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Illegal bushmeat hunters compete with predators and threaten wild herbivore populations in a global tourism hotspot
Abstract
Illegal bushmeat hunting is a global threat to wildlife, but its secretive and unregulated nature undermines efforts to mitigate its impacts on wildlife and wildlife-based industries. We investigated the scale of illegal bushmeat hunting in the Okavango Delta, Botswana (~ 20,000 km²) to assess its potential contribution to wildlife population declines. Approximately 1,800 illegal hunters each harvest an average of 320 kg of bushmeat annually, though some reported harvesting ≥ 1000 kg. While impala were the most commonly hunted species, buffalo and greater kudu accounted for most bushmeat. Hunters remove ~ 620,000 kg of medium-large herbivore biomass (equivalent to 15,500 impala) annually from the delta and humans are the fourth most prominent predator in the delta. Cumulative harvest by humans and other predators likely exceeds the intrinsic population growth rate of several species of ungulates in the delta, and helps explain purported declines in ungulate populations. Competition between humans and other apex predators for limited prey reduces the ecosystem's carrying capacity for large carnivores. Illegal bushmeat hunting represents an economically inefficient use of the delta's wildlife and a threat to the region's tourism industry. Strategies are required that provide clearer avenues for communities to benefit legally from wildlife, while concurrently curbing illegal hunting through effective law enforcement.
... For some southern African countries, the bushmeat trade poses a threat to conservation efforts, with the development of a commercial trade relying on meat from protected areas (Barnett, 1998;Lindsey et al., 2011). In Botswana the government banned trophy hunting in 2014 due to declines in wildlife populations claims (based on wildlife surveys), some experts attribute this decline to illegal bushmeat (Rogan et al., 2015(Rogan et al., , 2017Chase, 2011;DWNP, 2013). ...
... Generally, the rate at which animals are being hunted raises concern at local, national and international levels (Festus & Omoboye, 2014). Unregulated bushmeat hunting is often regarded as being unsustainable, causing widespread wildlife population declines (Fa et al., 2000;Rogan et al., 2017). Several studies have also confirmed that bushmeat hunting is a major cause of species endangerment (see Raven et al, 2010;Jack, 1999;Adetunberu, 2001). ...
... All these deficiencies led to difficulties in putting up measures to control and manage legal bushmeat obtained from community-based ecotourism against bushmeat obtained through poaching. It is however important to note that bushmeat production is a complex phenomenon that links food security, development and conservation; therefore, it demands multifaceted interventions (Rogan et al. 2017). Therefore, conservation and tourism development must adhere to the ideals of sustainability to achieve biodiversity conservation, improved rural livelihoods and sustainable economic development in developing countries. ...
... For some southern African countries, the bushmeat trade poses a threat to conservation efforts, with the development of a commercial trade relying on meat from protected areas (Barnett, 1998;Lindsey et al., 2011). In Botswana the government banned trophy hunting in 2014 due to declines in wildlife populations claims (based on wildlife surveys), some experts attribute this decline to illegal bushmeat (Rogan et al., 2015(Rogan et al., , 2017Chase, 2011;DWNP, 2013). ...
... Generally, the rate at which animals are being hunted raises concern at local, national and international levels (Festus & Omoboye, 2014). Unregulated bushmeat hunting is often regarded as being unsustainable, causing widespread wildlife population declines (Fa et al., 2000;Rogan et al., 2017). Several studies have also confirmed that bushmeat hunting is a major cause of species endangerment (see Raven et al, 2010;Jack, 1999;Adetunberu, 2001). ...
... All these deficiencies led to difficulties in putting up measures to control and manage legal bushmeat obtained from community-based ecotourism against bushmeat obtained through poaching. It is however important to note that bushmeat production is a complex phenomenon that links food security, development and conservation; therefore, it demands multifaceted interventions (Rogan et al. 2017). Therefore, conservation and tourism development must adhere to the ideals of sustainability to achieve biodiversity conservation, improved rural livelihoods and sustainable economic development in developing countries. ...
This paper uses qualitative research methods guided by the social exchange theory and the Community-Based Natural Resource Management concept to explore the contribution of community-based ecotourism to bushmeat consumption/production using the Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust, located adjacent to the Chobe National Park, Botswana. Data were collected between May and August 2018. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews, results indicate that, bushmeat consumption became prevalent through trophy hunting tourism. With the hunting ban in 2014, game hunting licenses was stopped, cutting institutionalized bushmeat supply and widening trade-offs between community livelihoods improvement and conservation. Socially, hunting tourism has contributed to affinity for bushmeat taste. Bushmeat contributes to food security for a significant number of community members. Institutionally, bushmeat’s contribution to community livelihoods is perceived varyingly by different stakeholders - some see it as a threat to wildlife resources, a key driver to poaching and extinction of species resulting in unmanageable stakeholders’ interests while others see it as a means to improve their livelihoods and dietary needs. Overall, the nutritional role and financial contribution of bushmeat are prevalent in rural people's livelihoods. The paper contributes through the development of a model that aims to improve bushmeat production and community participation in natural resources conservation
... Illegal harvesting of environmental goods is recognised as a widespread problem in natural resource management, posing several threats to biodiversity in Protected Areas (PAs) of developing countries (Chang et al., 2019;Free et al., 2015;Gavin et al., 2010;Massé and Lunstrum, 2016;Nelleman, 2012;Petursson et al., 2013;Rogan et al., 2018;Rogan et al., 2017;Solomon et al., 2007Solomon et al., , 2015. Indigenous people who seek secure their livelihoods are among the main actors of illegal activities in PAs (Loibooki et al., 2002). ...
... Indigenous people who seek secure their livelihoods are among the main actors of illegal activities in PAs (Loibooki et al., 2002). Shifting cultivation, bushmeat hunting (Rogan et al., 2017), illegal logging (Nelleman, 2012), poaching (Moreto, 2019), and harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) (Lee et al., 2015) are reported as the most frequent activities challenging conservation efforts (MacKenzie et al., 2017). Moreover, poaching, bushmeat hunting, and illegal logging are the most widespread illicit activities conducted within PAs due to the higher profitability of these activities (Booth and Dunham, 2014;Massé and Lunstrum, 2016;Rogan et al., 2017;White and Heckenberg, 2014). ...
... Shifting cultivation, bushmeat hunting (Rogan et al., 2017), illegal logging (Nelleman, 2012), poaching (Moreto, 2019), and harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) (Lee et al., 2015) are reported as the most frequent activities challenging conservation efforts (MacKenzie et al., 2017). Moreover, poaching, bushmeat hunting, and illegal logging are the most widespread illicit activities conducted within PAs due to the higher profitability of these activities (Booth and Dunham, 2014;Massé and Lunstrum, 2016;Rogan et al., 2017;White and Heckenberg, 2014). Increases in poaching and hunting for bushmeat have threatened most of the savanna's large carnivores and herbivores (Booth and Dunham, 2014;Solomon et al., 2015), while illegal logging disturbs habitat and ecosystem functioning, hence contributing to deforestation and to the extinction of valuable species (Lee et al., 2015). ...
In this study, we tested a novel approach for indirectly detecting participation of the local population in illegal harvesting of Protected Areas (PAs) natural resources and its spatial distribution. The research was conducted in the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the third-largest PA in Africa, and included a face-to-face survey to 339 households. The householders were asked about the importance of several threats to biodiversity conservation, including any illegal harvesting in which they may be involved. Non-recognition of these illegal activities as relevant threats to biodiversity is interpreted as likely indication household involvement in these activities. We also gathered evidence to support our inferences of participation in illegal resource harvesting, based on the respondents’ perceptions of costs and benefits of living within the Protected Area (PA) and their opinions about conservation measures under implementation. The results showed that households that are more likely involved in illegal activities are poor, less educated, and mostly located near to the PA borders, where they bear higher costs while receiving fewer benefits than others of living in the interior of the NNR. Village respondents were more likely to admit participating in activities that they need to conduct to cope with their daily needs, activities not generally considered as a serious infraction by park authorities.
... No study has yet attempted to quantify the relative detection probabilities for gun-and snare-hunters (it would require detailed spatial data on the hunters detected by patrols, as well as their actual distributions), nor whether the two types of hunter perceive this risk differently, but it is a potentially important factor for hunting motivations in PAs. Evidence for hunters switching between methods in response to changes in perceived detection risk is currently only anecdotal; Rogan et al. (2017) speculated that the desire to avoid detection may explain the recently reported practice of hunting large animals on horseback or motorbikes without firearms in Tanzania and Botswana (see also Kiffner et al. 2014;Eustace 2017), and hypothesised that an increase in law enforcement activities would further promote secretive methods of hunting. Knapp (2012) suggested that the threat of detection by patrols had caused a shift towards night-time hunting in the western Serengeti, though such behaviour might equally reflect a need for increased efficiency in the face of declining wildlife abundance. ...
... Indeed, the deterrent effect of patrolling is difficult to assess, and few studies are able to demonstrate a positive impact (Dobson et al. 2018, though see Moore et al. 2018). Hunting in PAs is common in many countries (Nyahongo et al. 2005;Duffy et al. 2016;Kauano et al. 2017;Rogan et al. 2017;Castilho et al. 2018), which suggests that the protection status of an area is not necessarily a good indicator of likely hunting pressure. ...
... Of crucial concern for conservationists is the impact of ranger patrols and other means of law enforcement on hunter behaviour, but whilst deterrence is almost assumed by default, evidence for a consistent effect is lacking (Dobson et al. 2018, but see Moore et al. 2018 for a convincing demonstration of reduced hunting activity as patrol effort increases). There is anecdotal evidence of hunters switching to less detectable and/ or risky modes of hunting when faced with the threat of arrest (Rogan et al. 2017), but hunters might also respond by displacing effort to new locations or targeting different species, and the extent and ultimate conservation impacts of this switching behaviour remain unknown. We do not yet know enough to make reliable predictions about the impacts of changes to any given law enforcement regime. ...
Terrestrial wildlife is being hunted for consumption by humans in the tropics at an unprecedented rate, and the often unsustainable nature of this harvest has profound implications not only for biodiversity and ecosystem function, but also for human livelihoods. Whilst the nature and impacts of this practice have been studied in numerous contexts and localities, a comprehensive treatment of the social, economic, and environmental determinants of both hunter decision-making and hunting outcomes has been lacking. In this review we discuss influences of hunting methods and effort on the types of animals caught, the efficiency of harvest, and the implications of these factors for sustainability. We highlight gaps in current understanding, and identify the most important data requirements. Our approach provides a framework for the design of future studies into wild meat hunting and its impacts, promoting the efficient targeting of priority areas of research.
... Illegal bushmeat harvesting usually occurs all year round with some seasonal variations in most protected areas (Matseketsa et al. 2022) and the levels have been found to vary across different land ownership (Duporge et al. 2018). Ungulates including impala (Aepyceros melampus), wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and buffalo (Syncerus caffer), are among the most frequently harvested species (Rogan et al. 2017). ...
... A diverse range of animal species, varying in body size, were identified as the primary targets of illegal hunters, including impala, wildebeest, zebra, and buffalo. These findings align with previous studies, which also reported similar species as being the most frequently hunted (Kümpel et al. 2009;Gandiwa, 2011;Gill et al. 2012;Rogan et al. 2017). Differences in targeted species preferences across study sites are influenced by variations in species availability, consumer taste, and demand for specific animals Lindsey et al. 2013). ...
Globally, illegal bushmeat hunting has contributed to the decline of over 300 species listed as threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and accounts for an estimated 5 million tons of wildlife harvested annually, particularly in tropical regions, placing immense pressure on biodiversity. Despite its recognized conservation threat, limited information exists on the bushmeat trade dynamics in sub-Saharan African savannas. This study conducted interviews with 133 illegal hunters and 40 anti-poaching field rangers in Southeastern Zimbabwe, using semi-structured questionnaires. We explored the characteristics, motivations, methods, species targeted, and perceptions of wildlife law enforcement in Save Valley Conservancy (SVC). Overall, illegal bushmeat hunting in SVC is mainly done by less educated and unemployed young to middle aged men (15–40 years old). The motives behind illegal bushmeat hunting mainly included household consumption (96%), the desire to raise income (96%), unemployment (78%), retaliation for wildlife induced losses (62%), culture (29%) and poor benefit sharing (8%). The common hunting methods reported were hunting with dogs (87%), and snaring (65%). Targeted animal species included impala (96%), wildebeest (53%), eland (53%), African buffalo (51%) among other 12 animal species. Illegal bushmeat hunting was generally conducted all year round. The law enforcement penalties were considered less deterrent, and most of the hunters intended to continue with illegal hunting. Measures suggested to minimize illegal bushmeat hunting in the SVC included investing and strengthening wildlife law enforcement, provision of community conservation-based incentives and enhancing environmental education and awareness.
... This partially explains the wild meat's underdeveloped and poorly understood value chains (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2018). Existing knowledge largely focuses on wild meat extraction and consumption Lindsey, Romanach, Matema, et al. 2011;Lindsey, Romanach, Tambling, et al. 2011;Bergin and Nijman 2014;Rogan et al. 2017); macro and sectorial outlook (Hoffman 2004;Willcox and Nambu 2007;Martin et al. 2020) illegal value chain channels (Kalu and Aiyeloja 2012;Tee, Ikpa, and Tortange 2012;van Vliet et al. 2019;van Vliet, Muhindo, et al. 2022;van Vliet, Puran, et al. 2022;Bachmann et al. 2019;Babalola 2023). This study analysed how actors in the chain systematically interact and coordinate activities, i.e., to harvest, process, wholesale and retail wild meat with the aim to identify and characterise value chain integration systems (for both informal and formal wild meat chains). ...
... More so, in the Congo Basin, an estimated one million tonnes of wild meat is consumed per year and largely from illegal sources (Fa, Peres, and Meeuwig 2002;Nasi, Taber, and Van Vliet 2011). Similar trends are observed in South Africa (Rogan et al. 2017); Algeria (Nijman et al. 2019) and Ghana (Bannor, Oppong-Kyeremeh, and Kuwornu 2022). ...
Establishing legal, safe and sustainable wild meat sector promises to potentially reduce demand for illegally sourced meat, support livehoods, and contribute to conservation goals. However, institutional mechanisms and systems to champion sustainable wild meat value chains are underdeveloped, making it a challenge for the sector to formalise and scale. This study investigated how value chain systems are/can be organised and integrated. Also, transitional pathways to value chain formalisation and scaling were evaluated. Literature data ( n = 96) on plains game wild meat value chains in Africa from 2000 to 2023 was subjected to thematic analysis to identify patterns and linkages in the value chain systems. The results show that while rural and poor communities are the largest recipients of illegal wild meat, they are structurally excluded from the legal game meat value chains. Illegal and legal wild meat value chain systems show three levels of integration: fully, partially and independently integrated systems. Each system presents a unique opportunity for scaling up enterprises and developing institutional governance to deliver well‐managed wild meat value chains embedded with system‐specific sustainable harvesting and use practices.
... Because the densities of dominant competitors like the lion and spotted hyena are strongly correlated with prey density (Hatton et al., 2015) and wild dogs benefit from competitive release when lion and hyena density is low, there has been relatively little concern or direct research about the consequences of prey depletion for African wild dogs (Creel, 2001;Woodroffe & Sillero-Zubiri, 2020). However, ecological conditions are changing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, and large herbivore populations have declined substantially across most of the wild dog's range (Bolger et al., 2008;Goheen et al., 2018;Ripple et al., 2015Ripple et al., , 2016Rogan et al., 2017;Western et al., 2009). Recent meta-analysis shows that there is a tipping point in the effect of prey density on wild dog density, below which wild dog density decreases as prey density decreases (Creel et al., 2023). ...
