Does Trophy Hunting impact on the Lion Population?
From the University of Sciences d’ Angers, Belle Beille 49045 Angers Cedex France (Jourdain), Professional Guide and Safari Operator in Mana Pools since 1983, Zimbabwe
(Steve Pope).
The lions of Africa lost 80% of their territory in 100 years. In 20 years, their number fell by approximately by 30% to 50%.
In the early 19th century when Zimbabwe was first occupied by settlers, the African Lion (Panthera Leo) was shot as a problem animal that killed livestock. Thereafter, lion hunting became a sport and eventually a financially viable business enterprise. Before the settlement and development of the agricultural industry, lion used to free-range over the entire region. However, the lions were gradually removed agricultural and communal sectors of ground until they were thereafter confined in parks and reserves on a total surface of 49.418Km². Today, zones of hunting (Parks National, Forestry Commission, CampFire...) has 40000 Km² of this surface.
In 1954 The Department of Wildlife Management was formed and the major part of the departments role was to control the increase in Problem Animals. This mostly concerned crop-raiding elephant. In 1962, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management was formed to administer the National Parks Estate. More recently the National Parks body became the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (NPWMA), with Government relinquishing control.
The Forestry Commission with 4,963 Sq kms under its jurisdiction, is government controlled and its main objective is to conserve the indigenous forests of Zimbabwe, but given that there is significant wildlife on the Commission’s estates, the Commission utilises the wildlife as a sustainable resource for Trophy Hunting of it’s land and for non-consumptive safaris in the remainder. The land controlled by NPWMA and Forestry is mostly situated in the Zambezi valley in the North and the semi-arid region of Matabeleland in the North West of Zimbabwe.
The Communal Lands have 12,806 Sq kms of land with wildlife that is mostly used for consumptive trophy hunting situated between the settled areas and the National Parks and Forestry estates. The Commercial land that utilizes wildlife is situated mainly in the North West and South West semi-arid regions and has 27,000 Sq kms of land with wildlife that is either used for consumptive trophy hunting or non-consumptive photographic safaris (figure 1).
In Zimbabwe it is impossible to even know the exact number of lions at the point as the zones of hunting hardly know more about the population of the lions; all is based on approximations. In 2002, there were approximately 1037 lions on the basis of a minimum of 808 and a maximum of 1268 lions (N Monks Zimbabwe dated base May 2002) on an extent from approximately 60102,82 Km². The use of fauna became a company more financially viable. The hunting of trophy was a small industry in the past but of the statistics compiled by the national parks and wildlife managment.
Authority (NPWLMA) enable us to examine the tendencies of the use of fauna. The statistics on quotas of lion for hunting were easily available but it is more difficult to find other data for the real use and the quality of trophy. The reason is that in certain cases no disc was kept and only of the evaluations were provided. For example the data of quota of NPWLMA for 1991 and 1997 did not exist or were lost and the data before 1991 were insufficient.
In the early 1990’s lion quotas were abused in the Zambezi valley. Because of the pressure on the lion population quotas were severely reduced in the mid 1990s but since 1997, the quotas increased steadily from nil to 118. In 2002 this increase in quotas occurred in the Zambezi valley and North West Matabeleland Regions. The Matabeleland concessions had the most lion on quota with 49 (41.5%) in 2002. The largest quota was that of the Forestry Commission which had 10 lion.
In the early 1990s hunting success rate was low, but since 1998 the success rate went to 100% for operators in the Dande North and South, Chewore North and South, and Rifa Safari areas. (C. Grobbelaar and R Masulani: WWF SARPO 2002). Before 1996 the quota system was designed for optimum sustainable lion off-take without much regard to trophy quality, but since then quotas were set to improve trophy quality, which led to a reduction in actual lion off-take in some regions.
Trophy quality measurement was originally only against length, but is now calculated against skull dimensions. This and the realisation that trophy quality was more important, led to the quotas being designed to improve the quality of trophies, which meant that more mature adults were utilised on quota, and this meant that more males in their prime were being hunted. The hunting of mature male lions has a profound disruptive affect on lion pride composition because when the dominant breeding male of a pride is shot, the new male that takes over control of the pride will kill young cubs fathered by the previous male. It is argued that this can increase the number of cubs born in a pride as against when a new male takes over all females will come into oestrus almost immediately with a resultant significant number of cubs born, however, the demand for high quality male trophies ensures that the cycle of new pride males will influence cub mortality.
