Browsing by Author "Naude, Vincent N"

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    A genetic perspective on leopard (Panthera pardus) conservation units across southern Africa
    (2021) Thacker, Thomas M; Bishop, Jacqueline M; Naude, Vincent N
    Conservation units are a tool to guide policy such that conservation goals can be achieved. These units should ideally synthesise a wide array of data – genetic, ecological, demographic – to identify the appropriate scales at which conservation actions can then be directed. Despite being the most widespread of all felids in Africa, and facing numerous threats across its range, it has been proposed that the entirety of southern Africa be considered one conservation unit for leopards (Panthera pardus pardus). This proposal does not take into consideration the likelihood of existing population genetic structure across an increasingly fragmented landscape. Further complicating regional leopard conservation is the variability in conservation policies among the geopolitical leopard-range states. Within this single proposed conservation unit, the patchwork of different legislation does not support a unified policy for leopard conservation. Using a population genetic perspective, this study explores and tests the values and shortcomings of southern Africa as a single conservation unit, and explores the importance of leopard range states within the context of conservation units. Parallel investigations of leopard microsatellite genotype data within the framework of a genetic population study spanning eight countries across southern Africa were carried out. This study presents consilient evidence supporting the finding that southern Africa contains six clusters of unique genetic lineages, and as such does not constitute a single genetic unit. Furthermore, it is shown here that the spatial genetic structure that exists does not correlate with the separate geopolitical range states. Leopard range states within southern Africa instead capture varying levels of unique genetic structure and thus are not of equal value with respect to the conservation of genetic lineages. These findings have several implications for leopard conservation across the region. While the data presented here specifically consider a genetic element of conservation units, they do suggest shortcomings in adopting either the entirety of southern Africa as a single unit or separate geopolitical range states as conservation units. The variability in leopard conservation policy across southern Africa is unlikely to sufficiently protect their existing regional genetic structure. If conservation units are indeed a tool to guide conservation policy, then the southern Africa unit for leopards is potentially less effective than a smaller unit whose spatial scale more accurately captures the discrete variation in population genetic structure. Genetic diversity and population structure is an important component of conservation units and should not be neglected. Currently, however, an appropriate framework allowing for conservation policy to be informed at the necessary scale does not exist; although the establishment of Transfrontier Conservation Areas speaks to the growing acknowledgement that conservation needs to evolve beyond the historical confines of geopolitical range states. The evidence presented here further supports the need for a rethinking of existing policy structures.
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    Spatial distribution and intensity of snare poaching in the Boland region of South Africa: implications for optimising anti-poaching efforts
    (2021) Kendon, Tamar A; O'riain, Justin; Wilkinson, Anita; Naude, Vincent N
    The human population of sub-Saharan Africa is growing exponentially, increasing anthropogenic impacts on natural resources, including wildlife, both inside and outside of protected areas. The rising demand for cheap sources of protein is fuelling the harvesting of bushmeat. In South Africa, illegal wire-snares are the most popular method of bushmeat harvesting. However, snare poaching is indiscriminate and inhumane, causing the death of many non-target species and suffering by all animals captured. The impacts of snaring on an ecosystem can be devastating, yet few studies have explored wire-snare poaching trends in southern Africa or on private agricultural lands. This study used data obtained during 210 snare patrols to investigate the intensity of use and spatial distribution of wire-snares across 111 private agricultural properties in the Boland region in the Western Cape province, South Africa. I considered the influence of social and ecological attributes on property-level snare use, including punitive measure enforcement, the employment of seasonal workers, farmer residency, the use of legal lethal control measures, the number of families on the property, property size, the proportion of natural land, and primary agricultural output. I also considered the influence of anthropogenic structures and abiotic variables on snare placement across the landscape, including elevation, fine-scale land-use types, slope, ruggedness, and distance to the nearest street, river, servitude area, farm boundary, and protected area. Wire-snares were largely placed close to the ground, along game trails and fence lines, and anchored to trees and fence posts. My findings reveal that snare use was higher on properties where the farmer lived permanently on the property (P = 0.005) or the primary agricultural output was orchards (P = 0.043). Snares were more likely to be present further from a public street but within roughly 1 km, close to rivers, at an elevation of 300 to 500 m, and in patches of forest plantations, wetlands, bare ground, and natural woody vegetation. There was also a strong interaction (interaction size = 116.56) between distance to street and proximity to a protected area. The predicted snare hotspots are centred around protected areas at mid-elevation (300-500 m) but are not remote in terms of distance to a public street. It is important to use these findings to inform anti-snaring efforts as wire-snare poaching is likely to be a growing threat to local biodiversity. Future studies should use questionnaires or structured interviews in conjunction with field studies to collect data on snare use. This will help to prevent the misleading interpretation of respondent claims, avoid respondent biases and improve targeted snare removal and law enforcement actions. It will also provide insight into the local context, crucial for identifying potential local drivers of snaring, such as food security, and informing the focus of awareness campaigns.