Hunting Rates Research Articles

How does increasing mast seeding frequency affect population dynamics of seed consumers? Wild boar as a case study.

Mast seeding in temperate oak populations shapes the dynamics of seed consumers and numerous communities. Mast seeding responds positively to warm spring temperatures and is therefore expected to increase under global warming. We investigated the potential effects of changes in oak mast seeding on wild boar population dynamics, a widespread and abundant consumer species. Using long-term monitoring data, we showed that abundant acorn production enhances the proportion of breeding females. With a body-mass-structured population model and a fixed hunting rate of 0.424, we showed that high acorn production over time would lead to an average wild boar population growth rate of 1.197 whereas non-acorn production would lead to a stable population. Finally, using climate projections and a mechanistic model linking weather data to oak reproduction, we predicted that mast seeding frequency might increase over the next century, which would lead to increase in both wild boar population size and the magnitude of its temporal variation. Our study provides rare evidence that some species could greatly benefit from global warming thanks to higher food availability and therefore highlights the importance of investigating the cascading effects of changing weather conditions on the dynamics of wild animal populations to reliably assess the effects of climate change.

Multiautonomous underwater vehicle consistent collaborative hunting method based on generative adversarial network

The time-varying ocean currents and the delay of underwater acoustic communication have caused the uncertainty of single autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) tracking target and the inconsistency of multi-AUV coordination, which make it difficult for multiple AUVs to form a hunting alliance. To solve the above problems, this article proposes the multi-AUV consistent collaborative hunting method based on generative adversarial network (GAN). Firstly, the three-dimensional (3D) kinematic model of AUV is established for the underwater 3D environment. Secondly, combined with the Laplacian matrix, the topology of the hunting alliance in the ideal environment is established, and the control rate of AUV is calculated. Finally, using the GAN network model, the control relationship after environmental interference is used as the input of the generative model. The control rate in the ideal environment is used as the comparison object of the discriminative model. Using the iterative training of GAN to generate a control rate that adapts to the current interference environment and combining multi-AUV topological hunting model to achieve successful hunting of noncooperative target, the experimental results show that the algorithm reduces the average hunting time to 62.53 s and the success rate of hunting is increased to 84.69%, which is 1.17% higher than the particle swarm optimization-constant modulus algorithm (PSO-CMA) algorithm.

Jaguar hunting in Amazonian extractive reserves: acceptance and prevalence

SummaryHunting is a major threat to the endangered jaguar in Brazil. Effective interventions for jaguar conservation demand a better understanding of the prevalence and motivations for hunting. In this study, I investigate the prevalence of jaguar hunting and the potential factors driving the acceptance of this behaviour among residents of two extractive reserves in the eastern Brazilian Amazonia. Between September and October 2013, I surveyed 134 households to assess people’s acceptance of jaguar hunting and potential predictors of acceptance using multiple-item rating scales. To estimate the prevalence of jaguar hunting, I used direct questioning and the randomized response technique. Acceptance of jaguar hunting was neutral to slightly positive on average, being related negatively to educational level and to people’s perceptions of risk of suffering sanctions for hunting a jaguar and related positively to perception of jaguars as a threat to humans. The prevalence rates of jaguar hunting among surveyed households were 9% and 23% according to direct questioning and the randomized response technique, respectively. The results suggest that investments in education and law enforcement may help decrease local support for jaguar hunting in the study area.

Bushmeat biogeochemistry: hunting tropical mammals alters ecosystem phosphorus budgets.

Wild meat (or 'bushmeat') hunting is nearly ubiquitous across the tropics and is very often unsustainable-driving declines and extirpation of numerous mammal populations. Loss of these animals can alter the transport of nutrients within and between ecosystems. But whether the physical removal of vertebrate carcasses and the nutrients that they store can reduce overall nutrient availability in ecosystems has been little explored. At 32 sites on three continents, we show that annual phosphorus (P) loss via mammal exploitation was low relative to the rate of atmospheric P deposition. But at four sites in Africa and Southeast Asia, removal of P in the skeletons of hunted mammals exceeded the atmospheric input of this nutrient by 10-fold or more. Because P is the growth-limiting nutrient for many tropical terrestrial ecosystems and certain large mammals, the imbalance created by the removal of mammal biomass under very high hunting scenarios could reduce ecosystem carrying capacity if no compensatory P additions occur in the system. This biogeochemical perspective on bushmeat exploitation raises further concerns about harvest sustainability and human food security in areas where hunting rates are high and ecosystem P inputs low.

