tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/cheetah-5887/articles
Cheetah – The Conversation
2023-02-17T12:09:58Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199451
2023-02-17T12:09:58Z
2023-02-17T12:09:58Z
Reintroducing top predators to the wild is risky but necessary – here’s how we can ensure they survive
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509239/original/file-20230209-20-7c87m0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C1272%2C848&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Collared leopard being released into North Ossetia, Russia in 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pavel Padalko</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Large carnivores are critical to the balance of an ecosystem. In Yellowstone National Park in the western US, <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Gray-Wolf">grey wolves</a> keep elk populations at a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320711004046">healthy level</a>. This prevents vegetation from being overgrazed and leads to taller woody plants which allow other species, such as beavers, to flourish. </p>
<p>But habitat loss and persecution have <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1241484">eliminated</a> many large carnivores from their historical environment. The Eurasian lynx could be found in the UK over a thousand years ago and wolves roamed the country until the mid-18th century.</p>
<p>However, our attitudes towards these animals are gradually changing and large carnivores are now viewed by many as the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1257553">victims of human expansion</a>. Many areas are seeing these animals return as a result. Yellowstone’s grey wolves were reintroduced in 1995 after 70 years, and in 2020, voters approved <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2022/09/09/where-colorado-will-reintroduce-wolves/">the species’ reintroduction</a> to the state of Colorado.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1561730584329732096"}"></div></p>
<p>Like these wolves, many other species require human intervention to reach their former habitats. But this is costly, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec.13243">controversial</a> and often ends in failure. The relocation of a single animal can <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105042">cost thousands</a> and once released, these animals can <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/COBI.12959">prey on local livestock</a>.</p>
<p>But since 2007, we’ve seen <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877343520300592">technological advances</a> in wildlife monitoring, <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/2013-009.pdf">improved guidelines</a> for carrying out reintroductions and the global <a href="https://rewildingeurope.com/">rewilding movement</a> gathering pace.</p>
<p>These factors make now the perfect moment to determine whether carnivore reintroductions are becoming more effective. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109909">new study</a>, my colleagues and I studied the success of almost 300 carnivore reintroductions worldwide involving 18 different species between 2007 and 2021.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four maps split by continent showing the locations of the reintroductions studied." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510538/original/file-20230216-24-2tr9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Global distribution of the large carnivore reintroductions studied.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Thomas et al (2023)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Indicators of success</h2>
<p>Between 2007 and 2021, 66% of all the reintroduced carnivores studied were still alive six months later. Survival at the six month mark was our measure of success.</p>
<p>Success rates for wild-born carnivores increased from 53% to 70%, while twice the number of captive-born animals (64%) now survive reintroduction than did so in 2007. </p>
<p>The most successful species in our study were <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/maned-wolf">maned wolves</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/puma-mammal-species">pumas</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/ocelot">ocelots</a>. In contrast, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/lion">lions</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/brown-hyena">brown hyenas</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/cheetah-mammal">cheetahs</a>, <a href="https://wildcatconservation.org/wild-cats/eurasia/iberian-lynx/">Iberian lynx</a> and grey wolves were least able to survive their new environment.</p>
<p>We tested various factors, all of which were under the project manager’s control, that influence the success of animal reintroductions – practical changes that could improve the outcome of future rewilding efforts.</p>
<p>So-called “soft releases”, where animals are allowed an acclimation period at the release site anywhere between <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105042">10 days and 5 months</a> long, had a clear influence on survival. These releases had an 82% success rate compared to just 60% for releases with no period of adjustment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A puma walking next to a chain fence in a forested area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509635/original/file-20230213-14-2o3a7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A puma in a pre-release enclosure before being released into Serra do Japi, São Paulo, Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Associação Mata Ciliar</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Younger animals and those born in the wild were also more likely to survive reintroduction. Wild-born animals had a 72% survival rate compared to 64% for animals born in captivity. This is good news for rehabilitated and orphaned carnivores which are taken from the wild for their survival. These animals represent a sizeable proportion of all reintroduced carnivores and made up 22% of the animals in our study. </p>
<p>We found higher success rates when carnivores were released into unfenced areas. This is surprising as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.12091">research</a> finds that fenced nature reserves tend to support higher densities of carnivores and reduce conflict with humans. </p>
<p>But greater competition for resources and direct conflict with other carnivores in these reserves may have a negative impact on the survival of reintroduced animals. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15627020.2003.11657196">Research</a> on the range and movement patterns of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_wild_dog">African wild dogs</a> in South Africa’s fenced Pilanesberg National Park found that the dogs actively avoid interaction with lions.</p>
<h2>Rewilding on the horizon – but there’s a catch</h2>
<p>Large carnivore reintroductions are becoming more effective, prompting countries to consider reintroducing large predators. In the UK, debates are ongoing surrounding the possible <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315175454-6/community-divided-steven-lipscombe-chris-white-adam-eagle-erwin-van-maanen">reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx</a>. Our findings could help inform their release. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eurasian-lynx-how-our-computer-model-highlighted-the-best-site-for-restoring-this-wild-cat-to-scotland-113624">Eurasian lynx: how our computer model highlighted the best site for restoring this wild cat to Scotland</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>But our research also highlights the alarming fact that one-third of all large carnivore reintroductions fail. And even when successful, the establishment of a population has proved a challenge. Just 37% of the animals that survived reintroduction successfully reproduced and the number of animals who will have raised young to adulthood is likely even lower. It seems that many rewilded animals take far longer than six months to establish themselves in an ecosystem and find a potential mate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A lynx being released into the wild." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509639/original/file-20230213-27-ffpb1e.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 male lynx was released together with two female lynx in the Slovenian Alps in 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Polona Bartol</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Preventing species loss in their current ranges should thus always take priority. This will involve measures to tackle urbanisation and climate change, which are at present two leading causes of global habitat loss. </p>
<p>Despite their increasing success, the reintroduction of large carnivores still leads to the death of many of the animals involved and often fails to establish a population. The risky nature of these interventions makes it even more important that they have local support or they are likely doomed to fail from the start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seth Thomas 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>
New research studies the factors that determine whether large carnivore reintroductions will be a success.
