Illegal Hunters Research Articles

Factors influencing wildmeat trade in Guyana and expected changes in the context of the oil-related development prospects

The recent offshore oil discovery in the Guiana Shield is expected to bring about significant changes to the area, such as increased GDP per capita, infrastructure development, and urbanization. The potential impact on the wild meat trade depends on factors influencing its demand and provision. Through interviews and group discussions with trade chain stakeholders in all towns of Guyana, we evaluate wildmeat trade sector and explored predicted changes on it in 2033 with the prospects for short term oil-related development. The most traded species in Guyana included paca, white-lipped peccary, deer, tapir and capybara and a total of 38.46 % (5 out of 13) of the taxa being traded is classified as threatened of extinction. Regions with higher population size and GDP per capita, are the main trade hubs for wildmeat. Access to improved preservation methods (e.g. freezers) and motorized transportation options (eg.: boat with engines and vehicles) significantly influence higher volumes of wildmeat traded. The economic growth anticipated in Guyana is expected to boost population growth and, by the same time, wildmeat demand in urban areas. Concomitantly, with improved infrastructure and increased access to electricity, wildmeat provision will be facilitated across a wider catchment area. Based on the assumption that cultural patterns shaping wildmeat demand and environmental regulations will likely not change at the same rapid path as economic growth in the next ten years, we predict wildmeat trade volumes to increase to 10,280 tons/year by 2033. We identify three main opportunities to ensure a sustainable wildmeat sector in the context of the economic boom: First, the sector requires to be well regulated through a licensing and a quota system that can be adequately enforced. Second, efforts to curve demand on the Coast need to be strengthened based on well designed and culturally adapted behaviour change campaigns. Third, local communities and indigenous people need to be empowered to protect and conserve their territories and wildlife resources, in particular with the authority to exclude illegal hunters.

Persistent Illegal Hunting of Wildlife in an African Landscape: Insights from a Study in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia.

Decades of illegal hunting (poaching) have adversely affected wildlife populations and thereby limited sustainable wildlife conservation in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Despite intervention efforts to address the problem, the illegal hunting of wildlife has persisted. Therefore, this study was conducted to understand the persistence of illegal hunting by investigating the drivers of poaching and intervention measures using a mixed methods approach. Stratified random sampling was used to collect data from 346 respondents through structured questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to collect data through nine focus group discussions and three in-depth interviews with experts. The study revealed that persistent illegal hunting was mainly driven by people's critical need for survival and sustaining their livelihoods and not by inadequate law enforcement as presumed by resource managers. Although law enforcement was the most prevalent intervention measure, it did not deter local illegal hunters because their main motivations for poaching were not effectively addressed. The key implication of these findings is that where the illegal harvesting of natural resources in protected areas by local resource users is driven by people's critical need for survival and a livelihood, which is ineffectively addressed, illegal harvesting may persist even with increased law enforcement. This study provides empirical evidence, novel conceptual knowledge and an understanding of how prevalent drivers of poaching and other factors may have influenced persistent illegal hunting in the Luangwa Valley.

Application of the integrated threat theory to conservation law enforcement.

Interactions between law enforcement agents in conservation (e.g., rangers) and illegal resource users (e.g., illegal hunters) can be violent and sometimes fatal, which negatively affects conservation efforts and people's well-being. Models from social psychology, such as integrated threat theory (ITT) (intergroup interactions shape intergroup emotions, prejudices and perceived threats leading to hostile attitudes or behaviors between groups), are useful in addressing such interactions. Conservation approaches relying mainly on law enforcement have never been investigated using this framework. Using a structured questionnaire, we collected data from 282 rangers in protected and unprotected areas (n=50) in northern Iran. We applied Bayesian structural equation modeling in an assessment of rangers' affective attitudes (i.e., emotions or feelings that shape attitudes toward a person or object) toward illegal hunters in an ITT framework. Rangers' positive perceptions of illegal hunters were negatively associated with intergroup anxiety (emotional response to fear) and negative stereotypes about a hunter's personality, which mediated the relationship between negative contact and affective attitudes. This suggests that negative contact, such as verbal abuse, may lead rangers to perceive illegal hunters as arrogant or cruel, which likely forms a basis for perceived threats. Rangers' positive contact with illegal hunters, such as playing or working together, likely lowered their perceived realistic threats (i.e., fear of property damage). Perceived realistic threats of rangers were positively associated with negative contacts (e.g., physical harm). The associations we identified suggest that relationships based on positive interactions between rangers and illegal hunters can reduce fear and prejudice. Thus, we suggest that rangers and hunters be provided with safe spaces to have positive interactions, which may help lower tension and develop cooperative conservation mechanisms.