... Wild dog density is low in prey-depleted areas, even though these areas are less used by dominant competitors. Threatened and endangered species in many large carnivore guilds are limited by interspecific competition and intraguild predation Johnson et al., 1996;Palomares & Caro, 1999;Polis et al., 1989;Ritchie & Johnson, 2009), and anthropogenic depletion of large herbivore prey is widespread (Estes et al., 2011;Fa & Brown, 2009;Ripple et al., 2015Ripple et al., , 2016Rogan et al., 2017;Vinks et al., 2020;Western et al., 2009). Consequently, it is reasonable to hypothesize that fundamental changes in the relationship between subordinate competitor densities and prey (or other limiting resources) might now be common; testing the generality of this pattern should be a priority for the conservation of subordinate competitors. ...
Many African large carnivore populations are declining due to decline of the herbivore populations on which they depend. The densities of apex carnivores like the lion and spotted hyena correlate strongly with prey density, but competitively subordinate carnivores like the African wild dog benefit from competitive release when the density of apex carnivores is low, so the expected effect of a simultaneous decrease in resources and dominant competitors is not obvious.
Wild dogs in Zambia's South Luangwa Valley Ecosystem occupy four ecologically similar areas with well‐described differences in the densities of prey and dominant competitors due to spatial variation in illegal offtake.
We used long‐term monitoring data to fit a Bayesian integrated population model (IPM) of the demography and dynamics of wild dogs in these four regions. The IPM used Leslie projection to link a Cormack–Jolly–Seber model of area‐specific survival (allowing for individual heterogeneity in detection), a zero‐inflated Poisson model of area‐specific fecundity and a state‐space model of population size that used estimates from a closed mark–capture model as the counts from which (latent) population size was estimated.
The IPM showed that both survival and reproduction were lowest in the region with the lowest density of preferred prey (puku, Kobus vardonii and impala, Aepyceros melampus ), despite little use of this area by lions. Survival and reproduction were highest in the region with the highest prey density and intermediate in the two regions with intermediate prey density. The population growth rate () was positive for the population as a whole, strongly positive in the region with the highest prey density and strongly negative in the region with the lowest prey density.
It has long been thought that the benefits of competitive release protect African wild dogs from the costs of low prey density. Our results show that the costs of prey depletion overwhelm the benefits of competitive release and cause local population decline where anthropogenic prey depletion is strong. Because competition is important in many guilds and humans are affecting resources of many types, it is likely that similarly fundamental shifts in population limitation are arising in many systems.
... The costs from bushmeat poaching are shifted on to society and come in the form of lost revenue and taxes from tourism, lost biodiversity, economic and human costs from outbreaks of zoonotic diseases, and lost ecosystem services (Lindsey, Romañach, Tambling, et al., 2011;Rogan et al., 2017). Poaching and butchering of wildlife create ideal conditions for transmitting zoonotic diseases (Karesh & Noble, 2009;Wilkie, 2006). ...
... There are several issues with this approach. Sufficient enforcement budgets are not always a guarantee for wildlife protection, as even well-resourced wildlife authorities can be overwhelmed by poaching pressure (Barichievy et al., 2017;Rogan et al., 2017). ...
Research into the protection of protected areas against bushmeat poachers placing snares:
1. How can snaring hotspots be identified?
2. Can the expertise of rangers be used in predicting snaring hotspots?
3. Can current patrolling patterns be improved?
... This raised alarm for Botswana's tourism industry and conservation sector, thus motivating an increase in wildlife monitoring around the Delta as well as an investigation of the underlying drivers of this decline (Rogan et al., 2015). The results of this surveybased study funded by the FAO indicated that illegal bushmeat hunting is pervasive in the Delta with an approximation of 2,000 hunters harvesting an annual take of 620,000 kg of mediumlarge herbivore biomass (Rogan et al., 2017). For some ungulate species, the study surmised that hunting offtake exceeds the intrinsic population growth rate, which would imply negative ecological and economic consequences. ...
... The negative effect of the bushmeat trade on ungulate populations has been observed across sub-Saharan Africa (Lindsey et al., 2013). Declines in herbivore populations will have cascading trophic effects on predator populations which are a major draw for photographic safaris (Rogan et al., 2017). ...
Illegal bushmeat hunting is a major driver of wildlife population declines in Northern Botswana. Such declines raise concerns about the principles and integrity of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) and regional economic stability which is heavily reliant on wildlife-based tourism. The KAZA landscape between Northern Botswana's protected areas consists of non-state land utilized communally by small agropastoralist communities. These communities are economically challenged by international beef trade policies, restricted access to grazing in nearby wildlife management areas and high conflict costs from living in close proximity to wildlife; some of the key factors identified as drivers of bushmeat hunting in the region. Here we describe how a model called Herding for Health (H4H) could address these drivers. We discuss strategies using a socio-economic centered Theory of Change (ToC) model to identify the role agropastoral communities can have in addressing illegal wildlife trade (IWT). The ToC conceptual framework was developed with input from a resource team consisting of scientific and implementation experts in H4H, wildlife conservation, illegal wildlife trade and livelihood development between September and December 2018, and with a validation workshop in March 2019 with government representatives from relevant ministries, NGO's, community-based organizations and private sector participants. We identify three pathways deriving from the ToC driven by community level actions to address IWT in the region. These include: increasing institutions for local enforcement, developing incentives for ecosystem stewardship and decreasing the costs of living alongside wildlife. The success of these pathways depends on underlying enabling actions: support for the development of institutional frameworks; building community capacity to facilitate informed best farming practices; and strengthening commitments to sustainable resource management to increase resilience to climatic and economic shocks.
... African lions provide a good opportunity to evaluate the effects of prey depletion on large carnivore ecology because they are relatively easy to study, widely distributed, have experienced high but variable rates of prey depletion across their range, and exhibit a strong positive association between population density and prey density (Schaller 1972, Van Orsdol et al. 1985, Riggio et al. 2013, Bauer et al. 2015. African lions have lost more than 90% of their historical range, and few countries currently possess strong evidence for stable populations (Riggio et al. 2013, Bauer et al. 2015, with impending consequences for the photo tourism and trophy-hunting industries (Lindsey et al. 2012, Rogan et al. 2017, and for ecosystem function (Estes et al. 2011). Prey depletion is widely cited as a driver of lion population declines in southern Africa (Becker et al. 2013a, Midlane et al. 2014, Rosenblatt et al. 2014), yet little work has directly quantified the effects of prey depletion on lion population demography, especially in systems where preferred lion prey abundance is disproportionately reduced. ...
... The effects of prey depletion are likely occurring in many ecosystems experiencing high rates of illegal harvest, with serious implications for conservation of large carnivores (Wolf and Ripple 2016). The current status of lions in the GKE could affect the ecotourism and trophyhunting industries (Lindsey et al. 2007, Rogan et al. 2017, highlighting the economic impacts of prey depletion, in addition to a myriad of ecological impacts (Ripple et al. 2015). Addressing the consequences of prey depletion by evaluating direct effects on population demography, increasing resource protection, and addressing underlying drivers of illegal harvest are urgent conservation needs for lions and other large carnivores now experiencing rapid decline across their ranges. ...
Large carnivores are experiencing range contraction and population declines globally. Prey depletion due to illegal offtake is considered a major contributor, but the effects of prey depletion on large carnivore demography are rarely tested. We measured African lion density and tested the factors that affect survival using mark–recapture models fit to six years of data from known individuals in Kafue National Park (KNP), Zambia. KNP is affected by prey depletion, particularly for large herbivores that were preferred prey for KNP lions a half‐century ago. This provides a unique opportunity to test whether variables that explain local prey density also affect lion survival. Average lion density within our study area was 3.43 individuals/100 km² (95% CI, 2.79–4.23), which was much lower than lion density reported for another miombo ecosystem with similar vegetation structure and rainfall that was less affected by prey depletion. Despite this, comparison to other lion populations showed that age‐ and sex‐specific survival rates for KNP lions were generally good, and factors known to correlate with local prey density had small effects on lion survival. In contrast, recruitment of cubs was poor and average pride size was small. In particular, the proportion of the population comprised of second‐year cubs was low, indicating that few cubs are recruited into the subadult age class. Our findings suggest that low recruitment might be a better signal of low prey density than survival. Thus, describing a lion population’s age structure in addition to average pride size may be a simple and effective method of initially evaluating whether a lion population is affected by prey depletion. These dynamics should be evaluated for other lion populations and other large carnivore species. Increased resource protection and reducing the underlying drivers of prey depletion are urgent conservation needs for lions and other large carnivores as their conservation is increasingly threatened by range contraction and population declines.
... Poaching is seen as an indiscriminate way of hunting that is non-selective and is a major threat to the environment and to the tourism potential of an area (Rogan et al., 2017). Poaching is also described as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals for food, skins, horns and medicine (Nasi et al., 2008). ...
... Wilkie and Carpenter (1999) describe bushmeat harvesting as a global threat to wildlife. According to Rogan et al. (2017), the main drivers for poaching is poverty and food security. Hackel (1999) agrees with all these authors and states that overpopulation, lack of employment, low productivity of land, low levels of health and high levels of illiteracy all put pressure on wildlife for bushmeat which leads to environmental degradation. ...
ii DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE "I hereby declare that the dissertation submitted for the degree D Tech: Nature Conservation, at Tshwane University of Technology, is my own original work and has not previously been submitted to any other institution of higher education. I further declare that all sources cited or quoted are indicated and acknowledged by means of a comprehensive list of references". Cheryl Lynn Ogilvie Student number: 93068467 Copyright© Tshwane University of Technology 2019 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
... It appears that there was definitely an increase in poaching in some parts of Botswana, including the Okavango World Heritage Site and its buffer zone areas (Rogan et al 2017;Chase et al 2018;Schlossberg, Chase, and Sutcliffe 2019). The degree to which this poaching is due to the actions of local community members as opposed to internationally supported criminal gangs is open to question. ...
... The Okavango Delta of northwestern Botswana is a large inland delta or alluvial fan that consists of (2003) about 6,000 km 2 of permanent swamp and an additional 7,000 to 12,000 km 2 of seasonally inundated swampland. Sometimes referred to as 'the jewel of the Kalahari' (Ross 1987) and as a 'global tourism hotspot' (Rogan et al 2017), the Okavango is a vast flood plain and rolling savanna and wetland ecosystem that supports a rich variety of plant and animal life. Not only does it contain over 1,100 different species of plants and 65-70 species of fish, but it also supports a wide variety of large and small faunal species, some of which, including the sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii), are very rare (Botswana Society 1976 There are sizable numbers of people in the Okavango Delta and the areas surrounding it, many of them agropastoralists who also engage in foraging, food production and small-scale entrepreneurial activies (Botswana Society 1976;Chase 2007Chase , 2013Botswana National Census data 2011;Mbaiwa 2018;Eisenhart et al 2019). ...
Many governments and conservation organisations have argued that hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists are responsible, in considerable part, for environmental degradation and biodiversity losses in southern Africa. Particular attention has been paid to alleged wildlife losses, especially elephants in Botswana. This article considers
some of the issues surrounding hunting bans and protected areas with a view to conserving elephants. In Botswana, local people were removed from protected areas after being blamed for declines in wildlife numbers. Utilising government and other scientific wildlife data, the hunting ban cannot be shown to have had any significant impact on the conservation of elephants and other game species. Local people argue that many of their activities are sustainable, maintaining that they are generally not responsible for biodiversity losses and environmental degradation. Population growth, the expansion of agricultural, livestock and mining activities, the construction of veterinary cordon fences and increases in water point distribution have led to localised environmental degradation.
The ‘great elephant debate’ became an important political issue during the run-up to the Botswana elections of October 2019. Local communities sought to ensure that they would be able to obtain benefits from wildlife tourism which had been denied them during the hunting ban.
... It appears that there was definitely an increase in poaching in some parts of Botswana, including the Okavango World Heritage Site and its buffer zone areas (Rogan et al 2017;Chase et al 2018;Schlossberg, Chase, and Sutcliffe 2019). The degree to which this poaching is due to the actions of local community members as opposed to internationally supported criminal gangs is open to question. ...
... The Okavango Delta of northwestern Botswana is a large inland delta or alluvial fan that consists of (2003) about 6,000 km 2 of permanent swamp and an additional 7,000 to 12,000 km 2 of seasonally inundated swampland. Sometimes referred to as 'the jewel of the Kalahari' (Ross 1987) and as a 'global tourism hotspot' (Rogan et al 2017), the Okavango is a vast flood plain and rolling savanna and wetland ecosystem that supports a rich variety of plant and animal life. Not only does it contain over 1,100 different species of plants and 65-70 species of fish, but it also supports a wide variety of large and small faunal species, some of which, including the sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii), are very rare (Botswana Society 1976 There are sizable numbers of people in the Okavango Delta and the areas surrounding it, many of them agropastoralists who also engage in foraging, food production and small-scale entrepreneurial activies (Botswana Society 1976;Chase 2007Chase , 2013Botswana National Census data 2011;Mbaiwa 2018;Eisenhart et al 2019). ...
Many governments and conservation organisations have argued that hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists are responsible, in considerable part, for environmental degradation and biodiversity losses in southern Africa. Particular attention has been paid to alleged wildlife losses, especially elephants in Botswana. This article considers some of the issues surrounding hunting bans and protected areas with a view to conserving elephants. In Botswana, local people were removed from protected areas after being blamed for declines in wildlife numbers. Utilising government and other scientific wildlife data, the hunting ban cannot be shown to have had any significant impact on the conservation of elephants and other game species. Local people argue that many of their activities are sustainable, maintaining that they are generally not responsible for biodiversity losses and environmental degradation. Population growth, the expansion of agricultural, livestock and mining activities, the construction of veterinary cordon fences and increases in water point distribution have led to localised environmental degradation. The 'great elephant debate' became an important political issue during the run-up to the Botswana elections of October 2019. Local communities sought to ensure that they would be able to obtain benefits from wildlife tourism which had been denied them during the hunting ban.
... (2005) yang menggunakan pendekatan pemodelan matematika untuk melihat dampak ekologi dalam kegiatan perburuan dengan sudut pandang bioekonomi. Referensi lainnya adalah mengenai aspek lingkungan yang juga menjadi sorotan, misalnya dampak perburuan terhadap eksistensi predator alam (Rogana, 2010). Referensi lain menyatakan terdapat kaitan yang sangat erat antara perburuan bushmeat, deforestasi, dan kemunculan kembali penyakit zoonosis pada manusia (Wolfe dkk., 2005). ...
... Mereka menyimpulkan bahwa hasil analisisnya lebih akurat dan lebih prudent dibandingkan dengan metode biasa yang statik. Beberapa peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa kegiatan ekonomi di bidang perburuan bushmeat dapat bersifat tidak menguntungkan (inefficient), sehingga kebijakan yang lebih prudent sangat dipelukan (Rogana, 2010). ...
(This article is a survey article written in Indonesian)
Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world, after China, India and the United States. At present in 2018 the population in Indonesia reaches 265 million (Statistics Indonesia, 2018). The high population in Indonesia will certainly cause an increase in the need for food as one of the primary needs for humans. Then, cultural differences and population diversity in Indonesia affect the type of food consumed. One of them food sources of animal protein such as meat from various sources, including Bushmeat.
One approach that can be done to assess existing conditions bushmeat consumption in relation to the spread of zoonotic diseases in humans and the environmental impact of hunting bushmeat source animals can be done through mathematical modeling. This modeling is also able to explore various intervention action scenarios that can reduce the adverse effects of bushmeat consumption on human health and environmental sustainability. One example of good practice for the success of the mathematical model is the predictability of the Ebola and Lassa Fever outbreaks. It is time for zoonotic research in Indonesia to use this new approach, both for controlling old diseases and predictions that are expected to emerge.
