Transfrontier Conservation Area Research Articles

Seroprevalence and associated risk factors of Rift Valley fever in cattle and selected wildlife species at the livestock/wildlife interface areas of Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe.

A study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of Rift Valley fever (RVF) infection in cattle and some selected wildlife species at selected interface areas at the periphery of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area in Zimbabwe. Three study sites were selected based on the type of livestock–wildlife interface: porous livestock–wildlife interface (unrestricted); non-porous livestock–wildlife interface (restricted by fencing) and livestock–wildlife non-interface (totally absent contact or control). Sera were collected from cattle aged ≥ 2 years representing both female and intact male. Sera were also collected from selected wild ungulates from Mabalauta (porous interface) and Chipinda Pools (non-interface) areas of the Gonarezhou National Park. Sera were tested for antibodies to Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. AX2 test was used to assess differences between categories, and p < 0.05 was considered as significant. In cattle, the overall seroprevalence was 1.7% (17/1011) (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–2.7). The porous interface recorded a seroprevalence of 2.3% (95% CI: 1.2–4.3), the non-porous interface recorded a prevalence of 1.8% (95% CI: 0.7–4.3) and the non-interface area recorded a seroprevalence of 0.4% (955 CI: 0.02–2.5), but the difference in seroprevalence according to site was not significant (p > 0.05). All impala and kudu samples tested negative. The overall seroprevalence in buffaloes was 11.7% (95% CI: 6.6–19.5), and there was no significant (p = 0.38) difference between the sites (Mabalauta, 4.4% [95% CI: 0.2–24] vs. Chipinda, 13.6% [95% CI: 7.6–23]). The overall seroprevalence in buffaloes (11.7%, 13/111) was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher than in cattle (1.7%, 17/1011). The results established the presence of RVFV in cattle and selected wildlife and that sylvatic infections may be present in buffalo populations. Further studies are required to investigate if the virus is circulating between cattle and wildlife.

Gender and zoonotic pathogen risk in a resource-limited community at the livestock-wildlife interface, Mpumalanga, South Africa: a qualitative analysis

BackgroundThe Mnisi community is a livestock-dependent community neighbouring the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area in South Africa. Here, zoonotic pathogens contribute to as many as 77% of cases of acute febrile illness, including those associated with tick, domestic animal, rodent, and wildlife exposure. Previous gender-disaggregated analysis has shown that men and women have different risks of zoonotic illness, suggesting that exposure routes for zoonotic infections should be further explored to inform gender-sensitive risk mitigation strategies. Using a One Health approach, we focused on interactions between community residents, domestic animals, and the built and natural environment to investigate potential exposure pathways for zoonotic infections from a gendered perspective. MethodsWe used an ethnographic approach, combining data from direct household observations and focus group discussions, to examine behaviours that may be linked to zoonotic pathogen exposure. Participating households were randomly selected from three villages under the leadership of the Mnisi Traditional Authority in Mpumalanga, South Africa. We conducted four household observations in each village followed by one male and one female focus group per village. Observations and discussions focused on previously identified gendered tasks such as domestic animal care, water collection, and food preparation, and how and by whom these tasks were performed. Data were triangulated across methods, and analysis included translation, transcription, and thematic coding using fundamental grounded theory. FindingsObservations and focus groups took place during July, 2019. The focus groups included 44 participants: 23 men and 21 women, mean age was 36 years. Mean household size was nine people. Observations were conducted in 12 households (four per village) for a total of 50 h. We noted gender differences for household tasks, animal care duties, and environmental exposure. Male gender-typed roles included cattle husbandry such as taking cattle to the bush daily for grazing (13 mentions) and slaughter of cattle (7 mentions). Female gender-typed tasks included household duties such as food preparation (13 mentions), household cleaning including sweeping the yard, taking out trash (10 mentions), water collection from boreholes or neighbourhood taps (7 mentions), and feeding and care of smaller livestock such as goats and chickens (4 mentions). Other emergent themes included decreased water and grazing land availability in the community, affecting both men and women, as water collection and cattle grazing now required more time spent in the bush and increased potential vector-borne disease exposure. From observations, it was noted that men wore covered protective work clothes (such as long trousers and closed-toe shoes) more commonly than women did, but women did not often wear these for household duties including water collection in the bush. Conflict with wild animals and domestic animals, such as wild animals killing domestic animals in the bush and domestic animals entering other households was also noted as a concern by men and women (13 mentions). InterpretationWe recommend that these gender-typed roles serve as specific critical control points for zoonotic pathogen exposure. For example, tick-bite exposure prevention should be directed at both men and women based on their daily activities, such that prevention in men should target exposure from cattle and prevention in women should focus on personal protective measures during water collection. Exposure prevention strategies at the household level for water-borne zoonotic diseases like leptospirosis should be targeted towards women. These findings contribute to a more detailed understanding of risk behaviour and critical control points for zoonotic disease—a significant contributor to acute febrile illness in this rural, resource-limited setting. FundingOhio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Scholars Summer Research Program Global Health Fellowship; Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Global Engagement Grant; Investigator Funds; The Ohio State University Global One Health Initiative.

