Quantitative analysis of animal-welfare outcomes in helicopter shooting: a case study with feral dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius)

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan O. Hampton ◽  
Brendan D. Cowled ◽  
Andrew L. Perry ◽  
Corissa J. Miller ◽  
Bidda Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Camelus Dromedarius ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Dromedary Camel ◽  
Shooting Methods ◽  
Time To Death ◽  
Bullet Wound

Context Helicopter shooting is a common and effective tool for reducing overabundant wildlife populations. However, there is little quantitative information on the humaneness of the method, leading to uncertainty in wildlife-management policy. There is, subsequently, a need for an improved understanding of the welfare implications of helicopter shooting. Aim A study was undertaken to infer the humaneness of helicopter shooting for a case study species, the feral dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius). Methods Seven post-mortem studies (n = 715) and one ante-mortem study (n = 192) were undertaken during routine helicopter shooting programs of free-ranging camels. In these studies, we measured four animal-welfare parameters to allow inference on the humaneness of the technique. These parameters were time to death, instantaneous death rate (proportion of animals for which time to death = 0), wounding rate and location of bullet-wound tract. We also modelled these welfare variables against hypothesised explanatory variables to assist improvement of future programs. Key results The mean wounding rate was 0.4%, and the killing efficacy of the technique was 99.6%. Mean time to death was 4 s, and mean instantaneous death rate was 83%. Each animal displayed a mean 2.4 bullet-wound tracts, with 75%, 63% and 35% of animals shot at least once in the thorax, cranium and cervical spine, respectively. Regression analysis revealed that the identity of the shooter and the nature of the local vegetation were the most important factors associated with an animal experiencing an inferred instantaneous death or not. Conclusions Helicopter shooting of feral camels produces a very low wounding rate and rapid time to death. Shooter identity is the most important consideration for determining animal-welfare outcomes. Improvements to the humaneness of programs can be made by increasing the rigour of shooter selection and training. Implications Wildlife killing methods must be demonstrated to be humane to receive public support; however, few shooting methods are objectively examined. Helicopter shooting can be independently examined and operators assessed. Adoption of this examination template may allow continual improvement by industry as well as increasing societal acceptance of helicopter shooting.

An assessment of animal welfare for the culling of peri-urban kangaroos

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan O. Hampton ◽  
David M. Forsyth
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Median Time ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Shooting Methods ◽  
Flight Duration ◽  
Independent Observer ◽  
Time To Death ◽  
Kaplan Meier ◽  
Group Methods

Context Shooting is used to reduce the abundance of kangaroo (Macropus sp.) populations in many peri-urban areas in Australia, but there is uncertainty surrounding the animal welfare outcomes of this practice. Aim We assessed the animal welfare outcomes of night shooting for peri-urban eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus). We quantified the duration of stress for: (1) shot animals; (2) euthanased pouch young; and (3) other animals in the same social group. Methods An independent observer collected thermal imagery data, enabling four key animal welfare parameters to be quantified: instantaneous death rate, median time to death, wounding rate and flight duration of conspecifics. The duration between pouch removal and insensibility was recorded for pouch young. Post-mortem data were recorded to confirm the location and extent of pathology from shooting. Key results Of the 136 kangaroos that were shot at, two were missed. The wounding rate was zero, with a 98% instantaneous death rate. The median time to death for the three animals not killed instantaneously was 12 s. For pouch young considered sentient, the median stress time was 4 s. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that the median flight duration of conspecifics was 5 s. Conclusions Our results indicate that night shooting produces a very short duration of stress to shot kangaroos, their pouch young and their conspecifics. Implications When compared to other wildlife shooting methods, night shooting is a humane method for culling peri-urban kangaroos.

Effective Altruism

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Effective Altruism

The effective altruism movement consists of a growing global community of people who organize significant parts of their lives around two key ideas, represented in its name. Altruism: If we use a significant portion of the resources in our possession—whether money, time, or talents—with a view to helping others, we can improve the world considerably. Effectiveness: When we do put such resources to altruistic use, it is crucial to focus on how much good this or that intervention is reasonably expected to do per unit of resource expended (for example, per dollar donated). While global poverty is a widely used case study in introducing and motivating effective altruism, if the ultimate aim is to do the most good one can with the resources expended, it is far from obvious that global poverty alleviation is highest priority cause area. In addition to ranking possible poverty-alleviation interventions against one another, we can also try to rank interventions aimed at very different types of outcome against one another. This includes, for example, interventions focusing on animal welfare or future generations. The scale and organization of the effective altruism movement encourage careful dialogue on questions that have perhaps long been there, throwing them into new and sharper relief, and giving rise to previously unnoticed questions. In the present volume, the first of its kind, a group of internationally recognized philosophers, economists, and political theorists contribute in-depth explorations of issues that arise once one takes seriously the twin ideas of altruistic commitment and effectiveness.

