tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/african-wildlife-24869/articlesAfrican wildlife – The Conversation2020-12-22T16:14:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1519392020-12-22T16:14:40Z2020-12-22T16:14:40ZFewer tourists meant less money for wildlife during the pandemic – but there’s an alternative<p>“Nature is healing” read social media posts at the outset of the pandemic, as birdsong replaced the drone of traffic during lockdown. But for wildlife conservation in Africa, the reality was very different. Anti-poaching operations in protected areas were paused or restricted to limit the spread of the virus, leaving populations of threatened species like <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716305481#bb0225">the African lion</a> vulnerable. Now these areas are confronting COVID-19’s economic fallout, and research suggests that <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01713.x">illegal hunting</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716305481">mining, deforestation</a>, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1275-6?fbclid=IwAR0WzLHNw_y9f8WNqX-LHA_O055uTIZ5wT6lzJ4VQbtlo7fEYnc9xuF6I7o">bushmeat consumption</a> all tend to increase during downturns.</p>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/cz/article/60/4/486/1824855?login=true">Safari tours</a> and other forms of wildlife tourism in Africa generate more than <a href="https://travesiasdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-Economic-Impact-of-Global-Wildlife-Tourism-Final-19.pdf">US$29 billion</a> each year. Whether it’s the salaries of park rangers or money for community outreach and education, much of the funding for conservation <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12224">comes from</a> this tourism revenue, including <a href="https://www.sanparks.org/assets/docs/conservation/park_man/aenp-draft-mgmt-plan.pdf">80%</a> of the annual budget of South African National Parks. Travel restrictions during the pandemic have <a href="https://covid19.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/editorial-essay-covid-19-and-protected-and-conserved-areas">gutted visitor numbers</a>, with 90% of African tour operators reporting a drop in bookings <a href="https://covid19.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/editorial-essay-covid-19-and-protected-and-conserved-areas">of three-quarters</a> or more. Many protected areas were suffering <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/45/E10788.short">severe budget shortfalls</a> even before the pandemic. </p>
<p>COVID-19 exposed the fragility of this model of conservation, but is there another way?</p>
<h2>Conservation basic income</h2>
<p>The idea of a conservation basic income (CBI) was <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719311437">recently proposed</a> to fund efforts to safeguard biodiversity. The concept is simple: people living alongside endangered wildlife receive an unconditional monthly income to reduce their dependence on hunting for bushmeat or chopping down trees for timber and firewood.</p>
<p>You may have already heard of something similar. Several economists and politicians have suggested that governments could improve social security by paying each citizen a <a href="https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/273217">universal basic income</a> – a regular and guaranteed payment sufficient to cover basic needs, including food and housing. </p>
<p>Instead of relying on tourist numbers remaining stable, the money for a CBI programme could be raised in a way that’s more dependable and resilient to shocks, such as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719311437">tax on carbon pollution</a>. The UK government’s recent ten-point <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-plans-to-slash-carbon-emissions-68-by-2030-how-banking-building-and-borrowing-can-help-151043">environment plan</a> included another option with its commitment to “green finance”, which would involve governments encouraging private investment in environmental causes. CBI could also work in areas where there are many threatened species, but few tourists, such as central Africa.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/natures-comeback-no-the-coronavirus-pandemic-threatens-the-worlds-wildlife-136209">Nature’s comeback? No, the coronavirus pandemic threatens the world’s wildlife</a>
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<h2>Paying for ecosystem services</h2>
<p>Another approach aiming to tackle conservation’s <a href="https://covid19.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/editorial-essay-covid-19-and-protected-and-conserved-areas">over-reliance on tourism</a> is monetising ecosystem services. This is an arrangement in which habitats like woodland and the environmental services they provide, like carbon storage, are bought and sold on an international market. Wildlife can be protected as a result, and businesses or states can offset their pollution or environmental damage by investing in these schemes, which now number more than 550 worldwide, with annual transactions in the region of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0033-0">US$40 billion</a>. </p>
<p>Both wildlife tourism and payments for ecosystem services attach a monetary value to biodiversity, whether as a draw for tourists, or to maintain useful ecosystem services. This is supposed to prioritise protection ahead of more damaging methods of generating income. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719311437">in reality</a>, these incentives often <a href="https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/44686984/Fletcher_et_al_2016_Questioning_REDD_.pdf?1460533854=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DQuestioning_REDD_and_the_Future_of_Marke.pdf&Expires=1608585435&Signature=GOzQZShDKAzXFuifBVdeFpTtOUpSlyOpoEt0ZNvm2KSEev5xsu1gPxFDuxvkhf6-eLGNZ0ueWfDGN%7E3NBnRTp79eZ6RiS9ODpBo3o9KxE2vtIMRGlRpjX86TF6QKleKl15CcPotH3vhkZUD1iRtoAvywblL2wX1TxUNnvF4o7BRHSxWoroSmDXU3YeZwZPbfxjl%7ETyosWzbJp7nTrWXfYSoFaA76NscuWU5wgok7PZJ9ZUMkW5t0QWp-yMuGkO39A9cIxwXPit%7Eb4oOSIy50qGaVj0SkPqH%7Ey2nGqoWgILkkUhB6iTIGrCs6SSjizCoxZhw4jQNHkIKZuykI8%7EjCiA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA">fail to compete</a> with the appeal of more lucrative industries, such as logging or mining.</p>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p>Instead of paying for services, a conservation basic income compensates local people for the infringements and costs that conservation entails. Tourists might pay a lot to visit well-guarded reserves filled with wildlife, but restrictions on harvesting resources from these areas directly affect local communities. Having a guaranteed monthly income could mean people have less cause to resort to small-scale mining or poaching, and could help them recoup the losses that living alongside large wild animals incurs, such as livestock taken by predators.</p>
<p>It’s still a relatively new idea though and hasn’t been implemented yet, but <a href="https://natureneedsmore.org/be-a-pioneer-for-a-basic-income-linked-to-conservation/">one charity</a> is raising money to conduct a two-year trial in an area of Zimbabwe with high levels of poverty and poaching. Each month, every adult would receive US$50 and every child US$20 (paid to their mother or guardian), with payments delivered by mobile phone.</p>
<p>As with any new idea, questions abound. Would increased income result in bigger environmental impacts, as people can more easily afford land-clearing equipment, for instance? Is it possible that such a scheme attracts new arrivals to the area, increasing local pressure? </p>
<p>It’s important to remember that the threats facing the world’s biodiversity are varied. Economic considerations form <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13678">only part</a> of a complex picture. How CBI would interact with a cultural tradition like Maasai lion hunting, for instance, is still unclear. But 2020 has exposed the fatal flaws in a conservation model reliant on wealthy tourists and regular air travel. New ideas are vital in the effort to safeguard the environment post-pandemic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Hamm receives funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>Wildlife tourism is big business – until a pandemic halts international travel.Joseph Hamm, PhD student in Conservation Science, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1325262020-03-31T10:24:43Z2020-03-31T10:24:43ZCamera traps completed one of the most thorough surveys of African rainforest yet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324258/original/file-20200331-65495-16o5ku5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C35%2C1057%2C1038&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PNS Survey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tropical rainforests are the world’s richest land habitats for biodiversity, harbouring stunning numbers of plant and animal species. The Amazon and the Congo basins, together with Asian rainforests, represent only 6% of Earth’s land surface, and yet <a href="http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm">more than 50% of global biodiversity</a> can be found under their shade.</p>