Population viability and harvest sustainability for Madagascar lemurs.

Subsistence hunting presents a conservation challenge by which biodiversity preservation must be balanced with safeguarding of human livelihoods. Globally, subsistence hunting threatens primate populations, including Madagascar's endemic lemurs. We used population viability analysis to assess the sustainability of lemur hunting in Makira Natural Park, Madagascar. We identified trends in seasonal hunting of 11 Makira lemur species from household interview data, estimated local lemur densities in populations adjacent to focal villages via transect surveys, and quantified extinction vulnerability for these populations based on species-specific demographic parameters and empirically derived hunting rates. We compared stage-based Lefkovitch with periodic Leslie matrices to evaluate the impact of regional dispersal on persistence trajectories and explored the consequences of perturbations to the timing of peak hunting relative to the lemur birth pulse, under assumptions of density-dependent reproductive compensation. Lemur hunting peaked during the fruit-abundant wet season (March-June). Estimated local lemur densities were roughly inverse to body size across our study area. Life-history modeling indicated that hunting most severely threatened the species with the largest bodies (i.e., Hapalemur occidentalis, Avahi laniger, Daubentonia madagascariensis, and Indri indi), characterized by late-age reproductive onsets and long interbirth intervals. In model simulations, lemur dispersal within a regional metapopulation buffered extinction threats when a majority of local sites supported growth rates above the replacement level but drove regional extirpations when most local sites were overharvested. Hunt simulations were most detrimental when timed to overlap lemur births (a reality for D. madagascariensis and I. indri). In sum, Makira lemurs were overharvested. Regional extirpations, which may contribute to broad-scale extinctions, will be likely if current hunting rates persist. Cessation of anthropogenic lemur harvest is a conservation priority, and development programs are needed to help communities switch from wildlife consumption to domestic protein alternatives.

Hunters and hunting across indigenous and colonist communities at the forest-agriculture interface: an ethnozoological study from the Peruvian Amazon

BackgroundWildlife has been traditionally used by forest communities as a source of protein, and the Peruvian Amazon is no exception. The articulation of colonist and indigenous communities to urban centers and markets results in changes in livelihood strategies and impacts on wildlife populations. To address the threat of overhunting and forest conversion, we provide a generalized characterization of colonist and indigenous communities and their hunting activities near Pucallpa, Ucayali, Peru.MethodsA semi-structured household survey was conducted to characterize hunters and describe their prey collections. The data were analyzed by conducting a Kruskal-Wallis test, a multiple regression analysis, and by estimating the harvest rate (H).ResultsLess wealthy households were more actively engaged in hunting for food security and as a livelihood strategy. Additionally, older hunters were associated with higher hunting rates. Although the percentage of hunters was relatively low, estimated hunting rates suggest overharvesting of wildlife. Lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) were the most frequently hunted prey, followed by red brocket deer (Mazama americana) and primates. While hunting intensity was not significantly different between indigenous and colonist communities, hunting rate disparities suggest there are different types of hunters (specialized vs. opportunistic) and that prey composition differs between communities.ConclusionClose monitoring of wildlife populations and hunting activities is ideal for more accurately determining the impact of hunting on wildlife population and in turn on forest health. In lack of this type of information, this study provides insight of hunting as a shifting livelihood strategy in a rapidly changing environment at the forest/agriculture frontier.

Traps and transformations influencing the financial viability of tourism on private-land conservation areas.