An Evaluation of Vegetation Health in and around Southern African National Parks during the 21st Century (2000–2016)

Roughly 65% of the African continent is classified as savanna. Such regions are of critical importance given their high levels of biological productivity, role in the carbon cycle, structural differences, and support of large human populations. Across southern Africa there are 79 national parks within savanna landscapes. Understanding trends and factors of vegetation health in these parks is critical for proper management and sustainability. This research strives to understand factors and trends in vegetation health from 2000 to 2016 in and around the 79 national parks across southern Africa. A backward stepwise regression was used to understand the factors (e.g., precipitation, population density, and presence of transfrontier conservation areas) affecting the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the 21st century. There was a statistically significant positive (p &lt; 0.05) relationship between mean annual precipitation and NDVI, and a significant negative relationship between population density and NDVI. To monitor vegetation trends in and around the parks, directional persistence, a seasonal NDVI time series-based trend analysis, was used. Directional persistence is the net accumulation of directional change in NDVI over time in a given period relative to a fixed benchmarked period. Parks and buffer zones across size classes were compared to examine differences in vegetation health. There was an overwhelmingly positive trend throughout. Additionally, national parks, overall, had higher amounts of positive persistence and lower amounts of negative persistence than the surrounding buffer zones. Having higher positive persistence inside of parks indicates that they are functioning favorably relative to the buffer zones in terms of vegetation resilience. This is an important finding for park managers and conservation overall in Southern Africa.

Evaluating the spatial intensity and demographic impacts of wire-snare bush-meat poaching on large carnivores

The bush-meat poaching crisis is a significant threat to biodiversity in tropical forest and savannah biomes, however its impacts on wild animal populations are often difficult to quantify across large spatial scales. Using data from 17 camera trap survey sites in southern Africa, within the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, we show it is possible to assess the demographic impact of wire-snare bush-meat poaching on large carnivore populations, distribution of snaring hotspots and drivers of bush-meat poaching prevalence across this landscape. Results suggest that mortalities in snares may have significant demographic effects on lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) with evidence for population declines and extirpation of large carnivores in the most heavily affected areas. Spatial drivers of bush-meat poaching were found to be a composite of anthropogenic threat scores, environmental resource extraction, protected area size and land-use type. Incidences of snared large carnivores were more prevalent in trophy hunting areas than national parks. Across our study sites, bush-meat poaching has the potential to cause severe declines in populations of large carnivores, particularly in small isolated protected areas surrounded by areas of high human population growth, with resulting loss of regional connectivity and increasing fragmentation of the KAZA landscape.

