tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/leopards-37953/articlesLeopards – The Conversation2022-05-25T13:31:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838412022-05-25T13:31:09Z2022-05-25T13:31:09ZSnare and shotgun injuries reveal more about threats to lions and leopards in Zambia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465272/original/file-20220525-20-m0gxi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">GettyImages</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Wildlife and people are coming into more and more conflict across Africa as human populations expand. Habitat loss and fragmentation of animal populations are causing declines in species.</p>
<p>In Zambia, the Luangwa Valley and Kafue are two important wildlife areas. Both support populations of lion and leopard which are genetically linked to populations in neighbouring countries. They have great conservation value and are crucial for Zambia’s tourism industry too.</p>
<p>It was here that Paula White, director of the Zambia Lion Project at the University of California in the US, noticed something strange while <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.803381/full">researching</a> the conservation of carnivores. Looking at the skulls of lions and leopards to estimate the animals’ ages, she saw unnatural wear marks on the teeth of these big cats. This was caused by biting and pulling on snare wire to get free. What is more, many of the lions had old shotgun pellets embedded in their skulls. They had survived these injuries – but how many more animals had not?</p>
<p>Behind the threat to the lions and leopards are complex social and economic issues. People move to where there are opportunities to make a living – from wildlife tourism and associated economic activity, for example. This can bring them into conflict with animals. Some people set snares because they need food, not necessarily to catch carnivores. And they may fire shotguns to drive off predators, not to kill them.</p>
<p>It is vital to understand the complexities of these relationships. People who live close to parks need to receive the benefits of wildlife, as our guest explains in today’s episode of Pasha.</p>
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<p><strong>Photo:</strong>
“Portrait Of Lion Standing On Grassy Field, Kasempa, Zambia” by Stock Photo <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-lion-standing-on-grassy-field-kasempa-royalty-free-image/1271839829?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Music:</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p>
<p>“Somewhere Nice” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As humans and wildlife come into closer contact, it is crucial to ensure that there's a relationship that benefits both people and animals.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1669182021-09-16T07:09:14Z2021-09-16T07:09:14ZAfrican leopard sighting raises hopes for their conservation in southern Cameroon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420450/original/file-20210910-16-exrb9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Africa's leopards, like this one in Botswana, are increasingly under threat.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, ecologists have been able to confirm the existence of species previously thought to be lost from former parts of their range. </p>
<p>For example, in 2020, lowland gorillas <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/camera-traps-confirm-presence-of-lowland-gorillas-in-central-mainland-equatorial-guinea-for-first-time-in-over-a-decade/">were confirmed</a> to persist in central mainland Equatorial Guinea by University of the West of England researchers. This year, Babirusa, a southeast Asian wild pig species, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/camera-trap-cameo-for-buru-island-babirusa-last-seen-26-years-ago/">were documented</a> for the first time in 26 years on Buru Island, Indonesia. </p>
<p>Collecting this evidence is possible due to the increasing use of remotely triggered cameras, commonly known as camera traps. Camera traps are triggered by motion and take photos of an animal that passes in front of the camera’s detection zone. </p>
<p>By deploying cameras in wildlife habitat, we can gather valuable information about the animals that live there and how many may be left. This is especially important in areas subject to intense human pressure, which has increasingly left species under threat. </p>
<p>In 2019, our research team deployed 19 camera traps in southern Cameroon in Central Africa. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349039119_First_direct_leopard_evidence_in_20_years_in_Campo-Ma'an_conservation_area_Cameroon">A sighting of an adult leopard</a> was captured by one of our camera traps in the Campo-Ma’an area. This was the first sighting of a leopard in 20 years. </p>
<p>Photos showed only one individual, but its presence provided real evidence that leopards still occur in this conservation area. This would make leopards the apex predator in this area.</p>
<p>The leopard has the widest range of any big cat species in Africa, and can persist in a range of habitat types including savanna and rainforest environments. Population estimates are not known, though numbers in Africa are thought to be declining. A <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/1974/#p-8">2016 study</a> estimated that the African leopard’s range has reduced to 67%.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/exploitation-changes-leopard-behaviour-with-long-term-genetic-costs-136650">Exploitation changes leopard behaviour with long-term genetic costs</a>
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<p>There is little information about leopard populations in Central Africa but in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, prey loss within protected areas as well as habitat loss and illegal hunting are expected to have played an important role <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15954/163991139#assessment-information">in leopard declines in this region</a>. </p>
<p>Although the Congo Basin was previously thought to be a stronghold for leopards, they are now believed to be absent in many parts of this region, so our recent sighting of a leopard in Campo-Ma'an shows the importance of conservation efforts to protect leopard habitat and their prey. </p>
