Predator prey and domestic husbandry

Ebba and Maja Gramlin thesis are about the predators role in the domestic animal husbandry. Predators have a foundational role in ecosystems, but the predator’s behavior and interests have led to human wildlife conflicts and human domestic animal husbandry. This study will investigate the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) conflict with sheep, and the aim is to answer the question: Which factors have a significant effect on the amount of lynx assaults on sheep? The factors that will be investigated against the response variable, the number of assaults is the density of lynx, sheep, and prey and the proportion of forest, to do this data was retrieved from multiple sources and tested though statistical tests. The statistical tests that were done include logistic regression and the generalized mixed model depending on the data. From these tests it was found that there is a significant correlation between the number of assaults and the density of prey and the proportion of forest, where less prey and more forest led to more assaults. If actions are to be taken to lessen the number of assaults on these two fronts one will need to go into the very loaded predator question in Sweden and decide how domestic animals and predators will coexist. In conclusion one can see with this study that populations of sheep are more exposed in proximity of forests and lynx tends to assault more sheep if the density of natural prey lessens.