Seth Thomas, Research assistant, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152301
2020-12-18T15:26:28Z
2020-12-18T15:26:28Z
Not so fast: why India’s plan to reintroduce cheetahs may run into problems
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375893/original/file-20201218-13-a8h8uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C407%2C5515%2C2924&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">slowmotiongli / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A nature reserve in India could soon be the only location in the world to host wild populations of four major big cat species – tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah. Kuno-Palpur, in central state of Madhya Pradesh, may not be one of India’s best-known sanctuaries but it is certainly becoming one of its most controversial. In early 2020, the country’s supreme court agreed that wildlife authorities there could <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-allows-introduction-of-african-cheetah-in-india/story-MTyJF0GdfibIp63A7hNKml.html">reintroduce the cheetah</a> to India, 70 years after its local extinction. </p>
<p>Cheetahs once roamed across much of India and the Middle East, but today the entire Asian cheetah population is confined to just a few dozen animals in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/23/asiatic-cheetahs-iran-conservationists">remote regions of Iran</a>. The reluctance of the Iranian authorities to part with any of these rare creatures has led India farther afield in its attempts to secure a founder population. Currently, the favoured option is African cheetahs available from Namibia, which has the world’s largest population. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Africa and Asia showing cheetahs former and current range." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375907/original/file-20201218-23-4lmr5y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&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 world’s 10,000 or so cheetahs live in a tiny portion of their former range.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333398548_Cheetahs_Race_for_Survival_Ecology_and_Conservation">Laurie L Marker / Cheetah Conservation Fund</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kuno-Palpur was identified as the preferred location for India’s relocation programme as it has large grasslands, ideally suited to the cheetah’s need to build up speed without worrying about trees or other obstacles. These grasslands were formed, in large part, through the removal of villages and rewilding of agricultural land to make way for the relocation of the Asiatic lion.</p>
<p>The Asiatic lion is itself an endangered species. Like the Asian cheetah it was once common right across India and the Middle East, but it now only survives as a single population of <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/lions-roar-in-gujarats-gir-population-of-asiatic-lions-up-by-29/1987582/">almost 700</a> in Gir Forest, a national park in the state of Gujarat, western India. Fears that a single disruption event – such as a disease outbreak or poaching epidemic – may be sufficient to consign the entire species to extinction, prompted the search for a second home for these big cats. This search ended in the identification of Kuno-Palpur, <a href="https://qz.com/india/1757900/kuno-will-soon-be-indias-next-lion-sanctuary-after-gujarats-gir/">almost 30 years ago</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A lion sits and faces camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375925/original/file-20201218-19-152lp1m.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">Asiatic lions are smaller than their African cousins, have smaller and darker manes, and all live in one forest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew M. Allport / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2016 India’s supreme court, citing unacceptable delays, ordered the lion relocation process to be completed <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/supreme-court-gir-asiatic-lions-5387343/">within six months</a>. At the same time, the court dismissed a parallel application for the reintroduction of cheetahs, reasoning that it would be paradoxical to elevate the claims of an exotic subspecies (African cheetahs) over those of an endemic (Asiatic lions).</p>
<p>Today there are still no lions in Kuno-Palpur, although it does retain a stable leopard population. This non-compliance has been widely attributed to parochial politics, wrapped up in what has been described as <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3ega9/narendra-modis-home-states-pride-may-be-putting-the-last-wild-prides-of-asiatic-lions-at-risk">Gujarati pride</a>. Despite the fact that all wildlife is deemed a national resource under the Indian constitution, Gujarat appears determined to hold on to its <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat-govt-not-in-favour-of-translocating-lions-to-mp-6553895">state monopoly on the creatures</a>. </p>
<p>Then, in early 2020, the court made an unexpected U-turn and gave the green light for cheetah reintroduction to begin. Some experts questioned the science behind the decision. For example they point out that the cheetah is a wide-ranging species, known to travel across areas <a href="https://round.glass/sustain/conservation/return-cheetah-will-roam/">up to 1,000 sq km</a> in a single year. Indian parks tend to be much smaller than those in Africa, offering less chance for such free movement. And, while the habitat is currently suited to cheetahs – and lions – some fear that it may ultimately evolve into dry, scrubby forest more suited to tigers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cheetah chases after a small antelope." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375908/original/file-20201218-13-1l8yz8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Springbok hunting in Namibia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elana Erasmus / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/6-rajasthan-tigers-in-kuno-mp-afraid-of-losing-lions/articleshow/47350151.cms">credible evidence</a> that tigers are already dispersing to Kuno-Palpur as animals from a reserve in neighbouring Rajasthan seek to escape territorial over-crowding. This suggests there is a functioning wildlife corridor between the two reserves, a stated priority for Indian conservation.</p>
<p>This is not a simple issue to resolve. As the supreme court is increasingly called upon to adjudicate between the various factions, so these conundrums are likely to intensify in the future. There is no science available currently to suggest that cheetahs, lions, tigers and leopards can coexist comfortably in the same habitat. It has never occurred anywhere else before, so there is no real-life experience to draw upon. </p>
<p>In my research for a forthcoming book on tigers I found India’s wildlife is becoming <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304002831_Commercialization_of_Nature_Can_Market-Based_Mechanisms_Deliver_Positive_Conservation_and_Development_Outcomes">increasingly commercialised</a> and much of what we accept as rational conservation can just as easily be viewed through an economic lens – one that reflects the benefits of tourism. On the surface, the cheetah scheme feels more like a vanity project than a conservation imperative; no doubt a boon for wildlife tourism but maybe also presenting a threat of intra-species and human-wildlife conflict.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Evans 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>
India’s last cheetah was killed 70 years ago. Should the country import a different subspecies from Namibia?