Dynamics and determinants of human–hyaena conflicts in the surroundings of a protected area

AbstractHuman–wildlife conflicts (HWC) predominate in areas proximal to wildlife rich protected zones. Whereas herbivore driven HWC is easy to detect, the stealth, nocturnal and predacious nature of carnivores leads to human injury and fatality, livestock depredation and loss of livelihoods in communities proximal to Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA) in northwest Zimbabwe. This study aimed to: (1) determine the nature of human–hyaena conflicts (HHCs), (2) explore the drivers of HHCs and (3) investigate the spatial and temporal movement patterns of hyaenas in HHC hotspots in areas proximal to SWRA. The results indicated that prevalent HHC types include livestock depredation, property damage, harassment, nuisance and disruption of human movements around SWRA. Locals indicated removal of park fences, human settlement on wildlife migration corridors, increases in hyaena populations, easy stray livestock targets, increased poaching and removal of natural wildlife death carcasses by illegal hunters as key drivers of HHC. Hyaenas have a predetermined non‐seasonal movement pattern following traditional wildlife migration corridors through SWRA into proximal communities. Human–hyaena conflict abatement strategies should be underpinned by indigenous local knowledge of hyaena movement and hunting patterns. Integrating citizen science data and remote sensing techniques aids to track and understand movement and hunting patterns of hyaenas inside and outside of protected areas.

УАЗом по браконьеру: Судебная коллегия по уголовным делам Верховного Суда РФ не без повода усомнилась в законности и обоснованности приговора, постановленного мировым судьей по ч. 2 ст. 114 УК РФ в отношении егеря

The article analyzes a legal conflict revealed by the Judicial Panel on Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation within the framework of the second cassation stipulating that: a justice of the peace has made a fundamental error by finding a gamekeeper guilty under Part 2 of Art. 114 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in a case when according to the prosecution, the gamekeeper intentionally hit the poachers' motorcycle with an UAZ in order to detain illegal hunters.

Scoring Central American White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus Nelsoni) Antlers, in Motozintla, Chiapas, México

On July 6th, 2020, a white-tailed deer in Chiapas was captured and rescued by residents from Canoas neighborhood in Motozintla de Mendoza. Chiapas, Mexico. According to local rumors, the specimen was chased by illegal hunters and feral dogs. A few hours after its capture, the white-tailed deer perished due to beats in its hind legs and from a myocardial stroke, caused by stress (capture myopathy). Later, the animal's body was used to measure the antlers set, the Method 17-T Entry Form for white-tailed deer with typical antlers from the Safari Club International (SCI) was used with a measuring tape in inches. The following measurements were taken to the antler set: a) Length of main beam, b) Length of typical tines, c) Circumference of main beam and d) Inside span of main beams. These measures gave a total score of 394/8 SCI points. This score is low, considering that the reported individual was a juvenile male with an age of approximately 2.5 years old, presenting a single point in the antler set. Finally, one of the important events found is that the white-tailed deer showed the detachment of the velvet that covers the antlers, even traces were found that the antlers were recently carved since they presented pieces of leaves adhered to the main branch of the left antler. The event occurred in July (rainy season), and may be due to the genetic characteristics of their parents, the type and quality of the habitat, the quality of forage and the variations of rain and droughts (seasonal), as well as the daylight hours.