<p>In light of increasing habitat loss and fragmentation in the region, further research in our study area is urgently needed. </p>
<h2>Campo-Ma’an</h2>
<p>The region is part of the Congo Basin which, besides Cameroon, spans parts of Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Gabon. </p>
<p>The Congo Basin is a biodiversity hotspot that is home to thousands of species and is the second largest tropical rainforest on the planet after the Amazon. This forest system is also home to several endangered species, including the western lowland gorilla, forest elephant, chimpanzee, mandrill and giant pangolin.</p>
<p><a href="https://fedec.cm/en/le-parc-national-de-campo-maan/">Campo-Ma’an National Park </a>is a 2,680 square km protected area in southern Cameroon. Campo-Ma’an was thought to have one of the last remaining leopard populations in the region. But after decades of hunting and forest loss, there had been no indisputable evidence that leopards were still there. </p>
<h2>An unexpected find</h2>
<p>In 2019, one of our camera traps photographed a leopard, as an unexpected byproduct of a study on the ecology of endangered forest elephants in Campo-Ma’an. </p>
<p>Cameras were deployed in areas thought to be used by elephants so we were surprised to see an adult leopard in one of the photos. </p>
<p>Knowing that leopards still exist in Campo-Ma’an helped us secure research funds to expand our camera trapping efforts in the area in 2022. Working with local communities and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in Cameroon will help us collect data to better understand what leopards need to be able to live in this area and importantly, prevent human-leopard conflict. </p>
<p>Our team will carry out an extensive camera trap survey throughout the Campo-Ma’an conservation area to gather more information about leopard habitat use there. This will help us get a better idea of how many leopards there are, and in turn, encourage strategies to protect the species.</p>
<p>This is urgently needed as human disturbance and encroachment is a major threat to wildlife in the area. Campo-Ma’an National Park is surrounded by more than 100 human settlements, as well as palm oil plantations and logging concessions. </p>
<p>Our findings were valuable in confirming the presence of leopards in the area but a great deal more work needs to be done. Our work will form the basis of a long-term wildlife monitoring programme in the region which we hope will contribute to conservation efforts in Campo-Ma’an, for leopards as well as the many other endangered species that live there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166918/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>Recent sighting of a leopard in the Campo-Ma’an National Park area of Southern Cameroon shows the importance of conservation efforts.Robert Weladji, Professor, Biology Graduate Program Director, Biology, Concordia UniversityAlys Granados, Post doctoral researcher, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1587212021-04-12T15:01:27Z2021-04-12T15:01:27ZWe studied the DNA of African and Asian leopards and found big differences between the two<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394459/original/file-20210412-15-ta1k9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C94%2C1095%2C824&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African leopard.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Goodheart</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Leopards are among the most widespread carnivores today, living in a wide range of habitats, from deserts to rainforests, and from the lowland plains to the mountainous highlands. </p>
<p>Over the past century, they’ve experienced extreme habitat losses due to human activity, both directly from hunting and indirectly from habitat reduction and prey competition. This has led to the land they occupy being reduced by over 50% in Africa, and over 80% in Asia, involving the local extinction of many populations.</p>
<p>Genetic analysis of leopards is important to understand their population history, structure and dynamics. Particularly important is the analysis of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/genome-837">whole nuclear genomes</a>, which means all the DNA contained in the cell core – approximately 2.5 billion DNA bases (pairs of DNA building blocks).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00457-7">In new research</a>, we studied the genomes of modern and historical leopards, using samples gathered from an unusual place – natural history museums. And we found a surprising level of genetic separation between leopards from different parts of the world.</p>
<p>Normally, genetic analysis involves collecting fresh tissue samples. For leopards, doing this would be extremely difficult. The animals are hard to track down, particularly in areas where they are rare, and invasive sampling can be bad for the animal. </p>
<p>Animals bred in zoos may not be a good option as they may be mixtures of multiple wild populations. Getting samples from areas where they have been eradicated is not possible at all. For these reasons, we turned our sampling efforts to museums.</p>
<h2>Museums</h2>
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<img alt="Someone wearing rubber gloves and a lab coat, placing a sample of DNA into a small test tube." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394461/original/file-20210412-17-1rlt4mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Handling the DNA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karla Fritze, University of Potsdam</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/four-ways-natural-history-museums-skew-reality-88672">Natural history museums</a> across the world are filled with skins, skeletons and even complete taxidermy specimens, often collected decades and decades ago. It’s a lot more challenging to extract genetic material from these old specimens, both from a technical and a financial point of view, because the DNA in such samples is more degraded, and sometimes includes large amounts of contaminant DNA in addition to the leopard DNA. But doing so allowed us to collect data from leopards covering their entire distribution, both current and historical.</p>