Simon Evans, Principal Lecturer in Ecotourism, Anglia Ruskin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/101123
2018-08-12T06:59:23Z
2018-08-12T06:59:23Z
Why cheetahs in the Maasai Mara need better protection from tourists
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231130/original/file-20180808-191041-agoalf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In parts of the Maasai Mara its not uncommon to see more than 30 tourist vehicles at a sighting</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Femke Broekhuis</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global cheetah population is continuing to decline <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/528.full">with only</a> about 7000 individuals left in Africa. This is thought to be <a href="http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/M/Myers_1975_Cheetah_in_Africa.pdf">about</a> half the population that existed 40 years ago. The decline has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-being-done-in-kenyas-maasai-mara-to-protect-cheetahs-50470">caused by</a> the loss and fragmentation of their natural habitats, a decline in their prey base, the illegal trade in wildlife as well as conflict with humans for space.</p>
<p>Cheetahs have <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/528.full">disappeared from</a> 91% of their historic range. This is hugely problematic as cheetahs are a wide-ranging species. To be viable a cheetah population needs a contiguous, suitable habitat which covers about <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4620858.pdf?casa_token=s1A6qW98U2sAAAAA:gNJqe8AE-RJH-5_Yi7XY3UJT7HT8D0YOX6uqZdIlPNtFq45Hc3GfSNO_v0KHiwwGG1boM7MuP7T_fgzdtl0oBKRwmZavZbxtvS_F9FtY-W-cr9cu">4,000–8,000 km2</a>. But <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/528.full">few protected areas</a> in Africa are larger than 4,000 km2. </p>
<p>As a result, most of the cheetahs in the world – <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/528.full">77%</a> – are believed to range outside protected areas. But this isn’t ideal for the animals as, from previous research we conducted using data from GPS satellite collars fitted on cheetahs in the Maasai Mara, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.4269">we found</a> that cheetahs avoid areas of high human disturbance and prefer protected, wildlife areas.</p>
<p>These results show the importance of wildlife areas for cheetahs, but my most <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.4180">recent research</a> shows that these protected spaces have challenges of their own. We found that the number of cubs a cheetah is able to rear is lower in areas that receive lots of tourists compared with areas that are visited less. This suggests that cheetahs aren’t getting the protection they need, particularly from the impact of growing numbers of tourists.</p>
<h2>Maasai Mara</h2>
<p>Kenya’s Maasai Mara has one of the <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153875">highest</a> cheetah densities in the world, but it’s a landscape that is under <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep41450">increasing human pressure</a>.</p>
<p>Famous for its spectacular wildebeest migration, the Maasai Mara is a popular tourist destination. The wildlife areas of the Maasai Mara include the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is <a href="http://www.narok.go.ke/maasai-mara">managed by</a> the Narok County Government, and numerous <a href="https://www.maraconservancies.org/">wildlife conservancies</a>, each run by different management companies. </p>
<p>The conservancies are formed through a partnership between Maasai landowners and tourism companies, whereby landowners receive a fixed, monthly payment for leasing their land for wildlife based activities on the condition that they do not live on the land, cultivate or develop it. Combined, the wildlife areas, which are predominantly used for photographic tourism, <a href="https://www.maraconservancies.org/conservancies-profiles/">cover</a> an area of about 2,600 km2 – one-tenth the size of Wales or Belgium.</p>
<p>During the high season about <a href="http://geonode-rris.biopama.org/documents/863">2,700 people</a> visit the Maasai Mara National Reserve daily. But they are often not adequately managed. </p>
<p>The Mara Reserve – with the exception of a conservancy called the Mara Triangle – doesn’t limit the number of tourists that enter the park per day, and there are no restrictions on the number of tourist vehicles at a predator sighting. It’s therefore not uncommon to see more than 30 tourist vehicles at a sighting. </p>
<p>Ideally, the Mara Reserve should restrict the number of tourists, especially during the peak tourist seasons.</p>
<p>Tourists also affect the landscape of wildlife areas. For example, tourist accommodation is continuing to increase in the Mara Reserve and these facilities are usually built on river banks which are prime habitats for species such as elephants, leopards and breeding raptors.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>One crucial element for a healthy cheetah population is cub recruitment, defined as offspring survival to independence. </p>
<p>Cheetahs have relatively big litters, ranging between one to six cubs. But cheetah cubs can succumb to various factors including abandonment, poor health, and fires so the number of cubs that reach independence can be very low, ranging from <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb04855.x">5%</a> to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/kalahari-cheetahs-9780198712145?cc=ke&lang=en&">28.9%</a>. </p>
<p>I was interested in finding out if tourism is playing a role in this.</p>
<p>By analysing four years of data on female cheetahs with cubs it became apparent that high numbers of tourists are having <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.4180">a negative effect</a> on the number of cubs that reach independence. More specifically, females in areas with a lot of tourists on average raised one cub (or none survive) per litter to independence compared to more than two cubs in low tourist areas. </p>