Rhinos as “The Mine” and the Fugitive Meanings of Illegal Wildlife Hunting

Most scholarship and policy documentation that examines the problem of “rhino poaching” assumes that the potential for economic gain drives impoverished people to hunt threatened and endangered wildlife illegally. The amount of money illegal hunters can extract from the lethal trade in rhinoceros' horn is extraordinary. Yet, the provocation of one convicted hunter, who referred to rhinos as “the mine” (as in a gold mine) reveals complicated meanings underneath and adjoined to monetary explanations. In the transfrontier region comprising the Kruger and Limpopo National Parks, men have responded to colonial and post-colonial dispossession through institutions of migrant labour. When dispossessed mine labourers developed the wealth of southern African colonial states, they salvaged for themselves, economic benefits, status, and dignity. In the post-colonial context, the protection of threatened species forecloses opportunities for migrant labour and generates the need for “peripheral” or illegal labour. The killing of protected wildlife to trade in their parts enables hunters to extract money, cultural continuity, and dignity from the very processes that impoverish and dispossess them. Improved understandings of people's motivations to hunt wildlife illegally necessitate theorisations that are more explicitly co-produced, derived from and responsive to the people living (and dying) with conservation by dispossession.

A spatial approach to combatting wildlife crime.

Poaching can have devastating impacts on animal and plant numbers, and in many countries has reached crisis levels, with illegal hunters employing increasingly sophisticated techniques. We used data from an 8-year study in Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, to show how geographic profiling-a mathematical technique originally developed in criminology and recently applied to animal foraging and epidemiology-can be adapted for use in investigations of wildlife crime. The data set contained information on over 10,000 incidents of illegal hunting and the deaths of 6,454 wild animals. We used a subset of data for which the illegal hunters' identities were known. Our model identified the illegal hunters' home villages based on the spatial locations of the hunting incidences (e.g., snares). Identification of the villages was improved by manipulating the probability surface inside the conservancy to reflect the fact that although the illegal hunters mostly live outside the conservancy, the majority of hunting occurs inside the conservancy (in criminology terms, commuter crime). These results combined with rigorous simulations showed for the first time how geographic profiling can be combined with GIS data and applied to situations with more complex spatial patterns, for example, where landscape heterogeneity means some parts of the study area are less likely to be used (e.g., aquatic areas for terrestrial animals) or where landscape permeability differs (e.g., forest bats tend not to fly over open areas). More broadly, these results show how geographic profiling can be used to target antipoaching interventions more effectively and more efficiently and to develop management strategies and conservation plans in a range of conservation scenarios.

Risk assessment of the entry of canine-rabies into Papua New Guinea via sea and land routes

Canine-rabies is endemic in parts of Indonesia and continues to spread eastwards through the Indonesian archipelago. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a land border with Papua Province, Indonesia, as well as logging and fishing industry connections throughout Asia. PNG has a Human Development Index of 0.505; therefore, an incursion of canine-rabies could have devastating impacts on human (7.5 million) and animal populations. Given the known difficulties of rabies elimination in resource-scarce environments, an incursion of rabies into PNG would also likely compromise the campaign for global elimination of rabies. A previous qualitative study to determine routes for detailed risk assessment identified logging, fishing and three land-routes (unregulated crossers [“shopper-crossers”], traditional border crossers and illegal hunters) as potential high risk routes for entry of rabies-infected dogs into PNG. The objective of the current study was to quantify and compare the probability of entry of a rabies-infected dog via these routes into PNG and to identify the highest risk provinces and border districts to target rabies prevention and control activities.Online questionnaires were used to elicit expert-opinion about quantitative model parameter values. A quantitative, stochastic model was then used to assess risk, and parameters with the greatest influence on the estimated mean number of rabies-infected dogs introduced/year were identified via global sensitivity analysis (Sobol method). Eight questionnaires – including 7 online – were implemented and >220 empirical distributions were parameterised using >2900 expert-opinions. The highest risk provinces for combined sea routes were West Sepik, Madang and Western Province, driven by the number of vessels and the probability of bringing dogs. The highest risk border districts for combined land routes were Vanimo-Green River and South Fly, driven by the number of people crossing the border and the number of dogs (with hunters). Overall, the risk posed by land routes was much higher than the risk of rabies introduction by sea routes.This study provides a foundation to develop targeted border control measures, surveillance and response strategies for canine-rabies for the highest risk routes and regions in PNG. Sensitivity analysis using the Sobol method played a key role in this study and directed further data collection to refine risk estimates. The ease of expert-elicitation using online methods demonstrates the feasibility of using such methods for animal and human disease surveillance in PNG.