Natural Plant Resources for Sustainable Development: Insights from Community Use in the Chimanimani Trans-Frontier Conservation Area, Mozambique

In rural African communities, wild plant species are a valuable resource that are often threatened by agricultural conversion and overexploitation. To understand the harvest and sale of wild plant species that provide fruits and raw materials for artisanal products, this study used ethnobotanical and socio-economic methods to engage communities in the Chimanimani Trans-Frontier Conservation Area, Mozambique. Use was dependent on local availability and market accessibility. Incomes are made from Uapaca kirkiana fruits in some communities and Strychnos madagascariensis in others; some earn money from Cyperus spp. mats whilst others use Phragmites mauritianus. Less marketed items included baskets made from numerous species (including Oxytenanthera abyssinica) and wooden implements (e.g. made from Pterocarpus angolensis) which are used to process, store and transport maize. Conservation and development could potentially benefit from value-addition activities, new management systems (like agroforestry), or population protection and restoration. This should include analysis of population extents and production levels.

Descubrimiento de alcaloides en la piel de la rana Pristimantis gaigei, indicios de mimetismo Mülleriano en dos poblaciones de Panamá

La rana Pristimantis gaigei ha sido utilizada como modelo de mimetismo batesiano, adoptando el aposematismo (coloración llamativa) de su modelo, la rana venenosa Phyllobates lugubris. Los estudios sobre la composición química de su piel son escasos. Considerando que se han reportado alcaloides en otras especies de ranas consideradas miméticas y sin toxinas por mucho tiempo, queremos corroborar la presencia o ausencia de algún tipo de alcaloide en el extracto de piel de dos poblaciones de P. gaigei (PJIC001-Parque Nacional Altos de Campana y BJIC002-Parque Internacional La Amistad-Atlántico) en Panamá. Para la caracterización fitoquímica de los alcaloides se utilizó las pruebas de Dragendorff, vapores de yodo y radiación de luz ultravioleta (365nm). Igualmente se empleó la técnica de cromatografía de capa fina (CCF), con dos fases móviles diferentes (cloroformo/metanol 9:1 y acetonitrilo/agua 9:1) y poder identificar el perfil químico de los compuestos. Tanto las muestras PJI001 Y BJI002, dieron positivas para la prueba de Dragendorff. Con capa fina se logró separar y caracterizar la presencia de más de un compuesto de alcaloide. Existió diferencia en la composición y comportamiento químico entre los dos extractos, donde la muestra dePJIC001 presenta compuestos entre una polaridad media y muy polares, con una composición química más abundante, para la muestra BJIC002, presentó compuestos con alta polaridad y baja polaridad.Estos resultados demuestran la presencia de diferentes compuestos de alcaloide en la piel de la P. gaigei, siendo un indicio de un mimetismo mülleriano, logrando adquirir un posible modelo químico para su defensa.

Stakeholder perspectives on land-use conflicts in the South African section of the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area

ABSTRACTLand-use conflict has become a topical issue due to an increase in the number of stakeholders having incompatible interests related to particular land uses. Competing land-uses include those for conservation, irrigation, game and livestock farming, settlements and mining. These groupings of land-uses have different interests and objectives. This study aims to investigate the basis for the land-use conflict, and to get insights into how various stakeholders perceive and interpret existing conflicts. Empirical results were drawn from observation, interviews and documents collected between 2011 and 2018. The interviews were held with various stakeholders involved in land-use decisions. Qualitative data were analysed through thematic content analysis, and observations assisted with the corroboration of information collected through interviews. The study recorded four central land-use conflicts: irrigation farming with conservation; game farming with conservation; settlements/livestock farming with conservation; and mining with conservation/game farming/irrigation farming. The study also explains how local stakeholders understand these conflicts.

Landscape as an Approach to Interactive Open Spaces

The interaction between people and open spaces reinforces the relationship between them as people preserve these spaces by finding their needs and their role in these spaces. This paper aims at finding the means of interactive open spaces using different elements of landscape and its important role in fulfilling the needs of people. To fulfill this aim the paper is divided into two parts: theoretical and analytical. In the theoretical part, the paper discusses the interactive relationship between users and open spaces that has passed by many concepts; in earlier times, landscape achieved the interaction using greens, hard, and water elements to fulfill the needs of people, such as resting, walking, and playing. However, this interaction was not enough; therefore, it was developed to the ability of using landscape that permits the sharing of users in completing the design, work, and durability of the space. Recently, this concept has advanced to the implementation of technology to maximize the interaction between users and open spaces. Then the paper presents in the analytical part some selected international parks

Border of What: Ecology or Human?

