TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantifying lion (Panthera leo) demographic response following a three-year moratorium on trophy hunting
AU - Mweetwa, Thandiwe
AU - Christianson, David
AU - Becker, Matt
AU - Creel, Scott
AU - Rosenblatt, Elias
AU - Merkle, Johnathan
AU - Dröge, Egil
AU - Mwape, Henry
AU - Masonde, Jones
AU - Simpamba, Twakundine
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by: 1. World Wide Fund for Nature-Netherlands, Website: https://www.wnf.nl/, Grantees: Matt Becker; 2. The Bennink Foundation, Website: http://www. benninkfoundation.com/, Grantees: Matt Becker; 3. National Science Foundation Animal Behavior Program under IOS-1145749, Website: https:// www.nsf.gov/funding/aboutfunding.jsp, Grantees: Dave Christianson, Scott Creel, Matt Becker; 4. Painted Dog Conservation Inc, Website: http:// www.painteddogconservation.iinet.net.au/, Grantees: Matt Becker; 5. Mfuwe Lodge/Bushcamp Company, Website: http://www. bushcampcompany.com, Grantees: Matt Becker; 6. National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative, Website: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/ projects/big-cats-initiative/, Grantees: Matt Becker; 7. Tusk Trust, Website: http://www.tusk.org/, Grantees: Matt Becker; 8. Seaworld and Busch Gardens Fund, Website: https://swbg-conservationfund.org/, Grantees: Matt Becker; 9. Wildlife Conservation Network, Website: https:// wildnet.org/, Grantees: Thandiwe Mweetwa; 10. Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program, Website: https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/ russell-e-train-fellowships, Grantee: Thandiwe Mweetwa; 11. Vulcan Inc, Website: http://www. vulcan.com/, Grantee: Matt Becker. Though we received funding from commercial sources namely Painted Dog Conservation Inc, Mfuwe Lodge/ Bushcamp Company, and Vulcan Inc, this does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. All the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We thank the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Zambia Department of Veterinary and Livestock Development for permission and collaboration with this research. This work was funded through grants by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Netherlands, The Bennink Foundation, National Science Foundation Animal Behavior Program under IOS-1145749, Painted Dog Conservation Inc., Mfuwe Lodge/Bushcamp Company, Vulcan, National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative, Tusk Trust, Seaworld and Busch Gardens Fund, and Wildlife Conservation Network. T. Mweetwa was also supported by a WWF Russell Train Fellowship and a scholarship from the Wildlife Conservation Network. Thanks to all DNPW staff members, safari guides and managers, professional hunters, and visitors too numerous to name who contributed to the monitoring efforts reported in this manuscript. Special thanks to A. Banda, G. Banda, H. Banda, P. Bouley, C. Chirwa, C. Harrison, D. Hafey, A. Makakula, R. McRobb, F. Otten, A. Rosenblatt, and E. Sadowski for their assistance with data collection. Thanks to J. Laake and the phidot.org community for assistance with modelling survival and abundance.
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - Factors that limit African lion populations are manifold and well-recognized, but their relative demographic effects remain poorly understood, particularly trophy hunting near protected areas. We identified and monitored 386 individual lions within and around South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, for five years (2008–2012) with trophy hunting and for three additional years (2013–2015) during a hunting moratorium. We used these data with mark-resight models to estimate the effects of hunting on lion survival, recruitment, and abundance. The best survival models, accounting for imperfect detection, revealed strong positive effects of the moratorium, with survival increasing by 17.1 and 14.0 percentage points in subadult and adult males, respectively. Smaller effects on adult female survival and positive effects on cub survival were also detected. The sex-ratio of cubs shifted from unbiased during trophy-hunting to female-biased during the moratorium. Closed mark-recapture models revealed a large increase in lion abundance during the hunting moratorium, from 116 lions in 2012 immediately preceding the moratorium to 209 lions in the last year of the moratorium. More cubs were produced each year of the moratorium than in any year with trophy hunting. Lion demographics shifted from a male-depleted population consisting mostly of adult (4 years) females to a younger population with more (>29%) adult males. These data show that the three-year moratorium was effective at growing the Luangwa lion population and increasing the number of adult males. The results suggest that moratoria may be an effective tool for improving the sustainability of lion trophy hunting, particularly where systematic monitoring, conservative quotas, and age-based harvesting are difficult to enforce.
AB - Factors that limit African lion populations are manifold and well-recognized, but their relative demographic effects remain poorly understood, particularly trophy hunting near protected areas. We identified and monitored 386 individual lions within and around South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, for five years (2008–2012) with trophy hunting and for three additional years (2013–2015) during a hunting moratorium. We used these data with mark-resight models to estimate the effects of hunting on lion survival, recruitment, and abundance. The best survival models, accounting for imperfect detection, revealed strong positive effects of the moratorium, with survival increasing by 17.1 and 14.0 percentage points in subadult and adult males, respectively. Smaller effects on adult female survival and positive effects on cub survival were also detected. The sex-ratio of cubs shifted from unbiased during trophy-hunting to female-biased during the moratorium. Closed mark-recapture models revealed a large increase in lion abundance during the hunting moratorium, from 116 lions in 2012 immediately preceding the moratorium to 209 lions in the last year of the moratorium. More cubs were produced each year of the moratorium than in any year with trophy hunting. Lion demographics shifted from a male-depleted population consisting mostly of adult (4 years) females to a younger population with more (>29%) adult males. These data show that the three-year moratorium was effective at growing the Luangwa lion population and increasing the number of adult males. The results suggest that moratoria may be an effective tool for improving the sustainability of lion trophy hunting, particularly where systematic monitoring, conservative quotas, and age-based harvesting are difficult to enforce.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0197030
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0197030
M3 - Article
C2 - 29782514
AN - SCOPUS:85047435107
VL - 13
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 5
M1 - e0197030
ER -