<b>Dna barcoding, population genetics, and phylogenetics of the illegally hunted Philippine Duck <I>Anas luzonica</I> (Aves: Anseriformes: Anatidae)</b>

DNA barcoding is extensively used as a species identification and delineation tool. The aim of this study was to generate a barcode profile for mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) in the Philippine Duck Anas luzonica, a dabbling duck species endemic to the Philippines that is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (BirdLife International 2016). COI barcodes were successfully obtained using muscle tissue samples from 46 A. luzonica individuals confiscated from illegal hunters in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija. Analysis of TrN+Γ+I distances among the Anas luzonica COI sequences and those of 25 other Anas species revealed that COI barcodes cannot generally delineate hybridizing species. While Anas luzonica was differentiated from other species it is known to hybridize with and formed a monophyletic group in the neighbor-joining tree generated, sampling from areas of sympatry is needed since individuals were obtained from only one sampling site. The population structure of the Anas luzonica population was also examined using mitochondrial DNA control region and COI sequences. The population had high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity, an indication that a bottleneck event had occurred, which is likely due to extreme hunting pressures and habitat destruction. The population under study exhibited high genetic diversity. Given that the samples for this study came from a single locality, sampling from other localities is required to determine whether other populations are facing the risk of reduced fitness (inbreeding depression).

Illegal bushmeat hunters compete with predators and threaten wild herbivore populations in a global tourism hotspot

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 (~20,000km2) to assess its potential contribution to wildlife population declines. Approximately 1,800 illegal hunters each harvest an average of 320kg of bushmeat annually, though some reported harvesting≥1000kg. While impala were the most commonly hunted species, buffalo and greater kudu accounted for most bushmeat. Hunters remove ~620,000kg 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.

Poachers and Poverty: Assessing Objective and Subjective Measures of Poverty among Illegal Hunters Outside Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Illegal hunters in Africa may be making rational decisions about the hunting activities they partake in. These decisions could be linked to their socioeconomic status and the livelihood opportunities available to them. In particular, poverty is widely considered the leading driver that causes a household's inhabitants to take up poaching in protected areas. Programs aiming to protect vulnerable wildlife populations by mitigating poaching have historically relied upon income-based poverty metrics in efforts to reduce regional poverty and incentivise local inhabitants to discontinue poaching activities. Because such data sets that deal with poachers directly are rare, assumptions about the role of poverty, and the extent of poverty, that drives poaching have been hard to test. This study uses a unique sample of 173 self-admitted poachers living in villages adjacent to Ruaha National Park in Tanzania to explore the influence of poverty on poaching. Results indicated high demographic and household economy heterogeneity among poaching households. Capability deprivation examined more subjective measures of poverty and revealed that poachers are strongly motivated by the need to improve their incomes, but are not necessarily the poorest of the poor.

Thwarting poachers with data [Spectral Lines

Our Toyota truck burst through the dense jungle and into a clearing. Before us stood two startled men with rifles. Their wives, nearby, brandished machetes. Piles of dead animals were stacked high on two bicycles. We had found our illegal hunters. In an instant, the soldier sitting next to me raised his pistol. I feared a shootout, but the bush hunters lowered their weapons and began to plead with the soldier in a shared language. Quickly a deal was struck: The hunters got to escape with their wives and pillage, while we got the prize we sought, a newborn chimpanzee.

Three Nematode Species Recovered from Terrestrial Snakes in Republic of Korea.

