Vertebrate scavengers provide integral ecosystem services that include recycling organic biomass through the consumption of carrion and reducing the risk of disease transmission by removing rotting – and potentially diseased - carcasses from the environment. Livestock farmers are typically familiar with vertebrate scavengers due to frequent interactions with wildlife, and they often experience human-wildlife conflicts. Communities in South Asia are particularly vulnerable to these conflicts, as the region is home to a rich scavenger guild that includes several flagship carnivores that regularly prey on livestock. To shed light on the strong relationship between humans and scavengers, we study the perceptions of local stakeholders on the ecosystem services provided by scavengers. Our work employs a socio-ecological approach that considers experience-based knowledge and social perceptions of an unexamined scavenger guild and its functional role within Nepal’s expansive Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape. We conducted 120 questionnaires with livestock farmers across the study area, to survey the social perceptions of scavengers and their associated ecosystem services and determine the relationship between farmers’ socioeconomic status, perceptions, and knowledge of the functional roles of scavengers.
Results/Conclusions
Our survey results indicated that vultures were the only scavenger species considered ‘beneficial’, across functional, trophic, and species groups, as ranked by livestock farmers on ecosystem service provisioning (ESP) and scavenging services (SS) metrics. Canids were also perceived as providers of SS, without being considered ‘beneficial’ by means of ESP, but only when compared within species groups. Species within the groups of small mammals, felids, and ursids were not statistically identified as providers of beneficial ESP or SS. Furthermore, respondents presented a trend of increasingly positive perceptions of a scavenger species, when the species was concurrently perceived to have a declining population. This finding suggests that an increase in species knowledge among local community members on population trends in their environment may promote more positive perceptions regarding the functional role and services provided by scavenger species of conservation concern. Overall, carcass disposal practices, religious beliefs, grazing practices, and history of environmental participation influenced farmers’ perceptions on whether they benefited from ESP, and their ability to perceive the functional role of scavengers as removers of carrion in the environment (SS). This study is the first in Asia to examine community perceptions of scavengers’ functional roles, contributing towards a foundational understanding for the region on experience-based knowledge and awareness of scavengers as ecosystem service providers.