scholarly journals Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violeta Cabello ◽  
David Romero ◽  
Ana Musicki ◽  
Ângela Guimarães Pereira ◽  
Baltasar Peñate
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Story Telling ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Narrative Assessment ◽  
Alternative Water

AbstractThe literature on the water–energy–food nexus has repeatedly signaled the need for transdisciplinary approaches capable of weaving the plurality of knowledge bodies involved in the governance of different resources. To fill this gap, Quantitative Story-Telling (QST) has been proposed as a science for adaptive governance approach that aims at fostering pluralistic and reflexive research processes to overcome narrow framings of water, energy, and food policies as independent domains. Yet, there are few practical applications of QST and most run on a pan-European scale. In this paper, we apply the theory of QST through a practical case study regarding non-conventional water sources as an innovation for water and agricultural governance in the Canary Islands. We present the methods mixed to mobilize different types of knowledge and analyze interconnections between water, energy, and food supply. First, we map and interview relevant knowledge holders to elicit narratives about the current and future roles of alternative water resources in the arid Canarian context. Second, we run a quantitative diagnosis of nexus interconnections related to the use of these resources for irrigation. This analysis provides feedback to the narratives in terms of constraints and uncertainties that might hamper the expectations posed on this innovation. Thirdly, the mixed analysis is used as fuel for discussion in participatory narrative assessment workshops. Our experimental QST process succeeded in co-creating new knowledge regarding the water–energy–food nexus while addressing some relational and epistemological uncertainties in the development of alternative water resources. Yet, the extent to which mainstream socio-technical imaginaries surrounding this innovation were transformed was rather limited. We conclude that the potential of QST within sustainability place-based research resides on its capacity to: (a) bridge different sources of knowledge, including local knowledge; (b) combine both qualitative and quantitative information regarding the sustainable use of local resources, and (c) co-create narratives on desirable and viable socio-technical pathways. Open questions remain as to how to effectively mobilize radically diverse knowledge systems in complex analytical exercises where everyone feels safe to participate.

scholarly journals Interspecies Sustainability to Ensure Animal Protection: Lessons from the Thoroughbred Racing Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bergmann
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Animal Protection ◽  
Sustainability Transition ◽  
Animal Advocacy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Industry Sustainability ◽  
Thoroughbred Racing

There is a disconnect between dominant conceptions of sustainability and the protection of animals arising from the anthropocentric orientation of most conceptualisations of sustainability, including sustainable development. Critiques of this disconnect are primarily based in the context of industrial animal agriculture and a general model of a species-inclusive conception of sustainability has yet to emerge. The original contribution of this article is two-fold: First, it develops a theoretical framework for interspecies sustainability. Second, it applies this to a case study of the thoroughbred racing industry. Interviews were conducted with thoroughbred industry and animal advocacy informants in the US, Australia and Great Britain. While industry informants claim thoroughbred welfare is seminal for industry sustainability, they adopt a market-oriented anthropocentric conception of sustainability and do not consider animal welfare a sustainability domain in its own right. Animal advocacy informants demonstrate a deeper understanding of welfare but some express discomfort about linking sustainability, welfare and racing. Eight analytical layers have been identified in the discourse in the interface of sustainability and animal protection, of which two have transformational potential to advance interspecies sustainability. Interspecies sustainability urgently needs to be advanced to ensure animal protection in the sustainability transition, and to not leave the defining of animal welfare and sustainability to animal industries.

scholarly journals The influence of common property rights on forest management policy: a case study in Sardinia region, Italy

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Paletto ◽  
Isabella De Meo ◽  
Fabrizio Ferretti
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Private Forests ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common

Abstract The property rights and the type of ownership (private owners, public domain and commons) are two fundamental concepts in relationship to the local development and to the social and environmental sustainability. Common forests were established in Europe since the Middle Ages, but over the centuries the importance of commons changed in parallel with economic and social changes. In recent decades, the scientific debate focused on the forest management efficiency and sustainability of this type of ownership in comparison to the public and private property. In Italy common forests have a long tradition with substantial differences in the result of historical evolution in various regions. In Sardinia region the private forests are 377.297 ha, the public forests are 201.324 ha, while around 120.000 ha are commons. The respect of the common rights changed in the different historical periods. Today, the common lands are managed directly by municipalities or indirectly through third parties, in both cases the involvement of members of community is very low. The main objective of the paper is to analyse forest management differences in public institutions with and without common property rights. To achieve the objective of the research the forest management preferences of community members and managers were evaluated and compared. The analysis was realized through the use of the principal-agent model and it has been tested in a case study in Sardinia region (Arci-Grighine district). The analysis of the results showed that the categories of actors considered (members of community, municipalities and managers) have a marked productive profile, but municipalities manage forests perceiving a moderate multifunctionality. Moreover, the representatives of the municipalities pay more attention to the interests of the collectivity in comparison to the external managers. They also attribute high importance to environmental and social forest functions.