Objective: The issue of human boundaries (political borders) vs. the natural boundaries (ecotones) has been controversial in recent studies. The political borders have negatively impacted the ecology and resulted in ecological and spatial fragmentation and biodiversity reduction in a country like Iran. The work aims to find a practical way to mitigate the environmental problems in the borderlands of Iran. This article evaluates the effect of creating a “Transboundary Conserved Area” or “Peace Park” in Iran with the purpose of ecological conservation.Material and Methods: This article attempts to explain the structures and functions of ecotones and natural boundaries. To search for a feasible solution to protect the ecologically unique zones over the political borders of Iran, this article discusses whether human boundaries can act as a natural boundary and reduce its ecological effects. Therefore, five common characteristics of natural and human borders, including location and size, origination, form, function, and stability over time, are explained and compared.Results: By analyzing the political borders of Iran, it shows that Iran needs different protected zones in most of its borderlands, and the idea of the “Transboundary Conserved Area” may not be possible due to the current complicated political matters over the borderlands.Conclusion: The human boundaries should be flexible with the changes in their surrounding nature; they should be in tune with the current geographical structures and maintain ecological connectively and seasonal animal migrations.

Online tourist reviews and accidental conveyors of memories of the atomic bomb

ABSTRACT In this digital age, online reviews of tourist destinations travel fast and far, and word of mouth information can affect the reputation of the sites and their perceived sociocultural significance. For heritage sites of war and human suffering where their raison-d’être lies in their mission to pass on the memory, the stakes are high. What makes up the content of tourist reviews and do they change over time? What motivates tourists to write online reviews? Are the intended messages transmitted from the stakeholders of the memorial site to the tourists, and under what condition and in what context? These questions are explored in this empirical study that focuses on the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in the Peace Park and its Peace Memorial Museum. Using interdisciplinary analytics, we scrutinised the text and context of online reviews of this heritage site over ten consecutive years. The results disclosed that peace messages associated with the heritage site are indeed transmitted to the tourists under a set of specific conditions, where they spontaneously pass on the message online as if they are owners of the legacy themselves, and the motivation for this tourist behaviour is discussed.

Ontological politics of hydrosocial territories in the Salween River basin, Myanmar/Burma

In this paper, we question an often-unchallenged assumption that we all talk about the same ‘thing’ when talking about water. Taking the Salween River in Myanmar as a case study, we draw on a growing body of hydrosocial literature to analyze the multiple ontologies of water. Conceptually, we take each ontology to be constituted of – and enacted within – a human-more-than-human assemblage, the spatiotemporal dimensions of which demarcate a ‘hydrosocial territory.’ We present three illustrations, namely: the role of the Union Government's National Water Resources Committee and how it manifests and is situated within an ontology of ‘modern Water’; a Karen indigenous initiative to establish a Salween Peace Park and an associated revealing of an ‘indigenous’ ontology; and plans for the construction of mainstream hydropower dams and electricity export to neighboring Thailand, where different water ontologies and their hydrosocial territories collide. We examine how multiple ontologies of water are contested through ‘ontological politics’, whereby human actors compete to further their own interests by naturalizing their ontology while marginalizing others. While not downplaying the role violent conflict plays, we argue that in the Salween basin ontological politics are an underappreciated terrain of contestation through which political authority and the power relations that underpin it are (re)produced, with implications for processes of state formation, territorialization and the ongoing peace negotiations.