The ability of private conservation organizations to remain financially viable is a key factor influencing their effectiveness. One-third of financially motivated private-land conservation areas (PLCAs) surveyed in South Africa are unprofitable, raising questions about landowners' abilities to effectively adapt their business models to the socioeconomic environment. In any complex system, options for later adaptation can be constrained by starting conditions (path dependence). We tested 3 hypothesized drivers of path dependence in PLCA ecotourism and hunting business models: (H1) the initial size of a PLCA limits the number of mammalian game and thereby predators that can be sustained; (H2) initial investments in infrastructure limit the ability to introduce predators; and (H3) rainfall limits game and predator abundance. We further assessed how managing for financial stability (optimized game stocking) or ecological sustainability (allowing game to fluctuate with environmental conditions) influenced the ability to overcome path dependence. A mechanistic PLCA model based on simple ecological and financial rules was run for different initial conditions and management strategies, simulating landowner options for adapting their business model annually. Despite attempts by simulated landowners to increase profits, adopted business models after 13 years were differentiated by initial land and infrastructural assets, supporting H1 and H2. A conservation organization's initial assets can cause it to become locked into a financially vulnerable business model. In our 50-year simulation, path dependence was overcome by fewer of the landowners who facilitated natural ecological variability than those who maintained constant hunting rates and predator numbers, but the latter experienced unsustainably high game densities in low rainfall years. Management for natural variability supported long-term ecological sustainability but not shorter term socioeconomic sustainability for PLCAs. Our findings highlight trade-offs between ecological and economic sustainability and suggest a role for governmental support of the private conservation industry.

Poaching regulates the legally hunted wolf population in Finland

Poaching may threaten population viability and can occur in both non-harvested and legally harvested populations. Telemetry facilitates the determination of the fates of individual animals, and the resultant mortality scenarios can be used to evaluate the role of poaching in population changes. Finland's legally hunted wolf (Canis lupus) population fluctuated between 100 and 300 animals during 1998–2016, and this cannot be explained by the rates of legal hunting and other known mortalities alone. We examined the role of poaching in wolf population changes. We created different scenarios based on multi-source information on poaching among 130 collared wolves. Poaching has been the primary cause of death followed by legal hunting. We calculated the survival rate and cause-specific mortality risk; wolves whose fates were unknown were censored. As one of the event alternatives (unknown fate or known mortality cause), censoring was related to social status; breeding adults were more often poached, whereas dispersers were censored. We created two sets of scenarios based on the censoring procedure (random and non-random), and for both sets, we created 4 scenarios ranging from high to no poaching based on decreasing confidence in the data. Annual survival ranged from 0.11–0.24 (high poaching scenario) to 0.43–0.60 (no poaching); survival dropped in mid-winter. The poaching rate varied between years from less than 0.09–0.13 up to 0.31–0.43. We consider poaching to be a regulatory factor; it focused on breeding adults and seemed to escalate as a response to increased population size. We conclude that tolerance for carnivores cannot be promoted by legal hunting alone, so more comprehensive conservation efforts are needed.

Predation by female chimpanzees: Toward an understanding of sex differences in meat acquisition in the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo

Among modern foraging societies, men hunt more than women, who mostly target relatively low-quality, reliable resources (i.e., plants). This difference has long been assumed to reflect human female reproductive constraints, particularly caring for and provisioning mates and offspring. Long-term studies of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) enable tests of hypotheses about the possible origins of human sex differences in hunting, prior to pair-bonding and regular provisioning. We studied two eastern chimpanzee communities (Kasekela, Mitumba) in Gombe, Tanzania and one (Kanyawara) in Kibale, Uganda. Relative to males, females had low hunting rates in all three communities, even where they encountered red colobus monkeys (the primary prey of chimpanzees) as often as males did. There was no evidence that clinging offspring hampered female hunting. Instead, consistent with the hypothesis that females should be more risk-averse than males, females at all three sites specialized in low-cost prey (terrestrial/sedentary prey at Gombe; black and white colobus monkeys at Kanyawara). Female dominance rank was positively correlated with red colobus hunting probability only at Kasekela, suggesting that those in good physical condition were less sensitive to the costs of possible failure. Finally, the potential for carcass appropriation by males deterred females at Kasekela (but not Kanyawara or Mitumba) from hunting in parties containing many adult males. Although chimpanzees are not direct analogs of the last common ancestor (LCA) of Pan and Homo, these results suggest that before the emergence of social obligations regarding sharing and provisioning, constraints on hunting by LCA females did not necessarily stem from maternal care. Instead, they suggest that a risk-averse foraging strategy and the potential for losing prey to males limited female predation on vertebrates. Sex differences in hunting behavior would likely have preceded the evolution of the sexual division of labor among modern humans.