... It also increases energy consumption to offset the heat increases which, in turn, contributes to air pollution and climate change. Chapter 7 | Pollution, Overharvesting, Invasive Species, and Disease from Botswana's Okavango Delta each year, despite the region's protected status and importance for ecotourism sectors (Rogan et al., 2017). ...
... It is, therefore, important to explain carefully the reasoning behind those changes (e.g. "bushmeat hunting drives away tourist dollars", Rogan et al., 2017). It may also be beneficial to enable the affected individuals to travel to areas where they can see first-hand how more sustainable activities can benefit local people. ...
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region.
Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography.
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.
... However, the sustainability of hunting in the Western Serengeti is questionable, and hunting intensity is expected to increase further as the human population adjacent to the protected areas continue to increase Rogan et al., 2017). This study aimed to assess the contribution of bushmeat to household income as a function of distance from the core Serengeti National Park boundary and its dependence on socio-economic factors. ...
... Poaching Activities Occurring During the Hunting Ban Period. Poaching activities occurring during the hunting ban period contribute to the unsustainable exploitation of wildlife and the local extinction of the largest, most prized species from southern Benin, as observed in other parts of tropical Africa (Harrison et al. 2016;Rogan et al. 2017;Rija et al. 2020;Gonedelé-Bi et al. 2022). Indeed, according to the actors' perception of hunting profitability, the availability of larger species (duikers, for example) has a positive influence on the hunters' decision to continue their activities, as observed in other study systems (Tieguhong and Zwolinski 2009;Chabi-Boni et al., 2018). ...
Background and Research Aims: The bushmeat trade is one of the main drivers of faunal extinction in tropical Africa. We assess the profitability of the bushmeat trade along the commodity chain in southern Benin and study the perceptions of the actors on the profitability of the trade. Methods: Data were collected through direct interviews. A total of 120 bushmeat trade actors were interviewed in southern Benin. Economic and financial indicators were estimated and compared using descriptive statistics. Factors affecting the actors’ perception of wild animal hunting, trading or supply sustainability were assessed using binary logit. Results and discussion: A total of 15 species were traded along the bushmeat commodity chain in southern Benin. During the dry season, hunters’ gross product is higher because of greater hunting effort, and traders earn more commercial margin. Throughout the chain of actors, bushmeat trade profitability is seen as positively affected by the number of hunters per household and the availability of large preys (hunters), household size (sellers) and monthly income (consumers); whereas negative factors affecting profitability are distance from hunting sites (hunters), supply issues (sellers) and the cost of the meat (consumers). Both hunters and consumers see hunting and trade regulation measures as negatively impacting bushmeat profitability. Conclusion and implications for conservation: The perception of profitability by bushmeat commodity chain actors in southern Benin is conditioned by a set of socio-economic factors that should be considered in national conservation policies and development programs to keep bushmeat hunting profitable and sustainable.
... African lions have been in decline across much of their range for many years (Bauer et al., 2015(Bauer et al., , 2016(Bauer et al., , 2022Bauer & Van Der Merwe, 2004;Riggio et al., 2013Riggio et al., , 2015. Because the density of lions correlates very strongly with the density of prey (Hatton et al., 2015;Orsdol et al., 1985;Packer et al., 2005), a strong driver of the lion's decline has been the decline of large herbivore populations (Bolger et al., 2008;Ripple et al., 2015;Western et al., 2009), in large part due to bushmeat poaching (Lindsey et al., 2011(Lindsey et al., , 2013Ripple et al., 2016;Rogan et al., 2017). Although there has been some debate over the most effective strategies to mitigate or reverse the lion's decline (Creel et al., 2013;Durant et al., 2015;Packer et al., 2013), there is strong consensus that increased investment in antipoaching protection is necessary. ...
Large carnivores such as the lion are declining across Africa, in part because their large herbivore prey is declining. There is consensus that increased protection from prey depletion will be necessary to reverse the decline of lion populations, but few studies have tested whether increased protection is sufficient to reverse the decline, particularly in the large, open ecosystems where most lions remain. Here, we used an integrated population model to test whether lion demography and population dynamics were measurably improved by increased protection. We used data from monitoring of 358 individuals from 2013 to 2021 in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem, where prior research showed that lions were strongly limited by prey depletion, but protection increased in several well‐defined areas beginning in 2018. In some other areas, protection decreased. In areas with high protection, lion fecundity was 29% higher, and mean annual apparent survival (φ) was 8.3% higher (with a minimum difference of 6.0% for prime‐aged adult females and a maximum difference of 11.9% for sub‐adult males). These demographic benefits combined to produce likely population growth in areas with high protection (λ̂ = 1.085, 90% CI = 0.97, 1.21), despite likely population decline in areas with low protection (λ̂ = 0.970, 90% CI = 0.88, 1.07). For the ecosystem as a whole, population size remained relatively constant at a moderate density of 3.74 (±0.49 SD) to 4.13 (±0.52 SD) lions/100 km². With the growth observed in areas with high protection, the expected doubling time was 10 years. Despite this, recovery at the scale of the entire ecosystem is likely to be slow without increased protection; the current growth rate would require 50 years to double. Our results demonstrate that increased protection is likely to improve the reproduction and population growth rate of lions at a large scale within an unfenced ecosystem that has been greatly affected by poaching.
... Following functional extinction 2 , cascading ecological impacts can lead to "empty forests", where forests appear structurally intact (i.e., visibly contain trees) but are missing functionally important animal species (Benítez-López et al., 2019;Redford, 1992). For example, harvest of large terrestrial ungulates can limit prey available to predators (in systems where the predators themselves have not been extirpated; Rogan et al., 2017). Meanwhile, small granivorous and herbivorous mammals and birds (i.e., <1kg) can become more abundant if their larger dietary competitors are hunted to extirpation (Galetti et al., 2015;Kurten, 2013). ...
Humanity continues to depend on wild meat for subsistence and livelihoods, particularly in the Global South. Here, harvest sustainability is often undermined by ineffective wildlife management, exacerbated by limited data and research capacity. A key challenge to decision makers, then, is how to manage harvest systems in the face of data scarcity. The goal of this dissertation is to provide data-limited decision support tools for wild meat management, with particular focus on (1) predicting effort distribution across large scales, and (2) assessing spatial management strategies’ ability to robustly meet conservation and harvest goals. In my first chapter, I developed a novel hunter movement model based on landscape resistance and circuit theoretic algorithms. These algorithms build on commonly used accessibility metrics by incorporating diffusive, multi-path movement from settlements into surrounding landscapes. To facilitate broad application, I built the landscape-scale map from freely available geospatial datasets and open source software. Validating this approach with camera trap observations of hunters from Malaysian Borneo, I found that the new accessibility metric had far more explanatory power than any other accessibility-based or environmental predictor. To assess other drivers of spatial foraging patterns, in my second chapter I extended my scope across the tropics. Compiling images of foragers taken from cameras in 10 protected areas (PAs), I explored which types of variables—accessibility, wildlife value, or environmental features—best informed forager presence on the landscape. While the results of this chapter should be interpreted cautiously, given limited observations, I found no variable could consistently explain observed forager presence across PAs except for elevation. In my final chapter, I leveraged simulations and decision analysis to assess traditional spatial management. I found that large, fixed reserves could robustly maximize both harvest and conservation goals, especially compared to strategies with small or dynamic alternatives. However, outcomes were strongly influenced by the intensity of hunting effort, hunters’ adherence to spatial rules, and mammal dispersal patterns. While the models and simulations I apply here do not capture the full diversity of hunter behaviour and game responses, they can provide guidance and insights where local data collection is infeasible.
... Witter and Satterfield (2019) identify this as a form of "slow violence" where the relationship between efforts to manage poaching are part of an "eternal loop of scarcity" that is harmful to those whose livelihoods (and sometimes dignity) is negatively affected by "successful" anti-poaching efforts. When local communities are partially or fully excluded from conservation strategies, they often resist them (Rogan et al., 2017;Kicheleri et al., 2021). ...
Sustainability implementation efforts, relevant to all Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), can succeed or fail based on how the program activities effectively align with local community norms. Conflict arises when implementers incorrectly assume the ways in which local communities and other stakeholders share their world views. A novel approach was applied to identify conflicts between stakeholder norms through the example of wildlife conservation. This case is based on 62 systematically collected interviews involving law enforcement staff (wildlife police officers [WPOs]) and local community members in four of Zambia’s Game Management
Areas. Cultural consensus analysis (CCA) was used to extract and compare cultural models across groups. Discordant cultural norms were identified for resource protection, which reflected frailty of collaborative strategies. Concordant norms were relevant to shared understandings of the disproportionate burdens to GMA-based communities from conservation and some potential benefits of collaboration. This case shows exemplar application of CCA to capture and compare stakeholder norms associated with livelihoods and conservation, allowing better program design that reduces conflict and builds on shared values to better support SDGs, especially SDG15 (Life on Land).
... Inherently linked to these declines and range contractions is the global decline of large herbivores, primarily due to unsustainable bushmeat poaching and in some cases poorly managed legal meat hunting; consequently, Africa has the highest rates of herbivore declines behind Southeast Asia (Ripple et al., 2015). The illegal bushmeat trade is one of the major drivers of these trends, with severe ecological impacts across virtually every ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa (Noss, 1998;Lindsey et al., 2013;Ripple et al., 2016;Rogan et al., 2017;Vinks et al., 2020). ...
... These impacts are by no means unique to Mozambique, or areas subject to war or conflict. The bushmeat trade is a multi-billion dollar trade occurring within and outside of protected areas across the globe (Ripple et al., 2014;Brashares et al., 2004), including across some of Africa's most iconic Parks and ecosystems (Rogan et al., 2017;Rentsch and Packer, 2015;Becker et al., 2013;Lindsey et al., 2013;Warchol and Johnson, 2009). Nonetheless, these impacts are exacerbated by war, conflict, political instability and lack of food security among affected communities (Daskin and Pringle, 2018;Lindsey et al., 2013). ...
We present data from the first, long-term study underway of a recovering population of indigenous, free-ranging Panthera leo in Gorongosa National Park (GNP), Mozambique. GNP is undergoing post-war recovery and large-scale ecological restoration under a 25-year private-governmental partnership – the “Gorongosa Project (GP),” – offering a rare opportunity to elucidate the long-term recovery dynamics of a population of lion in response to strategic conservation interventions. GNP forms a core part of the greater Gorongosa-Marromeu Lion Conservation Unit which is designated as a “potential lion stronghold.” Within the Park we established an intensive study area of 1100 km2 encompassing prime areas of herbivore productivity. Between 2012 and 2016, 104 lions were documented and 6 prides and 7 males or coalitions in our study area were satellite-collared and intensively monitored. We describe seasonal male and female home-ranges, prey utilization, estimated versus predicted lion densities in relation to recovering herbivore biomass, and anthropogenic factors limiting the population's full recovery potential. The dominant factor observed to be negatively impacting the population was top-down and anthropogenic in the form of by-catch by wire snares and steel-jaw traps set by bushmeat hunters. These findings have since resulted in tangible and measurable interventions to reduce these impacts and resultant future datasets will elucidate detailed demography and how management interventions impacted the trajectory of large-carnivore recovery.
... Despite their various threats, poaching and bushmeat consumption continue to increase (Albrechtsen et al., 2022;Rogan et al., 2017). In Tanzania for example, the available estimates indicate that more than 2,000 tons of illegal bushmeat (valued at $50 million) is seized annually (Makoye, 2021). ...
... In the Okavango population where changes in reproduction were recently attributed to climate change (Abrahms et al., 2022), changes in body mass were previously attributed to a 30 % decrease in the density of impala (which comprised 85 % of their diet) from 1990 to 2009 (McNutt andGusset, 2011). Recent data from Okavango show that "competition between humans and other apex predators for limited prey reduces the ecosystem's carrying capacity for large carnivores", mainly due to human offtake of impala (Rogan et al., 2017). Large herbivores have also declined substantially in much of Kenya (Western et al., 2009), and the Samburu-Laikipia population where changes in wild dog survival were attributed to climate change occupied areas with "low densities of large prey" including areas in which native herbivores "were greatly outnumbered by livestock" (Woodroffe et al., 2007b). ...
Interspecific competition has strong effects within carnivore guilds, and African wild dogs are strongly limited by intraguild predation by lions and food loss to spotted hyenas. The densities of these dominant competitors correlate tightly with prey density, and prey depletion due to snaring is contributing to declines of apex car-nivores across Africa. As a consequence of snaring, subordinate competitors like the African wild dog and cheetah are simultaneously experiencing a costly reduction in prey and a beneficial reduction of competitors. The net effect is difficult to predict. Here, we describe a previously unrecognized tipping point in the effect of prey density on wild dog density. Above this tipping point, wild dog density increases as prey density decreases, because the benefits of competitive release outweigh the costs of prey depletion. Below this tipping point, wild dog density decreases as prey density decreases, because the costs of prey depletion outweigh the benefits of competitive release. Conservation strategies for wild dogs must recognize this tipping point. As prey depletion due to snaring becomes severe, it limits wild dogs (mesocarnivores), just as it does lions and spotted hyenas (apex carnivores). Recent analyses based on time trends have argued that climate change is likely to cause wild dog populations to collapse. We suggest that prey depletion provides a mechanistically direct explanation of patterns in wild dog dynamics that have been attributed to climate change, and that the effects of prey depletion are likely to go unrecognized in the absence of data on trends in prey density. 1. Limitation of competitively dominant and subordinate large carnivores Large carnivores are often limited by prey availability, creating a strong, positive correlation between predator and prey densities (Orsdol et al., 1985). For 23 African ecosystems ranging from very low to very high large mammal biomass, Hatton et al. (2015) found that total predator biomass (P) increased with increasing large herbivore biomass (H) following the relationship P = 0.084H 0.73. This monotonically increasing function explained 92 % of the variation in predator biomass (Hatton et al., 2015). Both lions and spotted hyenas closely mirrored this relationship for the complete large carnivore guild, increasing over two orders of magnitude as large herbivore biomass increased (lions : P = 0.031H 0.77 , R 2 = 0.77, hyenas : P = 0.032H 0.74 , R 2 = 0.69)) (Hatton et al., 2015). Apex carnivores on other continents (e.g. the wolf [Canis lupus] and tiger [Panthera tigris]) also followed this pattern, suggesting that most apex carnivores are strongly prey-limited (Hatton et al., 2015) and will decline in response to prey depletion. The densities of competitively subordinate carnivores are not likely to follow the same pattern. Within carnivore guilds, evolutionary responses to reduce competition result in body size distributions that are spaced more evenly than expected by chance (Dayan et al., 1990; Dayan and Simberloff, 1994; Dayan and Simberloff, 2005). Character displacement with respect to body size leads to asymmetry in competitive relationships, with larger species usually competitively dominant to smaller ones (
... The current offtake has contributed to a population decline of most ungulates in the ecosystem (Mfunda & Røskaft, 2010;Rogan et al., 2017Rogan et al., , 2018). An understanding of why people poach, prefer or consume bushmeat is critical in order to design appropriate ways to manage wildlife and halt unsustainable exploitation (Bitanyi et al., 2012;Hariohay et al., 2019;Walelign et al., 2019). ...
Illegal hunting for bushmeat in or near protected areas is a significant threat to biodiversity conservation. This study assessed knowledge by local people of the occurrence of topi (Damaliscus lunatus) in the Serengeti Ecosystem and linked it with the level of illegal hunting for bushmeat consumption. A total of 150 households from three villages were randomly selected and interviewed using semistructured questionnaires to gather the required information. The majority of local people (91.4%) were able to identify the topi species correctly, and 71.0% reported that topi were still available in their area. Moreover, the local people's knowledge of the occurrence of topi and their bushmeat consumption differed significantly between tribes and age classes. The majority of respondents (97.8%) had no hunting permit. These results indicate that illegal hunting for either subsistence or commercial purposes occurs in the area and is currently a major threat to topi survival. We recommend the establishment of bushmeat butcheries since many people prefer to eat bushmeat. Finally, we call for further research to specifically assess the magnitude of the decline of the topi population in the area.