Modeling community occupancy from line transect data: a case study with large mammals in post‐war Angola

AbstractHuman disturbance can have a profound effect on the occurrence and distribution of wildlife. Such disturbance often extends into protected areas (PAs), particularly in countries that have undergone civil strife and lack the institutional capacity to effectively mitigate anthropogenic threats. We demonstrate the first application of a multi‐species hierarchical occupancy model to spatially correlated detections from vehicle‐based spoor transects, estimating species richness and species‐specific drivers of occurrence of a large mammal community comprising five large carnivores [cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), leopard (Panthera pardus), lion (Panthera leo), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and wild dog (Lycaon pictus)] and six large herbivores [buffalo (Syncerus caffer), eland (Taurotragus oryx), elephant (Loxodonta africana), giraffe (Giraffa giraffa), roan (Hippotragus equinus), and sable (Hippotragus niger)] in Luengue‐Luiana and Mavinga National Parks, Angola. This area is the largest contiguous national park complex within a single African country and part of the largest transfrontier conservation area in the world, and is still recovering from the effects of civil war. In this post‐war landscape, the most substantive drivers of community‐level occupancy were anthropogenic, with occupancy associated with lower frequency of human sign, proximity to adjacent national park, and distance away from human settlement. In contrast, ecological variables (precipitation, vegetation cover, seasonal water availability) had less explanatory value. Our results highlight the deleterious effects of human incursion into PAs on the richness and distribution of large mammal species, underscoring the need for intensive mitigation of anthropogenic threats (e.g. poaching, bushmeat hunting) to maintain species of high conservation value in areas impacted by war.

DEMENTIA WITHOUT BORDERS: BUILDING COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS TO REDUCE STIGMA AND FOSTER INCLUSION

BACKGROUND: The concept of social citizenship is gaining traction in the field of dementia studies, but as a practical tool to guide development of supports and services, it remains poorly understood. A one year project to promote collaboration between University of Washington in Seattle and University of British Columbia in Vancouver addressed this very question. Activities were undertaken so these communities could know each other better, with researchers, service providers and people with dementia connecting to share knowledge and expertise. PURPOSE: The project culminated with a public festival to put into practice and share some of what was learned over the year. METHODS: People with dementia and care partners helped plan “Dementia Without Borders”, held at an international park straddling the border between Seattle and Vancouver. 150 people came from the US and Canada, including many people with dementia, family members and friends. The day began with a community walk and gift exchange, followed by a meal and creative activities including poetry readings, music, an art exhibit, and quilt making. RESULTS: Evaluation was overwhelmingly positive with people expressing a sense of hope and belonging. For some, it was their first time to speak openly about having dementia, and meeting others in this space was a joy-filled experience. CONCLUSIONS: This project has leveraged the symbolic power of an international border to raise awareness of the importance of social connection for people with dementia. We further explore how the notion of “dementia without borders” extends theoretical and practical understanding of social citizenship.

Low abundance of the Endangered timneh parrot Psittacus timneh in one of its presumed strongholds

AbstractAlthough both the grey parrot Psittacus erithacus and the recently recognized timneh parrot Psittacus timneh are categorized as Endangered because of harvest for the pet trade and loss of habitat, the latter has a much smaller range and may be largely restricted to a few stronghold areas. In March–April 2018 we surveyed for a total of 114 hours in and around one of these presumed strongholds, the large and well-protected Gola Rainforest National Park, the Sierra Leonean portion of the Gola Transboundary Peace Park. Timneh parrots were encountered at a rate of 0.1 groups/h in the National Park and 0.3 in the buffer zone, indicating densities of 1–3 individuals per km2. These figures are similar to recent density estimates from the Liberian side of the Peace Park, suggesting that the transboundary population amounts to c. 2,400 individuals inside the Park and an unknown number in the surrounding areas. Densities of the timneh parrot may be generally low even in strongholds, its numbers may be declining steeply, and the global population size is probably lower than previously believed.