<p>This would have been near impossible if we only looked for fresh tissue samples. The collection of this genetic data allowed us to investigate the global population dynamics of leopards, with unprecedented resolution.</p>
<p>We collected material from many museum specimens, and investigated the DNA quality in each. Then, we selected the best samples from which to sequence hundreds of billions of bases of DNA. Using high powered computational resources we compared the DNA from all leopards to each other, and ran a range of different types of analyses to better understand how they differ.</p>
<h2>African and Asian leopards</h2>
<p>One of the most striking revelations we found was a marked distinction between African and Asian leopards. In fact, at the genome wide scale – across most of the leopard’s 2.5 billion DNA bases – Asian leopards are more genetically separated from African leopards than brown bears are from polar bears.</p>
<p>Adding to the puzzle is the comparatively recent divergence of African and Asian leopards, approximately 500,000 to 600,000 years ago, which is comparable to that between modern <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/search?q=human+neanderthal+divergence">humans and Neandertals</a>. Brown bears and polar bears, in contrast, diverged around 1 million years ago. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-sequenced-the-cave-bear-genome-using-a-360-000-year-old-ear-bone-and-had-to-rewrite-their-evolutionary-history-156059">We sequenced the cave bear genome using a 360,000-year-old ear bone and had to rewrite their evolutionary history</a>
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<p>The cause of this genetic differentiation of Asian leopards is their out-of-Africa dispersal. Although the evidence suggests that leopards in south-western Asia carry DNA that’s relatively similar to African leopards, which could be due to occasional interbreeding, the overall distinctiveness of leopards on the two continents has been maintained. We would have expected Asian and African leopards to show more similarities in their DNA, as there has been (and possibly still is) mixing between the populations.</p>
<p>This level of separation is unexpected within a single species. Such a genetic distinction is not even always clear between different species. It also shows a brief event with relatively few individual leopards – the out-of-Africa dispersal – has had a massive influence on shaping the genetic patterns of these animals across the world.</p>
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<img alt="A leopard walking out of a cave." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C68%2C1830%2C1214&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394458/original/file-20210412-19-1so8uba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">African leopard in a cave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Miha Krofel</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>A second important result is that African and Asian leopards have had a very different population history since their separation. African leopards show higher genetic variability, and their populations are less genetically distinct from one another. </p>
<p>In Asia, there’s a much stronger effect of geography, meaning that the correlation between genetic distance and geographic distance is stronger. Leopards are generally genetically more similar to other leopards that live close by, than those that live far away. This suggests less gene flow and dispersal between different parts of the continent than in Africa. </p>
<p>Despite the extensive encroachment by humans on leopard habitats, the historical samples didn’t necessarily have a higher genetic diversity than the modern samples included in the study. This shows that the differences we see in Asian leopards is not due to recent human impacts. Although humans have driven some local leopard populations to extinction, the impact of humans on the species as a whole is not yet severe enough to be reflected in the entire genome. </p>
<p>The leopard samples from the museum shelves have given us valuable new insights into their evolutionary history, as well as current populations across the world – even populations we’ve driven to extinction. Leopards are listed on the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/conservation-tools/iucn-red-list-threatened-species">IUCN red list</a> of “threatened species”, and classed as critically endangered for some of their range. </p>
<p>Considering the impact we humans have had on wildlife in recent centuries, there may be many species for which there are exciting genetic discoveries hidden among the shelves of natural history museums around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158721/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Axel Barlow receives funding from The Natural Environment Research Council and the European Research Council (EasiGenomics).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Johanna L.A. Paijmans 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>We studied the genomes of African and Asian leopards using specimens from natural history museums.Axel Barlow, Lecturer in Molecular Biosciences, Nottingham Trent UniversityJohanna L.A. Paijmans, Honorary Fellow, Palaeontology, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/983202018-06-26T13:36:21Z2018-06-26T13:36:21ZLeopards get stressed. Here’s how we know – and why it matters<p>Leopards are versatile predators. These elusive cats can successfully occupy any habitat that supports sufficient numbers of prey species and which provides adequate cover for their ambush-style of hunting. </p>
<p>Leopards also adapt well to settled environments near human activity. But this often brings them into conflict with humans. In South Africa it’s been clear <a href="http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/swanepoel_2008_msc.pdf">since the late 1980s</a> that although protected areas play an important role in leopard conservation, most of the country’s suitable leopard habitat lies outside the boundaries of protected areas, often on private or community-owned land.</p>
