People and wild musteloids

Musteloids encounter, or cause, a diversity of potential problems, both perceived and real, when they interact with people. Only one of the musteloids (the wolverine) qualifies as a ‘large carnivore’ but all are powerful predators for their size, and many are small and adaptable enough to live amongst humans in agricultural landscapes and urban environments. Musteloids prey on small domesticated, stocked and game animals (terrestrial and aquatic), and are otherwise considered a nuisance due to the damage they can cause to crops, buildings or cars, for which they are commonly managed, and often persecuted. Musteloids are also exploited by people for their pelts, sometimes legally and sustainably, sometimes illegally and with serious impacts on threatened species. Even for non-threatened species, management techniques and exploitation practices raise issues associated with sustainability, adequacy of monitoring, welfare and ethics that warrant greater consideration.