The limits of inclusivity and sustainability in transfrontier peace parks: case of Sengwe community in Great Limpopo transfrontier conservation area, Zimbabwe

Transfrontier peace parks are seized with the challenge of creating a more inclusive and sustainable conservation agenda in the officially designated peaceparks in southern Africa. The quest for inclusivity and sustainability has witnessed sustained lobbying from the local communities calling for more meaningful involvement in the conservation and tourism industry value chain in the peaceparks. Against this background it is therefore imperative to understand the limits of inclusivity and sustainability in the peaceparks. This is important as this may help in gaining insights into improving stakeholder relations and to better manage expectations and perceptions of local communities affected by the establishment of the peaceparks. Understanding the limits of inclusivity and sustainability may help to develop beneficial stakeholder relations as positive relations have been understood to result in better biodiversity conservation and management strategies of the transboundary resources. This paper aims to share insights into the limits of inclusivity and sustainability of the GLTP focusing on the practical experiences of the local people in southeastern lowveld Zimbabwe. The study adopted a qualitative approach and leaned on the interpretivist research philosophy with major research participants drawn from the community members and key role players. A total of 180 community members drawn across the Sengwe community participated in the study. Research material was generated between October 2013 and April 2015. The results based on community interviews show that the stakeholder relations in the GLTFCA are currently strained and do not give the optimism and confidence to achieve meaningful inclusivity of the local communities and overall sustainability of the peacepark initiatives in southern lowveld Zimbabwe. The major challenges to inclusivity include poor governance, threats to livelihoods and negative stakeholder relations. Thus, there is a need to continuously review the governance processes, improve stakeholder relations and support community livelihood coping strategies in more tangible ways.

Around the world: International parks are distinctly Disney

The United States is the epicenter of the Disney parksmDisneyland in Anaheim, California, is the original and the heartbeat, while Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is a behemoth that attracts tens of millions of visitors a year. Walt may have spent his formative years in the American Midwest, but his imagination spread to all corners of the world. In addition to the U.S.-based destinations, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo also host a variety of parks that showcase classic attractions as well as park exclusives. These resorts capture the Disney aesthetic, but each presents unique challenges and cultural sensitivities.

The Intersection of “Natural” Edutainment and Perceptions of Natural Resource Uses

ABSTRACTThis analysis investigated relationships between experiences with edutainment elements of Walt Disney World and SeaWorld parks in Orlando, FL and perceptions of natural resource uses. While prior studies have focused on museums, zoos, and other attractions, little attention has been paid to locations recognized as primarily entertainment. A sample of 833 U.S. residents were asked about their perceptions of natural resources. Those having visited either SeaWorld Orlando or Walt Disney World had higher levels of agreement than non-visitors that marine and wild mammals can be ethically kept. However, visitors had lower levels of agreement that livestock animals could be ethically raised for meat, sparking questions about self-selection biases and/or associations with visiting/viewing versus consuming animals. Uncertainty about future availability of public support for research, education, and engagement on natural resource use and conservation provide continued incentives for furthering entertaining educational venues to engage the public.

Effectiveness of Panama as an intercontinental land bridge for large mammals.

Habitat fragmentation is a primary driver of wildlife loss, and establishment of biological corridors is a common strategy to mitigate this problem. A flagship example is the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC), which aims to connect protected forest areas between Mexico and Panama to allow dispersal and gene flow of forest organisms. Because forests across Central America have continued to degrade, the functioning of the MBC has been questioned, but reliable estimates of species occurrence were unavailable. Large mammals are suitable indicators of forest functioning, so we assessed their conservation status across the Isthmus of Panama, the narrowest section of the MBC. We used large-scale camera-trap surveys and hierarchical multispecies occupancy models in a Bayesian framework to estimate the occupancy of 9 medium to large mammals and developed an occupancy-weighted connectivity metric to evaluate species-specific functional connectivity. White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and tapir (Tapirus bairdii) had low expected occupancy along the MBC in Panama. Puma (Puma concolor), red brocket deer (Mazama temama), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which are more adaptable, had higher occupancy, even in areas with low forest cover near infrastructure. However, the majority of species were subject to ≥1 gap that was larger than their known dispersal distances, suggesting poor connectivity along the MBC in Panama. Based on our results, forests in Darien, Donoso-Santa Fe, and La Amistad International Park are critical for survival of large terrestrial mammals in Panama and 2 areas need restoration.

