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Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators
Hunting is a prominent feature of many human societies. Advancements in hunting technologies can challenge the ethics and sustainability of hunting globally. We investigated the efficacy of an electronic acoustic lure (‘quail caller’), in attracting the otherwise difficult-to hunt stubble quail Cotu...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9307177/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35867695 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271893 |
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author | Ray, Mia White, John G. Weston, Michael A. Rendall, Anthony R. Toop, Simon D. Dunstan, Heath Hampton, Jordan O. Cooke, Raylene |
author_facet | Ray, Mia White, John G. Weston, Michael A. Rendall, Anthony R. Toop, Simon D. Dunstan, Heath Hampton, Jordan O. Cooke, Raylene |
author_sort | Ray, Mia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Hunting is a prominent feature of many human societies. Advancements in hunting technologies can challenge the ethics and sustainability of hunting globally. We investigated the efficacy of an electronic acoustic lure (‘quail caller’), in attracting the otherwise difficult-to hunt stubble quail Coturnix pectoralis in Victoria, Australia. Using distance sampling, the density and abundance of stubble quail was estimated at 79 sites across a range of habitat types in an agricultural setting, each with an active ‘quail caller’ station continuously broadcasting for 48 hours, and a control station (no broadcast). Quail detectability at the active stations (62.9%) far exceeded that at control stations (6.3%). Most (57%) detections occurred within 30 m of active ‘quail callers’. Stubble quail relative abundance was substantially greater when ‘quail callers’ were broadcasting. Cameras mounted near ‘quail callers’ identified the predatory red fox as a non-target predator, although rates of attraction appear similar between active and control sites. ‘Quail callers’ are highly effective at attracting stubble quail and concentrating them to a known area, raising questions in relation to sustainable hunting practices, indirect effects, and ethical implications. ‘Quail callers’ do, however, also offer a tool for estimating quail abundance and developing more accurate population size estimates. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9307177 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-93071772022-07-23 Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators Ray, Mia White, John G. Weston, Michael A. Rendall, Anthony R. Toop, Simon D. Dunstan, Heath Hampton, Jordan O. Cooke, Raylene PLoS One Research Article Hunting is a prominent feature of many human societies. Advancements in hunting technologies can challenge the ethics and sustainability of hunting globally. We investigated the efficacy of an electronic acoustic lure (‘quail caller’), in attracting the otherwise difficult-to hunt stubble quail Coturnix pectoralis in Victoria, Australia. Using distance sampling, the density and abundance of stubble quail was estimated at 79 sites across a range of habitat types in an agricultural setting, each with an active ‘quail caller’ station continuously broadcasting for 48 hours, and a control station (no broadcast). Quail detectability at the active stations (62.9%) far exceeded that at control stations (6.3%). Most (57%) detections occurred within 30 m of active ‘quail callers’. Stubble quail relative abundance was substantially greater when ‘quail callers’ were broadcasting. Cameras mounted near ‘quail callers’ identified the predatory red fox as a non-target predator, although rates of attraction appear similar between active and control sites. ‘Quail callers’ are highly effective at attracting stubble quail and concentrating them to a known area, raising questions in relation to sustainable hunting practices, indirect effects, and ethical implications. ‘Quail callers’ do, however, also offer a tool for estimating quail abundance and developing more accurate population size estimates. Public Library of Science 2022-07-22 /pmc/articles/PMC9307177/ /pubmed/35867695 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271893 Text en © 2022 Ray et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Ray, Mia White, John G. Weston, Michael A. Rendall, Anthony R. Toop, Simon D. Dunstan, Heath Hampton, Jordan O. Cooke, Raylene Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
title | Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
title_full | Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
title_fullStr | Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
title_short | Assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
title_sort | assessing the efficacy of electronic quail callers in attracting stubble quail and non-target predators |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9307177/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35867695 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271893 |
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