<p>But observing even the most conspicuous species, such as elephants and apes, is still an extraordinarily difficult task. That’s not even mentioning all the secretive species that are protected by thick vegetation or darkness.</p>
<p>Camera traps have led a technological revolution in wildlife research, making it possible to study species without humans needing to be present. They can be left in the depths of a forest for weeks, taking pictures of anything that moves at any time of day or night.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318423/original/file-20200303-66084-1cltf0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Installing camera traps in Salonga National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonas Abana Eriksson/PNS Survey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From their advent three decades ago, camera traps have allowed scientists to discover species such as the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131219-elephant-shrew-gray-faced-sengi-animals-threatened-tanzania/">grey-faced sengi</a> – a new species of giant elephant shrew living in Tanzania – and the <a href="https://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2018/03/annamite-striped-rabbit/">Annamite striped rabbit</a> in Vietnam. They revealed that <a href="https://theconversation.com/caught-on-camera-large-mammals-are-back-in-gabons-bateke-park-92527">lions</a> still wander the Bateke plateau in Gabon, ending speculation that they were locally extinct. They also <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/for-elusive-javan-rhinos-camera-traps-are-a-benevolent-big-brother/">photographed</a> the offspring of the elusive Javan rhino, which scientists had thought had stopped breeding. With fewer than 100 individuals left, this gave hope that the species could be saved from extinction.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323973/original/file-20200330-146678-t78dux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The grey-faced sengi (<em>Rhynchocyon udzungwensis</em>) was discovered by camera traps in Tanzania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey-faced_sengi#/media/File:Rhynchocyon_udzungwensis_Tanzania_F._Rovero.jpg">F Rovero/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Spotting stripes</h2>
<p>Camera traps are becoming essential for documenting forest species, assessing their <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103300">distribution</a> and studying their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960982219301630">behaviour</a>, as well as <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12432">counting what’s actually there</a>.</p>
<p>This latter measure, called animal abundance, is perhaps the most important information in wildlife conservation, as it allows researchers to assess <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-sheet">the conservation status of a species</a>. But until recently, camera traps could only be used to reliably estimate the abundance of animals with conspicuous markings, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/000632079400057W">big cats</a> with spots or stripes peculiar to single individuals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323978/original/file-20200330-146689-qnot5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Big cats, like this African leopard (<em>Panthera pardus</em>), are among the simplest species to document with camera traps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard#/media/File:Leopard_(Panthera_pardus).jpg">Haplochromis/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Counting animals with camera traps remained impossible for the majority of species that lacked these conspicuous features, as the same individual could be counted twice by different cameras at different times. Methods that account for how animals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01473.x">move in</a> and <a href="https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.aoas/1372338474">use</a> their habitat were developed to help overcome the problem of detecting the same individual at different locations.</p>
<p>Another method, called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12790">camera trap distance sampling</a> achieves the same result using a different approach. It subdivides the time cameras are active into “snapshots”, taking pictures at, for example, every fifth second in an hour. At a determined moment, an individual can only be spotted at one location, not elsewhere. Double counts are avoided, and researchers get the number of animals within the area surveyed by the cameras at a given snapshot.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13602">We tested this new method</a> in one of the most remote areas of the planet - the southern part of <a href="https://salonga.org/">Salonga National Park</a>, a world heritage site in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here, rangers only had data on the park’s two flagship species – the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T12392A3339343.en">forest elephant</a> and the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T15932A17964305.en">bonobo</a>. Near to nothing was known about the other animals that were more difficult to track.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318420/original/file-20200303-66078-1s3r8uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A flagship species of Salonga National Park, bonobo populations are understudied in 70% of their range.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christian Ziegler/LKBP</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Five field teams walked a forest the size of Wales to deploy 160 camera traps in 743 places. This unprecedented effort produced more than 16,000 video clips, totalling 170 hours of animal footage and revealing 43 different animal species, including bonobos and elephants. </p>
<p>We also captured species rarely detected by human observers, such as the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12762A123584478.en">giant ground pangolin</a>, threatened by extinction, the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T41593A45205341.en">cusimanses</a>, a genus of social mongooses, and the stunning <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679430A92814166.en">Congo peafowl</a>, a vulnerable species that’s endemic to the country. </p>
<p>Where so far conservation of elusive species such as the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T18306A50663128.en">African golden cat</a>, the endemic <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T865A17952193.en">Allen’s swamp monkey</a> and another elephant shrew, the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T42679A21290893.en">four-toed sengi</a>, had to be based on little to no data, we’re now able to estimate their abundance in the wild.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318422/original/file-20200303-66069-etdazl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nine of 43 species captured by camera traps in Salonga National Park, DRC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">PNS Survey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For some species, the news from our findings were good. Our study revealed that the southern part of Salonga National Park alone harboured as many peafowls as were previously thought to be present in the whole country.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/402147632" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>For other species, the results confirmed the need for greater protection. The 17,000 km² large and intact primary rain forest contains fewer than 1,000 giant pangolins. An alarming figure given the current <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12389">illegal trade of pangolin scales</a>.</p>
