Acknowledging Andean Condor predation on livestock, a first step in addressing the human-condor conflict: A commentary to Estrada Pacheco et al. 2020

ZULUAGA, SANTIAGO; SALOM, A.; VARGAS, F. H.; COULSON, JENIFFER O.; KOHN, S.; GRANDE, J. M.

BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2020 vol. 247

0006-3207

In this comment, we emphasize the need tohighlights that acknowledge thating Andean Condors occasionally depart from their scavenging habits to maimn or kill young livestock as anis important first step to accepting the existence of a human-condor conflict. Estrada Pacheco et al. (2020) in their recent paper briefly admit a localized ?strong conflict with the condor? due to perceived predation of cattle, however, throughout the bulk of the article, they treat the condor as a non-conflictive species accidentally killed in conflicts involving other carnivores. The authors recommended two measures to stop Andean Condor mass poisonings in Argentina, as: instating a National Law of Traceability and prescription of pesticides, and engaging stakeholders (government agencies, NGOs, livestock sector agencies and ranchers) to resolve the human-carnivore (i.e., wild mammals) conflict. However, we are deeply concerned that denial of the specific human-condor conflict leads only to criminalizing illegal persecution and to ignoring calls for interdisciplinary research and management to tackle the conflict?s roots.