The conflict between free-ranging livestock and wildlife is a serious conservation concern across rural communities worldwide. Livestock may affect wild herbivores via direct competition for resources due to spatial and diet overlap or via behavioural interference. It is imperative that we disentangle the effects of livestock on wildlife behaviour to obtain an empirical basis able to stir management and conservation decisions. Here, we studied the effect of livestock presence on the habitat selection in a free-ranging European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) population in Sardinia, where the species is under strict protection. We collected spatial data on mouflon and livestock during two consecutive years to investigate whether the mouflon selection of key feeding grassland sites was negatively impacted by the livestock presence. We found that mouflon preferably selected grassland, and its selection significantly increased when grass was of better quality (greener). We showed that livestock presence led to the displacement of mouflon from such preferred feeding sites, an effect clearly exacerbated by livestock proximity. We indeed found that the selection of grassland by mouflon dropped significantly when the distance between livestock and mouflon was below ~ 650 m, providing a useful management threshold indication. Livestock presence in close proximity displaced mouflon to sub-optimal habitat, and its effects may have negative impact on the population dynamic of this species which is already characterized by low female productivity within harsh Mediterranean environment. Our results give clear management indications aimed at better managing livestock grazing within natural areas to ultimately improve wildlife conservation.

自由放养的牲畜和野生动物之间的冲突是全世界农村社区的一个严重保护问题。由于空间和饮食重叠或行为干扰，牲畜可能通过直接竞争资源来影响野生食草动物。我们必须理清牲畜对野生动物行为的影响，以获得能够激发管理和保护决策的经验基础。在这里，我们研究了牲畜的存在对自由放养的欧洲摩弗隆 ( Ovis aries musimon ) 栖息地选择的影响。) 撒丁岛的种群，该物种受到严格保护。我们连续两年收集了摩弗隆和牲畜的空间数据，以调查关键饲养草地地点的摩弗隆选择是否受到牲畜存在的负面影响。我们发现，mouflon 优先选择草地，当草质量更好（更绿）时，它的选择显着增加。我们表明，牲畜的存在导致摩弗隆从这些首选的饲养地点转移，牲畜靠近显然加剧了这种影响。我们确实发现，当牲畜与摩弗隆之间的距离低于~650 m时，摩弗隆对草地的选择显着下降，提供了一个有用的管理阈值指示。牲畜在靠近次优栖息地的穆弗隆中存在，其影响可能对该物种的种群动态产生负面影响，该物种的特征已经是在恶劣的地中海环境中雌性生产力低下。我们的结果给出了明确的管理指示，旨在更好地管理自然区域内的牲畜放牧，最终改善野生动物保护。