<p>As the technology and methods of camera trap surveys improve, they’re becoming capable of monitoring a diverse range of wildlife, from the tiny elephant shrew to the mighty forest elephant. This gives an insight into the complex and delicate equilibrium of the rainforest community and the threats to its survival.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by Liverpool John Moores University and by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW Group) on behalf of the German Government and WWF Germany</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded by Liverpool John Moores University and by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW Group) on behalf of the German Government and WWF Germany. Barbara Fruth is affiliated with Bonobo Alive e.V. a non-profit association supporting conservation of the bonobo (Pan paniscus). </span></em></p>A new method of using camera traps has brought good and bad news for conservationists.Mattia Bessone, PhD Researcher in Conservation Biology, Liverpool John Moores UniversityBarbara Fruth, Associate Professor, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1235042019-09-25T12:12:37Z2019-09-25T12:12:37ZSneaky lions in Zambia are moving across areas thought uninhabitable for them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293046/original/file-20190918-187980-1ekemtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=117%2C64%2C1151%2C824&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where has this Zambian lion been?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paula White</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Zambia, a country in southeast Africa, has approximately <a href="http://www.africanliongroup.org/uploads/5/0/0/7/5007626/session_minutes_final.pdf">1,200 lions</a>, one of the largest lion populations on the continent. More than 40% of the U-shaped country is <a href="http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094109">protected land</a>, with over 120,000 square miles of national parks, sanctuaries and game management areas for lions to roam.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293818/original/file-20190924-51463-5pwiyp.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zambia’s lion populations benefit from lots of protected lands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217179">Curry et al., PLOS ONE 2019</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Zambian lions are split into two subpopulations, with one in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem in the west and the other in the Luangwa Valley Ecosystem in the east. Between these two geographically different regions lies Lusaka, Zambia’s largest city, which is surrounded by farmland.</p>
<p>People had assumed that the two groups of lions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0381-4">did not – even could not – mix</a>. After all, they’re separated by a geographical barrier: the two regions feature different habitats, with the east an offshoot of the Great Rift Valley system and the west part of the southern savannas. The lions are also separated by what’s called an <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201308110044.html">anthropogenic barrier</a>: a big city that lacks wildlife protection, making it seemingly unsuitable for lions.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=a_TzvI0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">So my</a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paula_White4">colleagues</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vAkgkSsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">and I</a> were surprised when we found that a small number of lions are in fact <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217179">moving across the area</a> in between presumed to be uninhabitable by lions. These sneaky lions – and their mating habits – are causing the high levels of genetic diversity we found in the entire Zambian lion population.</p>
<h2>Identifying which genes are where</h2>
<p>Working with the Zambian Wildlife Authority, <a href="http://safariclubfoundation.org/zambia-lion-project/">biologist Paula White</a> collected hundreds of biological samples from lions across Zambia between 2004 and 2012. Eventually a box of this hair, skin, bone and tissue, meticulously packaged and labeled with collection notes and sampling locations, arrived at my lab at Texas A&M University.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293826/original/file-20190924-51463-1693ods.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unwrapping African samples in a Texas lab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caitlin J. Curry</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our goal was to investigate genetic diversity and the movement of various genes across Zambia by extracting and analyzing DNA from the lion samples.</p>
<p>From 409 lions found inside and outside of protected lands, I looked at two kinds of genes, mitochondrial and nuclear. You inherit mitochondrial DNA only from your mom, while you inherit nuclear DNA from both of your parents. Because of these differences, mitochondrial and nuclear genes can tell different genetic stories that, when combined, paint a more complete picture of how a population behaves.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293828/original/file-20190924-51410-1jwh2lh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Both nuclear (left) and mitochondrial (right) analyses show two genetically distinct Zambian lion subpopulations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/f5CFy6-FaC4">Photo by Wade Lambert, diagram by Caitlin J. Curry</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My mitochondrial analysis verified that, genetically, there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143827">two isolated subpopulations of lions</a> in Zambia, one in the east and one in the west. However, by also looking at the nuclear genes, we found evidence that small numbers of lions are moving across the “unsuitable” habitat. Including nuclear genes provided a more complex picture that tells us not only which lions were moving but also where.</p>
<h2>Genes on the move as lions roam</h2>
<p>The amount of variation from alternate forms of genes found within a population is known as genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is important for a wildlife population because more genetic options give animals a greater chance for adaptation in a changing environment. Genetic diversity can also tell biologists about ways a population can fluctuate.</p>
<p>To a geneticist, migration, also referred to as <a href="https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_21">gene flow</a>, is the movement of genes from one geographical place to another. Mitochondrial DNA, inherited from the mother, can only tell researchers where genes from mom have been.</p>
<p>In the lion mating system, males travel long distances to find new prides, while females remain in or close to the pride they were born in. So, for the lion, it’s primarily males that are responsible for the movement of genes between prides. This male-mediated gene flow explains the lack of gene flow seen in mitochondrial genes compared to that of nuclear genes – female lions aren’t making the journey, but they do mate with new males who come from far away.</p>
<p>Male-mediated gene flow has helped keep the lions of Zambia genetically healthy, increasing genetic diversity by introducing new genes to new areas as male lions move between subpopulations. The eastern and western subpopulations each have high levels of genetic diversity; since only a few lions move between the groups each generation, the subpopulations stay genetically distinct.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293829/original/file-20190924-51434-1bwagis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How genetically similar are individual lions? Represented by dots, individuals clustered together share more genes than those far apart. Lion dots are colored based on which national park they were found in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217179">Curry et al, PLOS ONE, 2019</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My colleagues and I were also able to determine where the lions are moving based on which individuals are more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_by_distance">genetically similar to each other</a>. Lions in the North and South Luangwa National Parks, part of the eastern subpopulation, appear completely separated from the western subpopulation. Gene flow is occurring through the southern regions of the eastern subpopulation.</p>
<p>Lions are most likely traveling a route between the Lower Zambezi National Park and eastern corridor to the Kafue National Park in the west, possibly along the Kafue River. We can’t tell which way they’re moving, but by looking at where lions are more closely related, we can see where genes are being moved.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293833/original/file-20190924-51463-q5av8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s male lions that travel to find new prides.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paula White</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lion data can help manage wildlife overall</h2>
