Abstract
Recent studies indicate that trophy hunting is impacting negatively on some lion populations, notably in Tanzania. In 2004 there was a proposal to list lions on CITES Appendix I and in 2011 animal-welfare groups petitioned the United States government to list lions as endangered under their Endangered Species Act. Such listings would likely curtail the trophy hunting of lions by limiting the import of lion trophies. Concurrent efforts are underway to encourage the European Union to ban lion trophy imports. We assessed the significance of lions to the financial viability of trophy hunting across five countries to help determine the financial impact and advisability of the proposed trade restrictions. Lion hunts attract the highest mean prices (US$24,000–US$71,000) of all trophy species. Lions generate 5–17% of gross trophy hunting income on national levels, the proportional significance highest in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. If lion hunting was effectively precluded, trophy hunting could potentially become financially unviable across at least 59,538 km2 that could result in a concomitant loss of habitat. However, the loss of lion hunting could have other potentially broader negative impacts including reduction of competitiveness of wildlife-based land uses relative to ecologically unfavourable alternatives. Restrictions on lion hunting may also reduce tolerance for the species among communities where local people benefit from trophy hunting, and may reduce funds available for anti-poaching. If lion off-takes were reduced to recommended maximums (0.5/1000 km2), the loss of viability and reduction in profitability would be much lower than if lion hunting was stopped altogether (7,005 km2). We recommend that interventions focus on reducing off-takes to sustainable levels, implementing age-based regulations and improving governance of trophy hunting. Such measures could ensure sustainability, while retaining incentives for the conservation of lions and their habitat from hunting.
Highlights
There is increasing scrutiny on the conservation status of African lions Panthera leo
The key species that generate the largest proportion of trophy hunting income are: elephants in Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe, buffaloes in Tanzania, and sable antelopes Hippotragus niger in Zambia (Table 4)
Mean percentage of overall income that comes from lions is highest in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia (Table 4)
Summary
There is increasing scrutiny on the conservation status of African lions Panthera leo. Concerns over the impacts of trophy hunting prompted a proposal that lions be listed on CITES Appendix I at the 13th conference of the parties [5]. In theory, such a listing would not necessarily prevent hunting of lions if provision was made under the convention for trophy quotas of the species (as was granted for some leopard Panthera pardus and elephant Loxodonta africana populations). In practice, there is a chance that the US and other importing countries would introduce stricter domestic measures to limit lion trophy imports if the species was listed on CITES Appendix I [6]. Excessive off-takes from trophy hunting lowered population density of lions, and altered sex-ratios and ranging behaviour of lions in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe [8,9], South Luangwa National Park, Zambia [10], and the Benoue
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