<p>There was no hard evidence of direct mortality caused by tourists. But my conclusion from my findings is that tourists are likely to have an indirect effect on cub survival. This could be because they lead to cheetahs changing their behaviour and increase their stress levels by getting too close, overcrowding with too many vehicles, staying at sightings for prolonged periods of time and by making excessive noise. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>My study highlights the importance of implementing and enforcing strict wildlife viewing guidelines, especially in areas where tourist numbers are high. The Maasai Mara’s wildlife conservancies are largely getting this right. Tourist numbers are limited to the number of beds per conservancy and only five vehicles are allowed at a sighting at any given time. </p>
<p>Actions that could be taken include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>allowing no more than five vehicles at a cheetah sighting;</p></li>
<li><p>ensuring that no tourist vehicles are allowed near a cheetah lair (den);</p></li>
<li><p>ensuring that vehicles keep a minimum distance of 30m at a cheetah sighting;</p></li>
<li><p>ensuring that noise levels and general disturbance at sightings are kept to a minimum;</p></li>
<li><p>ensuring that vehicles do not separate mothers and cubs; and that</p></li>
<li><p>cheetahs on a kill are not enclosed by vehicles so that they can’t detect approaching danger.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If tourism is controlled and managed properly, it can play a very positive role in conservation. Money from tourism goes towards the creation and maintenance of protected areas – like the wildlife conservancies – and can help <a href="https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/conl.12576">alleviate</a> poverty. It also shows local communities the benefits that predators can bring and can <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/humanwildlife-coexistence-attitudes-and-behavioural-intentions-towards-predators-in-the-maasai-mara-kenya/7ABC8B279438EE319D0494216826B82E">positively</a> influence attitudes. </p>
<p>However if human pressures, like tourism, remain unchecked it risks having a negative impact on wildlife and could mean the loss of some of the biggest attractions – like cheetahs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101123/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Permissions for this study were granted to Femke Broekhuis by the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (Permit No.: NACOSTI/P/16/69633/10821), the Kenya Wildlife Service (Permit No.: KWS/BRM/5001), Narok County Government and the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association. The African Wildlife Foundation, Vidda Foundation, BAND Foundation made donations through the Kenya Wildlife Trust to cover operational costs. Nelson Keiwua, Saitoti Silantoi, Ruth Kebenei, Symon ole Ranah, David Thuo, Kosiom Keiwua, Kasaine Sankan, Kelvin Koinet, Niels Mogensen and Nic Elliot helped with data collection for this research.</span></em></p>
New findings show that the numbers of cubs a cheetah is able to rear is lower in areas that receive lots of tourists.
Femke Broekhuis, Senior research associate, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/81282
2017-07-23T11:41:56Z
2017-07-23T11:41:56Z
Cheetahs often don’t thrive in captivity. We set out to find out why
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179006/original/file-20170720-19155-ef8h4e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cheetah population almost halved since 1975 with only an estimated 7,100 left in the wild today. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cheetahs <a href="http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/01_information/1_2_species-information/species-information.htm">have been</a> tamed, used for hunting and kept in zoos in countries across Asia, Europe and Africa for centuries. However, they have never really thrived under captive conditions. </p>
<p>Between 1829-1952 there were 139 wild-caught cheetahs displayed at 47 zoological facilities. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1997.tb01186.x/full">Most of</a> these animals survived less than a year with 115 deaths and no births recorded during this period.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1997.tb01186.x/full">improvements</a> in husbandry conditions in zoos and other captive facilities around the world, cheetahs continue to suffer from a number of unusual diseases that are rarely reported in other captive cats. These <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/zoo.1430120110/full">include</a> gastritis, various kidney ailments, liver abnormalities, fibrosis of the heart muscle and several ill-defined neurological disorders. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20095876">Post mortem</a> findings in cheetahs housed at captive facilities in both North America and South Africa found that over 90% had some level of gastritis when they died. Similarly, the incidence of kidney disease <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/zoo.1430120110/abstract">affected</a> more than two-thirds of captive cheetahs. In contrast, these diseases are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16244064">extremely rare</a> in wild free roaming cheetahs.</p>
<p>Any loss of cheetah is worrying given how vulnerable they are in the wild. Their numbers continue to decline. There are <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/528">an estimated</a> 7,100 in the wild today, down <a href="http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/K/Kraus_&_Marker-Kraus_1992_Current_status_of_the_cheetah.pdf">from</a> 14,000 in 1975.</p>
<p>We set out to find out why so many die in captivity.</p>
<h2>The causes</h2>