<p>Human-lion conflict is a big issue in Zambia, <a href="https://www.cms.int/sites/default/files/document/ac27_cites_periodic_rev_status_african_lion_across_range_e.pdf">particularly outside of protected land</a>. If lions were moving across human dominated areas, you’d think they’d be seen and reported. But these lions are sneaking through virtually undetected – until we look at their genes. </p>
<p>As a large, charismatic carnivore, lion research and conservation influences many other species that share their habitat.</p>
<p>Wildlife managers can use these findings to help with lion conservation and other wildlife management in and around Zambia. Now that we generally know where lions are moving, managers can focus on these areas to find the actual route the big cats are taking and work to maintain or even increase how many lions can move across these areas. One of the ways of doing this is by creating more protected land, like corridors, to better connect suitable habitat.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project received funding from Zambia Wildlife Authority, Professional Hunters Association of Zambia, Safari Hunters and Outfitters Association of Zambia, the Boore Family Foundation, Dallas Safari Club, Safari Club International Foundation and the Texas A&M Foundation. </span></em></p>Male lions are responsible for the movement of genes between prides. New research confirmed that the genes are traveling long distances – even though no one has been spotting the lions on the journey.Caitlin J. Curry, Phd Student in absentia of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/841342017-09-18T13:20:05Z2017-09-18T13:20:05ZHow animals vote to make group decisions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186198/original/file-20170915-13360-1lsvnyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wild-dog-pups-694123111?src=teJKT1_bEtJFc9ay2XlvQQ-1-73">Seyms Brugger/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today we opt for ballot boxes but humans have used numerous ways of voting to have their say <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-shouting-it-out-to-staying-at-home-a-brief-history-of-british-voting-78555">throughout history</a>. However, we’re not the only ones living (or seeking to live) in a democratic society: a new study has suggested that <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1862/20170347">African wild dogs</a> vote to make group decisions.</p>
<p>A new study has found that these dogs sneeze to decide when to stop resting and start hunting. Researchers found that the rates of sneezing during greeting rallies – which happen after, or sometimes during, a rest period – affect the likelihood of the pack departing to hunt, rather than going back to sleep. </p>
<p>If dominant individuals start the rally it is much more likely to result in a hunt, and only two or three sneezes are required to get the pack started. But if a subordinate individual wishes to start a hunt, they have to sneeze a lot more – around ten times – to get the pack to move off.</p>
<p>The researchers think that this sneezing is the pack members voting on when to start a hunt, since it is often the lower ranking (and therefore the hungriest) dogs who start the rallies. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sVxKlsfi73g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Communal decisions are essential for social living, and in animals it is rare to find a social system where one individual coerces the rest of the group into performing a particular action. But since animals cannot produce the kind of pre-election propaganda so beloved of human politicians, social groups must have different ways of suggesting and gaining consensus for activities.</p>
<h2>1. Baboons: take it or leave it</h2>
<p>When members of a <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6241/1358?variant=full-text&sso=1&sso_redirect_count=1&oauth-code=afe4ee45-67c8-4732-b0ca-842510ce1c66">baboon troop</a> set off to forage, several members may move in different directions. Other baboons in the group must decide which one to follow, and social dominance has no effect on the likelihood that the majority of the group will follow. Moving purposefully seems to be an important factor in getting other individuals to follow – another parallel with human behaviour, since people will follow whoever seems to have the <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED133827.pdf">most confidence</a> .</p>
<h2>2. Meerkat voice voting</h2>
<p>In meerkat mobs, social cohesion is vital for survival, and moving from one patch to another must be done together. A meerkat going it alone will very soon be an ex-meerkat. In order to get the group to head quickly to a new patch, an individual will <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/278/1711/1482">emit a “moving call”</a>. If three or more meerkats make moving calls within a short period of time, the group will speed up its movement, but two or less individuals calling does not affect the speed. In meerkat mobs three is evidently considered a quorum.</p>
<h2>3. Capuchin monkeys “trill”</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.beamreach.org/data/101/Science/processing/Nora/Papers/Use%2520of%2520Trill%2520Vocalizations%2520to%2520Coordinate%2520Troop%2520Movement%2520among%2520White-Faced%2520Capuchins-%2520A%2520Second%2520Field%2520Test.pdf">White faced capuchin monkeys</a> at a site in Costa Rica have been heard using “trill” calls to persuade the group to move off in the direction preferred by the caller. However, the callers were not always successful in getting the group to move, and status within the group did not seem to affect the likelihood of persuading the troupe to move. Although the researchers did not consider the possibility that these calls were a form of voting, there are similarities between their use and the sneezes used by the wild dogs.</p>
<h2>4. Honey bee scouts vote among themselves</h2>
<p>Honey bees have an advanced social system with individual workers having different tasks. When a nest becomes overcrowded and some of the bees need to move out, <a href="http://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/biol106h/PDF/Seeley.pdf">scout bees</a> go off to find a suitable site for a new nest. Of course, they all find different sites and some may find more than one location. </p>
<p>When they return to the swarm, the scouts each perform a dance that gives directions to their chosen site. As time goes on some of the scouts stop advertising their site, and a few will switch to advertising another scout’s site. The swarm will only move when all the scouts that are still dancing are advertising the same site. This process can take several days to complete, but it is a bit like buying a house without having seen it on the say-so of a few estate agents.</p>
<h2>5. Ants vote with their feet</h2>
<p><a href="http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/25915/1/Franks_etal2015_srep11890.pdf">Rock ants</a>, found in the south of England, choose a new nest site based on the quality of the site, with entrance size and darkness among assessed criteria. They appear to use a simple voting system consisting of leaving the nest site if an individual does not perceive the quality to be high enough. When enough ants have accumulated at a site, it is deemed to be of a suitable quality (or perhaps the best that can be found in the area), and the ants move in. If the quality subsequently deteriorates, individuals drift away to another site until enough of the colony have left the original nest and joined the new site. A simple, but apparently effective system.</p>
<p>Voting by animals is not a subject that has been studied to any great extent, although political systems are common among social animals and are quite well documented, but if wild dog, meerkats and ants are doing it, you can bet your bottom dollar that other species are doing it too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Hoole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Democracy is not just for humans.Jan Hoole, Lecturer in Biology, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/736122017-03-02T14:58:49Z2017-03-02T14:58:49ZConservation efforts must include small animals. After all, they run the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159096/original/image-20170302-14695-1sqmgff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ladybugs stop pests from eating our food and destroying crops.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Inhabitat</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans like to think that they rule the planet and are hard wired to do so. But our stewardship has been anything but successful. The last major extinction event, 66 million years ago, was caused by a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/14/asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-by-setting-oil-alight-and-spreading-soot-says-study">meteorite</a>. But the next mass extinction event, <a href="http://www.mysterium.com/extinction.html">which is under way right now</a>, is our fault. </p>
