IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Forthmand, D.L. | |
| Experimental Application of Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) to Large Carnivores | |
| Full Book | |
In this article, I will introduce the most important concepts under lying the application of Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) as a potential wildlife management tool. This method has been much aligned over the years. After the first experiments by psychologists reported promising results with several species, many biologists who had no training in psychology attempted to replicate the experiments. Their efforts were largely unsuccessful and they concluded in published reports that the method did not work. This conclusion is contrary to the scientific method, in which success is the standard and it is incumbent upon those who obtain negative results to determine why they have failed. As a consequence of bitter political battles over CTA, as well as the stringency and expense of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registration of chemicals for specific purposes, CTA fell completely out of favor in the U.S. as a method to mitigate carnivore predation on livestock. It is impossible for any of us who have been involved with this subject for decades to write without accusations of "hidden agendas" and biases. Nonetheless, years later, detractors of this technique continue to publish inaccurate reports and the results of flawed studies. |
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