<p>Several factors have been put forward. One theory that’s been around since the 1980s is that low genetic diversity of the cheetah increased their vulnerability to disease because of inbreeding depression. But captive and wild cheetahs <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Genetic_Admixture_Inbreeding_and_Heritab.html?id=81oMnwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">have</a> comparable genetic variation. To date no heritability (degree to which characteristics are transmitted from parents to offspring) has been demonstrated for any of these diseases.</p>
<p>Other factors such as chronic stress and a lack of exercise have also been suggested.</p>
<p>More recently investigations have started to focus on what <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120903">captive cheetahs</a> are fed. </p>
<p>Wild cheetahs predominantly hunt small antelope, consuming almost the entire carcass, including the skin, bones and internal organs. Captive cheetahs are often <a href="http://www.conservalion.com/uploads/7/3/7/4/73745745/dhana_leemans_cheetah_diet_study.pdf">fed only</a> the muscle meat and some bones from domestic species such as cattle, horses, donkeys or chickens. </p>
<p><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120903">Recent studies</a>, show that if cheetahs were fed whole carcasses, their stool consistency improved, the production of beneficial fatty acids increased and the production of some toxic compounds in the colon <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22074361">reduced</a>. But this is an expensive way to feed cheetahs in captivity.</p>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p>It’s become clear that what’s needed is a better understanding of cheetah metabolism. Metabolism is the sum of all the chemical processes that occur in a living organism to maintain life. When some of these processes are abnormal they often result in disease.</p>
<p>In my PhD research, which is ongoing, I turned to the emerging field of metabolomics - the scientific study of the set of small molecules present within an organism, cell, or tissue - to evaluate various small molecules in the serum and urine of cheetahs. I was looking for any differences in the molecule profiles of samples from captive versus wild cheetahs. I also wanted to see if these profiles were different to those of humans and other species. </p>
<p>We measured the concentrations of hundreds of amino acids, fatty acids, acylcarnitines, sugars and other products of metabolism.</p>
<p>In the first part of the study, we compared the fatty acid profiles of captive cheetahs to those of wild cheetahs. Abnormal fatty acids levels have been linked to a variety of disease processes in humans and other animals. </p>
<p>We <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167608">found</a> very low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood samples of wild cheetahs compared to those from cheetahs in captivity. </p>
<p>There are at least three potential reasons for this: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Wild cheetahs typically hunt and consume small antelope. These species have a high saturated and low polyunsaturated fatty acid content in their tissues. Captive cheetahs, on the other hand, tend to be fed meat from animals, like horses, donkeys and chickens, which have high polyunsaturated fatty acid content. </p></li>
<li><p>The abdominal organs and fat stores consumed by wild cheetahs are high in saturated fats and low in polyunsaturated fatty acids when compared to the fats stored in and around the muscle tissues typically fed to captive animals. </p></li>
<li><p>Wild cheetahs eat less often than those in captivity. During periods of fasting, the body uses its stored polyunsaturated fatty acids for energy, thus leading to lower levels.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Polyunsaturated fatty acids are very sensitive to oxidative damage when compared to the more stable saturated fatty acids. I suspect that cheetahs may not have effective antioxidant capabilities to cope with higher levels of damaged polyunsaturated fatty acids and this may contribute to their ill health in captivity. </p>
<p>In the second part of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28259021">the study</a>, we analysed the urine organic acids in the urine of captive cheetahs. Urine organic acids are the end-products of the breakdown of amino acids, fatty acids and sugars. </p>
<p>We found that the cheetahs were excreting a numbers of particular compounds known as phenolic acids. They form because proteins arrive in the large intestine undigested. Some amino acids from these proteins are changed by gut bacteria into potentially toxic compounds that are then absorbed into the bloodstream and either directly excreted or detoxified by the liver before being excreted. This is a problem because studies suggest that phenolic acids may have a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0167483884901420">negative effect</a> on the production of dopamine. Dopamine plays an important role in gut and kidney function.</p>
<p>We also discovered that cheetahs use a particular chemical process to detoxify the phenolic acids. Known as glycine conjugation, it requires large quantities of a different amino acid: glycine. </p>
<p>Glycine levels are low in the muscle meat diets of captive cheetahs since they don’t often get fed skin, cartilage or bones that contain much higher amounts. Together with an increased demand for glycine for detoxification, these animals are likely to end up with a deficiency of this amino acid. Glycine is very important in several body functions and a deficiency could therefore have many negative health effects.</p>
<p>Although our research hasn’t provided all the answers, it’s focused attention on several potential issues, opened up avenues for future research and provided some guidelines about what cheetahs in captivity should be fed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Tordiffe receives funding from the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, the University of Pretoria and North-West University. </span></em></p>
Captivity isn’t kind to cheetahs where most develop diseases that are unusual in big cats. It’s never been clear why this is the case, but understanding their metabolism might provide the answer.