EVALUATION OF THE MANAGEMENT OF BROWN HARE POPULATION IN VOJVODINA REGION FOR THE PERIOD 1967-2011

Every year during the past 45 years (1967–2011), hunting organizations have been sending eye lenses (lens cristallina) to the Laboratory for hunting of the hunting association of Vojvodina for testing and analysis of the percentage of young hares in a micro population to establish the real growth rate. Th ese two parameters combined with the number of hares in spring and cull rate from last year were suffi cient to provide hunting organizations with precise information about hunting dynamics and rate of hunting in current hunting season. At the beginning, (in 1967), only 20%of hunting organizations submitted the samples, but ten years aft er the first sample had been collected, the percentage has gradually increased to 30% in 1977 Since then, the percentage of hunting organizations that were sending samples increased to 45% in 1987, 60% in 1997, and 70 % in 2007 with a maximum of 77% percentage in 2008. Th roughout the research period of 45 years, the total number of examined and processed eye lenses was 363,380. Out of 8,727 samples approximately 8,075 eye lenses were processed yearly. A small number of hunting organizations which didn’t send any samples haven’t been hunting brown hare in their hunting grounds during these years. During this research, several conclusions were made: the percentage of young hares in populations varies from 38% in 2010 to 70.3% in 1994. Th e average percentage for period of 45 years was 58.4% of young hares in a population. According to the research, the coeffi cient of real growth was 1.58 young hare per female hare. The minimum was 1.13 in 2010, and the maximum was 2.33 in 1994. Th ese analyses provided the actual information about stability and health of hare populations and enable a sustainable longterm planning of these game species.

Investigating Rates of Hunting and Survival in Declining European Lapwing Populations.

Understanding effects of harvest on population dynamics is of major interest, especially for declining species. European lapwing Vanellus vanellus populations increased from the 1960s until the 1980s and declined strongly thereafter. About 400,000 lapwings are harvested annually and it is thus of high conservation relevance to assess whether hunting was a main cause for the observed changes in lapwing population trends. We developed a multi-event cause-specific mortality model which we applied to a long-term ring-recovery data set (1960–2010) of > 360,000 records to estimate survival and cause-specific mortalities. We found no temporal change in survival over the last 50 years for first-year (FY) and older birds (after first-year; AFY) originating from different ringing areas. Mean survival was high, around 0.60 and 0.80 for FY and AFY individuals, respectively. The proportion of total mortality due to hunting was <0.10 over the study period and the estimated proportion of harvested individuals (kill rate) was <0.05 in each year. Our result of constant survival indicates that demographic processes other than survival were responsible for the pronounced change in lapwing population trends in the 1980s. Our findings lend support to the hypothesis that hunting was not a significant contributor to the large-scale decline of lapwing populations. To halt the ongoing decline of European lapwing populations management should focus on life history stages other than survival (e.g. productivity). Further analyses are required to investigate the contribution of other demographic rates to the decline of lapwings and to identify the most efficient conservation actions.

Mapping Bushmeat Hunting Pressure in Central Africa

AbstractHunting and trade of wild animals for their meat (bushmeat), especially mammals, is commonplace in tropical forests worldwide. In West and Central Africa, bushmeat extraction has increased substantially during recent decades. Currently, such levels of hunting pose a major threat to native wildlife. In this paper, we compiled published data on hunting offtake of mammals, from a number of studies conducted between 1990 and 2007 in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of Congo. From these data sources, we estimated annual extraction rates of all hunted species and analyzed the relationship between environmental and anthropogenic variables surrounding each hunting rate and levels of bushmeat extraction. We defined hunting pressure as a function of bushmeat offtake and number of hunted species and confirm that hunting pressure is significantly correlated with road density, distance to protected areas and population density. These correlations are then used to map hunting pressure across the Congo Basin. We show that predicted risk areas show a patchy distribution throughout the study region and that many protected areas are located in high‐risk areas. We suggest that such a map can be used to identify areas of greatest impact of hunting to guide large‐scale conservation planning initiatives for central Africa.

