Abstract
Sustainability of wildlife harvests is critical but difficult to assess. Evaluations of sustainability typically combine modelling with the measurement of underlying abundances. For many taxa harvested in developing countries, however, abundances are near-impossible to survey and a lack of detailed ecological information impedes the reliability of models. In such cases, repeated surveys of the attributes of harvested individuals may provide more robust information on sustainability. If the numbers, sizes and other demographic attributes of animals taken for the commercial trade do not change over biologically significant time intervals (decades), there is a prima facie case that the harvest is indeed sustainable. Here, we report the results of examinations of > 4,200 reticulated pythons (Python reticulatus) taken for the commercial leather industry in northern and southern Sumatra, Indonesia. The numbers, mean body sizes, clutch sizes, sizes at maturity and proportion of giant specimens have not decreased between our first surveys (1995) and repeat surveys (2015). Thus, despite assumptions to the contrary, the harvest appears to be sustainable. We use our data to inform the design of future monitoring programs for this species. Our study underpins the need for robust science to inform wildlife trade policy and decision-making, and urges wildlife managers to assess sustainability of difficult-to-survey terrestrial wildlife by drawing inferences directly from the harvest itself.
Highlights
Most people agree that levels of commercial exploitation of natural resources should be controlled so as to be ecologically sustainable over long time periods [1]
Enormous effort has been dedicated to achieving this goal for a range of taxa, and sustainability has become a cornerstone criterion for modern conservation biology [2,3]
Study sites and general protocols. In both northern and southern Sumatra, Indonesia, reticulated pythons are captured in the wild and brought to local processing facilities to be killed and skinned
Summary
Most people agree that levels of commercial exploitation of natural resources should be controlled so as to be ecologically sustainable over long time periods [1]. Enormous effort has been dedicated to achieving this goal for a range of taxa, and sustainability has become a cornerstone criterion for modern conservation biology [2,3]. This goal has been difficult to achieve, commonly because of difficulties in striking a balance between the intrinsic biological value of a resource, and the economic benefits that can be derived from it [4,5]. One fundamental problem is the challenge of identifying what level of harvest is sustainable. Many wildlife taxa that are intensively harvested are poorly known
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