The practice originated in Europe and Asia, but it’s increasingly used in parts of the world where large carnivores are making a comeback. Dogs help farmers look after their flocks and provide an alternative to controlling predators without having to fall back on methods which are entirely…

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