Rabies in Lublin Voivodeship: Effectiveness of prophylactic vaccination of free-living foxes and its impact on wild animal population in the last decade

The aim of the study was to evaluate the epizootic situation of rabies in Lublin Voivodeship in a ten-year period (2005-2014) of a prophylactic vaccination of foxes, against the background of the population dynamics of the species, which is the primary vector of the virus. In addition, an evaluation of the effectiveness and costs of preventive measures was carried out. During the assessment period, despite a fluctuating distribution of the virus occurrence in wild and domestic animals, there was a relative stabilization in the number of reported rabies cases. As in previous years, the primary reservoir of the virus were wild foxes and, among domestic animals, dogs and cats. Most cases in this region were found near the national border, which is due to the lack of preventive measures in Ukraine and Belarus, as well as migrations of animals. During the ten years of the study, the density of free-living fox population and the hunting rates were high. The results, showing high rates of vaccine ingestion by foxes and a high fox population density, confirm the effectiveness of vaccination, which in turn resulted in increased predation and further decrease in the main species of small animals, which has continued for several years. An economic analysis of preventive measures against rabies indicates that the cost of preventive vaccination increased each year, and consisted mostly of the cost of the vaccine..

A Geo-Aware Taxi Carrying Management System by Using Location Based Services and Zone Queuing Techniques on Internet of Things

Taxi plays a crucial role in the transportation system because of the characteristic that can be hailed conveniently. Most of the taxi drivers obtain passengers by hunting on the road or waiting in a fixed taxi queuing point; however these methods have poor performance, high vacancy rate, and several critical problems such as air pollution and foul up traffic. This study proposed a taxi carrying management system by using location based services and zone queuing techniques on Internet of things. The proposed system allows drivers to both hunt on the road and wait in a queuing zone. A queuing table is used in the control center and neighbor tables are used in RSUs for zone queuing establishment. Joining and leaving mechanisms are developed for zone queuing management. To enhance service efficiency and quality, we present a scheme to prevent the ping-pong effect which is based on the location based services, a hunting rate calculation scheme, and a path planning service for taxi drivers according to the history carrying record. PRISM is used to simulate the proposed system, and the results indicated that our scheme outperforms the waiting and hunting models in terms of number of customers, vacancy rate, and profit.

'Impact hunters' catalyse cooperative hunting in two wild chimpanzee communities.

Even when hunting in groups is mutually beneficial, it is unclear how communal hunts are initiated. If it is costly to be the only hunter, individuals should be reluctant to hunt unless others already are. We used 70 years of data from three communities to examine how male chimpanzees 'solve' this apparent collective action problem. The 'impact hunter' hypothesis proposes that group hunts are sometimes catalysed by certain individuals that hunt more readily than others. In two communities (Kasekela and Kanyawara), we identified a total of five males that exhibited high hunt participation rates for their age, and whose presence at an encounter with red colobus monkeys increased group hunting probability. Critically, these impact hunters were observed to hunt first more often than expected by chance. We argue that by hunting first, these males dilute prey defences and create opportunities for previously reluctant participants. This by-product mutualism can explain variation in group hunting rates within and between social groups. Hunting rates declined after the death of impact hunter FG in Kasekela and after impact hunter MS stopped hunting frequently in Kanyawara. There were no impact hunters in the third, smaller community (Mitumba), where, unlike the others, hunting probability increased with the number of females present at an encounter with prey.

Toward a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting.

Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally.

Hunting and Prey Switching by Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) at Ngogo

Predation can have major effects on vertebrate population dynamics, including predator–prey cycles that occur on multiple time scales when predators switch between preferred and alternative prey and changes in the abundance of preferred prey when the availability of alternative prey changes. Predation has been an important selective force in primate social evolution and may regulate some primate populations, but assessing its impact is often difficult. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) provide opportunities for direct collection of data on predation intensity by following habituated predators because they regularly prey on a variety of vertebrates, including other primates. Chimpanzees mostly hunt red colobus monkeys (Procolobus spp.) wherever they live in sympatry. Previous reports have documented heavy predation on red colobus by chimpanzees in the unusually large Ngogo community, in Kibale National Park, Uganda, and have shown an apparent decline in the local red colobus population. Here, we update information on predation at Ngogo, give further evidence of a red colobus population decline, and ask whether the chimpanzees have made more effort to hunt alternative prey in response. Data collected between 1995 and 2014 show that the rate of alternative prey hunts has increased significantly, while the rate of red colobus hunts has declined. Predation on red colobus peaked in 2002; other prey have since accounted for significantly higher proportions of hunts and prey captures. The overall hunting rate has not changed significantly, but per capita meat availability has decreased because hunts of alternative prey lead to fewer captures than hunts of red colobus. The likelihood that the chimpanzees hunt red colobus on encounter has not changed significantly. In contrast, the likelihood of hunting on encounter has increased (redtail monkeys, Cercopithecus ascanius; gray-cheeked mangabeys, Lophocebus albigena) or remained stable (guerezas, Colobus guereza) for other primates that are major alternative prey species. Encounter rates have not changed for redtails and mangabeys, but the guereza encounter rate has decreased. These results imply that the red colobus population is not recovering and raise the possibility that the chimpanzees are having a negative impact on the guereza population. Chimpanzees are not obligate carnivores, but this may make them prone to cause such impacts because their own populations are probably not limited by those of their prey.