The financial viability and economic success of Trophy hunting has led to dramatic increases in illegal and semi legal poaching. Poaching is now driven by the poor state of the national economy and the lack of control in regard to conservation. (----- Johnny Rodrigues). There is a complete lack of statistics for the Zimbabwe lion population at the present time, which means that accurate quotas cannot be applied. It is well known that it is a common practice to attract lion from National Parks or Forestry Estate onto concessions that border on them. It is apparent that the high lion densities that were present in the Robins camp region of Hwange National Park, which were once said to compare with the density of lion in Ngorongoro disappeared in this way as the Matetsi concessions bordered on this region.
Continued Trophy hunting of lion is going to impact heavily on lion populations and also, through selection of high quality trophy males, their genes will be lost from the breeding pool.
We have studied available statistics on trophy hunting and quota settings and trophy quality for the different regions of Zimbabwe between 1992 and 2002 and also
considered the effect of the economic climate and the resultant demand for trophy hunting and the uncontrolled utilization of wildlife in this situation on the lion population in Zimbabwe. We
show that lion are endangered by these factors and that they should be moved to Appendix 1 for greater protection.
The safari areas where wildlife is utilised for trophy hunting is mainly in the North in the Zambezi valley (latt and Longitude) and North West Matabeleland. (latt and Longitude) and some areas in the southern Lowveld (Lat and Longitude) of Zimbabwe. The National Parks Estate covers 49.418 Km² and comprises 44,73% percent of the Wildlife area in Zimbabwe of which half is used for trophy hunting (Lat and Longitude) The Forestry Commission Estate is 4,963 Sq.kms and is 1,3 percent of the wildlife area of Zimbabwe and of this, again half is used for trophy hunting and half for non consumptive photographic safaris (Lat and Long). The Communal lands have 12,806 Sq.kms which is 3,3 percent of all wildlife areas but in this case most is used for Trophy hunting safaris (Lat and Long) and Commercial Farming land used for the wildlife industry is an extensive 27,000 Sq.kms which is 6,9 percent of wildlife areas (Lat and Long) and is mostly used for consumptive safaris.
Studies of Trophy Hunting in certain areas of Zimbabwe
The quotas of lion for all the areas were with their higher in 1992 with the lion roughly 145 on the whole. After it has y have a decline in 1996.
As the trophies of lion are in a great request and attract high fees of trophy indicated by the fact which in 2000, the 2001 and 2002 price paid a lion was higher than any other animal on the bidding of valley of Zambezi. This request returns the lion "on driven out". In the valley of Zambezi at the beginning of the Nineties the system of quota was exaggerated with a level of 48 trophies in 1992 and the result was that there was an energetic fall in the number of lion of trophy in the sector. In the same way following a study made with the national park of Hwange (1999-2005) provide details of the width and consequences of the high use of Zimbabwe. The evaluations of WildCRU are of approximately of 42 lions adult male in Hwange, where enters 1998 and 2002 the quota of hunting in the concessions was placed at 63 lions. It indicates that the annually drawn number by far exceeded the recommended bearable level of 4-10% of the males of adult. The department of parks considers to lower the quotas.
The quotas for huntings with lion on the zones controlled in Zimbabwe exceeded 140 per annum at the beginning of the Nineties, but were reduced approximately to 120 in the end of the Nineties.
This deferment allowed an increase in the animal numbers of trophy so that as from 1998 the tendency was of a progressive increase in the quotas of trophy of lion with 30 in the valley of Zambezi in 2002. (Tabl. 1). This rise was also seen in the western North of Matabeleland. In 2002, the zone of the Western North of Matabeleland had the highest proportion of quota of the lion compared with other areas of fauna. There Forestry Commission had the greatest quota in the Western North of Matabeleland with 10 trophies of lion has to be taken this year. The quota of lion of the area of Sebungwe was 20 in 2002 whose majority were in communal sectors of safari (Communal Land Safari areas). Since there is so much request for lion of trophy and because of the high financial value of the trophies of lion this pressure will increase the pressure of hunting on the population already endangered of lion at Zimbabwe which is on appendix 2 of IUCN but which considers the lion of vulnerability, should be on appendix 1.