<p>This means that leopards must navigate their way across land dedicated to human development, agriculture or mining practices. As a result, they are exposed to an array of physiological, environmental and psycho-social factors that could cause stress. </p>
<p>Acute stress is essential for vertebrate survival. For example, hunting an impala may be stressful in the short term, but a successful kill equates to survival. In contrast, successive or simultaneous stressors experienced over prolonged periods of time, such as constantly having to avoid human interaction, can result in chronic stress. This, in combination with other factors could affect this <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0">already vulnerable</a> species’ long-term health and survival.</p>
<p>But how do you measure the stress levels within a leopard population without causing further distress? I set out to develop a method that would allow us to make a non-invasive assessment of stress levels in free-ranging leopards. It proved to be a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15627020.2018.1467280">useful approach</a>. </p>
<p>My results indicate that although animals were relatively habituated at both sites, those living on the housing estate were more stressed than those in the game reserve. Pregnant females or those rearing cubs had the highest (617% higher) stress hormone levels of all the cats monitored. Overall, we found that wild male leopards showed less variation in their stress levels than females, regardless of whether they were in a protected area or not.</p>
<p>This method offers a new way for leopard biologists to monitor this elusive and iconic species. It can also inform the development of strategies to protect and conserve them. </p>
<h2>Stress hormones</h2>
<p>When we – leopards or humans – perceive a stressor, the central nervous system activates the release of hormones which act on the brain. Almost immediately, the pituitary gland releases hormones into the bloodstream and causes an almost instantaneous secretion of adrenalin. This mobilises energy which increases the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles so we have the physical means to confront the threat – or run away. </p>
<p>Over the next few hours, the adrenal glands release glucocorticoids – a type of steroid hormone – into the blood. These glucocorticoids (cortisol or corticosterone, depending on the species) are metabolised in the liver. After metabolism, they are then excreted via the bile into the gut and out of the body in the faeces. They can also travel via the kidneys to the bladder, to be excreted in the urine. </p>
<p>Previous studies <a href="http://behavioralendocrinology.wp.txstate.edu/files/2013/05/Sheriff-2011-1.pdf">have found</a> that glucocorticoid concentrations are reliable indicators of disturbance experienced by an individual. That makes glucocorticoid metabolites very useful physiological indicators to measure stress. In this study we used scat to monitor the stress levels of free-ranging leopards.</p>
<p>We monitored two leopard populations. One consisted of seven known individuals living on a housing estate in Hoedspruit, a town located to the west of the Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest wildlife reserve. The other consisted of about 27 leopards living in a protected area adjoining the park.</p>
<h2>Applying the science</h2>
<p>We began the study by gathering faecal samples and observational data from leopards in two captive facilities. We used the faecal material to evaluate which of five chosen enzymeimmunoassays were best suited to pick up changes in the glucocorticoid concentrations in the faeces. Enzymeimmunoassays are widely accepted analytical tools for detecting particular antigens or antibodies in biological samples. </p>
<p>The captive leopards were monitored to determine how long food took to move through their systems, so we knew how long we needed to wait before getting a sample. It also enabled us to determine how long after defecation the hormones remained stable enough for measuring. We then used this information to compare the glucocorticoid concentrations in the faeces of our two groups of wild leopards. </p>
<p>Now that the method has been validated, we hope to use it to further examine how pregnancy, persecution outside of protected areas, levels of tourist activity and environmental factors contribute to the stress levels of this iconic African species.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Webster received funding from The South African Veterinary Foundation and Dallas Safari Club. </span></em></p>A new way for leopard biologists to monitor this elusive and iconic species has been developed.Andrea Webster, PhD Candidate Mammal Research Institute Dept. Zoology and Entomology, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/930072018-03-08T05:08:24Z2018-03-08T05:08:24ZLeopards in a city park in India may help lower human injuries and deaths from stray dog bites<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209281/original/file-20180307-146700-1d14qrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wild leopards in the Indian city of Mumbai may be helping to save people's lives.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Winter/National Geographic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A fleeting glimpse of the black spots and gold fur of a leopard is not an uncommon sight at <a href="https://sgnp.maharashtra.gov.in/1210/Living-with-Leopards">Sanjay Gandhi National Park</a> in the Indian city of Mumbai.</p>