... Northern Botswana, as previously highlighted, is recognised for its rich wildlife and natural resources with extensive tracts delineated as protected areas in addition to forest reserves and WMAs. There is low human density and limited infrastructure across much of the region, which can be considered as both beneficial and a challenge for resource management, as is seen clearly with the escalating issues related to wildlife poaching (Rogan et al. 2017;Schlossberg et al. 2019). However, this also provides a unique opportunity for the adoption of a prescribed fire management regime. ...
Across much of southern Africa’s savanna wildernesses, wildfires burn unchecked. This is particularly true in the woodland savannas of northern Botswana, where wildfires originate outside of management activities, and are left to burn uncontrolled, because of limited resources and remoteness. There is concern that severe annual wildfires are resulting in the ‘savannisation’ of large tracts of wooded land across forest reserves, protected areas and surrounding wilderness areas. Because the current fire regime is unknown, management interventions are hard to introduce. We examine the recent 20-year (2001–2020) fire history in northern Botswana using MODIS satellitederived fire products to reveal fire frequency and seasonality. Six wildfire hotspots are identified for exploration of fire frequency and possible origins. Annual fire frequencies are far higher than would be expected without anthropogenic ignition. Extensive areas in some hotspots are shown to have burned between 14 and 16 out of the 20-year period. Fires peak in September, several weeks before the onset of the rainy season and associated lightning strikes, and when the fuel load is at its maximum and conditions at their driest. Adaptive fire management practices, such as those being followed in neighbouring South Africa and elsewhere should inform Botswana’s fire management policies.
... Trophy hunting in Africa dates to the era of the arrival of European explorers, traders and hunters and the colonial administration of the African continent around the 1800s (Mbaiwa, 2002;Ochieng, 2019;Ochieng et al., 2020). Trophy hunting Muposhi et al., 2016;Sorensen, 2015) also known as a form of consumptive tourism (Mwakiwa et al., 2016;Novelli et al., 2006;Tremblay, 2001), sustainable hunting (Damm, 2008;Fa et al., 2014;Forstner et al., 2006;Wilkie et al., 2019), conservation hunting or hunting (Rogan et al., 2017) is a term used interchangeably with "safari' or 'sport' hunting (McNamara et al., 2020). It refers to tourists who pay to engage in hunting, usually in the company of a professional guide, to obtain a "trophy" (i.e. ...
Botswana re-introduced trophy hunting in 2019. This generated a debate about the relevance of trophy hunting in achieving wildlife conservation and human well-being among wildlife stakeholders. These stakeholders include the Government of Botswana, local agro-pastoralists, photographic and trophy hunting tourism operators and anti-hunting groups that differ in opinion on the acceptability of trophy hunting as socio-economic development and conservation tool. This paper, therefore, adopts the socio-ecological framework and uses Spivak’s rhetoric question: “Can the Subaltern Speak”, to analyse contradictions of trophy hunting, human well-being and wildlife conservation trajectory in Botswana. The study is qualitative and makes use of interviews and secondary data sources. The results indicate that the Government of Botswana and communities (agro-pastoralists) especially those residing in wildlife areas prefer both trophy hunting and photo-tourism as a strategy to derive tourism benefits and achieve wildlife conservation. Conversely, animal rights groups reject trophy hunting noting its failure to promote conservation. The paper concludes the socio-ecological framework is the ideal guide for wildlife conservation and human well-being in wildlife areas. Both photographic tourism and trophy hunting are sustainable land use options with the potential to achieve wildlife conservation and human well-being in Botswana.
... Overexploitation of wildlife from unsustainable hunting poses a direct threat to global biodiversity (Hoffmann et al., 2011;Schipper et al., 2008). Unsustainable hunting has caused declines in a range of species (Rogan et al., 2017) and across entire taxa, like birds (Szabo et al., 2012) and mammals (Ripple et al., 2016). Wild meat (otherwise referred to in the literature as bushmeat) hunting is one form of direct exploitation (Milner-Gulland & Bennett, 2003), and can be defined as non-domestic terrestrial animals that are harvested for food (Nasi et al., 2008). ...
Biodiversity conservation depends on influencing human behaviors, but when activities are illegal or otherwise sensitive, e.g. because the behavior in question is taboo to a particular society, actors can be hesitant to admit engagement with illicit behaviors. We applied Specialized Questioning Techniques (SQT) to estimate and compare the behavioral prevalence of giraffe meat consumption from 2017 to 2019 in northern Kenya, Laikipia and Samburu County, between direct questioning and two SQTs: Randomized Response Technique (RRT) and Unmatched Count Technique (UCT). Comparisons between the two samples (2017 and 2019) yielded significant differences across all three methods, with confidence intervals distinctly divergent between years. The significant disparity between the two samples for all three methods suggests that there was a true reduction in giraffe meat usage in our study area, from 2017 to 2019. A key change in the study area between the two time periods was the introduction of a community-based program for giraffe conservation. Primary program activities, including ecological monitoring, community outreach and education, and collaboration with wildlife security teams, align with other conservation programs that have demonstrated reduced poaching pressures. This study demonstrates an application of SQTs to detect a decline of giraffe meat consumption, providing an alternative to self-reported data for monitoring sensitive behaviors related to direct exploitation and illegal uses of wildlife.
... This may not only reduce spillover events to humans (Halliday et al., 2012;Hattendorf et al., 2017), but also provide information on overall ecosystem health (Leroy et al., 2004;Smith et al., 2009;Thompson et al., 2010). Illegal bushmeat hunting is an existential threat for some species, particularly primates (Benítez-López et al., 2017;Ripple et al., 2016;Rogan et al., 2017). At the national level, regulating the bushmeat trade for Fig. 5. Heat map of the number of cases for each bush meat-pathogen infection. ...
The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is the third coronavirus this century to threaten human health, killing more than two million people globally. Like previous coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 is suspected to have wildlife origins and was possibly transmitted to humans via wet markets selling bushmeat (aka harvested wild meat). Thus, an interdisciplinary framework is vital to address the nexus between bushmeat, wet markets, and disease. We reviewed the contemporary scientific literature to: (1) assess disease surveillance efforts within the bushmeat trade and wet markets globally by compiling zoonotic health risks based on primarily serological examinations; and (2) gauge perceptions of health risks associated with bushmeat and wet markets. Of the 58 species of bushmeat investigated across 15 countries in the 52 articles that we analyzed,one or more pathogens (totaling 60 genera of pathogens) were reported in 48 species, while no zoonotic pathogens were reported in 10 species based on serology. Burden of disease data was nearly absent from the articles resulting from our Scopus search, and therefore was not included in our analyses. We also found that perceived health risks associated with bushmeat was low, though we could not perform statistical analyses due to the lack of quantitative perception-based studies. After screening the literature, our results showed that the global distribution of reported bushmeat studies were biased towards Africa, revealing data deficiencies across Asia and South America despite the prevalence of the bushmeat trade across the Global South. Studies targeting implications of the bushmeat trade on human health can help address these data deficiencies across Asia and South America. We further illustrate the need to address the nexus between bushmeat, wet markets, and disease to help prevent future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases under the previously proposed "One Health Framework", which integrates human, animal, and environmental health. By tackling these three pillars, we discuss the current policy gaps and recommend suitable measures to prevent future disease outbreaks.
... Overexploitation of wildlife from unsustainable hunting poses a direct threat to global biodiversity (Hoffmann et al., 2011;Schipper et al., 2008). Unsustainable hunting has caused declines in a range of species (Rogan et al., 2017) and across entire taxa, like birds (Szabo et al., 2012) and mammals (Ripple et al., 2016). Wild meat (otherwise referred to in the literature as bushmeat) hunting is one form of direct exploitation (Milner-Gulland & Bennett, 2003), and can be defined as non-domestic terrestrial animals that are harvested for food (Nasi et al., 2008). ...
Biodiversity conservation depends on influencing human behaviors, but when activities are illegal or otherwise sensitive, actors can be hesitant to admit engagement with illicit behaviors. We applied Specialized Questioning Techniques (SQT) to estimate and compare behavioral prevalence of giraffe meat consumption between direct questioning and two SQTs, Randomized Response Technique (RRT) and Unmatched Count Technique (UCT), from 2017 to 2019. Comparisons between the two samples yielded significant differences across all three methods, with confidence intervals distinctly divergent between years. The significant disparity between the two samples for all three methods suggests that there was a true reduction in giraffe meat usage from 2017 to 2019. A key change in the study area between the two time periods was the introduction of a community-based program for giraffe conservation. Primary program activities, including ecological monitoring, community outreach and education, and collaboration with wildlife security teams, align with other conservation programs that have demonstrated reduced poaching pressures. This study demonstrates an application of SQTs to detect a decline of giraffe meat consumption, providing an alternative to self-reported data for monitoring sensitive behaviors related to direct exploitation and illegal uses of wildlife.
... sport hunting; [1]), subsistence removals (e.g. bush-meat snaring; [2]), population control strategies (e.g. culling; [3]) and illegal killing for profit (e.g. ...
Overharvesting affects the size and growth of wildlife populations and can impact population trajectories. Overharvesting can also severely alter population structure and may result in changes in spatial organisation, social dynamics and recruitment. Understanding the relationship between overharvesting and population growth is therefore crucial for the recovery of exploited species. The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis; black rhino) is a long-lived megaherbivore native to sub-Saharan Africa, listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Since 2009, the targeted illegal killing of rhino for their horns has escalated dramatically in South Africa. Given their slow life trajectories, spatial structure and social dynamics, black rhino may be susceptible to both direct and indirect impacts of overharvesting. Our study compared black rhino demography before and during extensive poaching to understand the impact of illegal killing. The population exhibited significant changes in age structure after four years of heavy poaching; these changes were primarily explained by a decrease in the proportion of calves over time. Population projections incorporating both direct poaching removals and decreased fecundity/recruitment were most similar to the observed demographic profile in 2018, suggesting that indirect impacts are also contributing to the observed population trajectory. These indirect impacts are likely a result of decreased density, through processes such as reduced mate-finding, population disturbance and/or increased calf predation. This study illustrates the combined effect of direct and indirect impacts on an endangered species, providing a more comprehensive approach by which to evaluate exploited populations.
... Overexploitation of wildlife from unsustainable hunting poses a dire threat to global biodiversity (Hoffmann et al., 2011;Schipper et al., 2008). Unsustainable illegal hunting has caused declines in a range of species, documented at the species level (Rogan et al., 2017) and through assessment of entire taxa, like birds (Szabo et al., 2012) and mammals (Ripple et al., 2016). Wild meat (i.e. ...
Giraffe (Giraffe spp.) are iconic wildlife species to Africa, yet relatively little conservation funding and research have been directed at protection of giraffe in the wild. A growing number of national governments and conservation organizations are implementing management strategies to address the threats that giraffe face. To inform these plans, there is a need for social science that examines the human pressures associated with decline of giraffe populations, including poaching and the use of giraffe parts. As the large majority of reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) range occurs outside formally protected areas, conservation plans must be made with pastoralist communities and other actors in northern Kenya where the land is shared between people, their livestock, and wildlife. The research presented in this dissertation was conducted as part of a community-based program focused on reticulated giraffe, called the Twiga Walinzi Initiative (“Giraffe Guards” in Swahili), and represents the first quantitative study on the human dimensions of giraffe conservation. Goals of the research project were to examine key cognitions to human-giraffe interactions (i.e. attitudes, beliefs, perceptions), assess relationships between certain cognitions within areas that adopt a community-based conservation approach, and understand the extent and drivers of giraffe meat and part usage. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at two study sites over survey periods in 2016/17 (n=579) and 2019 (n=680). Results from these studies provide insights to how pastoralist communities view and act toward local giraffe. Factors that significantly influenced support for giraffe conservation differed between study sites, suggesting that local context is important to shaping human-giraffe interactions (Chapter 2). For instance, perceived benefits had stronger influence on normative belief in communities more recently connected with wildlife-based tourism. The linkages between perceived benefits, attitudes, and behaviors were further explored by assessing the relationships between these concepts within a community-based conservation setting (Chapter 3). Findings suggest a positive association between perceived benefits and attitudes toward giraffe, but there was less evidence that perceptions of wildlife-related benefits influenced use of giraffe meat/parts. As human behavior is of central interest to conservation, we also assessed levels of giraffe meat consumption (Chapter 4) and determinants of intention to consume giraffe meat (Chapter 5). Specialized questioning techniques were utilized to estimate prevalence of giraffe meat consumption preceding the two surveys. Estimated prevalence of giraffe meat consumption declined after establishment of the Twiga Walinzi. Perceived behavioral control had stronger relative influence than attitudes and subjective norms on future intention to consume giraffe meat. Collectively, these research findings are relevant for applied giraffe conservation efforts and provide a framework for understanding human-giraffe interactions and associated threats in diverse global settings.
... Yet, these studies are largely concentrated on forest-based ecosystems, rather than African savannas (e.g., Redford, 1992). As emphasized by Rogan, et al. (2017), the savannah ecosystem is unique in that it is home to a rich vertebrate community that are both ecologically and economically valuable, and therefore deserves attention. One study conducted by Hofer, Campbell, East and Huish (1996) analyzes the extent and impact of illegal game meat hunting on both target and non-target wildlife populations in the Serengeti National Park (SNP), which is comprised of 1.5 million hectares of savannah. ...
Illegal hunting is a problem that affects local communities, wildlife populations and the environment. Hunting wildlife can take a number of forms, from low-level subsistence hunting to large-scale organized poaching, all of which have an ecological impact. However, the bulk of the literature emphasizes the criminal and economic facets of illegal hunting while ignoring or paying little attention to the ecological implications of illegal hunting. This paper aims to examine and analyze the literature on illegal hunting and its impact on African savannas from an ecological perspective. Based on the works reviewed, I argue that the bulk of the literature fails to directly address this relationship, leaving gaps in our understanding of an increasing and prevalent phenomenon that could have severe repercussions for African savanna ecosystems. I recommend that the research community expand upon the relationship between illegal hunting and ecological effects, particularly in threatened ecosystems, such as Africa’s savannas.
... This halo of defaunation around a human settlement area has been identified in several studies [26,32,43,44]. Increased hunting around a protected area was frequently cited, often referred to as an 'edge effect' [24,25,28,29,[35][36][37][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]. Different methods are used that find the same effect e.g. ...
Background
There is a rich body of literature addressing the topic of illegal hunting of wild terrestrial mammals. Studies on this topic have risen over the last decade as species are under increasing risk from anthropogenic threats. Sub-Saharan Africa contains the highest number of terrestrial mammals listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. However, the spatial distribution of illegal hunting incidences is not well documented. To address this knowledge gap, the systematic map presented here aims to answer three research questions: (1) What data are available on the spatial distribution of illegal hunting of terrestrial mammals in Sub-Saharan Africa in relation to environmental and anthropogenic correlates i.e. proximity to roads, water bodies, human settlement areas, different land tenure arrangements and anti-poaching ranger patrol bases? (2) Which research methodologies have primarily been used to collect quantitative data and how comparable are these data? (3) Is there a bias in the research body toward particular taxa and geographical areas?
Methods
Systematic searches were carried out across eight bibliographic databases; articles were screened against pre-defined criteria. Only wild terrestrial mammals listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) whose geographical range falls in Sub-Saharan Africa and whose threat assessment includes hunting and trapping were included. To meet our criteria, studies were required to include quantitative, spatially explicit data. In total 14,325 articles were screened at the level of title and abstract and 206 articles were screened at full text. Forty-seven of these articles met the pre-defined inclusion criteria.