<p>Geologists have even given this era in the history of the Earth a new name to reflect our role: <a href="http://www.anthropocene.info/">the Anthropocene</a>, the age of humans. </p>
<p>It’s the first time in the history of the Earth in which one species dominates all the others. These “others” numbers are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/science/30species.html">probably around 10 million</a>. The vast majority are the invertebrates, the animals without backbones. Not all are so small – some squids and jellyfish are several metres long or across.</p>
<p>Most, though, are small and unassuming. And they are hidden in plain view. They are busy maintaining the fabric of the world around us. They are the warp and weft of all natural systems. They make the soil, pollinate the flowers, spread seeds, and recycle valuable nutrients back into the soil. They are also food for many birds that are so loved, and keep other small animals in check by eating or parasitising them.</p>
<p>Yet most of us are oblivious of the many roles of these mostly small, even tiny, animals. If all their services were gone tomorrow, many plants would soon go extinct. Crops would be lost overnight. Many birds would die from lack of food, and soil formation would largely halt. The knock-on effects would also be huge as food webs collapse, and the world would quite literally <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/31/world-without-animals-pollinating-crops">fall apart</a>.</p>
<p>So how can all the small animals be saved? </p>
<h2>Saving small animals</h2>
<p>Future generations depend on these small animals, so the focus must be on increasing awareness among the young. Research has shown that children <a href="http://naturalstart.org/feature-stories/nurturing-childrens-love-animals">are intrinsically interested</a> in what a bee, cricket, butterfly or snail is. Their small world is at the same level as this small world of insects and all their allies without backbones. Yet strangely, while we care about our children, we care so little for all the small creatures on which our children depend on now and into the future.</p>
<p>Children must be shown that the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/not-bad-science/bees-learn-which-flowers-have-pollen/">bee is keeping the flowering plant species alive and well</a>, <a href="http://animals.mom.me/grasshoppers-beneficial-5185.html">the grasshopper</a> is recycling scarce food requirements for plants, <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Millipede">the millipede</a> is making the soil, and <a href="http://www.buglogical.com/garden-ladybugs/">the ladybug</a> is stopping pests from eating all our food. Showing children that this miniature world is there, and that it’s crucial, is probably one of the best things to do to help them survive the future in this world of turmoil.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159097/original/image-20170302-14721-1yof21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children need to be shown that the bee is keeping the flowering plant species alive and well to help them understand the importance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/RDPixelShop</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Being aware of what the various species actually do for maintaining ecosystems is crucial to understanding how complex the world around us is. Pointing out that a bee is intimately connected with flowers and so seeds are produced, and an ant is <a href="http://www.rainforesteducation.com/ants/ants1.htm">the cleaner of the forest floor</a>, taking away all the debris from other small animals, and <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Caterpillar">the caterpillar</a> is feeding the soil by pooing on it. Then we can conceptually jump to the whole landscape, where there are millions of little claws, mandibles and tongues holding, munching and sucking nectar all the time, even though we rarely see it happening.</p>
<h2>Natural communities</h2>
<p>A good way to understand this complexity is to view a small community of 1000 species. This can lead to potentially half a million interactions between the various species. Yet the natural communities around us are usually much larger than that. This makes understanding this world too mind boggling, and conserving its complexity too unwieldy. What this means is that for conservation, while we use conceptual icons, like the bee and the butterfly, the actual aim is to conserve landscapes so that all the natural processes can continue as they would without humans.</p>
<p>Conservationists have developed <a href="http://www.esa.org/esa/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/issue4.pdf">approaches and strategies</a> that maintain all the natural processes intact in defined areas. The processes that are conserved include behavioural activities, ecological interactions and evolutionary trends. This umbrella approach is highly effective for conserving the great complexity of the natural world. This doesn’t mean that particular species are overlooked.</p>
<p>Small-creature conservationists in reality work on and develop strategies that work at three levels. The first is at the larger scale of the landscape. The second is the medium scale of the features of the landscape, which includes features like logs, ponds, rock crevices, patches of special plants, among many others. The third is the still smaller scale of the actual species. </p>
<p>The third is really about a conceptual scale because some particular species actually need large spatial areas to survive. At this fine scale of species, conservationists focus attention on identified and threatened species that need special attention in their own right. The beautiful Amatola Malachite damselfly, which is endangered, and lives in the Eastern Cape mountains of South Africa, is a case in point.</p>
<p>The common thought is that it’s only tigers, whales and parrots that need conserving. But there are hundreds, if not thousands, of small creatures that all need special conservation focus like bees for example. And this focus becomes increasingly and critically important every year, if not every day, that passes. It’s crucial to think and conserve all these small animals that make up the platform for our future survival on the planet.</p>
<p>Time is short as the Anthropocene marches on. Putting in place strategies that conserve as many animals as possible, along with the rest of biodiversity, is not a luxury for the future. New strategies are possible, especially in agricultural and forestry areas where the aim is to optimise production yet maximise on biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of natural ecosystem function.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Samways receives funding from the National Research Foundation, South Africa and Mondi Group (UK). </span></em></p>Small animals are the fabric of the world around us. Without them everything would crumble.Michael Samways, Professor, Conservation Ecology & Entomology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/640632016-08-21T17:53:49Z2016-08-21T17:53:49ZThe threat to the world’s largest wild animals is much greater than we thought<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134652/original/image-20160818-12312-4dyz0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cheetahs have experienced severe range contractions, their numbers declining markedly in many protected areas</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A group of leading conservationists has declared that an extinction crisis is facing the world’s largest wildlife. In a new report titled <a href="http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/07/25/biosci.biw092">“Saving the World’s Terrestrial Megafauna”</a>, they found that 59% of the world’s largest carnivores, including big cats, and 60% of the world’s largest herbivores, face dramatic population and range losses. The Conversation Africa’s Samantha Spooner spoke to one of the authors, Peter Lindsey, about the findings.</em></p>
<p><strong>How serious is the threat facing megafauna?</strong></p>
<p>The threat is severe and accelerating. Approximately 60% of the world’s largest carnivores and herbivores are classified as being threatened with
extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/">Red List</a> of threatened species. We are at serious risk of losing some of our most iconic, charismatic and beloved species. </p>
<p>In some cases, species may not necessarily go completely extinct, but disappear from vast areas where they occurred. For example, African elephants are facing a massive poaching onslaught, 75% of their populations are <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/36/13117.short">declining</a> and their range is shrinking fast.</p>
<p><strong>What are megafauna, where are the biggest populations and why are they important?</strong></p>
<p>Megafauna are large animals. For example, mammalian carnivores of 15 kg or larger like African wild dogs or lions, and herbivores of 100 kg or larger such as elephants, rhinos or hippos. Significant populations occur in a number of places in the world, including Africa, North America, northern Europe and parts of Asia. The highest densities of megafauna probably occur in parts of southern and East Africa. </p>
<p>Megafauna species are very important for a variety of ecological, social and economic reasons. They play a vital role in ecological processes such as predation (preying on other animals), nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and through the “engineering” of soil and vegetation. For example, large herbivores consume and trample plants, which can maintain open areas in otherwise dense vegetation. This can be crucial for other species to gain access. </p>
<p>Large mammals are also important to human societies as symbols and totems. A great number of people derive enormous value from the simple knowledge that large, charismatic, and sometimes dangerous species still exist. And in some cases cultural values bestowed on megafauna translate into economic values through tourism industries.</p>
<p><strong>What is threatening them and what is the extent of the threat?</strong></p>
<p>Many species are taking strain from growing human population pressures. Key threats include habitat destruction for agricultural and urban expansion, excessive harvests for meat or body parts and persecution due to conflict with humans over crops or livestock. </p>
<p>The extent of these threats varies greatly from country to country and from species to species. But on the whole. pressures on megafauna are severe. That’s why we are seeing dramatic population declines and range contractions. </p>
<p><strong>Why are they particularly at risk?</strong></p>
<p>Megafauna often occur at very low densities and have very large area requirements. Some species need huge tracts of natural habitat to survive. Due to their large size, many species breed relatively slowly. This means that they are less resilient than many smaller species and less able to handle persecution and harvest.</p>
<p><strong>In Africa, what are the greatest challenges in protecting megafauna?</strong></p>
<p>There are several key threats to megafauna on the continent. The one that arguably affects the widest range of species is the illegal bushmeat trade. Hundreds of thousands of large mammals per year are poached, with snares or automatic weapons, for meat to fuel an increasingly commercialised trade in bushmeat. This can decimate wildlife populations if left unchecked. </p>
<p>Targeted poaching for body parts is also causing rapid declines in some species. For example, elephants are poached for ivory, rhinoceroses for their horns and leopards for their skins. </p>
<p>Habitat destruction and encroachment of wild lands by people and their livestock is another major and growing issue. This also happens in many formally protected areas. As human and livestock populations expand, human-wildlife conflict is a growing issue. This invariably ends badly for the wildlife involved. </p>
<p><strong>What can be done? Are any groups getting it right?</strong></p>
<p>We need to do three key things to save Africa’s megafauna.</p>
<ul>
<li>Long term financial and technical support must be provided to wildlife authorities to help them manage protected areas. There is a strong case for greater international support for Africa’s protected area network. Firstly, many African countries have protected area networks that are much larger than the global average and that are beyond their economic means to protect. </li>
</ul>
<p>Second, a large proportion of demand for wildlife products for the illegal wildlife trade is international in nature. Thirdly, developed countries have never lived up to pledges of conservation support made at the <a href="http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163">Rio Earth Summit in 1992</a>. Lastly, investing in protected areas is a very direct way in which the developed world can help to promote sustainable development in rural areas. </p>
<p>Managing protected areas well enables the development of sustainable tourism industries. This can provide economic diversification, stimulate job creation, generate livelihood benefits and provide poverty relief in a sustainable way. Unfortunately, in many African countries, wildlife is key to attracting visitors. But it’s being lost before the economic benefits can ever be generated. </p>
<p>The organisations achieving the greatest conservation gains in Africa are, in my opinion, those that have forged long-term partnerships with state wildlife authorities for the management of protected areas. These show the significance of long term engagement, backed up with financial support and strong technical and capacity building input. These partnerships have delivered impressive recoveries in wildlife populations in some places. Examples include, among others, the <a href="https://fzs.org/en/">Frankfurt Zoological Society</a> and <a href="https://www.african-parks.org/">African Parks</a>. </p>
<ul>
<li>Integrate efforts to promote conservation and human development. Meaning, wildlife conservation becomes a vehicle through which livelihoods and welfare are improved.</li>
</ul>
<p>Some organisations have done incredible work in developing wildlife as a land use on community lands. For example, the <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund</a> and others in Namibia and the <a href="http://www.nrt-kenya.org/">Northern Rangelands Trust</a> in Kenya. In both countries, vast areas of community lands have become established as wildlife areas as a direct result of conservation programmes specifically designed to target human needs and to empower local communities.</p>
<ul>
<li>Develop threat-specific or species-specific conservation approaches. Some organisations have done this successfully. For example, lions are exceptionally vulnerable to persecution arising from conflict with livestock owners. My own organisation, <a href="https://www.panthera.org/">Panthera</a>, works to address some of these specific threats at various sites. Panthera’s <a href="https://www.panthera.org/initiative/project-leonardo">Project Leonardo</a> supports a number of projects that reduce the persecution of lions by helping farmers protect their livestock.</li>
</ul>
<p>The contributions of conservation NGOs are of key importance. But the hard work and dedication of African state wildlife authorities in saving megafauna under difficult conditions must not be understated. The most effective conservation programmes are those that work closely with (and empower) wildlife authorities and the local communities that live with – and ultimately decide the fate of – wildlife.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Lindsey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>60% of the world’s largest carnivores and herbivores are classified as being threatened with extinctionPeter Lindsey, Policy Coordinator, Lion Program, Panthera, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/630642016-07-27T18:38:50Z2016-07-27T18:38:50ZSouth Sudan’s humanitarian crisis: wildlife is also in the firing line<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132151/original/image-20160727-5653-o058bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Sudan's elephant population plummeted from 80,000 in the late 1960s to less than 5,000 now.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest fighting in Juba, South Sudan, between government forces known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the opposition has left hundreds <a href="https://theconversation.com/whos-behind-south-sudans-return-to-fighting-if-it-isnt-kiir-or-machar-62352">dead</a>. It also displaced tens of thousands from their homes, leaving them without any means of subsistence.</p>