<p>Leopards are often thought of as a threat to humans, but rather than being a problem in Mumbai, they may actually be helping their human neighbours – even saving their lives – as we argue in our paper <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.1776">published today in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m8!1m3!1d230617.70621775818!2d72.88055560328759!3d19.114161201991212!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0xe0d36d489e1a14fa!2sSanjay+Gandhi+National+Park!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sau!4v1520404286469" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p>Recent studies suggest there may be <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/sgnp-census-confirms-41-leopards-27-of-them-new/articleshow/62812269.cms">as many as 41 leopards</a> roaming the 104km<sup>2</sup> park. That’s about two to three times the leopard density you’d find in some of the most productive savannas in Africa or Sri Lanka.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shocking-facts-revealed-how-sharks-and-other-animals-evolved-electroreception-to-find-their-prey-91066">The shocking facts revealed: how sharks and other animals evolved electroreception to find their prey</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/leopards-moving-to-cities-text">Mumbai’s leopards live alongside people</a>, mostly in informal settlements, and they hunt and kill dogs in and around their villages. On average, dogs make up about 40% of a Mumbai leopard’s diet.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a75HUY8Q8TY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A walk in the park.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So what, you might ask. Leopards <a href="https://www.livescience.com/27403-leopards.html">are one of the world’s most adaptable</a> big cats, feeding on <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00139.x/abstract">more than 100 prey items</a> worldwide, so aren’t they just doing what an opportunist would do?</p>
<h2>A city of dogs</h2>
<p>If you’ve ever visited Mumbai, you’ll probably remember a few incredible sights: the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_of_India">Gateway of India</a>, Mumbai’s bustling city and teeming traffic – and its dogs.</p>
<p>Hundreds and thousands of dogs. On every street corner, in every alley. Recent surveys have shown that about <a href="http://www.mcgm.gov.in/irj/go/km/docs/documents/MCGM%20Department%20List/Public%20Relation%20Officer/Press%20Release/07051425_Mumbai%20Dog%20Census%20report%20final%20jan%202014.pdf">95,000 dogs roam Mumbai</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209422/original/file-20180307-146694-16bqhob.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dogs of Mumbai.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Winter/National Geographic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We wanted to delve deeper into the uncanny relationship Mumbai’s leopards have with the dogs. And what about bites, we asked. Do dogs bite people, and what about rabies risk?</p>
<p>After sifting through about 40 newspaper articles and online reports, we found that nearly 75,000 bites are recorded annually in the city (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1424765/">although many more are likely unreported</a>). <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Dog-bites-killed-more-than-2-terror-attacks/articleshow/51336536.cms">More than 420 people in Mumbai have died from rabies</a> as a result of stray dog bites over a 20-year period. </p>
<p>It was at that point we wondered whether leopards help to protect people from dog bites by keeping the dog population down – especially around the park where their diet is dominated by dogs.</p>
<p>Surveys performed by <a href="http://www.mcgm.gov.in/irj/go/km/docs/documents/MCGM%20Department%20List/Public%20Relation%20Officer/Press%20Release/07051425_Mumbai%20Dog%20Census%20report%20final%20jan%202014.pdf">population biologist Lex Hiby</a> and <a href="https://sgnp.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/Upload/Pdf/Ecology_of_leopard_in_SGNP_2015-Nikit_Surve.pdf">Nikit Surve of the Wildlife Institute of India</a> around the park suggest that the answer is yes. Dog densities there are lower and, according to our analyses, citizens might experience only 11% of the bites compared with people who live further from the park.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209439/original/file-20180308-146661-e786l7.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dogs bite people and can carry the deadly rabies virus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Winter/National Geographic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Moreover, by consuming between 800 and 2,000 dogs per year, we calculate that the leopard population saves the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai about US$18,000 (A$23,000) in sterilisation costs (or 8% of the <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/58-317-dog-bite-cases-in-mumbai-this-year/story-wR4lI5YiK5OWGyI8qhPBFO.html">municipality’s annual sterilisation budget</a>).</p>
<h2>If you remove the leopards</h2>
<p>The final piece of the puzzle was to model what a park with no leopards would look like – a sad prediction if increased urbanisation, deforestation and conflict occur over future decades.</p>
<p>Under one set of assumptions, we found dog bites could increase by between 140 to more than 5,000 per year as dog populations would grow in and around the park area. The medical costs for these bites could total as much as US$200,000 (A$256,000) per year.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209442/original/file-20180308-146666-1pdsrts.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leopards in the city help reduce the stray dog numbers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Winter/National Geographic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research puts a new twist on a large predator that has been persecuted for millennia, and which has generally been viewed as a nuisance to stock farmers globally and those living on the edge of Sanjay Gandhi National Park.</p>
