The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability

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dc.contributor.authorLindsey, Peter Andrewen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBalme, Guy Andrewen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorFunston, Paulen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHenschel, Philippen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHunter, Lukeen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMadzikanda, Hilaryen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMidlane, Neilen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorNyirenda, Vincenten_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-18T07:12:54Z
dc.date.available2015-11-18T07:12:54Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe trophy hunting of lions Panthera leo is contentious due to uncertainty concerning conservation impacts and because of highly polarised opinions about the practice. African lions are hunted across at least ∼558,000 km 2 , which comprises 27-32% of the lion range in countries where trophy hunting of the species is permitted. Consequently, trophy hunting has potential to impart significant positive or negative impacts on lions. Several studies have demonstrated that excessive trophy harvests have driven lion population declines. There have been several attempts by protectionist non-governmental organisations to reduce or preclude trophy hunting via restrictions on the import and export of lion trophies. We document the management of lion hunting in Africa and highlight challenges which need addressing to achieve sustainability. Problems include: unscientific bases for quota setting; excessive quotas and off-takes in some countries; fixed quotas which encourage over-harvest; and lack of restrictions on the age of lions that can be hunted. Key interventions needed to make lion hunting more sustainable, include implementation of: enforced age restrictions; improved trophy monitoring; adaptive management of quotas and a minimum length of lion hunts of at least 21 days. Some range states have made important steps towards implementing such improved management and off-takes have fallen steeply in recent years. For example age restrictions have been introduced in Tanzania and in Niassa in Mozambique, and are being considered for Benin and Zimbabwe, several states have reduced quotas, and Zimbabwe is implementing trophy monitoring. However, further reforms are needed to ensure sustainability and reduce conservation problems associated with the practice while allowing retention of associated financial incentives for conservation.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationLindsey, P. A., Balme, G. A., Funston, P., Henschel, P., Hunter, L., Madzikanda, H., ... Nyirenda, V. (2013). The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15150en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationLindsey, Peter Andrew, Guy Andrew Balme, Paul Funston, Philipp Henschel, Luke Hunter, Hilary Madzikanda, Neil Midlane, and Vincent Nyirenda "The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability." <i>PLoS One</i> (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15150en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLindsey, P. A., Balme, G. A., Funston, P., Henschel, P., Hunter, L., Madzikanda, H., ... & Nyirenda, V. (2012). The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability. PloS one, 8(9), e73808-e73808. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073808en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Lindsey, Peter Andrew AU - Balme, Guy Andrew AU - Funston, Paul AU - Henschel, Philipp AU - Hunter, Luke AU - Madzikanda, Hilary AU - Midlane, Neil AU - Nyirenda, Vincent AB - The trophy hunting of lions Panthera leo is contentious due to uncertainty concerning conservation impacts and because of highly polarised opinions about the practice. African lions are hunted across at least ∼558,000 km 2 , which comprises 27-32% of the lion range in countries where trophy hunting of the species is permitted. Consequently, trophy hunting has potential to impart significant positive or negative impacts on lions. Several studies have demonstrated that excessive trophy harvests have driven lion population declines. There have been several attempts by protectionist non-governmental organisations to reduce or preclude trophy hunting via restrictions on the import and export of lion trophies. We document the management of lion hunting in Africa and highlight challenges which need addressing to achieve sustainability. Problems include: unscientific bases for quota setting; excessive quotas and off-takes in some countries; fixed quotas which encourage over-harvest; and lack of restrictions on the age of lions that can be hunted. Key interventions needed to make lion hunting more sustainable, include implementation of: enforced age restrictions; improved trophy monitoring; adaptive management of quotas and a minimum length of lion hunts of at least 21 days. Some range states have made important steps towards implementing such improved management and off-takes have fallen steeply in recent years. For example age restrictions have been introduced in Tanzania and in Niassa in Mozambique, and are being considered for Benin and Zimbabwe, several states have reduced quotas, and Zimbabwe is implementing trophy monitoring. However, further reforms are needed to ensure sustainability and reduce conservation problems associated with the practice while allowing retention of associated financial incentives for conservation. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0073808 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability TI - The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15150 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15150
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0073808
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationLindsey PA, Balme GA, Funston P, Henschel P, Hunter L, Madzikanda H, et al. The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability. PLoS One. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15150.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and re credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2013 Lindsey et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherLionsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherTanzaniaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherWildlifeen_ZA
dc.subject.otherMozambiqueen_ZA
dc.subject.otherZimbabween_ZA
dc.subject.otherHunting behavioren_ZA
dc.subject.otherZambiaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherNamibiaen_ZA
dc.titleThe trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainabilityen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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