Subjective Design Evaluation With Multiple Attributes

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Thurston
Keyword(s):  
Automotive Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Utility Analysis ◽  
Materials Selection ◽  
Design Alternatives ◽  
Multiattribute Utility Analysis ◽  
Alternative Designs

Abstract A formal methodology is presented which may be used to evaluate design alternatives in the iterative design/redesign process. Deterministic multiattribute utility analysis is used to compare the overall utility or value of alternative designs as a function of the levels of several performance characteristics of a manufactured system. The evaluation function reflects the designers subjective preferences. Sensitivity analysis provides quantitative information as to how a design should be modified in order to increase its utility to the design decision maker. Improvements in one or more areas or performance and tradeoffs between attributes which would increase desirability of a design most may be quantified. A case study of materials selection and design in the automotive industry is presented. The methodology was applied to 6 automotive companies in the United States and Europe, and results are used to illustrate the steps followed in application.

Embryo transfer in the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) using non-ovulated and ovulated, asynchronous progesterone-treated recipients

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 438 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Skidmore ◽  
M. Billah
Keyword(s):  
Embryo Transfer ◽  
Chorionic Gonadotrophin ◽  
Camelus Dromedarius ◽  
Dromedary Camel ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Progesterone Treatment ◽  
Daily Dose ◽  
Exogenous Progesterone ◽  
To Receive

The aim of the present study was to investigate the use of exogenous progesterone and equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) in non-ovulated and ovulated, asynchronous dromedary camel recipients being prepared for an embryo transfer programme. The uteri of 12 mated donor camels were flushed non-surgically 7 days after ovulation and 42 embryos were recovered. In Experiment 1, 16 embryos were transferred non-surgically to recipients on Day 3 or 4 after ovulation (ov+3 and ov+4, respectively). Each recipient received a daily dose of 75 mg, i.m., progesterone-in-oil from 2 days before embryo transfer until 6 days after ovulation. Thereafter, the progesterone dose was reduced to 50 mg on Day 7 and finally to 25 mg day–1 on Days 8 and 9. Nine of 16 recipients (56%; ov+3, n = 4; ov+4, n = 5) became pregnant compared with none of eight non-progesterone treated controls, into which embryos were transferred on Day 4 after ovulation. In Experiment 2, 18 non-ovulated recipients received 75 mg, i.m., progesterone-in-oil daily from 3 days before until 12 days after non-surgical transfer of a Day 7 blastocyst, at which time pregnancy was diagnosed by ultrasonography. All pregnant recipients continued to receive 75 mg progesterone-in-oil daily for a further 6 days, when each camel received 2000 IU, i.m., eCG. Progesterone treatment was then reduced to 50 mg day–1 and, when a follicle(s) ≥1.3 cm in diameter were present in the ovaries, each animal received 20 μg buserelin to induce ovulation. Once the corpora lutea had developed, progesterone treatment was reduced to 25 mg day–1 for a final 3 days. Fourteen of 18 recipients (78%) became pregnant and seven of these (50%) remained pregnant after eCG treatment. Of the seven pregnancies that were lost, two were lost before eCG treatment, two did not respond to eCG treatment and three responded to eCG treatment and ovulated, but lost their pregnancies 6–8 days after the last progesterone injection.

scholarly journals Implementing BIM for conventional tunnels - a proposed methodology and case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 643-656
Author(s):  
Amichai Mitelman ◽  
Ury Gurevich
Keyword(s):  
Application Programming Interface ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Building Industry ◽  
Structural Domain ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
Guidelines And Standards

The topic of Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption by public organizations has become a central subject of research, and a significant amount of BIM documents, guidelines, and standards have been created to meet different organizational purposes. Compared to the building industry, the application of BIM tools for tunnel project management is lagging far behind. This paper proposes a methodology for integrating BIM tools for conventional tunnelling. A fundamental distinction is made between the tunnel internal architectural domain and the external structural domain. For the former, BIM methodology can be applied similarly to the building industry. For the latter, it is suggested that a BIM model be built according to the essential information generated during tunnelling excavation. The proposed methodology was put to test for an actual tunneling project. A routine was established where the supervisor on behalf of the owner was responsible for gathering and reporting essential data in tabular form. Via REVIT's Application Programming Interface (API), a code was developed so that a BIM model was built and updated automatic to data insertion. Ultimately, the final BIM model allows managing up-to-date qualitative and quantitative information visually. Thus, human understanding and interpretation are enhanced for future uses, such as maintenance, future renovations and project post-analysis.

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