Results
Spatially explicit data on illegal hunting are available for 29 species in 19 of the 46 countries that constitute Sub-Saharan Africa. Data collection methods include GPS and radio tracking, bushmeat household and market surveys, data from anti-poaching patrols, hunting follows and first-hand monitoring of poaching signs via line transects, audio and aerial surveys. Most studies have been conducted in a single protected area exploring spatial patterns in illegal hunting with respect to the surrounding land. Several spatial biases were detected.
Conclusions
There is a considerable lack of systematically collected quantitative data showing the distribution of illegal hunting incidences and few comparative studies between different tenure areas. The majority of studies have been conducted in a single protected area looking at hunting on a gradient to surrounding village land. From the studies included in the map it is evident there are spatial patterns regarding environmental and anthropogenic correlates. For example, hunting increases in proximity to transport networks (roads and railway lines), to water sources, to the border of protected areas and to village land. The influence of these spatial features could be further investigated through meta-analysis. There is a diverse range of methods in use to collect data on illicit hunting mainly drawing on pre-existing law enforcement data or researcher led surveys detecting signs of poaching. There are few longitudinal studies with most studies representing just one season of data collection and there is a geographical research bias toward Tanzania and a lack of studies in Central Africa.
... Furthermore, most illegal anthropogenic mortality is cryptic in that it is either concealed by the perpetrators or goes unrecorded (Liberg et al., 2012). Impacts on populations have often been assessed indirectly through market (Albrechtsen et al., 2007;Fa et al., 2004) or consumer surveys (Kiffner et al., 2015;Mgawe et al., 2012), surveys of rates of extraction by bushmeat hunters (Martin et al., 2013;Rist et al., 2010;Rogan et al., 2017), or, directly assessed by researchers accompanying bush-meat hunters in the field (Noss, 1998a) or detailed demographic field studies of affected species Loveridge et al., 2016a). There are obvious biases inherent in using indirect methods to quantify impacts, particularly when users or hunters of bush-meat are asked to self-assess their involvement in potentially illegal activity. ...
The bush-meat poaching crisis is a significant threat to biodiversity in tropical forest and savannah biomes, however its impacts on wild animal populations are often difficult to quantify across large spatial scales. Using data from 17 camera trap survey sites in southern Africa, within the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, we show it is possible to assess the demographic impact of wire-snare bush-meat poaching on large carnivore populations, distribution of snaring hotspots and drivers of bush-meat poaching prevalence across this landscape. Results suggest that mortalities in snares may have significant demographic effects on lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) with evidence for population declines and extirpation of large carnivores in the most heavily affected areas. Spatial drivers of bush-meat poaching were found to be a composite of anthropogenic threat scores, environmental resource extraction, protected area size and land-use type. Incidences of snared large carnivores were more prevalent in trophy hunting areas than national parks. Across our study sites, bush-meat poaching has the potential to cause severe declines in populations of large carnivores, particularly in small isolated protected areas surrounded by areas of high human population growth, with resulting loss of regional connectivity and increasing fragmentation of the KAZA landscape.
... It is, therefore, important to explain carefully the reasoning behind those changes (e.g. "bushmeat hunting drives away tourist dollars", Rogan et al., 2017). It may also be beneficial to enable the affected individuals to travel to areas where they can see first-hand how more sustainable activities can benefit local people. ...
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region.
Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography.
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.
... It also increases energy consumption to offset the heat increases which, in turn, contributes to air pollution and climate change. Chapter 7 | Pollution, Overharvesting, Invasive Species, and Disease from Botswana's Okavango Delta each year, despite the region's protected status and importance for ecotourism sectors (Rogan et al., 2017). ...
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region.
Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography.
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.
... However, the sustainability of hunting in the Western Serengeti is questionable, and hunting intensity is expected to increase further as the human population adjacent to the protected areas continue to increase Rogan et al., 2017). This study aimed to assess the contribution of bushmeat to household income as a function of distance from the core Serengeti National Park boundary and its dependence on socio-economic factors. ...
Bushmeat hunting is widespread in villages adjacent to protected areas in Western Serengeti. However, little information is available about the role of bushmeat income in the household economy as a function of distance from the protected area boundary, preventing the formulation of informed policy for regulating this illegal trade. This study was conducted in three villages in Western Serengeti at distances of 3 (closest), 27 (intermediate) and 58km (furthest) from the boundary of Serengeti National Park to assess the contribution of bushmeat to household income. The sample consists of 246 households of which 96 hunted or traded bushmeat, identified using snowball sampling through the aid of local informers. The average income earned from bushmeat was significantly higher for bushmeat traders than hunters. The contribution of bushmeat to household income was significantly higher in Robanda the village closest to the protected area boundary compared to Rwamkoma and Kowak, the more distant villages. A Heckman sample-selection model reveals that household participation in hunting and trading bushmeat was negatively associated with distance to the protected area boundary and with the household head being female. Household reliance on bushmeat income was negatively associated with age and gender of the household head and distance to the protected area boundary. Hence, efforts to reduce involvement in hunting, and trading bushmeat should target male-headed households close to the protected area boundary.
One of iconic Africa's Big Five, the African buffalo is the largest African bovine or antelope that occurs throughout most of sub-Sahara and in a wide range of ecosystems from savanna to rainforest. The African buffalo is also one of the most successful large African mammals in terms of abundance and biomass. This species thus represents a powerful model to enhance our understanding of African biogeography and wildlife conservation, ecology and management. Edited by four researchers experienced in different aspects of the African buffalo's biology, this volume provides an exhaustive compilation of knowledge on an emblematic species that stands out as an important component of African natural and human ecosystems. It delivers a global view of the African buffalo and all known aspects of its ecology and management. This book will appeal to students, scholars, scientists and wildlife managers as well as those enthusiastic about the charismatic species. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
One of iconic Africa's Big Five, the African buffalo is the largest African bovine or antelope that occurs throughout most of sub-Sahara and in a wide range of ecosystems from savanna to rainforest. The African buffalo is also one of the most successful large African mammals in terms of abundance and biomass. This species thus represents a powerful model to enhance our understanding of African biogeography and wildlife conservation, ecology and management. Edited by four researchers experienced in different aspects of the African buffalo's biology, this volume provides an exhaustive compilation of knowledge on an emblematic species that stands out as an important component of African natural and human ecosystems. It delivers a global view of the African buffalo and all known aspects of its ecology and management. This book will appeal to students, scholars, scientists and wildlife managers as well as those enthusiastic about the charismatic species. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
As global large carnivore populations continue to decline due to human actions, maintaining viable populations beyond protected area (PA) borders is critical. African lions (Panthera leo) ranging beyond PA borders regularly prey on domestic livestock causing humans to retaliate or even preemptively kill lions to minimize impacts of lost livestock. To understand how lions navigate high-conflict areas in human-dominated landscapes, lions were observed and monitored in the eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta between October 2014 and December 2016, and five lions were fitted with GPS satellite collars from August 2015 to December 2016. Lion prides and coalitions were small, with all prides having four or fewer females and all coalitions having two or fewer males. Home range size varied between the sexes but was not statistically different (males: x = 584 km 2 , n = 3; females: x = 319 km 2 , n = 2). There was considerable spatial overlap in home ranges as nonassociating, neighboring collared individuals utilized high levels of shared space (female-female overlap = 152 km 2 , representing 41-56% of respective home ranges; male-male overlap = 125-132 km 2 , representing 16-31% of respective home ranges). However, neighboring lions varied use of shared space temporally as evidenced by low coefficients of association (< 0.08), avoiding potentially costly interactions with neighboring individuals. Highest levels of overlap occurred during the wet and early dry seasons when flood waters minimized the amount of available land area. All collared individuals minimized time in close proximity (< 3 km) to human habitation, but some individuals were able to rely heavily on areas where unmonitored livestock grazed. While most lions exist within PAs, anthropogenic impacts beyond PA boundaries can impact critical populations within PAs. Studying systems beyond park boundaries with high levels of human-lion conflict while also establishing conservation programs that account for both ecological and sociocultural dimensions will better aid lion conservation efforts moving forward.
Assessing local people's understanding of the consequences of unsustainable bushmeat-related activities on conservation is an important step toward developing effective solutions to decrease unlawful hunting activities. The current study investigated the knowledge regarding the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of illegal bushmeat activities among villagers adjacent to western Nyerere National Park Tanzania. The two terminologies i.e., “hunting” and “trade” were collectively used herein as “bushmeat trade”. We collected data from 261 households and 24 key informants using a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide, respectively. Results show that 84% of local residents know that bushmeat trade directly threatens wildlife by reducing the population of hunted species. Nearly half of the respondents also appreciate the benefits of wildlife conservation. Regarding the trend of bushmeat trade in the study area, the majority (80%) of the respondents stated that the activity is decreasing. Moreover, the study revealed that the knowledge variation regarding the impacts of bushmeat trade is significantly influenced by education level, age and proximity to the park boundaries. Interventions aimed at addressing the illegal bushmeat trade should consider demographic factors and ensure that conservation programmes are extended to both nearby and distant villages from the park boundaries for enhanced and impactful results.
The hunting of wild animals for their meat has been a crucial activity in the evolution of humans. It continues to be an essential source of food and a generator of income for millions of Indigenous and rural communities worldwide. Conservationists rightly fear that excessive hunting of many animal species will cause their demise, as has already happened throughout the Anthropocene. Many species of large mammals and birds have been decimated or annihilated due to overhunting by humans. If such pressures continue, many other species will meet the same fate. Equally, if the use of wildlife resources is to continue by those who depend on it, sustainable practices must be implemented. These communities need to remain or become custodians of the wildlife resources within their lands, for their own well-being as well as for biodiversity in general. This title is also available via Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Local people living in the Amazon rainforest rely heavily on wild meat as a source of protein and income. While the patterns and drivers of wildlife hunting and trade by local communities are well-known for upland forests, such aspects have been poorly explored in Amazonian floodplains. This study aims to describe wild meat hunting and trade patterns and assess the hunting dynamics of local communities in Amazonian floodplain areas. For this purpose, we interviewed 121 hunters in 36 communities living in white-water flooded forests in the lower Amazon River, Brazil. Thirty taxa were cited as hunted by interviewees, who used a repertoire of 13 hunting techniques. Aquatic and semi-aquatic taxa were the most prevalent, especially Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, Cairina moschata, and Podocnemis unifilis. Eight taxa were cited as traded; wild meat was sold at 2.57 ± 2.22 USD/kg, while eggs of birds and turtles were sold at 0.37 ± 0.27 USD/unit. We found an inverted-U relationship between the body mass and the number of citations per taxa, with species weighing between 10-40 kg presenting the highest number of citations. The hunting patterns found here are different from those frequently found in the literature for upland environments. Understanding these hunting and trade patterns will help develop tailored wildlife conservation and management strategies for Amazonian floodplains.
Populations of carnivore species outside protected areas may be of considerable importance for conservation, as many protected areas do not provide sufficient space for viable populations. Data on carnivore population sizes and trends are often biased towards protected areas, and few studies have examined the role of unprotected areas for carnivore conservation. We used camera-trapping data and spatial capture-recapture models to estimate population densities for four sympatric carnivores: the African leopard Panthera pardus, spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta, brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea and African civet Civettictis civetta in Platjan, a predominantly agricultural, mixed land-use system, South Africa. Mean densities per 100 km^2 for the leopard were 2.20 (95% CI 1.32-3.68) and 2.18 (95% CI 1.32-3.61) for left and right flank data, respectively; spotted hyaena, 0.22 (95% CI 0.06-0.81); brown hyaena, 0.74 (95% CI 0.30-1.88); and African civet 3.60 (95% CI 2.34-5.57; left flanks) and 3.71 (95% CI 2.41-5.72; right flanks). Our results indicate that although densities are lower than those reported for protected areas, humans and predators coexist in this unprotected agricultural matrix. We suggest that increased conservation effort should be focused in such areas, to mitigate human-carnivore conflicts. Our study improves the knowledge available for carnivore populations on privately owned, unprotected land, and may benefit conservation planning.
Effective conservation requires that conservation policies and management decisions first target local actors who are dependent on natural resource use in Protected Areas (PA) of Developing Countries (DC). In rural areas of DCs, these actors are mainly farmers who also rely on off-farm activities such as harvest of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to complement their livelihoods. Here, we propose a novel approach to support the development of policy interventions aimed at achieving conservation goals through the sustainable development of local people in PAs of DCs. The approach consists in identifying the main Livelihood and Farming Systems (LFS) and select those that are more conservation-friendly and that may contribute to solve conservation and development problems such as Human-wildlife conflict. identifying the existing LFS can also helps in searching for conservation-relevant improvements that can contribute to local people wellbeing, considering the existing FS as the starting point for a sustainable development strategy in PAs of DC. Data from the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the largest PA in Mozambique, were used to develop this LFS approach. Measures of effort applied in harvesting NTFPs and in managing agricultural inputs and outputs were collected from 329 households through a structured survey. Cluster analysis was performed to identify and characterise the main LFS in the NNR. Based on the cluster results, we have identified four livelihood systems (LS): gatherers, hunters, farmers and employees; three farming systems (FS) specialized in maize, rice and sorghum, and a mixed FS. A Multinomial Logistic Model was also applied to understand the drivers of LFS choice. Livelihood systems were mainly driven by household-level socio-economic factors, while FS were driven by village-level biophysical conditions. Households who were employed and had diversified farming and off-farm activities were better off and more resilient to climate change and crop-raiding animals. Intensification appears to occur gradually but has found to be limited by rainfall availability. Based on our findings, we propose that conservation experts and policy-makers should use a LFS approach to re-frame the conservation narrative in PAs of DCs and promote the existing practices that can better protect biodiversity while improving livelihood and welfare of local people.
The expansion of Protected Areas (PAs) has been considered as the main strategy to contain deforestation and forest degradation in Developing Countries (DCs), and protect most of the vulnerable and endangered species, including the large carnivores and herbivores of African Savannas. Mozambique is one of DC which has also embarked in this expansion of PAs, with a network of protected and conservation areas cover 45.68% of all-natural forest in the country. The Niassa Province cover most of the PAs in the country. In most of Mozambican PAs, there is also an unprecedented growth of human population, whose livelihoods depend on harvesting natural resources. Illegal and unregulated harvesting of natural resources imposes a great threat to biodiversity conservation in the country, which needs to be urgently addressed through policies aimed at changing people’s behaviors to conserve biodiversity the country’s PAs.
The Niassa National Reserve (NNR) is the largest PA in the country encompasses 5.3% of all-natural forest and 45% of the overall land under PA in the country. Using the NNR as a case study, we aim to explore policy ways to improve the conservation status of PAs in Mozambique and DCs in general, through identifying and analyzing the role of the drivers for local people engagement in activities that threat biodiversity conservation. We explore possible incentive measures that PAs residents may be willing to accept to collaborate with park authorities and other relevant stakeholders operating in the reserve. This main objective was addressed by surveying conservation experts spread through the country and local households in the NNR. As regards the expert survey, Cluster Analysis was applied to identify the different experts’ views about to the main practices that threaten biodiversity conservation in the NNR, the underlining drivers for local people involvement with such practices, the main responsible for each practice and the effectiveness of the new proposed compensation measures. A cluster procedure was also used to identify the different Livelihood and Farming Systems (LFS) prevailing in the reserve, based on data from the household survey. A Multinomial Logistic Model (MLM) was also estimated to understand the drivers of household choice of LFS.
Our results suggested that outsiders conduct most of the illegal activities that threat biodiversity conservation in the reserve (poaching, illegal logging and mining). At the same time, local people tend to engage in illegal activities that they need to carry out to cope with their daily needs. Most of the new in-kind incentives (e.g. provide animal protein, conservation related jobs opportunity and scholarships for the kids of PA residents), explored in the surveys, showed a greater acceptance from local people compared to those currently applied in the reserve. Moreover, livelihood systems were mainly driven by socio-economic factors, while FS were mostly driven by biophysical conditions. Finally, households who were employed and had diversified farming and off-farming activities, were better off, more resilient to climate change and crop raiding animals and held more conservation friendly attitudes.