<p>Leopards are believed to have <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/1974/">disappeared from about 63-75% of their global range</a>. We have to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0421-2">think of large predators in a broader sense</a> – they can at times be helpful to farmers, ecosystems and even insurance companies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209444/original/file-20180308-146645-1hcvokr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leopards prey on Mumbai’s dogs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steve Winter/National Geographic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The big challenge in Sanjay Gandhi National Park is not only leopard attacks on the odd pig or cattle calf – leopards here sometimes kill people. Leopard attacks on people peaked at 25 cases in 2002. Most of these were attributed to leopards <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/27976435">moved from other forest patches</a> into Sanjay Gandhi, a kind of catch-and-dump scheme by local governments for problem animals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-foe-to-friend-how-carnivores-could-help-farmers-92190">From foe to friend: how carnivores could help farmers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s thought this had a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01599.x/abstract">chaotic effect on leopard home ranges and social structure</a> as leopards are territorial. But leopard attacks came to an almost complete halt for four years until 2017 when residents were <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/mumbai-leopard-attack-victims-yet-to-get-compensation-from-forest-dept/articleshow/63032029.cms">angered</a> by a <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/how-some-mumbai-hamlets-live-dangerously-close-to-leopards/story-Q2C4REMAF4fk4MXq93YrAI.html">spate of new attacks</a>.</p>
<p>The big challenge is to evaluate the benefits of these leopards and similar large carnivores; it’s equally important to assess the costs of these species to local communities. The real issue is navigating the costs with the benefits, and identifying those cases of net-benefit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher O'Bryan receives funding from the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre in Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Richard Braczkowski receives funding from National Geographic, the Scientific Exploration Society and a Rufford small grant for conservation. </span></em></p>Wild leopards that live in an Indian city park like to dine on stray dogs, which new research says may help reduce the number of potentially deadly dog bites on people.Christopher J. O'Bryan, PhD Candidate, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of QueenslandAlexander Richard Braczkowski, PhD Candidate - Wildlife Cameraman, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/921902018-03-05T15:00:47Z2018-03-05T15:00:47ZFrom foe to friend: how carnivores could help farmers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208633/original/file-20180302-65533-1gbn2qm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Species like the large spotted genet were commonly found in cropping areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across the globe, the numbers of carnivore species such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">leopards</a>, <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/8500">dingoes</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00207.x">spectacled bears</a> are rapidly <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1537">declining</a>. The areas they occupy are also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611122114">getting smaller</a> each year. This is a problem, because carnivores are incredibly important to ecosystems as they may provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241484">services</a> such as biodiversity enhancement, disease regulation, and improving carbon storage. And that, in turn, is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aai9214">important to human wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>But convincing people to conserve wildlife based on these indirect benefits can be challenging – particularly in the case of farmers. After all, carnivores such as leopards can pose a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12959">threat to livestock</a>, livelihoods, and sometimes even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep20552">lives</a>. So interactions between farmers and carnivores have typically been framed as a conflict.</p>
<p>Farmers often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.03.002">overestimate</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.03.002">these threats</a>. For many, the response is to kill carnivores – even those that are not eating livestock. This is one of the main reasons why <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241484">carnivores are in crisis</a>. </p>
<p>This could change if people were aware of the more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605307001779">tangible benefits</a> that carnivores could provide. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.12.006">Our new study</a> showed that far from causing problems for farmers, carnivores could actually be beneficial by controlling rodent pests.</p>
<h2>Rodents and carnivores</h2>
<p>There’s a desperate <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-controlling-rats-on-small-scale-african-farms-is-vital-for-food-security-79865">need for farmers to control rodents</a> because they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174554">destroy 15% of the crops</a> growing in African fields. The most common solution is to use <a href="https://www.cabi.org/cabebooks/ebook/20153154910">poison</a>. But this can be expensive and can kill many other species. On top of this, rodents eventually become resistant.</p>
<p>We set out to find out whether carnivores that eat rodents were found naturally on smallholder farms. We set camera traps on land used for cropping in South Africa, areas used to graze cattle (which was less disturbed than cropland), and among houses in village settlements. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208017/original/file-20180227-36671-1i28wg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&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 cape fox (Vulpes chama) on a maize farm feeding on Gerbilliscus, a common rodent pest in South Africa’s grain areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lourens Swanepoel</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found nine species of carnivores in the camera trap pictures. Rodents are an important part of the diet of seven of the nine, including the striped polecat, honey badger, and African civet. To our surprise, we found that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.12.006">highest number of carnivore species</a> were often found in the cropping area, which included species such as the large spotted genet and slender mongoose. </p>