Adrian Tordiffe, Veterinarian, Senior Lecturer, Researcher - Department of Paraclinical Sciences, University of Pretoria
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/79282
2017-06-28T14:58:07Z
2017-06-28T14:58:07Z
How badly implemented land reform can affect wildlife: a Zimbabwean case study
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175855/original/file-20170627-24767-5g8a9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Land reform is thought to have caused the cheetah numbers to fall by 85% in Zimbabwe.</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>Large carnivores are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241484">in decline</a> all over the world. Threats like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.161090">persecution</a> and loss of both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611122114">prey and habitat</a> are key contributors. The planet’s top biodiversity hotspots have already <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501">lost around 90%</a> of their primary (undisturbed) vegetation, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2002)052%5B0143:PCAUDF%5D2.0.CO;2">driven by factors like</a> growth of infrastructure, agriculture and the removal of natural resources.</p>
<p>These are some of the key factors that have caused the number of wild lions across the globe to <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/15951/0">fall by over 40%</a> in the past two decades, and have resulted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611122114">a decline in the number of cheetahs</a> of 50% over the past <a href="http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/M/Myers_1975_Cheetah_in_Africa.pdf">forty years</a>. </p>
<p>In Zimbabwe <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.158911">cheetahs depended heavily on private land</a>, but the amount of private land <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2010.485789">has been reduced by 90%</a> over the last 17 years. This loss has been caused by factors like the country’s land reform programme, which was set out to redress the historical imbalances in land tenure resulting from colonial practices. Under the programme, land previously owned privately by large-scale commercial white farmers was distributed to black Zimbabweans. </p>
<p>But it’s becoming clear that privately owned land plays an extremely important role in conservation, as state owned conservation areas alone aren’t enough to keep large species out of danger. A major problem is that the land reform programme was implemented in a chaotic way. This meant that no consideration was given to how to manage the wildlife that had previously lived in the area. The result was a <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1537">dramatic fall in the number of carnivores</a>. </p>
<p>Until 2000, 34% of <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2011.622042">land in Zimbabwe</a> was privately owned, 13% was state owned conservation and forestry areas, and 42% was communal land. The remainder of that was made up of old resettlement areas, state farms and urban developments. Private land supported <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.158911">80% of Zimbabwe’s</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.158912">cheetahs</a>. But since 2000, 90% of this privately owned land is thought to have <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2010.485789">been resettled</a>. Large numbers of subsistence farmers – making enough for their homes but not enough to sell – now occupy these farm spaces.</p>
<p>In instituting the land reform programme, the survival of the species that depended on privately owned land was pitted against the needs of the people to survive off the land. This is a widespread problem, not one confined to Zimbabwe. But the solution could lie in how land reform is planned. Instead of replacing successful wildlife areas with subsistence farming, keeping the wildlife while allowing more people to benefit economically could hold the key. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We recorded animal tracks across 1000 km of unpaved roads on private land that had been resettled, and on adjacent private land that had not yet been resettled. Our aim was to understand how carnivore numbers had been affected by the resettlement process. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1537">research</a> allowed us to draw estimates.</p>
<p>Our studies showed that large carnivores (weighing more than 19 kg) such as African wild dogs had high densities on private land. On neighbouring land that had been part of the same conservancy but had now been resettled, we found <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1537">no signs of cheetahs, leopard, lion, African wild dog, or brown hyenas</a>. We did however find very few tracks from spotted hyenas. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21001">Similar trends were also evident</a> for all other mammals studied, from baboons to giraffes.</p>
<p>If these trends are representative on a national scale, our models estimated that carnivore populations have declined steeply since 2000 due to land reform. We predicted that the number of cheetahs in Zimbabwe dropped to approximately <a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1537">120 individuals</a>. A subsequent nationwide interview survey estimated that only <a href="http://www.wildernesstrust.com/portfolio/zimbabwe-cheetah-conservation-project/">150-170 cheetahs remain</a> across national parks, private land and communal areas. This represents a fall of 85%, thought to be largely due to land reform.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175393/original/file-20170623-27912-ct1ckt.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">A leopard carries a wire snare around its waist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Williams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The low abundance of wild mammals on resettled land appeared to be linked to the high density of people that now occupy the land. People have cleared the natural vegetation to grow crops and graze livestock, causing habitat loss, fragmentation, and loss of prey for the carnivores. </p>
<p>Bush meat poaching was also rife on private land close to resettled areas. Between 2001 and 2009 over <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605310000153">4,000 poachers captured and over 84,000 snares removed</a> in one conservancy. </p>
<p>Land reform didn’t just affect the wildlife. We found that farmers on resettled land, reported levels of cattle predation by large carnivores that were <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21001">three times greater</a> than that of farmers on neighbouring communal land. This was despite resettlement farmers working harder to reduce predation by taking measures like kraaling (enclosing) their cattle at night or herding their animals during the day.</p>
<h2>Lessons learned</h2>
<p>As land reform programmes progress in other countries, what lessons can be learnt from Zimbabwe’s experiences?</p>
<p>By planning resettlement schemes carefully as opposed to allowing them to develop haphazardly, authorities could focus resettlement in areas of greater agricultural potential. At the same time, it’s important to maintain connectivity within wildlife populations.</p>
<p>Using fencing that <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0902-1_12">cannot be used</a> to make snares could help. Strands of straight fencing wire is often stolen and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605310000153">used for snaring</a>, but other fencing wire materials such as square mesh cannot be easily made into the loops used by poachers. </p>
<p>Importantly, land reform doesn’t have to mean changing land use. Land reform initiatives should maintain wildlife as a land use where it’s suitable, while diversifying land ownership. Leasing resettled land back to the former owners could also benefit wildlife while also retaining expertise and generating <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Evolution-and-Innovation-in-Wildlife-Conservation-Parks-and-Game-Ranches/Suich-Child/p/book/9780415520447">more income</a> for a broader array of people than switching to subsistence farming.</p>
<p>The hope is that integrating community members as stewards of the land and helping them to benefit financially from wildlife, could encourage them to protect rather than poach animals. This will create durable solutions to the land issue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Williams works for University of Venda, and is an Honorary Research Associate at Durham University. He received funding from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Sea World Busch Gardens, the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, Marwell Wildlife, Colchester Zoo, and both the Department of Anthropology and St Mary’s College at Durham University.</span></em></p>
The land reform programme in Zimbabwe has come at the cost of wildlife and opens up the debate on people versus nature. But there is a way forward.