Seasonal selection of key resources by cattle in a mixed savannah-wetland ecosystem increases the potential for conflict with lions

In Africa's pastoral conservation landscapes, apex predators frequently kill livestock. Retaliatory persecution such as poisoning threatens predators, but also non-target biota. Several factors influence conflict severity, including livestock husbandry, overlap in seasonal habitat use, and the degree to which livestock perceive and are able to respond to a landscape of fear. We investigated these factors by GPS-tracking 42 Tswana beef cattle (Bos taurus) from 29 herds in 2017 and six lions (Panthera leo) from different prides (May 2016–Dec. 2017) in the northern Okavango Delta, Botswana, where cattle depredation significantly impacts the livelihoods of rural agro-pastoralists. Cattle exhibited seasonal habitat selection patterns similar to wild ungulates in the region. They preferred woodland habitats, with more digestible grasses, during the wet season. During the dry season, they preferred wetland habitats with reliable forage and water availability. Cattle also preferred areas close to human settlements, but the necessity to forage in wetlands during the dry season exposed them to significant depredation risk, especially >4 km from settlements. Lions killed most cattle in wetlands during the late dry season but the intensity of recent lion presence (previous 14 days) only had a weak negative effect on cattle habitat selection patterns. Cattle used rangelands according to nutritional requirements, irrelevant of the associated predation risk, suggesting that socio-ecologically acceptable conflict solutions cannot rely on the exclusion of livestock from seasonal wetlands. Curbing depredation by lions will best be achieved by a combination of resource- and predation-cognisant seasonal herding strategies with adequate livestock protection. Understanding the ecological constraints that intensify conflict is pertinent to any livestock production landscape with predator presence. It is also a central prerequisite for future land use planning and devolution of legal, controlled resource access rights through policy. Coexistence strategies must account for the strong reliance of people, their livestock, and wildlife on shared key resources. This is particularly important in large trans-frontier conservation areas where the successful merging of biodiversity conservation and rural development is a strategic goal. Omission will foster resentment and resistance to coexistence with apex predators, particularly if livestock productivity and human livelihoods are negatively affected.

Factors influencing local communities’ perceptions towards conservation of transboundary wildlife resources: the case of the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Conservation Area

Local communities’ perceptions of protected areas are important determinants of the success of conservation efforts in Southern Africa, as these perceptions affect people’s attitudes and behaviour with respect to conservation. As a result, the involvement of local communities in transboundary wildlife conservation is now viewed as an integral part of regional development initiatives. Building on unique survey data and applying regression analysis, this paper investigates the determinants of the perceptions of local communities around the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Conservation Area in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Our results illustrate that people perceiving the park as well-managed tend to have more positive perceptions regarding the benefits from the park, rules governing the park, and wildlife conservation in general. Household expertise on resource extraction, in turn, tends to make people more likely to perceive environmental crime as morally acceptable. Furthermore, the results indicate that if people perceive the rules of the park in a negative way, then they are less likely to conserve wildlife. Receiving benefits from the park has a positive impact on people’s perceptions of the rules governing the park, as well as on their perception of wildlife conservation in general, but not on perceptions about environmental crime. Surprisingly, perceived high levels of corruption is positively associated with people’s perception of wildlife benefits and with perceptions of that environmental crime is morally justified. There is also evidence of the role of socioeconomic variables on people’s perceptions towards wildlife. However, unobservable contextual factors could be responsible for explaining part of the variation in people’s perceptions. Our results speak to the literature on large-scale collective action since perceptions of wildlife benefits, corruption, environmental crime, park management and rules governing the parks, all affect local communities’ ability and willingness to self organize. These variables are interesting because they can be influenced by policy through training and awareness campaigns.