Human wildlife interactions pose the challenges to life and livelihoods of humans living around wildlife protected areas (PA). Similarly, these interactions affect wildlife negatively, thus undermining the conservation efforts. This thesis seeks to understand how human wildlife interactions affect human beings and wildlife in the Ruaha-Rungwa Ecosystem (RRE) in central Tanzania. This understanding is important in devising effective management interventions as authorities and agencies seek to ensure a beneficial and harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.
The first part of this thesis is composed of three publishedpapers: An assessment of crop and livestock losses caused by wild animals (Paper I), Human-elephant interactions in areas surrounding the Rungwa, Kizigo, and Muhesi Game Reserves, central Tanzania (Paper II) and the Awareness and Attitudes of Local People towards Wildlife Conservation in the Rungwa Game Reserve in Central Tanzania (Paper III).
This study has established that the incidences of livestock depredation and crop damage were found to be higher in areas closest to the reserve boundary (Paper 1). Crop losses caused by wildlife in the area averaged 430 kg (equivalent to US243.25 per household per year. The most commonly referenced large carnivore was the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), followed by the lion (Panthera leo) and leopard (Panthera pardus) (Paper I). The most significant contributing factor was found to be distance to the PA, as most reporting livestock depredation incidences were from the villages located closest to the Game Reserve.
Crop damage caused by African elephants considerably increased with less distance from the reserve boundary. Farmers residing close to the PA’s borders reported crop damage much more frequently than those with farms farther from the boundary (Paper II). In more distant villages, people were more likely to support the conservation of wildlife than those residing in the closest villages (Paper III). The most important factor influencing people’s attitudes towards wildlife conservation in the area was found to be the distance from the reserve boundary and areas in which a person farmed. Other factors identified include the farmer’s age, immigration status, occupation and education level and incidents of crop damage and livestock depredation (Paper III).
The second part of the thesis is composed of two published papers: Trophy Hunting Versus Ecotourism as a Conservation Model? Assessing the Impacts on Ungulate Behaviour and Demographics in the Ruaha-Rungwa Ecosystem, Central Tanzania (paper IV) and Drivers of conservation crimes in the Rungwa-Kizigo-Muhesi Game Reserves, Central Tanzania (Paper V). Paper IV establishes that trophy hunting affects animal behaviour by rendering hunted animals more vigilant, by increasing flight initiation distance (FID), and by decreasing group sizes and calf ratios. The effect of trophy hunting on ungulate behaviours was examined by comparing the behaviours of the impala (Aepyceros melampus) and greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) in hunted populations of the Rungwa Game Reserve (RGR) and in non-hunted populations of Ruaha National Park (RNP) of Central Tanzania. In the adjoining RNP, the only permitted tourism activity is photographic tourism, and thus, it served as a control site. The observed differences were ascribed to the direct and indirect effects of trophy hunting in the RGR. Residents in the study area also engage in the illegal harvesting of forest resources and wild animals (Paper V). The results of Paper V show that people who do not own land or livestock, unemployed, and young males are more likely to commit conservation crimes in the area. Furthermore, those who own livestock but lack land for pasture or grazing areas are more likely to move their livestock into the RGR.
The encroachment for agriculture into areas adjacent to the RRE has been a major cause of escalating conflict due to crop damage and livestock depredation by problem animals, as most conflicts occur in areas close to the boundaries of the PA. Mitigation measures have involved the use of traditional and simple methods of noise creation, aversive crop planting (chilli), and beehive establishment around farm boundaries, but such methods have not been effective in controlling the damage caused by problem wild animals. In ensuring the continued coexistence of wildlife and human beings in the study area, this work makes the following recommendations.
Conservation education on appropriate mitigation measures for controlling crop and livestock losses by wild animals must be provided. Education will foster local knowledge and enhance the awareness of and attitudes toward co-existence with wildlife. Land use planning is also recommended, as currently most of the known wildlife dispersal areas in the area are not established or zoned, which risks their future destruction and loss. We also recommend farmers to avoid farming in areas close to the PA, as our findings and experience from other ecosystems show that crop farms positioned close to PA boundaries tend to be the most heavily affected. Strengthening law enforcement as a deterrence measure. Development of entrepreneurship skills. This will enhance employment as a means of limiting the illegal harvesting of wild animals and forest resources.
Hunting is an important subsistence activity in the Amazon. Wild meat is a source of food and income
for extended population sectors, being part of the local economies. Non sustainable extraction of wild
meat affects diverse species, even towards extinction. Supply and demand play a key role on the
extraction levels of wild meat, having prices a significant influence over hunting levels. Both the market
and law enforcement must operate together to guarantee sustainable extraction and wildlife
protection. It is urgent to design realistic and applicable wildlife management policies taking into
consideration social and economic aspects, monitoring and resource conservation promotion. The
objective of this review is to show the problems surrounding wild meat consumption in regions with
tropical forests, to highlight the market influence on extraction levels and to systematize information
for proper dissemination.
In this study we investigated intraspecific prey choice of illegal bushmeat hunters outside the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. During the study 151 animals belonging to 12 species were reported killed. The majority, 76%, of prey species were migratory herbivores. Night hunting with dogs was the most common hunting method for medium-sized prey (biomass ≤40 kg), while the majority of the large herbivores were killed by snares. When actively stalking, hunters killed more males of most of the species recorded, as well as more immatures than adults. Passive hunting also generally had a male-bias. This suggests that the male-bias in kills probably is more a result of behavioural factors among the animals, combined with poor hunting technology, than deliberate choice of the hunters.
Bushmeat consumption and trade are major problems for wildlife conservation in East Africa. To evaluate recognized drivers of bushmeat consumption, we used structured interviews of 435 households in 11 villages within an ethnically diverse division in rural western Tanzania; the study included both indigenous people and an immigrant population that has moved into the area over the last 40 years. We found that the number of wild animal carcasses reported to be entering villages was greater in villages situated nearer to nationally protected areas. In the indigenous sample, bushmeat consumption was more common in richer than in poorer households, challenging ideas that increasing the availability of alternative protein would necessarily reduce consumption of bushmeat. In the immigrant sample, we found the opposite pattern. We recommend that outreach programs be targeted at both hunters and consumers living near protected area boundaries; that careful evaluations be made of whether wealthy or poor are eating bushmeat; and that protein supplementation be considered more cautiously in solving the problem of bushmeat demand. Our findings highlight complexities of implementing practical solutions to bushmeat consumption in Africa.
Terrestrial mammals are experiencing a massive collapse in their population sizes and geographical ranges around the world, but many of the drivers, patterns and consequences of this decline remain poorly understood. Here we provide an analysis showing that bushmeat hunting for mostly food and medicinal products is driving a global crisis whereby 301 terrestrial mammal species are threatened with extinction. Nearly all of these threatened species occur in developing countries where major coexisting threats include deforestation, agricultural expansion, human encroachment and competition with livestock. The unrelenting decline of mammals suggests many vital ecological and socio-economic services that these species provide will be lost, potentially changing ecosystems irrevocably. We discuss options and current obstacles to achieving effective conservation, alongside consequences of failure to stem such anthropogenic mammalian extirpation. We propose a multipronged conservation strategy to help save threatened mammals from immediate extinction and avoid a collapse of food security for hundreds of millions of people.
Terrestrial mammals are experiencing a massive collapse in their population sizes and geographical ranges around the world, but many of the drivers, patterns and consequences of this decline remain poorly understood. Here we provide an analysis showing that bushmeat hunting for mostly food and medicinal products is driving a global crisis whereby 301 terrestrial mammal species are threatened with extinction. Nearly all of these threatened species occur in developing countries where major coexisting threats include deforestation, agricultural expansion, human encroachment and competition with livestock. The unrelenting decline of mammals suggests many vital ecological and socioeconomic services that these species provide will be lost, potentially changing ecosystems irrevocably. We discuss options and current obstacles to achieving effective conservation, alongside consequences of failure to stem such anthropogenic mammalian extirpation. We propose a multi-pronged conservation strategy to help save threatened mammals from immediate extinction and avoid a collapse of food security for hundreds of millions of people.
Anthropocene defaunation is the global phenomenon of human‐induced animal biodiversity loss. Understanding the patterns and process of defaunation is critical to predict outcomes for wildlife populations and cascading consequences for ecosystem function and human welfare.
We investigated a defaunation gradient in north‐eastern Gabon by establishing 24 transects at varying distances (2–30 km) to rural villages and surveying the abundance and composition of vertebrate communities. Distance from village was positively correlated with observations of hunting (shotgun shells, campfires, hunters), making it a good proxy for hunting pressure.
Species diversity declined significantly with proximity to village, with mammal richness increasing by roughly 1·5 species every 10 km travelled away from a village. Compared to forest far from villages, the wildlife community near villages consisted of higher abundances of large birds and rodents and lower abundances of large mammals like monkeys and ungulates.
Distance to nearest village emerged as a key driver of the relative abundance of five of the six taxonomic guilds, indicating that the top‐down force of hunting strongly influences large vertebrate community composition and structure. Several measures of vegetation structure also explained animal abundance, but these varied across taxonomic guilds. Forest elephants were the exception: no measured variable or combination of variables explained variation in elephant abundances.
Synthesis and applications . Hunting is concentrated within 10 km around villages, creating a hunting halo characterized by heavily altered animal communities composed of relatively small‐bodied species. Although the strongest anthropogenic effects are relatively distance‐limited, the linear increase in species richness shown here even at distances 30 km from villages suggests that hunting may have altered vertebrate abundances across the entire landscape. Central African forests store >25% of the carbon in tropical forests and are home to 3000 endemic species, but roughly 53% of the region lies within the village hunting halo. Resource management strategies should take into account this hunting‐induced spatial variation in animal communities. Near villages, resource management should focus on sustainable community‐led hunting programmes that provide long‐term supplies of wild meat to rural people. Resource management far from villages should focus on law enforcement and promoting industry practices that maintain remote tracts of land to preserve ecosystem services like carbon storage and biodiversity.
The escalating illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is one of the most high profile conservation challenges today. The crisis has attracted over US$350 million in donor and government funding in recent years, primarily directed at increased enforcement against IWT. There is growing recognition among practitioners and policy makers of the need to engage rural communities that neighbour or live with wildlife as key partners in tackling IWT. However, a framework to guide such community engagement is lacking. Here, we present a Theory of Change (ToC) to guide policy-makers, donors, and practitioners in partnering with communities to combat IWT. Our ToC identifies four pathways for community-level actions: a) strengthening disincentives for illegal behaviour; b) increasing incentives for wildlife stewardship; c) decreasing costs of living with wildlife; and d) supporting non-wildlife related livelihoods. The pathways all require strengthening of enabling conditions, including capacity building, and of governance in order to succeed. Our ToC serves to guide actions to tackle IWT and to inform the evaluation of policies. Moreover, our ToC serves as a tool to foster dialogue among IWT stakeholders from local communities through to governments and international donors to develop a more effective, holistic and sustainable community-based response to the IWT crisis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Although deforestation and forest degradation have long been considered the most significant threats to tropical biodiversity, across Southeast Asia (Northeast India, Indochina, Sundaland, Philippines) substantial areas of natural habitat have few wild animals (>1 kg), bar a few hunting-tolerant species. To document hunting impacts on vertebrate populations regionally, we conducted an extensive literature review, including papers in local journals and reports of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Evidence from multiple sites indicated animal populations declined precipitously across the region since approximately 1980, and many species are now extirpated from substantial portions of their former ranges. Hunting is by far the greatest immediate threat to the survival of most of the region's endangered vertebrates. Causes of recent overhunting include improved access to forests and markets, improved hunting technology, and escalating demand for wild meat, wildlife-derived medicinal products, and wild animals as pets. Although hunters often take common species, such as pigs or rats, for their own consumption, they take rarer species opportunistically and sell surplus meat and commercially valuable products. There is also widespread targeted hunting of high-value species. Consequently, as currently practiced, hunting cannot be considered sustainable anywhere in the region, and in most places enforcement of protected-area and protected-species legislation is weak. The international community's focus on cross-border trade fails to address overexploitation of wildlife because hunting and the sale of wild meat is largely a local issue and most of the harvest consumed in villages, rural towns, and nearby cities. In addition to improved enforcement, efforts to engage hunters and manage wildlife populations through sustainable hunting practices are urgently needed. Unless there is a step change in efforts to reduce wildlife exploitation to sustainable levels, the region will likely lose most of its iconic species, and many others besides, within the next few years. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Significance
At a regional scale, lion populations in West, Central, and East Africa are likely to suffer a projected 50% decline over the next two decades, whereas lion populations are only increasing in southern Africa. Many lion populations are either now gone or expected to disappear within the next few decades to the extent that the intensively managed populations in southern Africa may soon supersede the iconic savannah landscapes in East Africa as the most successful sites for lion conservation. The rapid disappearance of lions suggests a major trophic downgrading of African ecosystems with the lion no longer playing a pivotal role as apex predator.
Livestock predation by big cats, i.e., lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), jaguar (Panthera onca), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), puma (Puma concolor), and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), creates conflicts with humans which challenge biodiversity conservation and rural development. Deficiency of wild prey biomass is often described as a driver of such conflicts, but the question "at which level of prey density and biomass do big cats begin to kill livestock?" still remains unanswered. We applied logistic regression to meta-data compiled from recent peer-reviewed scientific publications and show that cattle predation is high when prey biomass is <812.41±1.26kg/km2, whereas sheep and goat predation is high at <544.57±1.19kg/km2, regardless of sizes of study areas and species, body masses, and population densities of big cats. Through mapping cases with known prey biomass and case-specific comparison of actual vs. threshold-predicted livestock predation we confirm the reliability of these thresholds in predicting livestock predation by big cats. The map also demonstrates that some protected areas of India, Nepal lowlands, and South Africa contain sufficient prey that makes big cats less likely to kill livestock, but in other sampled areas prey biomass is not high enough and the probabilities of livestock predation are moderate to high. We suggest that these thresholds represent important landmarks for predicting human-felid conflicts, identifying conflict hotspots, and setting priorities for targeted conservation actions. It is essential to maintain and restore wild prey to forestall local extinctions of big cats.
Illegal hunting poses a considerable threat to the wildlife of Serengeti National Park and its affiliated protected areas. Techniques for successful mitigation of this threat are heavily debated. Bottom-up community-based initiatives aim to curb poaching by linking local communities with wildlife conservation. Top-down anti-poaching enforcement of protected areas seeks to maintain wildlife populations through fines and prison sentences given to arrested poachers. Poverty stands as the major driver of illegal hunting as households vie for income and sustenance. Livelihoods of illegal hunters have been augmented considerably through revenue generated from bushmeat sales. Illegal hunters use bushmeat both for supplementing household protein and for economic gain. Obtaining bushmeat carries risks in the form of personal injury, fines, and/or prison sentences, if arrested. This paper compares these costs and benefits through a summary of the monetary benefits, bodily injuries, fines, and prison sentences that individuals endured over their poaching careers. Data were collected from 104 individuals, all of whom voluntarily admitted active or recent involvement in illegal hunting activities.