Sam Williams, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Durham University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/77332
2017-05-16T00:13:47Z
2017-05-16T00:13:47Z
Using dogs to find cats: overcoming the challenges of tracking cheetahs
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169327/original/file-20170515-6981-14uwge8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Detection dog Pepin, with his trainer, Megan Parker, on the search for scat © Sarah Durant
</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Cheetahs are Africa’s rarest big cat. Only <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/528">an estimated</a> 7,000 individuals are thought to survive in the wild. They’re spread across 32 populations covering a vast area of more than 3 million square kilometres. Cheetah densities are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/molbev/msr048">never higher</a> than two or three cheetahs per 100km2 and <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115136">can be as low</a> as one cheetah per 4,000km2. Lion density <a href="https://africageographic.com/blog/the-highest-density-of-lions-in-africa/">can be</a> up to about 16.85 lions per 100km2. What’s more, in areas where cheetahs are persecuted, due to conflict with livestock and game keepers, they may flee before you are ever likely to even see them.</p>
<p>Cheetahs’ rarity and elusiveness poses a problem for conservationists. To conserve the species, we need to know where they still persist, and whether their numbers are increasing or decreasing. But how can we quickly and cheaply estimate their abundance? </p>
<p>Over more than two decades of studying and conserving cheetahs, I have tried many ways of counting them. I have tried simply looking for cheetahs and individually identifying them. This works well. But it requires cheetahs that don’t flee from vehicles, an open habitat – and a lot of time and patience. In short, this approach only works on the Serengeti plains and has been key to our long-term <a href="https://www.zsl.org/cheetah-conservation">Serengeti Cheetah Project</a> which has gathered information on individually known cheetah for decades. </p>
<p>I have tried counting spoor – cheetah footprints left in the dust of dirt roads. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00682.x/full">Even in</a> the Serengeti, where cheetah densities are at their highest, I had to drive an average of 50km to find just a single spoor. At least 30 such observations are needed for a reliable density estimate. </p>
<p>Remote <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4309643/">camera traps</a> can also work in some circumstances and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26200660">citizen science</a> in tourist areas. But none of these methods work across different habitats, and all need substantial infrastructure and considerable investment in time.</p>
<p>Could the answer to finding cheetah lie with another animal? Dogs have some of the <a href="https://www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk/the-dogs-nose/">world’s most</a> sensitive snouts. We put these <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12445/full">to the test</a> in a remote corner of Zambia.</p>
<h2>The importance of poop</h2>
<p>One of the things dogs can sniff out very successfully – as any canine’s owner will know – is poop.</p>
<p>But poop has important properties beside smell. Food, as it passes through the digestive tract and rectum, accumulates DNA from the intestinal and rectal walls, which becomes embedded within the poop. This DNA is a unique genetic signature of individuals. Therefore if you can find cheetah scat, you can extract DNA and identify the genotype of that individual. </p>
<p>Cheetahs defecate at least once a day, hence cheetah scat should occur across a landscape more frequently than the cheetah themselves. It follows that, if you can find enough scat and extract DNA from it, you may be able to estimate the numbers of individual cheetah in the population. Finding scat, rather than cheetah, has the added advantage in that scat doesn’t run away.</p>
<p>So far, so good. But there is a flaw in this plan. Cheetahs, who are largely non territorial, don’t defecate in nice, easy to find, prominent locations. As a result, their scat is extremely difficult to detect. </p>
<h2>Harnessing the power of the canine snout</h2>
<p>This is where the poop-detecting power of the canine snout comes into play. Domestic dogs are increasingly playing an important role in conservation. Organisations such as <a href="http://wd4c.org/">Working Dogs for Conservation</a>, and <a href="http://www.greendogsconservation.com/">Green Dogs</a> specialise in training domestic dogs for conservation work. They harness the dogs’ natural poop detection ability, by training them to find poop of a particular species, signal their trainer when they have found it, and, above all, resist the temptation to eat any poop they find.</p>
<p>Could domestic dogs be the key to counting cheetah? Together with my colleagues from the <a href="http://www.zambiacarnivores.org/">Zambian Carnivore Programme</a> and the Zambia Department of National Parks and Wildlife, we teamed up with Working Dogs for Conservation and Green Dogs to put domestic dogs to the test. This is what brought a team of large carnivore conservationists, two dogs (Faust and Pepin) and their trainers to a remote corner of western Zambia, where a low density, but unknown, population of cheetah still survives in and around the Liuwa Plain National Park.</p>
<h2>Disappearing poop</h2>
<p>At first, the dogs struggled to find scat on our pre-designated dog walking transects. This was when we started to notice the conspicuous absence of the dogs’ poop around our camp. On closer inspection, we were alarmed to discover that, no sooner had a new deposition of poop been made, a small army of <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-dung-beetles-do-with-a-piece-of-poo-47367">dung beetles</a> appeared and started rolling it away in large bundles. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168708/original/file-20170510-28069-uxyes3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pepin observes a dung beetle scurrying away with a substantial amount of poop © Dave Hamman.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A large healthy pile of steaming dog poop could disappear completely in a matter of hours. Having been an observer of cheetah poop in the Serengeti over many years, this was a first for me, and it caused me a substantial amount of anxiety.</p>