<p>The latest flare-up between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition leader Riek Machar follows a civil war that lasted two years. The civil war cost the lives of an estimated 50,000 people and resulted in the displacement of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southsudan-unrest-un-idUSKCN0W503Q">2.3 million</a>.</p>
<p>The humanitarian crisis is, and should always be, of paramount importance. But South Sudan’s wildlife and conservation programmes are also in severe crisis as a result of the fighting. The conflict has made weapons widely available and created opportunities for poaching. The lack of food in rural areas and displacement further exacerbates this, with well-armed poachers threatening the lives of rangers and wildlife.</p>
<p>South Sudan has a rich and varied fauna, with elephants, lions, leopards, cheetah, wild dogs and a great variety of antelopes. This includes the rare tiang and huge herds of white-eared kob, numbering more than 800,000. But conservation suffered hugely during the wars of liberation from Sudan – from 1956 to 1972, and 1984 to 2005. Elephants were killed for their ivory by the Sudanese army, its irregular militias, which became known as the Janjaweed, and the liberation movement, notably the SPLA. </p>
<p>Ivory was poached and exported via military networks through Khartoum and by the SPLA through Ethiopia or Uganda. The underfunded and poorly armed park wardens and rangers could not compete with the firepower of the army, militias and rebels, or with the substantial poaching by displaced or destitute civilians. South Sudan’s elephant population plummeted from 80,000 in the late 1960s to about 10,000 in 2000 and less than 5,000 now. </p>
<p>South Sudan has seven national parks and 16 other reserves or protected areas that have a variety of wetland, Sudd swamp, savannah and forest habitats. National parks and reserves account for 15% of the national <a href="http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Sudan.pdf">land area</a>. Despite a policy of wildlife and habitat protection proclaimed by the South Sudan government after the formation of the new state in 2011, following its secession from Sudan, the frequent communal conflicts and then the two years of civil war have prevented realistic conservation management. It has led to the deaths of several rangers at the hands of the SPLA or rebel groups. </p>
<h2>Poaching is on the increase</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, before the recent outbreak of fighting in Juba, it was <a href="http://qz.com/653414/the-halt-in-south-sudans-civil-war-has-seen-a-jump-in-elephant-poaching-for-ivory/">reported</a> that ivory poaching was continuing to increase in South Sudan. </p>
<p>Seventeen elephants were killed in a single incident in Warrap State in February. This followed the killing of 15 in Boma National Park the previous month.</p>
<p>More recently, a <a href="https://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/poaching-rise-lantoto-national-park-ten-elephants-dead">report</a> by the independent Radio Tamazuj said that there was evidence of increased poaching activity at <a href="http://www.protectedplanet.net/lantoto-national-park">Lantoto National Park</a>. The carcasses of 10 elephants were discovered and there was a substantial increase in the poaching of giraffes and zebras for meat and skins.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132152/original/image-20160727-13256-3x11f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There has been a substantial increase in the poaching of zebras for meat and skins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The chief game warden at the park, Colonel Natalino Lasuba, said that despite the arrest of several poachers, poaching there was on the rise. There is also evidence that many of the antelope herds and elephants are migrating out of the park and across the border into <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/136">Garamba National Park</a>, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An animal exodus like this is usually the result of human encroachment or hunting, unless there has been a drought or loss of habitat. </p>
<p>But the animals are not migrating into safety. Garamba has serious, long-term poaching problems. SPLA soldiers, the Sudanese Janjaweed, Congolese rebels and professional poachers from Chad and Sudan all kill elephants for ivory and game for <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/elephant-poachers-kill-three-rangers-at-a-wildlife-park-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-a7002606.html">meat and hides</a>. Over the past year, eight rangers and three Congolese army personnel were killed by heavily armed poachers in Garamba.</p>
<p>The growth in poaching is the result of a combination of factors:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the wide availability of automatic weapons from the 1984 to 2005 <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2014/09/16/ivory-insurgency-and-crime-in-central-africa-the-sudans-connection-by-keith-somerville/">liberation war</a> against Sudan and the recent civil war;</p></li>
<li><p>the scarcity of resources to provide for law enforcement and park rangers;</p></li>
<li><p>the destruction of conservation infrastructure;</p></li>
<li><p>severe hunger and a lack of viable means to earn a living;</p></li>
<li><p>the need to feed armies and militias; and</p></li>
<li><p>the use of ivory to help fund conflict or enrich political and military elites.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>It’s not looking promising</h2>
<p>Had it not been for the conflict, Garamba Park, along with <a href="http://www.bahr-el-jebel-safaris.com/Boma_National_Park.html">Boma National Park</a> in eastern South Sudan, could have been the focus of conservation efforts. Conserving habitats and species would, in turn, have developed a wildlife tourism industry that could bring in hard currency. Unfortunately, the civil war between Kiir and Machar’s forces has waylaid those plans.</p>
<p>Illegal gold mining in some national parks or reserves has also brought about human-wildlife conflict and significant growth in the bushmeat trade.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/12/-sp-protecting-wildlife-south-sudans-civil-war-conservationist-reddit-ama">Paul Elkan</a>, Director of the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work">World Conservation Society</a> programme in South Sudan, is also concerned about the aftermath of the conflict. </p>
<p>Ceasefires, when militias and rival forces are demobilised or inactive, could become the riskiest time for wildlife. With weapons but no fighting to carry out, poaching is a good option to make some quick money.</p>
<h2>Animals in major decline</h2>
<p>Before the start of the 1984 war for liberation from Sudan, South Sudan had a population of about <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2014/09/16/ivory-insurgency-and-crime-in-central-africa-the-sudans-connection-by-keith-somerville/">80,000 elephants</a>. In 2011, the Wildlife Conservation Society and South Sudanese government estimated the country’s elephant population to be about 5,000 strong. Today, half of that elephant population has disappeared, either through poaching or migration in search of safe havens.</p>
<p>The remaining elephants, and much of the other valuable wildlife species like the tiang, kob, giraffes and zebra, have their best chance of survival in the national parks and reserves. But, as with Lantoto, most of the protected areas have been plagued by conflict-related poaching. </p>
<p>The Boma National Park in Jonglei State, for example, is one of the most important savannah ecosystems in the region. But fighting in mid-2013 between government forces and the Murle rebel group led by David Yau Yau led to the destruction of park infrastructure, the killing of three wildlife rangers and the disruption of conservation and <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2014/09/16/ivory-insurgency-and-crime-in-central-africa-the-sudans-connection-by-keith-somerville/">wildlife protection programmes</a>. Park officials, including Park Warden Kolo Pino, were killed by South Sudanese armed forces seeking to drive out Yau Yau’s fighters. Elephants in the park that had been fitted with radio collars for a conservation programme were also killed by poachers.</p>
<p>Ending the war and addressing a worsening humanitarian crisis is clearly a priority for South Sudan. But solutions seem as far away as ever. </p>