The prohibition of the hunting of Zimbabwe resulted from the widespread identification their excessively high quotas.
Quotas are placed each year with the objective to use the fauna in a bearable way. This should be done by making sure that the number of lion driven out for the trophy is not more than the number of lion maturing at the age of trophy and also calculated to arrive at a certain number of animals which can be driven out without reducing the total population. Quotas are established in a formula derived from the size of population multiplied by the utilisation ratio. The utilisation ratio is supposed being reached by establishing the growth rate of the population which is the difference between the number of constant animals and the number of deaths normals like increase in percentage of the population. Because there are no statistics for the normal birth and of the statistics of died in the quotas of population of lion were based on evaluations, what are open vague figures. Indeed, between the years 1970 and the years the 1990 quotas were calculated on approximate data returned by the safaris operators of hunting. What was worth too high quotas in seen in certain areas of hunting in Zimbabwe, in seen of an economic interest, thus a systematic decline on the population of the lions. Since a few years, Dr. Russell Taylor of WWF set up a method of calculation of quota thanks to the knowledge of the number of the populations of the elephant and buffalo. This method is also used for calculation of the quotas of the lions but which prove only one approximation for these individuals because one can be based on no real base of the number of the population of the lions although the lion is registered in the red list of the IUCN like "vulnerable". We notice in the table designed by Dr. Russell Taylor that no counting by plane or on the ground was made concerning the lions, its statistics are based as in the past only on the approximations of the safaris operators and the evaluation of the community, what would announce with a quota of 3 lions for the hunting of the year which follows. (Tabl. 1) R.D. Taylor Forthcoming 1999.
Trophy Quality
The good quality of Trophy is important for the marketing and the success of a concession of safari and the operator of safari. Trophies of lion are measured by dimensions length and cranium of body being the total length and skull width. The necessary minimum to enter the booklet of international of club of safari is 23 inches and for Rowland Ward is 24 inches. In Zimbabwe, the guarantors with a questionnaire indicated that they expected that the average size of trophy is 23.9 inches which would answer requirements of SCI. The area with the majority of lion on the quota is in the Western North of Matabeleland and there are good returns of statistics for Matetsi and Kazuma/ Areas of Pandamasuie. They indicate that in 1989 and 1991 the size of skull was 24 inches decreasing with 23 inches in 1995 and 1996 and continuing with 22 inches in 2000. These returns prove that while the total tendency in Zimbabwe east of a progressive increase in the quality of the trophy puts a decline of quality of trophy in Matetsi Safari because the quota was too high to maintain the quality of trophy.
It is difficult to thus evaluate cranium dimensions during a hunting the operators and the customers are interested by the size of mane. It was shown him that the size of mane is important in the joining process and of multiplication. This means that in any area the males with the longest manes will be most probably the large male of clan and also the target for the trophy of the hunter.
Age of the lion for Trophy Hunting
The male lion lives in group of 5 to 30 individuals, composed of females, lion cubs and 2 or 3 males dominant. As of the 2 years age, the lion is driven out of its clan by the males dominating of the group and to form to it his. This one will have well evil to compete with an adult male to take seat within an already made up clan. However with the sexual maturity of the lion i.e. between 3 and 4 years will take seat in a clan and will kill small the already born ones. The lions not having a season of reproduction but it is the same one in the females reproduce all the year. The lion becomes adult and in its full force of the age at 6 years. Research proved that the hunting of trophy is likely to have minimal impacts on populations of lion if the use is limited to the males which are at least 6 years old (Whitman et al. 2004). While basing itself that the lion can obtain its own clan only at age the 4 years and that their small is vulnerable up to 2 years, the conclusion for a conservation of the lions was to drive out only the lions as from 6 years. However, this one hardly has season of reproduction thus the lion will not await the 6 years age for new reproduction, in the case or this one is the only male dominating. It is certain that even an age limits 6 years for Trophy Hunting puts in danger its regeneration.