<p>So not only are carnivores present on farmers’ fields, but it’s likely that they are also controlling rodents that would otherwise damage crops. But more research is needed to confirm this.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=239&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208042/original/file-20180227-36686-1b2wr9i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Infographic summarising the findings of the study of rodent control by carnivores on South African farms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Williams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We set about establishing whether people were aware of the potential connection between the presence of carnivores on their farms and rodent control. During a series of interviews it quickly became clear that even though some people believed that carnivores ate rodents, they still had negative perceptions and often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.12.006">killed them</a>.</p>
<h2>Big potential</h2>
<p>The idea to use natural predation to control rodents is not <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049964416301256">new</a>. But to use mammalian predators to assist in biological control of rodent pests has often been neglected in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0421-2">conservation circles</a>. As such there is great potential for carnivores to help farmers, but for this to work, farmers would need to stop killing them. </p>
<p>Changing these perceptions would take a lot of work. But efforts to change African perceptions about predatory birds, particularly barn owls, <a href="http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/5067">have been successful</a> in some South African townships. Successful approaches to change community attitudes has often relied on education programmes through local schools. Bringing owls, snakes and other predators to primary schools can help raise awareness among children, who then go home and educate their parents, ultimately breaking down widely held superstitions. </p>
<p>If education campaigns could convince farmers to kill fewer carnivores, carnivores might just repay the favour by doing a better job of controlling rodents in crop fields. This could lead to less reliance on poisons, avoiding unnecessary killings and costs. </p>
<p>If successful, this could help farmers to save money, while working in a much more environmentally friendly way. This really could be a win-win situation for both people and wildlife, and it shows that interactions between people and carnivores on farmland can be much more nuanced and positive than the traditional image of conflict. </p>
<p>Finding new ways in which people and wildlife can coexist will be essential to lessen the impact of the growing human population on the ecosystems on which humans depend.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Williams receives funding from the University of Venda postdoctoral grant. He is affiliated with the University of Venda and Durham University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lourens Swanepoel receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF RSA), University of Venda, International Foundation for Science and The African Union. He is affiliated with the University of Venda and the African Institute of African Conservation Ecology. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Belmain currently receives funding from The McKnight Foundation, the World Bank and The African Union. He is affiliated with the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich.</span></em></p>Instead of causing problems for farmers, carnivores could actually be beneficial by controlling rodent pests.Sam Williams, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology, University of Venda, and Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Durham UniversityLourens Swanepoel, Associate lecturer, University of VendaSteven Belmain, Professor of Ecology, Natural Resources Institute, University of GreenwichLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/762282017-04-19T15:17:25Z2017-04-19T15:17:25ZLeopards need maximum protection: this includes suspending trophy hunting<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165226/original/image-20170413-25888-i0ifav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A leopard shows its spots in the Soutpansberg Mountains, South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Williams</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Trophy hunting of large carnivores in southern Africa is a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.3390/ani6050026">hotly debated</a> topic. This was evident after Cecil the lion was <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-debate-over-cecil-the-lion-should-be-about-conservation-not-hunting-45445">shot and killed</a> in Zimbabwe in 2015.</p>
<p>One argument in support of trophy hunting is that, if done sustainably, it <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.12.006">can</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060531200035X">benefit</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-killing-lions-like-cecil-may-actually-be-good-for-conservation-45400">conservation</a> by providing much needed funding.</p>
<p>But how do we know which populations of animals can sustain trophy hunting? In South Africa there has been a temporary <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/25/south-africa-bans-leopard-hunting-2016">moratorium</a> on trophy hunting of leopards since 2016.</p>
<p>This is because there is “uncertainty about the numbers”, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/13/south-africa-bans-leopard-hunts-uncertainty-numbers">according to</a> John Donaldson, director of research at the <a href="http://sanbi.org">South African National Biodiversity Institute</a>.</p>
<p>There is every reason to argue that leopards should be managed very carefully. They are of increasing conservation concern, and have recently been uplisted to vulnerable on both the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0">global</a> and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17803.69921">South African</a> national <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org">Red List</a> assessments. </p>