Illegal hunting, driven by demand for bushmeat, threatens animal populations throughout Africa. While bushmeat consumption is thought to be common in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem (TME) of Northern Tanzania, its magnitude and drivers are not well understood. This lack of knowledge may inhibit effective mitigation policies. We conducted 394 household interviews in the TME in 2013 and 2014 to assess both the scale and the possible drivers of bushmeat availability and consumption in the ecosystem. Using generalized linear mixed models, information theoretic model selection, and accounting for spatial clustering of the interviews, we tested multiple hypotheses that underlie bushmeat consumption. Bushmeat consumption in the TME was found to be widespread among the local population. Surprisingly, we found little differences in reported bushmeat consumption between survey years (2013: 38%; 2014: 33% of interviewees). Pastoral Maasai admitted to consuming bushmeat significantly less often (2013: 29%; 2014: 26%) than non-Maasai (2013: 38%; 2014: 34%). Interestingly, none of the hypothesized spatial- or household-level factors consistently correlated with reported bushmeat consumption. Neither alternative sources of available animal protein, nor relative wealth affected bushmeat consumption. In conjunction with the relatively low price of bushmeat (half the price of domestic meat), these results suggest that bushmeat consumption is largely driven by its availability and low cost, and only to a small degree by cultural differences. Thus, conservation interventions will likely be most successful if they holistically manage to increase the cost of bushmeat relative to alternative protein sources. © Christian Kiffner, Leah Peters, Ahren Stroming and John Kioko.
Large wild herbivores are crucial to ecosystems and human societies. We highlight the 74 largest terrestrial herbi-vore species on Earth (body mass > – 100 kg), the threats they face, their important and often overlooked ecosystem effects, and the conservation efforts needed to save them and their predators from extinction. Large herbivores are generally facing dramatic population declines and range contractions, such that ~60% are threatened with extinction. Nearly all threatened species are in developing countries, where major threats include hunting, land-use change, and resource depression by livestock. Loss of large herbivores can have cascading effects on other species including large carnivores, scavengers, mesoherbivores, small mammals, and ecological processes involving vegetation , hydrology, nutrient cycling, and fire regimes. The rate of large herbivore decline suggests that ever-larger swaths of the world will soon lack many of the vital ecological services these animals provide, resulting in enormous ecological and social costs.
Increasing populations, together with the impact of climate change, are resulting in greater competition for land and a necessity for sustainable land use. Tourism can provide a flow of benefits from conservation to rural communities to reduce poverty and promote biodiversity conservation. Three key mechanisms of sustainable tourism to reduce poverty are discussed: employment, value chains and equity. These are based on primary data and a thorough literature review. Case study examples from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe are included to demonstrate the impact of tourism employment on household welfare. Common problem areas associated with community engagement are identified and ways to upscale benefits are put forward. Tourism is not a panacea, but it can certainly play an important role in poverty alleviation.
For many carnivores, variation and long-term change in prey abundance and availability are major natural forces that shape the potential for a population to increase, but the understanding of the nature of this relationship varies by species. Relevant demographic data for carnivores are available for some species in areas where food resources vary in time (i.e., cyclic species; temporal variation) or space (geographic variation). Here we qualitatively review examples for numerous species for which changes in food abundance have been related to their demography, including density, reproduction, survival, and behaviour. We also discuss several factors that confound the understanding of these relationships.
For at least 6 carnivore species, densities are positively correlated with prey densities or biomass. This is because relatively higher food resources result in carnivores in better physical condition, and thus affect carnivore reproduction by lowering the average age of first reproduction, increasing litter size, and lowering mortality rates of juveniles. In combination, these changes increase net reproduction and thus carnivore density. Relatively poor food resources often increase mortality of adults due to starvation or intra-specific strife, cause carnivores to use larger home ranges, and result in increased rates of movements, including dispersal and transient behavior; these result in lower densities. Poor density estimates of carnivores or their food supply, time lags in demographic responses, competition with other carnivores, and mortality due to disease and humans can confound this relationship. Because predicting is important, assessment of carnivore food resources and their demographic effects clearly are important because they allow one to more confidently predict the potential of an area to support a carnivore population. These are essential components of carnivore conservation planning.
Bushmeat hunting is an important driver of wildlife depletion in Tanzania, but national-wide estimates of its consumption are lacking. We compare bushmeat consumption frequencies and determinants in ten tribes in different ecoregions in Tanzania, four of these within biodiversity hotspots of global conservation importance. Bushmeat consumption is examined in terms of ethnicity, selected indicators of wealth, and distance to and protection level of nearest protected area. Forty six percent of the respondents (n=300) belonging to nine of the ten tribes reported consuming bushmeat during the past 12 months, and 14% admitted that at least one household member hunted illegally. Significant differences in bushmeat consumption frequencies and species consumed were observed among ethnic groups. Regression revealed that the presence of a hunter in the household increased significantly the prevalence of bushmeat consumption, while distance to and protection level of nearest protected area had the most significant negative effect. Anti-poaching patrols are an effective deterrent to illegal bushmeat consumption, whilst access to domestic animal protein and other selected indicators of wealth do not reduce bushmeat consumption. The results emphasise the importance of strengthening anti-poaching services and the integration of cultural differences in preference for bushmeat into policies aimed at reducing bushmeat consumption and conserving wildlife.
1. Large carnivores are a critical component of Africa’s biodiversity, and their
conservation requires a clear understanding of interactions between large
carnivores and people.
2. By reviewing existing literature, we identify 14 key factors that influence large
African carnivore conservation, including ecological (biodiversity conservation,
interspecific competition, ranging behaviour, ecological resilience, prey availability,
livestock predation, disease and population viability), socio-economic (people’s
attitudes and behaviours and human costs and benefits of coexistence with
large carnivores) and political (conservation policy development and implementation,
conservation strategies and land use zoning) factors.
3. We present these key factors in a model illustrating the levels of impact on large
African carnivore conservation.
4. We identify the key principle that underpins each factor and its implications
for both large carnivore conservation and human–carnivore conflict.
5. We provide a synthesis of the key factors and related principles in large African
carnivore conservation and highlight the importance of the site-specific and
species-specific context in conservation policy and implementation, formulated
through an interdisciplinary and adaptive approach.
Seasonal fluctuations in water availability cause predictable changes in the profitability of habitats in tropical ecosystems, and animals evolve adaptive behavioural and spatial responses to these fluctuations. However, stochastic changes in the distribution and abundance of surface water between years can alter resource availability at a landscape scale, causing shifts in animal behaviour. In the Okavango Delta, Botswana, a flood-pulsed ecosystem, the volume of water entering the system doubled between 2008 and 2009, creating a sudden change in the landscape. We used African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) to test the hypotheses that seasonal habitat selection would be related to water availability, that increased floodwater levels would decrease forage abundance and affect habitat selection, and that this would decrease buffalo resting time, reduce reproductive success and decrease body condition. Buffalo selected contrasting seasonal habitats, using habitats far from permanent water during the rainy season and seasonally-flooded habitats close to permanent water during the early and late flood seasons. The 2009 water increase reduced forage availability in seasonally-flooded habitats, removing a resource buffer used by the buffalo during the late flood season, when resources were most limited. In response, buffalo used drier habitats in 2009, although there was no significant change in the time spent moving or resting, or daily distance moved. While their reproductive success decreased in 2009, body condition increased. A protracted period of high water levels could prove detrimental to herbivores, especially to smaller-bodied species that require high quality forage. Stochastic annual fluctuations in water levels, predicted to increase as a result of anthropogenically-induced climate change, are likely to have substantial impacts on the functioning of water-driven tropical ecosystems, affecting environmental conditions within protected areas. Buffer zones around critical seasonal resources are essential to allow animals to engage in compensatory behavioural and spatial mechanisms in response to changing environmental conditions.
Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programmes in Botswana were intended to create a wildlife conservation incentive by providing rural communities with tourism rights to wildlife—with limited effect. The 2007 CBNRM policy, increasing central control of CBNRM, is likely to further undermine communities' incentive to conserve wildlife. A complementary conservation corps is needed to create direct incentives to conserve wildlife and to reduce human-wildlife conflict. Responses to contingent behaviour questions indicate broad community support for such a programme and the availability of a suitable labour force willing to work at costs that can be financed from existing CBNRM revenues.
When subject to anthropogenic hunting risks, wildlife populations may adjust their anti-predator behaviour; however, such plastic response has rarely been assessed. We assessed the response of eight species (African elephant, Maasai giraffe, plains zebra, common wildebeest, Grant's gazelle, impala, Thomson's gazelle and Kirk's dik dik) towards human observers in a landscape with variable anthropogenic hunting pressure. Using logistic regressions, we tested the effect of habitat type, group size, distance to observer and conservation status of the area on the likelihood of animal behavioural adjustments (walking away, fleeing or giving alarm calls). Habitat type did not affect the likelihood of a response towards humans. Dik diks were less likely to respond towards human when they were in larger groups. In contrast, zebras and Thomson's gazelles were marginally significantly more likely to show a response when in larger groups. Responses of all species were significantly or marginally significantly (elephant) lower with increasing distance from observers (an increase by one meter distance changed the response likelihood by 0.01–0.30). Four species (zebra, wildebeest, impala, dik dik) showed a gradual adjustment of responsiveness according to conservation status and were most responsive in non-protected and least responsive in fully protected areas (0.02–0.29 times less responsive in fully vs. multiple-use areas). However, elephants, giraffes and both gazelle species did not significantly adjust their behaviour according to conservation status. This suggests that the behaviour of some species can be used as useful indicator of conservation status of an area whereas the behaviour of other species does not allow discriminating between management types. More generally, our study highlights the importance of assessing and controlling illegal hunting in multiple-use areas and suggests a stronger consideration of human-induced risk effects in the conservation of ungulates.
Large carnivores face serious threats and are experiencing massive declines in their populations and geographic ranges around
the world. We highlight how these threats have affected the conservation status and ecological functioning of the 31 largest
mammalian carnivores on Earth. Consistent with theory, empirical studies increasingly show that large carnivores have substantial
effects on the structure and function of diverse ecosystems. Significant cascading trophic interactions, mediated by their
prey or sympatric mesopredators, arise when some of these carnivores are extirpated from or repatriated to ecosystems. Unexpected
effects of trophic cascades on various taxa and processes include changes to bird, mammal, invertebrate, and herpetofauna
abundance or richness; subsidies to scavengers; altered disease dynamics; carbon sequestration; modified stream morphology;
and crop damage. Promoting tolerance and coexistence with large carnivores is a crucial societal challenge that will ultimately
determine the fate of Earth’s largest carnivores and all that depends upon them, including humans.
Top predators significantly impact ecosystem dynamics and act as important indicator species for ecosystem health. However, reliable density estimates for top predators, considered necessary for the development of management plans and ecosystem monitoring, are challenging to obtain. This study aims to establish baseline density estimates for two top predators, spotted hyena and lion, in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. Using calling stations, we surveyed free-ranging populations of the two species and investigated methodological variables that might influence results about distributions and densities, including habitat type, seasonality, and different types of playback sounds. Calling stations were distributed over a survey area of approximately 1,800 km2 characterized by three major habitat types: mopane woodland, floodplain and mixed acacia sandveld. Results indicate spotted hyenas were evenly distributed independent of habitat type and season throughout the survey area with an overall density estimate of 14.4 adults/100 km2. In contrast, lion distribution and density varied significantly with habitat and season. Lion density in the prey-poor mopane woodland was near zero, while in the comparatively prey-rich floodplains it was estimated at 23.1 individuals/100 km2 resulting in a weighted average density of 5.8 individuals/100 km2 across the entire study area. In testing the effect of varying playback sounds we found that both species were significantly more likely to respond to calls of conspecifics. Our results show how several methodological variables may influence density estimates and emphasize the importance of standardized calling-station survey methods to allow consistent replication of surveys and comparison of results that can be used for landscape-scale monitoring of large predator species.
Prey preferences of top carnivores in African ecosystems are well known, but far less is understood about the preferences of human hunters and the effects of their hunting activities. We interviewed 82 hunters living in Mpimbwe Division adjacent to Katavi National Park and Rukwa Game Reserve in western Tanzania. We compared stated preferences for different species of mammals with that reportedly hunted, and we used reportedly hunted species in Jacob's indices to examine proportional offtake of each species that would be expected as based on both encounters and density estimates of the wildlife species. Then, using general linear models, we tested whether the derived indices of preference were affected by the proportional density, habitat preference, and body mass of the mammalian prey species. We found that hunters would like to kill large mammals but, instead, hunt opportunistically when they cannot realize these preferences and so end up taking smaller species than would be expected. We found that a surprising amount of rarer species is taken in this ecosystem. Our study helps to unveil novel information that wildlife managers can use to predict what hunters take most from protected areas, and it highlights the importance of treating humans as apex predators in modern day Africa.
The bushmeat trade, or the illegal acquisition and exchange of wild meat, has long been recognised as a severe problem in forest biomes, but receives little attention in savannas, perhaps due to a misconception that bushmeat hunting is a low-impact subsistence activity. Though data on impacts are scarce, indications are that bushmeat hunting is a widespread problem in savannas, with severe impacts on wildlife populations and wildlife-based land uses. The impacts of the bushmeat trade in savannas vary from edge-effects around protected areas, to disproportionate declines of some species, to severe wildlife declines in areas with inadequate anti-poaching. In some areas, bushmeat contributes significantly to food security, but these benefits are unsustainable, and hunting is wasteful, utilising a fraction of the wildlife killed or of its financial value obtainable through tourism, trophy hunting and/or legal game meat production. The bushmeat trade appears to be becoming increasingly commercialised due to elevated demand in rural areas, urban centres and even overseas cities. Other drivers for the trade include human encroachment of wildlife areas; poverty and food insecurity; and inadequate legal frameworks to enable communities to benefit legally from wildlife, and to create incentives for people to desist from illegal bushmeat hunting. These drivers are exacerbated by inadequate wildlife laws and enforcement and in some areas, political instability. Urgent efforts are needed to address these drivers and raise awareness among local and international governments of the seriousness of the threat. Failure to address this will result in severe wildlife declines widely in African savannas, with significant ecological, economic and social impacts.
Bushmeat is an important resource in the livelihoods of many rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and may be a crucial safety-net for the most vulnerable households, especially during times of economic hardship. However, little is known about the impacts of wildlife depletion on these functions. This study quantifies the role of bushmeat in diversified rural household economies in a wildlife depleted forest-farm landscape in Ghana, assessing its importance overall, as well as differentiated by the relative vulnerability of households. Using repeat socioeconomic questionnaires (N=787) among 63 households over a one-year period, the following hypotheses were tested: (a) vulnerable households harvest more bushmeat; (b) bushmeat contributes a greater proportion of household production in vulnerable households; (c) bushmeat is more important for cash income than consumption in vulnerable households; and (d) bushmeat sales are more important for vulnerable households. The bushmeat harvest value averaged less than US$1.0 per day for 89% of households and comprised less than 7% of household production value. Household wealth and gender of the household head had little effect on the importance of bushmeat. However, bushmeat harvest and sales were highest during the agricultural lean season. Overall, most harvested bushmeat (64%) was consumed, enabling households to spend 30% less on meat/fish purchases. These findings suggest that, despite heavily depleted wildlife and diversified livelihoods, bushmeat continues to have an important role in rural livelihoods by acting as a safety net for income smoothing and reducing household expenditure during times of economic hardship.
Humans have hunted wildlife in Central Africa for millennia. Today, however,
many species are being rapidly extirpated and sanctuaries for wildlife are
dwindling. Almost all Central Africa’s forests are now accessible to hunters.
Drastic declines of large mammals have been caused in the past 20 years by
the commercial trade formeat or ivory.We reviewa growing body of empirical
data which shows that trophic webs are significantly disrupted in the region,
with knock-on effects for other ecological functions, including seed dispersal
and forest regeneration. Plausible scenarios for land-use change indicate that
increasing extraction pressure on Central African forests is likely to usher in
new worker populations and to intensify the hunting impacts and trophic cascade
disruption already in progress, unless serious efforts aremade for hunting
regulation. The profound ecological changes initiated by hunting will not mitigate
and may even exacerbate the predicted effects of climate change for the
region. We hypothesize that, in the near future, the trophic changes brought
about by hunting will have a larger and more rapid impact on Central African
rainforest structure and function than the direct impacts of climate change on
the vegetation. Immediate hunting regulation is vital for the survival of the
Central African rainforest ecosystem.
