Determinants of Distribution Patterns and Management Needs in a Critically Endangered Lion Panthera leo Population

Philipp Henschel,Hugh S Robinson,Clement Sewadé,Lisanne S Petracca,Aristide Tehou,Martial Kiki,Luke T B Hunter

doi:10.3389/fevo.2016.00110

Abstract

The lion Panthera leo is Critically Endangered in West Africa and is known to occupy only four protected areas within the region. The largest population persists in the trans-boundary W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) ecosystem, in the border region of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. WAP harbors an estimated 350 individuals, or 90% of West Africa’s lions. We modeled lion occupancy across WAP using systematic, vehicle-based spoor counts to assess how landscape variables related to biotic factors, management and human impact influence lion distribution across WAP. We surveyed 1110 km of roads across WAP in 2012, obtaining 79 lion detections in 32 of our 167 15 x 15 km sampling units (naive occupancy = 0.41). Overall occupancy (Ψ) was 0.71 (95% SE = 0.56-0.83) when accounting for imperfect detection (p = 0.22, 95% SE = 0.18-0.27). The best predictors of lion occupancy were numbers of permanent protected area staff and mean monthly dry season precipitation. Model-averaged estimates suggest greatest lion occupancy in the Arly and Pendjari management blocks, with lowest occupancy in the tri-national W National Park. Our results suggest that lions in WAP are equally limited by management and biotic factors, and demonstrate how unevenly distributed protection effort limits the distribution of an apex predator across a protected landscape. We strongly recommend increased funding and better protection to increase lion occupancy in WAP, most urgently in the W National Park.

Highlights

The lion Panthera leo is Critically Endangered in West Africa (Bauer et al, 2015a: Henschel et al, 2015)
Recent molecular analyses add to the urgency of saving the remaining populations, as lions in West Africa are geographically isolated from neighboring populations in Central Africa and form a separate evolutionary unit within the sub-species Panthera leo leo Determinants of Lion Distribution
Our results suggest that lions in W-Arly-Pendjari are limited by management and biotic factors, as evidenced by patrol staff numbers and monthly precipitation having the greatest influence on lion occupancy across the study area

Summary

Introduction

The lion Panthera leo is Critically Endangered in West Africa (Bauer et al, 2015a: Henschel et al, 2015). Recent molecular analyses add to the urgency of saving the remaining populations, as lions in West Africa are geographically isolated from neighboring populations in Central Africa and form a separate evolutionary unit within the sub-species Panthera leo leo Determinants of Lion Distribution (see Bauer et al, 2015b). This sub-species consists of three genetically distinct and geographically clustered populations in Central Africa, West Africa and Asia (Barnett et al, 2014; Bertola et al, 2015). The West African population represents the smallest and most imperiled evolutionary unit within Panthera l. leo

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