<p>Working in South Africa’s Soutpansberg Mountains, <a href="http://community.dur.ac.uk/r.a.hill/primate_and_predator_project.htm">we</a> set out to fill in some of the gaps in our understanding of this vulnerable species.</p>
<p>In 2008 the mountains had one of the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082832">highest recorded population densities</a> (the number of animals per 100 km²) of leopards in Africa outside of protected areas. But our <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">new study</a> shows that since then leopard density has declined by two thirds. Unless things change they will disappear from the area by 2020. The biggest threat to these animals appears to be illegal human activity such as shooting without permits, snaring and poisoning. </p>
<p>Based on our findings we believe that trophy hunting isn’t responsible for the precipitous decline in numbers. Nevertheless, it’s important that the moratorium is extended while researchers such as our collaborators at <a href="https://www.panthera.org">Panthera</a> assess whether these results are representative on a broader scale. We also propose stepping up efforts to mitigate the impacts of illegal human activities to protect the remaining leopards.</p>
<h2>Leopard tracking</h2>
<p>How did we gain these new insights? Leopards are incredibly elusive animals, making them extremely difficult to study. We took advantage of the fact that each leopard has different coat markings and that allows them to be individually identified, like a fingerprint. We used images taken by camera traps to determine which leopards were seen at which locations and on what date, allowing us to model changes in their density over time.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165229/original/image-20170413-25870-1ez4lcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The camera traps were telling us that leopards were disappearing fast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Williams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By running a network of camera traps continuously from 2012 to 2016, we were able to estimate the leopard population density in 24 sequential study periods. This helped us build the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">most detailed picture yet</a> of whether leopard numbers were growing or declining. </p>
<p>The camera traps were telling us that leopards were disappearing fast, but what they didn’t tell us was why this was happening. To find out we fitted GPS collars to eight leopards. This allowed us to track them for 15 months, until the batteries ran out and the collar detached. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">Only two collared leopards survived</a>, although one of these animals would have been poisoned if we hadn’t intervened.</p>
<p>The remaining six leopards were killed by snares, were shot without permits for perceived cattle predation, or went missing, almost certainly dead. Many farmers indicated that they killed leopards in retaliation for the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.03.002">perceived risks</a> to livestock but our <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.03.002">dietary analysis</a> has revealed no evidence of this.</p>
<h2>Searching for solutions</h2>
<p>Our findings demonstrate that although trophy hunting isn’t the cause of the leopard’s problems, it’s a luxury in this area that it cannot afford. We recommend that if the moratorium on leopard hunting in South Africa is lifted, hunting should not be permitted in zones where leopards are in rapid decline, as this would not be sustainable.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165790/original/image-20170419-6369-1vayt82.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A farmer introduces his new livestock-guarding dog to his cattle herd.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Faure</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sound management of trophy hunting is <a href="https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/ndf_forleopard.pdf">incredibly important</a>, but our study shows that conservationists also need to increase their efforts to reduce the effects of illegal human activities on wildlife. This could have a bigger impact on enhancing the conservation status of large carnivores. We recommend helping to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/conservation-education-and-outreach-techniques-9780198716686?cc=us&lang=en&">educate</a> and engage with communities to reduce levels of human-wildlife conflict.</p>
<p>There are an array of non-lethal techniques available to manage predation, such as using <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wsb.352">livestock-guarding</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605315000113">dogs</a>, building robust <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-006-9124-8">enclosures</a>, and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2003.00061.x">herding</a> livestock, that can be <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313001610">more effective</a> at reducing predation than killing predators. </p>
<p>We hope that more countries follow South Africa’s lead in basing wildlife management policies on the best available scientific evidence. And if government authorities and non-profit organisations can provide greater support to communities to enable them to adopt predator-friendly practices this could be just what the leopard needs to bounce back.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76228/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Williams receives funding from Durham University, University of Venda, Earthwatch Institute, and an anonymous donor. He is affiliated with Durham University, the Primate and Predator Project, and University of Venda. </span></em></p>Sound wildlife management is incredibly important, and could enhance the conservation status of large carnivores like the leopard, which has recently been listed as a vulnerable species.Sam Williams, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.