The majority of parasitological studies of terrestrial snakes in Korea have focused on zoonotic parasites. However, in the present study, we describe 3 unrecorded nematode species recovered from 5 species of snakes (n=6) in Korea. The examined snakes, all confiscated from illegal hunters, were donated by the Chungnam Wild Animal Rescue Center and Korean Broadcasting System in July 2014 and February 2015. Light and scanning electron microscopies on the shapes of spicules that are either bent or straight (kalicephalids) and the presence of the intestinal cecum (ophidascarids) figured out 3 nematodes; Kalicephalus brachycephalus Maplestone, 1931, Kalicephalus sinensis Hsü, 1934, and Ophidascaris excavata Hsü and Hoeppli, 1934. These 3 species of nematode faunas are recorded for the first time in Korea.

Assessing Wildlife Consumption Awareness and the Attitudes of the Local Lambwe Valley Community towards Ruma National Park, Kenya

The study was conducted around Ruma National Park within Lambwe Valley in Kenya. The study fulfils the gap of knowledge about wildlife consumption awareness and attitudes of the local Lambwe valley community towards the park. It is believed that understanding the level of awareness and community attitude would provide imperative information that could contribute to wildlife conservation within the park. The key objective of the study was to establish how the locals perceive the national park and their level of awareness of illegal wildlife consumption in the area. The study adopted survey design using both structured questionnaires and focus group discussions to collect information from the local community. In order to disseminate questionnaires, simple random technique was further used to select the respondents. The respondents comprised households living adjacent to the national park. Structured questionnaire interviews were complimented with focus group discussions in order to gather more information and to collect diverse views. The data collected was subjected to descriptive and inferential tests. The study established that majority of the local community had negative attitude towards the park and did not require the park within their locality. Local community were aware that snaring of wildlife took place in and around the park and majority believed the future of the park was bleak. Illegal wildlife hunters were mainly from the local community and the status of wildlife numbers outside the park was declining. Majority were also not aware about Kenya’s wildlife laws prohibiting illegal hunting and bushmeat consumption. The study concludes and recommends that local communities in the area should be sensitized and educated on Kenya’s wildlife laws specifically laws relating to illegal hunting and bushmeat consumption and trade. Creating local awareness on the benefits of wildlife conservation without tangible benefits from the park might not influence attitude change and deter wildlife utilization in the area. New policies could be formulated for integrated park management where local community, especially the youth, could actively participate in wildlife conservation. Developing and promoting alternative forms of tourism in the area could bring benefits to the local community thus leading to attitude change and alternative source of livelihood.

Illegal hunting and law enforcement during a period of economic decline in Zimbabwe: A case study of northern Gonarezhou National Park and adjacent areas

Illegal hunting of wildlife, or top-down harvesting, is a major issue in today's society, particularly in tropical ecosystems. There has been widespread concern about increasing illegal hunting of wildlife in most conservation areas in Zimbabwe following the political instability and economic decline the country faced since 2000. In this study, we focused on the northern Gonarezhou National Park (GNP), a large and unfenced protected area, and adjacent communal areas in southern Zimbabwe. We hypothesised that illegal hunting activities would (1) be perceived to have increased due to economic collapse and (2) vary with law enforcement efforts. A total of 236 local residents from eight villages adjacent to the northern GNP were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires from December 2010 to May 2011, and law enforcement data for northern GNP between 2000 and 2010 were retrieved from the park law enforcement database. A total of 26 animal species were reportedly hunted. Bushmeat consumption and the need for local trade to raise income were reported as the main reasons behind illegal hunting. Contrary to the first hypothesis, the majority of respondents (n=156, 66%) reported that illegal hunting activities had declined between 2000 and 2010 largely due to increased park protection as also supported by law enforcement data. A total of 22 animal species were recorded as having been illegally hunted in northern GNP. The number of illegal hunters arrested declined with increased law enforcement efforts although the number of wire snares recovered and hunting dogs shot appeared to increase following increased law enforcement efforts. These results partly support the second hypothesis that illegal hunting activities would vary with law enforcement efforts.

Why Poaching Pays: A Summary of Risks and Benefits Illegal Hunters Face in Western Serengeti, Tanzania

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.

