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Estonian Journal of Ecology

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Open Access Journal

Can human hunters substitute for large carnivores? An examination based on disease in ungulate populations; pp. 181–191

PDF | doi: 10.3176/eco.2009.3.03

Author

Yukichika Kawata

Abstract

It is pointed out that large carnivores such as wolves prey on weak individuals in ungulate populations, which results in a healthier local ungulate population. However, this hypothesis has not been fully evaluated. The purpose of the paper is to examine whether human hunting can improve the health status of local ungulate populations. To accomplish this, we focus on disease and build an epidemiological Susceptible–Infected–Recovered model. On the basis of numerical simulations of our model, we demonstrated that although human hunting helps prevent the spread of disease, it does not help in the selective removal of infected individuals in a population.

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