Survey of perceptions of Safari Operators
In a 10 year period Operators were asked to respond to a questionnaire designed to obtain feedback in regard to 1) Offtake quotas 2) Trophy quality and 3) Catch effort (hunting success). C.Grobbelaar and R. Masulani (WWF SARPO 2002).
Analysis of lion Shot
This analysis is based on statistics provided by NPWLMA where they compiled the information of the returns of operator of safari, Forestry Commission and communal operations of ground safari (CAMP FIRE) for the 10 years period of 1992 to 2002. We consider that the impact of the hunting of trophy on the population has like consequence a regular decline in the numbers. The statistics which we could obtain (a number of lion killed during 10 years) include the place of the sectors of hunting if the lion were males of trophy, young males or females. We compare the number of lion drawn with the growth rate from population. We compare the number of lion with the beginning of each season in each area with the quota of use and the number of lion drawn every year with the number of remaining lion with the end from each season every year. This proves that there was a regular decline in the numbers coinciding with the number of driven out lion. We study the assignment that to kill the male of pride has on the structure of the pride according to its death. The statistics prove that in Matabeleland of the North-West there was a decline of quality of trophy, what thus proves that the quota of use was too high. We also examine if arrangements of quota ecologically healthy or are maltreated in favour of the numbers made available to industry of safari. Approximately 65% of Zimbabwean trophies of lion recorded in the international book of trophy of club of safari were Western Zimbabwe (area of safari of Matetsi, concessions of safari around the national park of Hwange and the ground of sylviculture), 19% of the valley of Zambezi and the remainder of the escarpment of Zambezi or the lowveld are of South (international club 2005 of safari) Craig Packer et al. January 2006.
Decline of the adult lions in Zimbabwe
This analysis was made by my care by making a comparison between the lions of the reserve of Chitake which is hardly a hunting preserve and Hwange which is a hunting preserve. After 3 months of study in Chitake, I could count approximately between 15 and 20 lionesses including two bearing a collar GPS and I could count that 3 adult lions males. In each clan varied between 3 to 6 females per clan with their small but with a total absence of adult male lion. The reproduction between the lions is not made that on a surface basis where the lion couples itself with the females but belonging to none the prides thus this one is and remains wandering.
Curiously, one finds the same situation of clan of the lions with Hwange (zone of hunting) which them lions also join several clans of females, meaning they can less protect the lionesses and their small from the hyenas which become the principal predatory ones in Hwange considering the decline of the population of the lions. Indeed, the lion making a greater request for the trophy hunting than the hyenas, its population is in a lower number compared with the hyenas and thus jeopardizes systematic the lion cubs of the pride of lion.
Trophy hunting and the protection of the lions
According to the report/ratio of IUCN 2006, "the trophy hunting would be a means of protecting the extinction from the lions because this brings an excellent income what makes it possible to increase the reserves which supports their reproduction" and "a general agreement that the trophy hunting would not be the cause of the decline of the lions" and "Theoretically, hunting is a fantastic manner to preserve very large ecosystems but the practical characters to obtain this money with the small types which pay the costs is an enormous exit ". However, one could notice by the statistics (diagram ___) that since many years the quotas of the lions were strongly exaggerated what led to a decline of the animal to Zimbabwe and an interruption of hunting in certain places such as for example Hwange National Park and of the Western North of Matabeleland.
From an economic point of view, the local population is supposed to obtain is in kind or out of money % of the sales turnover of huntings, what is unfortunately not always the case. This method had been organized in 1989 by Campfire in order to encourage the protection of the animals. However the lion is one of the animals principal has to be touched by illegal hunting because of the African habits, because this one would be driven out for its grease which is used like drug, for his heart which brings courage. Illegal hunting as consists in obtaining more money as % poured by the Parks of hunting. In spite of the means of collar GPS put in?uvre at National Hwange parks, 4 of the 5 young person males lions were drawn. In much of places in Zimbabwe, there are demolitions not controlled, even the cubs are touched. "Sally Bown, trade association of the hunters and guides of Zimbabwe, that there were demolitions illegal on the private grounds, but there were "farms" in all the state. Morris Mtsambiwa, general manager of the authority of management of the parks and the fauna of Zimbabwe, the aforementioned illegal hunting was not widespread. "In the farms" it was a problem until it there at a year, but the new farmers seek quotas.