Human exploitation can have severe conservation implications for wildlife populations. In the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, illegal hunting is a serious concern for wildlife management, and in this study we investigated if density, demography and behaviour can be used as indicators of human exploitation. We used impala (Aepycerus melampus) as a model species to study human exploitation inside and outside a strictly protected area. Over a six month period, a total of 2050km of transects were driven in the different protected areas (National Park, Game Reserve, Open Area). Densities were estimated by using distance sampling and the partially protected areas were found to have significantly lower densities (4.3ind/km2) than the National Park (15.3ind/km2). A variation in density between different sections within the National Park was also found. However, we found no differences in group sizes. Moreover, the sex-ratio was more skewed towards females in the partially protected areas and in sections within the National Park close to villages. In addition, impalas showed higher alertness levels, and longer flight initiation distance to an approaching human in the partially protected areas compared to the National Park. The present harvest levels by illegal hunting in the study area are most likely the cause of the observed differences. Our results suggest that density, demography and behaviour can be used as indicators of human exploitation, but that this probably varies according to local hunting pressure. Furthermore, it could be expected that the results obtained in this study might reflect the state of other ungulates in the area, which raises concern whether management objectives for the buffer zones of Serengeti National Park are met.
While protected areas are a centrepiece of conservation, populations of animals in protected areas can still be subject to considerable human influence. Conservation theory suggests that many species should live at lower densities at the periphery of protected areas compared with the core area. Similarly, but more specifically, species subject to exploitation are expected to have lower densities in areas close to human settlements compared with more remote areas. Drawing upon distributional data of eight large African herbivore species (buffalo Syncerus caffer, elephant Loxodonta africana, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis, impala Aepyceros melampus, topi Damaliscus lunatus, warthog Phacochoerus africanus, waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus and zebra Equus quagga) sampled using ground surveys in 1995 and 1996, and seven large herbivore species (the same species without impala) sampled using aerial surveys from 1987 to 2009, we fitted logistic regression models and used an information theoretic model selection approach to test these two hypotheses in an East African savannah national park subject to illegal hunting from outside. In the vast majority of herbivore species, occupancy was not substantially affected by being close to the edge of the park or in close proximity to human villages. Furthermore, population declines witnessed in this protected area were not reflected in reduced occupancy near park boundaries. We conclude that assumed distributional differences between peripheral and core parts of reserves are not necessarily supported by empirical evidence, and that population declines within reserves do not inevitably proceed from boundaries inwards.
Bushmeat consumption and trade are major problems for wildlife conservation in East Africa. To evaluate recognized drivers of bushmeat consumption, we used structured interviews of 435 households in 11 villages within an ethnically diverse division in rural western Tanzania; the study included both indigenous people and an immigrant population that has moved into the area over the
last 40 years. We found that the number of wild animal carcasses reported to be entering villages was greater in villages situated
nearer to nationally protected areas. In the indigenous sample, bushmeat consumption was more common in richer than in poorer households, challenging ideas that increasing the availability of alternative protein would necessarily reduce consumption of
bushmeat. In the immigrant sample, we found the opposite pattern. We recommend that outreach programs be targeted at both
hunters and consumers living near protected area boundaries; that careful evaluations be made of whether wealthy or poor are eating bushmeat; and that protein supplementation be considered more cautiously in solving the problem of bushmeat demand. Our findings highlight complexities of implementing practical solutions to bushmeat consumption in Africa.
Read the Commentaries on this Feature Paper: To use tourism as a conservation tool, first study tourists ; The Big 5 and conservation
Response from the authors: Conservation marketing and education for less charismatic biodiversity and conservation businesses for sustainable development
The community-driven, decentralised approach to natural resource management has reached a crossroads. The good governance agenda in the water, forestry, fishery and biodiversity sectors has generated limited success in achieving pro-poor outcomes. In many cases, local elites are to blame for capturing the benefits from the process of democratising decision-making processes. This paper examines two approaches in the literature which both aim to address elite domination, namely elite exclusion and elite inclusion. The former is a deliberate act to reduce the influence of elites by excluding them from the decision-making process in natural resource management. The latter, in contrast, is a conscious strategy to integrate elites into the use of natural resources in an attempt to redistribute the benefits to poor people via the ‘trickle down’ effect. This paper argues that the dichotomy of elite inclusion and exclusion is inadequate in understanding the complex local power dynamics in natural resource management. In particular, the binary division fails to address the multiple locations of elites, overlapping institutions and the paradoxes of ‘controlled’ participatory processes. This paper argues that any strategies to tackle elite capture need to pay attention to the historical, socially embedded and negotiated nature of resource governance arrangements.
Lethal carnivore management, aimed at reducing carnivore impacts, is a global phenomenon threatening the persistence of many carnivores. Black‐backed jackals Canis mesomelas , the dominant cause of livestock predation in southern Africa, are widely hunted to reduce livestock predation. Despite centuries of lethal management, jackals persist. Smaller canids, like jackals, are highly adaptable and display variable responses to mortality sources, which may affect management outcomes.
The effects of killing carnivores will depend on their behaviour, social organization, reproduction and dispersal patterns. We predicted that hunted jackals will alter demographic and reproductive patterns to compensate for increased mortality. Here, we collected demographic and reproductive information from harvested jackals and compared it between continually hunted (farms) and unmanaged populations (reserves).
The removal of jackals from farms results in a decrease in median age from 5–6 years (reserves) to 2–3 years (farms). Hunting also changed the age structure of jackal populations from a stable population to an expanding population. This may be ascribed to the compensatory immigration of individuals from neighbouring unmanaged areas, suggesting the formation of a source–sink system. Unmanaged areas may act as source populations exporting young, dispersing individuals to hunted areas which may act as sinks. This is likely driven by disruptions in the normal, mutually exclusive territorial system resulting in low densities of conspecifics on farms.
The low density of conspecifics allows younger individuals that would be socially precluded from reproducing to reproduce. Jackals on farms compensated for increased mortality by increasing the pregnancy rate of young individuals and increasing the litter size at younger ages, thereby increasing reproductive output.
Synthesis and applications . The lethal management of predators is the prevailing strategy to reduce livestock predation. However, the highly adaptable nature of jackals and the combination of compensatory mechanisms such as increased reproduction and potential for immigration allow these predators to persist in the face of severe anthropogenic mortality, possibly through the formation of a source–sink system. These compensatory processes will continue to counter population management actions as long as recruitment from unmanaged areas persists.
Simple models coupling the dynamics of single predators to single prey populations tend to generate oscillatory dynamics of both predator and prey, or extirpation of the prey followed by that of the predator. In reality, such oscillatory dynamics may be counteracted by prey refugia or by opportunities for prey switching by the predator in multi‐prey assemblages. How these mechanisms operate depends on relative prey vulnerability, a factor ignored in simple interactive models. I outline how compositional, temporal, demographic and spatial heterogeneities help explain the contrasting effects of top predators on large herbivore abundance and population dynamics in species‐rich African savanna ecosystems compared with less species‐diverse northern temperate or subarctic ecosystems. Demographically, mortality inflicted by predation depends on the relative size and life history stage of the prey. Because all animals eventually die and are consumed by various carnivores, the additive component of the mortality inflicted is somewhat less than the predation rate. Prey vulnerability varies annually and seasonally, and between day and night. Spatial variation in the risk of predation depends on vegetation cover as well as on the availability of food resources. During times of food shortage, herbivores become prompted to occupy more risky habitats retaining more food. Predator concentrations dependent on the abundance of primary prey species may restrict the occurrence of other potential prey species less resistant to predation. The presence of multiple herbivore species of similar size in African savannas allows the top predator, the lion, to shift its prey selection flexibly dependent on changing prey vulnerability. Hence top–down and bottom–up influences on herbivore populations are intrinsically entangled. Models coupling the population dynamics of predators and prey need to accommodate the changing influences of prey demography, temporal variation in environmental conditions, and spatial variation in the relative vulnerability of alternative prey species to predation.
Synthesis
While re‐established predators have had major impacts on prey populations in northern temperate regions, multiple large herbivore species typically coexist along with diverse carnivores in African savanna ecosystems. In order to explain these contrasting outcomes, certain functional heterogeneities must be recognised, including relative vulnerability of alternative prey, temporal variation in the risk of predation, demographic differences in susceptibility to predation, and spatial contrasts in exposure to predation. Food shortfalls prompt herbivores to exploit more risky habitats, meaning that top–down and bottom–up influences on prey populations are intrinsically entangled. Models coupling the interactive dynamics of predator and prey populations need to incorporate these varying influences on relative prey vulnerability.
1. Conflict between people and large carnivores is an urgent conservation issue world‐wide. Understanding the underlying ecological drivers of livestock depredation by large carnivores is greatly needed.
2. We studied the spatial, foraging and behavioural ecology of African lions Panthera leo in the Botswana Makgadikgadi ecosystem. This ecosystem comprises a protected area, characterized by high seasonal fluctuation in wild prey abundance, and adjacent lands, which are used for livestock grazing and characterized by stable livestock abundance, but also a risk of anthropogenic mortality.
3. Makgadikgadi lions preferentially preyed upon migratory wild herbivores when they were present; however, data from GPS (Global Positioning System) radiocollared lions revealed that the majority of the study lions did not follow the migratory herds but remained resident at one or other border of the park and switched to livestock (abundant and readily available), and to a lesser extent resident wild herbivores (relatively scarce), in periods of migratory wild herbivore scarcity.
4. Resident lions’ use of space differed between periods of wild prey abundance and scarcity. These changes were likely to increase the frequency of encounter with their primary prey in periods of primary prey abundance and with livestock in periods of primary prey scarcity.
5. The risk of conflict with humans was a major driver of lion ecology in the human‐dominated landscape surrounding the protected area. Resident lions generally avoided the close vicinity of cattle‐posts. When they used such areas, they avoided temporal overlap with periods that humans were most active and travelled at high speed reducing the time spent in these areas.
6. Synthesis and applications. This study suggests that lions balance the benefits of accessing livestock with the costs associated with livestock raiding. Hence, reduction in livestock availability through effective livestock husbandry in periods of wild prey scarcity should lead to reduced conflict.
[1] Historically, ungulate migrations occurred in most grassland and boreal woodland ecosystems, but many have been lost due to increasing habitat loss and fragmentation. With the rate of environmental change increasing, identifying and prioritizing migration routes for conservation has taken on a new urgency. Understanding the cues that drive long-distance animal movements is critical to predicting the fate of migrations under different environmental change scenarios and how large migratory herbivores will respond to increasing resource heterogeneity and anthropogenic influences. We used an individual-based modeling approach to investigate the influence of environmental conditions, monitored using satellite data, on departure date and movement speed of migrating zebras in Botswana. Daily zebra movements between dry and rainy season ranges were annotated with coincident observations of precipitation from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission data set and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). An array of increasingly complex movement models representing alternative hypotheses regarding the environmental cues and controls for movement was parameterized and tested. The best and most justified model predicted daily zebra movement as two linear functions of precipitation rate and NDVI and included a modeled departure date as a function of cumulative precipitation. The model was highly successful at replicating both the timing and pace of seven actual migrations observed using GPS telemetry (R2 = 0.914). It shows how zebras rapidly adjust their movement to changing environmental conditions during migration and are able to reverse migration to avoid adverse conditions or exploit renewed resource availability, a nomadic behavior which should lend them a degree of resilience to climate and environmental change. Our results demonstrate how competing individual-based migration models, informed by freely available satellite data, can be used to evaluate the weight of evidence for multiple hypotheses regarding the use of environmental cues in animal movement. This modeling framework can be applied to quantify how animals adapt the timing and pace of their movements to prevailing environmental conditions and to forecast migrations in near real time or under alternative environmental scenarios.
Africa's wildlife and in particular its elephants and rhinos are being decimated in greater numbers each year. In response to illegal hunting, African militaries, paramilitaries, and private entities have resorted to coercive and violent shoot-to-kill policies in and around many protected areas around Africa. The discursive frame of anti-poaching blurs the distinctions between legal and illegal hunting to justify a “war on poachers” to save wildlife, a trend similar to the strategies that East African countries used in the early 1980s. This paper discusses the underlying ethical, moral, and political justifications for and against coercive anti-poaching and how these are embedded in Botswana’s anti-poaching strategy. Anti-poaching has been one of the central missions of the Botswana Defense Force since 1988, made possible because of the embeddedness of Botswana’s developmental patrimonial state. The role of an informal network of local wildlife conservationists, along with regional security threats, created the conditions for involving the military in anti-poaching. The patterns of civil-military relations shaped by the dominant coalition under President Khama have provided the political space for a long-term commitment of its military to anti-poaching. Botswana’s military anti-poaching is an instructive case for other African countries whose wildlife is under threat from armed criminal networks and gangs, but also points to limitations for addressing a local bushmeat crisis through coercive and violent conservation strategies.
Sex differences in African wild dog dispersal behaviour have been described variously as strongly female biased to unbiased. Dispersal from natal home ranges to reproductive home ranges was recorded over 5 years from eight study packs in a free-ranging population of wild dogs in northern Botswana. Analysis of sex differences in natal dispersal was based on (1) age of natal dispersers, (2) dispersing group size, and (3) natal dispersal distance. Dispersal distance was measured by (i) the distance between arithmetic centres of range locations, (ii) spatial association of reproductive and natal home ranges (contiguous versus disjunct), and (iii) pair-wise comparison of dispersal distances between males and females establishing a reproductive home range together. Males in this population dispersed later, in larger groups and further than females. These results contrast with earlier reports for wild dogs and show that females are the more spatially philopatric sex. This pattern of sex-biased dispersal is evaluated in relation to two current, alternative but not mutually exclusive hypotheses: inbreeding avoidance and competition for mating opportunities. All wild dogs of both sexes emigrated when in the presence of their opposite sex parent. Despite frequent opportunities, no dogs mated with close relatives (r≥0.5). The consequences of sex-biased dispersal in wild dogs are consistent with both hypotheses, but the competition for mating opportunities hypothesis is supported only within the context of dispersal behaviour indicative of close inbreeding avoidance.
Many surveys of the U.S. household population are experiencing higher refusal rates. Nonresponse can, but need not, induce
nonresponse bias in survey estimates. Recent empirical findings illustrate cases when the linkage between nonresponse rates
and nonresponse biases is absent. Despite this, professional standards continue to urge high response rates. Statistical expressions
of nonresponse bias can be translated into causal models to guide hypotheses about when nonresponse causes bias. Alternative
designs to measure nonresponse bias exist, providing different but incomplete information about the nature of the bias. A
synthesis of research studies estimating nonresponse bias shows the bias often present. A logical question at this moment
in history is what advantage probability sample surveys have if they suffer from high nonresponse rates. Since postsurvey
adjustment for nonresponse requires auxiliary variables, the answer depends on the nature of the design and the quality of
the auxiliary variables.
Botswana has adopted a high-value, low-volume tourism strategy in a bid to minimize negative environmental impacts on pristine wildlife areas while maximizing socioeconomic benefits. This implies sustainable development/tourism. While conservation of biological diversity appears to be on course, visitation and hence revenue has remained stunted in most parks and reserves. Moreover, the high-value, low-volume tourism strategy appears to have contributed towards enclave tourism, with a large foreign ownership of tour operator companies and repatriation of profits from Botswana. This compromises yet another principle of sustainability, social equity. It would appear that the high-value, low-volume tourism strategy is antisustainability and hence not suitable for a developing country like Botswana with a large rural population that is still highly dependent on natural resources. This article utilizes secondary data to evaluate the effectiveness of the high-value, low-volume strategy in achieving sustainable tourism development in Botswana.