A database on truffles diffusion on forestation plot: the contribution to biodiversity by forest ecosystem

The “Nocella” forest farm (Ficulle Umbria Italy) presents database collection of spontaneous truffle production following the forestation of fields previously cultivated with traditional crops. Critical points and constraints to reach the assessment of the symbiotic plants and the truffle quarries are explained. Some of the first results of the Multivariate Analysis MVA analysis on the database and soil analysis are reported and the map of truffle quarries and “cultivar” and forest plants is presented. The non-wood forest products, as truffles are, have agro- forestry theoretical and operational consequences for the conservation of biodiversity. The data popularization of detailed data of truffle production is not popular, even it is a scientific task to fulfill a complete understanding of the ecosystem. The truffle’s “underground” economy and the anthropological convictions are hostile surroundings. The importance of improving cooperation of sociology and forest sciences for forestry management needs more efforts. Silence due to an underground economy does not help the safeguard of truffle heritage, which, though a renewable resource, is tied to a complex and vulnerable forest ecosystem. Silence nevertheless enhances the abuses by illegal hunters who are used to prey upon the forest. We can confirm that the area of study is an ecosystem that changes and grows constantly with a collection of truffles compatible and respectful of biodiversity. Multivariate analysis (MVA) of the data would suggest good reasons for more investigation on soil and partly confirm the mythical mind of the truffle hunters.

Ecological and financial impacts of illegal bushmeat trade in Zimbabwe

AbstractUnder conditions of political instability and economic decline illegal bushmeat hunting has emerged as a serious conservation threat in Zimbabwe. Following settlement of game ranches by subsistence farming communities, wildlife populations have been eradicated over large areas. In several areas still being managed as game ranches illegal hunting is causing further declines of wildlife populations (including threatened species such as the wild dog Lycaon pictus and black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis), threatening the viability of wildlife-based land uses. From August 2001 to July 2009 in Savé Valley Conservancy 10,520 illegal hunting incidents were recorded, 84,396 wire snares removed, 4,148 hunters caught, 2,126 hunting dogs eliminated and at least 6,454 wild animals killed. Estimated future financial losses from illegal hunting in the Conservancy exceed USD 1.1 million year-1. Illegal hunters’ earnings account for 0.31–0.52% of the financial losses that they impose and the bushmeat trade is an inefficient use of wildlife resources. Illegal hunting peaks during the late dry season and is more frequent close to the boundary, near areas resettled during land reform and close to water. Illegal hunting with dogs peaks during moonlight periods. Our study highlights several management and land-use planning steps required to maximize the efficacy of anti-poaching and to reduce the likelihood of high impacts of illegal hunting. Anti-poaching efforts should be aligned with the regular temporal and spatial patterns of illegal hunting. Leases for hunting and tourism concessions should ensure minimum adequate investment by operators in anti-poaching. Reserve designers should minimize the surface area to volume ratio of parks. Fences should not be constructed using wire that can be made into snares. Land reform involving game ranches should integrate communities in wildlife-based land uses and ensure spatial separation between land for wildlife and human settlement. Means are required to create stake-holdings for communities in wildlife and disincentives for illegal hunting.

Using historical data to establish baselines for conservation: The black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis) of the Serengeti as a case study

Illegal hunting of rhinoceros in East Africa was widespread in the late 1970s. Today, rhinoceros numbers remain perilously low. The Eastern black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis michaeli) is restricted to protected areas within Kenya and Tanzania and the few protected areas in Kenya where rhinoceroses are found are reaching carrying capacity. The Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem represents the best potential site for population growth of the Eastern black rhinoceros. Populations within the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem remain low and augmentation of the current population has been proposed. Using historical census data collected prior to the illegal hunting that occurring in the 1970s, we determined the historical distribution and population of rhinoceros in the Masai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park. The population was approximately 460 animals. We developed a habitat suitability model for the black rhinoceros using the spatial location of historical count data matched with contemporary vegetation and landscape variables. Illegal hunting still remains a significant threat to the rhinoceros. Therefore, we determined areas where the likelihood of a rhinoceros being discovered and then targeted by illegal hunters was highest. This information can be used by managers as a starting point for an assessment for reintroduction if other factors are taken into account. This case study exemplifies the importance and potentially unforeseen applications of long term ecological datasets for species conservation.