Perceptions of safari operators
According to the document (C. Grobbelaar and R. Masulani: WWF SARPO 2002) thirteen safari operators reported by questionnaire that in a 10 year period the trend in trophy quality was estimated as follows: six perceived an improvement; and six perceived a decline and one reported trophy quality to be static. These perceptions relate to the quota settings applied to the Zambezi valley and Northwest Matabeleland where trophy quality was improved in the Zambezi Valley but declined in Matabeleland. They said that high fixed quotas in relation to populations of lion made it difficult to maintain trophy quality. They said that a safari for a trophy lion should last from 14 t0 21 days averaging 17,8 days. Their recommendations they would make to ensure good trophy quality were regular game counts; monitoring of trophy quality and age of lion shot; realistic fixed quotas i.e. that part of the quota that has to be paid for regardless of whether trophy was taken or not. This means that if the fixed quota is too high but has to be paid for then poor quality trophies will be taken thus putting pressure on immature lion. They also recommended that poaching and PAC (problem animal control) should be better managed. When asked for further observations on trophy quality and hunting success rates they responded that lion have been overshot in the Northwest Matabeleland region largely by stock farmers.
Other observations and comments made by operators were that hunting lion from a hide at baits requires time and so the longer the hunt duration the higher the success in attracting a mature male; where communal land wildlife areas border on other safari areas there is much more pressure on the lion in the latter because lion can be hunted after dark with artificial light in the Communal land concessions which improves the communal land hunters chance of taking a trophy in the same population that National Parks operators are hunting and therefore “catch effort” increased and that high fixed quotas result in reduced offtake and immature males being killed.
Evolution of population of lion
In 1992 there was a total of ------- lion and in 2005 the total was ------- lion in Zimbabwe. This population was distributed over the four different wildlife areas. In 1992 the number of lion in the National Parks Estate was set at ------ this gave a density of --------- per Sq.km but in 2005 there were ------- with a density of –per Sq.km. In 1992 in the Forestry Estate there were -------- lion with a density of ----per Sq.km but in 2005 there were ------- lion with a density of ------ per Sq.km. In 1992 the Communal lands had -------- lion with a density of ---per Sq.km but in 2005 there were only -------lion with a density of ---lion per Sq.km and in the Commercial farm lands in 1992 the number of lion was -------- with a density of ----per Sq.km and in 2005 there were -----lion with a density of -----lion per Sq.km.
We can compare the number ------- lion killed by trophy hunting in 1992 by the population of lion in trophy hunting areas in 2005.
(Comme vous pouvez le remarquer j'ai été dans l'impossibilité pour une publication scientifique d'inscrire des chiffres concernant la population des lions pour faire une balance entre le nombre de lions et du quota pour la chasse au trophée. Car durant mes recherches on m'a dit ouvertement qu'il n'y avait pas de vrai comptage des lions, que tout se faisait au hasard). De même pour le nombre de lions légalement tués pour la chasse au trophée, soit disant que les documents auraient été perdus.
Canned hunting is at the base to kill the animal (let us take the case of the lions which has a great request for their head or their skin) in an enclosure delimited of approximately of 1 or 2 Km² to obtain its trophy from it. The lions were raised by the Men within the organization of Canned hunting or even by a private individual (in a farm...). The lion knowing the Men since his birth does not seek to flee in front of the hunter, this one for the majority of time will remain lying in front of the hunter. Canned hunting is authorized in some country of Africa such as South Africa but prohibited in other like Zimbabwe.
However, the trophy hunting practised in the zones of the Camp Fire and another zone of safari of hunting has also as a name "to fair chase". In this precise case, as for Canned hunting, the lion is chosen and bought by the customer to be then released in a zone of hunting of the Camp Fire. By its nature, the lion will tend to be inserted in the important extent in Km² of the bush of the zone of hunting of the Camp Fire to find rest under a bush: hunting for the customer becomes impossible then. At this point in time the Safari operator will hang charms (example: leg of impala) to a branch of tree thus the lion has the choice between being inserted in the bush or throwing themselves on the charms. The lion will jump immediately what will make it possible to the customer to draw with any ease on the lion.
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