New ecological information for the Black Tinamou (Tinamus osgoodi hershkovitzi)

ABSTRACT The Black Tinamou (Tinamus osgoodi) is a rare and endangered bird with two geographically disjunct subspecies. Very little pertinent information exists due to its secretive habits and cryptic coloration. Observations from a one-year study at Alto Fragua Indi Wasi National Park in southern Colombia have provided new ecological information for T. o. hershkovitzi. This subspecies vocalizes mostly between March and April, suggesting that the breeding season occurs during the first half of the year. Detections by camera traps indicate that this tinamou is more active in late morning, a pattern also found in other lowland tinamous. The subspecies was found in the entire study area, but more commonly at middle altitudes (1,400–1,600 m). We estimated a density of 13.47 birds km−2, which is relatively high compared with the abundance of other tinamous of similar size. Despite the locally observed high density of this subspecies of Black Tinamou, high rates of logging and hunting in the area make this popu...

Conservation status of chimpanzeesPan troglodytes verusand other large mammals in Liberia: a nationwide survey

AbstractLiberia has the largest blocks of continuous forest in West Africa, providing habitat for numerous wildlife species. However, there is a lack of empirical data about the status of Liberia's wildlife populations. During 2010–2012 we conducted the first nationwide survey in Liberia along c. 320 km of systematically located transect lines to estimate the abundance of chimpanzeesPan troglodytes verus, the diversity of large mammals and the nature and degree of anthropogenic threats. With &gt; 7,000 chimpanzees, Liberia is home to the second largest population of West African chimpanzees and is therefore a priority for conservation of the species. Compared to the fragmented populations in other range countries the Liberian population is potentially one of the most viable. Our study revealed that the majority of chimpanzees and some of the most species-diverse mammal communities in Liberia exist outside protected areas. High hunting rates and plans for large-scale exploitation of natural resources necessitate rapid implementation of effective strategies to ensure the protection of one of West Africa's last strongholds for chimpanzees and other rare and threatened mammal species. We provide a country-wide baseline dataset that may serve as a platform for Liberian wildlife authorities, policy-makers and international conservation agencies to make informed decisions about the location and delineation of proposed protected areas, to identify conservation gaps and to devise a conservation action plan to conserve Liberia's wildlife resources.

Sustainability of elephant hunting across international borders in southern Africa: A case study of the greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area

ABSTRACTTrophy hunting of African elephant is often implemented as an income generator for communities surrounding protected areas. However, the sustainability of hunting on elephant populations, especially with regards to international cross‐border populations has not previously been evaluated. We assessed the effects of trophy hunting on the population dynamics and movements of elephant in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, which is spread across the junction of Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Currently, no common policy exits in quota setting for cross‐border species, and each country determines their own quota based on limited data. Using VORTEX, we determined the sustainability of current quotas of elephant off‐take under different ecological and hunting scenarios. We used distribution data from 6 aerial surveys and hunting data per region to determine the disturbance effect of hunting on bulls and breeding herds separately. Hunting of bulls had a direct effect in reducing bull numbers but also an indirect effect due to disturbance that resulted in movement of elephants out of the areas in which hunting occurred. The return interval was short for bulls but longer for females. Only a small number of bulls (&lt;10/year) could be hunted sustainably. At current rates of hunting, under average ecological conditions, trophy bulls will disappear from the population in less than 10 years. We recommend a revision of the current quotas within each country for the Greater Mapungubwe elephant population, and the establishment of a single multi‐jurisdictional (cross‐border) management authority regulating the hunting of elephant and other cross‐border species. © 2013 The Wildlife Society