<p>In terms of environmental protection, the aligning of conflict resolution, economic reconstruction and conservation policies are vital. It is crucial to protect wildlife and the wilderness, but to do it in a way that benefits people. Encouraging them to value wildlife and see it as a sustainable asset rather than a short-term answer to a pressing need will be critical to the country’s conservation future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63064/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Somerville does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Sudan is a country where conflict is rife. This has had a knock-on effect on the country’s rich and varied fauna, and put conservation programmes in severe crisis.Keith Somerville, Visiting Professor, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/547462016-02-17T19:17:36Z2016-02-17T19:17:36ZGoing on safari? Research shows ecotourism can help save threatened species<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111622/original/image-20160216-22587-z3cdft.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black rhino cow and calf, southern Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Guy Castley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should your next holiday include a safari, whale watching, or a trip to a tiger temple? Ecotourism has recently been in the spotlight. For instance, we’ve seen claims that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/articles/Tiger-increase-in-India-proof-of-the-benefits-of-tourism/">tourism helps conserve tigers</a> and that it has been linked to <a href="http://www.natgeotraveller.in/web-exclusive/web-exclusive-month/video-evidence-links-thailands-tiger-temple-to-wildlife-trafficking/">wildlife trafficking</a>. </p>
<p>But how can we tell if ecotourism is good or bad for threatened species? In our research published today in PLOS ONE we looked at nine different species, and found that overall, <a href="http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147988">ecotourism is good for wildlife</a>. <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22685553/0">Great green macaw</a> in Costa Rica, <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22695180/0">Egyptian vultures</a> in Spain, <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39876/0">hoolock gibbons</a> in India, <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697810/0">African penguins</a>, <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12436/0">African wild dogs</a>, <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/219/0">cheetahs</a>, and <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/11506/0">golden lion tamarins</a> in Brazil all benefited from tourism. </p>
<p>But we also found that current tourism levels aren’t enough to help <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39780/0">orang utans in Sumatra</a>, and are actually bad for <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/17026/0">sea lions in New Zealand</a>. So how do we get the balance right?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111589/original/image-20160216-22570-r50hai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">African penguins in Algoa Bay, South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Guy Castley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is ecotourism?</h2>
<p>“Ecotourism” is a very broad term. It may include visitors to public national parks, volunteers for community projects, or adventurous expeditions to remote regions. Some may even include hunting safaris. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/can-tourism-really-have-conservation-benefits-1337">Ecotourism has both positive and negative effects</a>. It can contribute to conservation, or impact wildlife, or both. Some effects are small, others large; some direct, others indirect. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628860-200-endangered-animals-caught-in-the-tourist-trap/">Attitudes of local communities</a> towards native wildlife, for example, influence whether they support or oppose poaching. Furthermore, income from ecotourism may be used for conservation and local community development projects, but not always.</p>
<p>We also need some way to measure ecotourism effects on wildlife? Many ecotourism measures are social or economic rather than ecological. It’s often difficult to compare positive and negative impacts on a species. Therefore, quantifying the net effect of ecotourism is challenging. </p>
<p>For species at risk of extinction, such as those in the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List</a>, it is critical to be able to assess how various threats, including tourism, affect their survival. So we wanted to develop a way of measuring how ecotourism affects the risk of extinction for these species. </p>
<h2>Measuring ecotourism</h2>
<p>Previously when considering ecotourism researchers looked at revenue to parks, and how much of a species’ global population was protected by these parks. </p>
<p>This approach showed that tourism funding is significant for many IUCN Redlisted <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044134">mammals</a>, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0062598">birds</a> and <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0043757">amphibians</a>. But it doesn’t tell us whether ecotourism will help or harm a specific species or population.</p>
<p>Our new approach uses population analysis (specifically population viability analysis). This sort of analysis is the gold standard for predicting future population trends, and probable time to extinction, for threatened species. </p>
<p>We looked at how populations changed over time in response to threatening processes, by simulating births and deaths one generation at a time. We do this thousands of times to estimate extinction risk. These methods are well-tested and widely-used in practical wildlife management. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111750/original/image-20160217-19269-1y39fjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">African wild dogs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ralf Buckley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To do this we need to know a couple of things about the species we are looking at: habitat area; population size and age. We also need to know the birth and death rates for different ages as well as migration patterns. This information exists only for some threatened species such as those used in our study.</p>
<p>We also need to be able to convert ecotourism effects into these measures of species performance. By looking at how ecotourism affects these aspects we can compare ecotourism to other threats such as poaching, logging, or fishing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111786/original/image-20160217-19250-1c2lrz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tiger in India (from the back of an elephant)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ralf Buckley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Winners and losers</h2>
<p>For seven of the species that we looked at, ecotourism provides net conservation gains. This is achieved through establishing private conservation reserves, restoring habitat or by reducing habitat damage. Removing feral predators, increasing anti-poaching patrols, captive breeding and supplementary feeding also helps.</p>
<p>But for orang utans in Sumatra, small-scale ecotourism cannot overcome the negative impacts of logging. However, larger-scale ecotourism yields a net positive outcome by enabling habitat protection and reintroduction of individuals from captive situations.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for New Zealand’s sea lions, ecotourism only compounds the impacts of intensive fisheries, because it increases the number of sea lion pups dying as a result of direct disturbance at haul out sites.</p>
<p>Our research highlights three key messages. The first is that to predict how ecotourism affects wildlife, we need to know basic things about them: ecotourism needs biologists as well as social scientists. </p>
<p>The second is that the effects of ecotourism are not universal: whether ecotourism is good or bad depends on the species and local circumstances. </p>
<p>The third, and perhaps most important, is that ecotourism, at appropriate levels, can indeed help to save threatened species from extinction.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111591/original/image-20160216-6548-1h4w3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">River ecotourism at the Storms River Mouth, Tsitsikama National Park, South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Guy Castley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54746/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Next time you plan a holiday you can rest assured that wildlife sightseeing can help some threatened species.Guy Castley, Senior Lecturer, Griffith UniversityClare Morrison, Research Fellow - Academic Editor, Griffith UniversityRalf Buckley, International Chair in Ecotourism Research, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.