<p>Fortunately, as the dogs moved south, they started to find cheetah scat laden with bone and hair. This, presumably, was much less appealing to a passing dung beetle.</p>
<p>In fact, the dogs turned out to be very successful at finding cheetah scat. In all, they found 27 scats over a survey area of 2,400km2. Humans, on similar transects looking for spoor, found none. This neatly demonstrated the superiority of the canine snout over the human eye when it came to detecting the presence of cheetah.</p>
<h2>Estimating population size</h2>
<p>These scats were combined with a number of opportunistically collected scat. The DNA extracted from the scat samples were of poor quality, and so interpreting the genotypes wasn’t always easy. </p>
<p>However, we were able to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12445/full">generate an estimate</a> of between 17-19 cheetah in the area, with a density of 6-7 individuals per 1000km2. The preliminary estimate of genetic effective population size was low, at just 8-14 individuals, and requires further investigation.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168899/original/file-20170511-32593-12c56kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1063&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Liuwa cheetah © Jassiel M’soka.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many areas where cheetah still survive are remote and difficult to access. Prior to this study, there were no viable methods for obtaining reliable information on cheetah abundance in most of these areas. The beauty of using detection dogs was that surveys could be conducted on foot, and the whole survey took not much more than three weeks, although genetic work could take substantially more time. </p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12445/full">Our study</a>, therefore, provides an important step forward in our ability to detect cheetahs across large landscapes, monitor them and assess population trends. Such information is critical for mobilising conservation action and resources to halt the global decline of this elusive and secretive big cat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77332/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by grants from WWF-Netherlands, National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative, Painted Dog Conservation Inc., the Angel Fund, and National Science Foundation Animal Behavior Program under IOS-1145749. One of the authors, J. M’soka, was supported by a Schink scholarship from the Wildlife Conservation Network. The St. Louis Zoo’s Wildcare Institute for supporting a pilot project leading to this study.
This work was the result of a collaboration between the Zambian Carnivore Program, Zambia Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Working Dogs for Conservation and the Range Wide Conservation Program for Cheetah and African Wild Dogs.</span></em></p>
Cheetah’s rarity and elusiveness poses a problem for conservationists who need to know where they still persist, and whether their numbers are increasing or decreasing.
Sarah Durant, Senior Research Fellow, Zoological Society of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/71088
2017-01-11T20:14:19Z
2017-01-11T20:14:19Z
Wake-up call for the world as the plight of cheetahs worsens
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152362/original/image-20170111-6447-606129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cheetah are now restricted to less than 10% of its historical distribution, and survive in just 33 populations</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yathin/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9456/Spring-Toward-Extinction-Cheetah-Numbers-Crash-Globally.aspx">recent report</a> on global cheetah decline provides alarming reading. Using the best available information, we estimate that there are only about 7,100 wild cheetah left in the world. </p>
<p>The species is now restricted to less than 10% of its historical distribution, and survives in just 33 populations, most of which number fewer than 100 individuals. </p>
<p>Added to this perilous predicament is the fact that most cheetah live outside protected areas. There they face multiple threats including loss of habitat and prey; conflict with livestock and game keepers; and illegal wildlife trade in live cheetah for pets and dead cheetah for skins. </p>
<p>Recent extinctions have been <a href="https://tropicalconservationscience.mongabay.com/content/v8/tcs_v8i2_513-527_Brugiere.pdf">documented</a> in western and central Africa, and there has been an estimated decline of 85% in Zimbabwe over the last 16 years. For cheetah populations where there is sufficient information, most are declining. </p>
<p>This evidence, together with ongoing pressures outside protected areas, led me and 53 co-authors to recommend that the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/">International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List</a> of threatened species up-list the status of cheetah from vulnerable to endangered. </p>
<p>The worsening of the “threat status” of cheetah should act as a wake-up call. Urgent action is needed if the survival of cheetah is to be secured. To put the status of cheetah in perspective, the Serengeti National Park alone safeguards a population of over 3,000 lions – that’s nearly half the global cheetah population.</p>
<p>That there is international public support for cheetah and other iconic megafauna is beyond doubt. This is clear from the millions of international visitors who travel thousands of kilometres to see cheetah and other wildlife, and by the millions who avidly watch wildlife programmes streaming into their homes. </p>
<p>What’s missing is effective means to channel the value into local communities that bear the real costs of living with cheetah and other problematic species.</p>
<h2>Challenging to conserve</h2>
<p>Cheetah are not the largest cat – they are <a href="https://www.zsl.org/cheetah-fast-facts">less than</a> a third the weight of a lion – but they are one of the widest ranging, capable of travelling across areas in excess of 1,000 square kilometres every year. This makes them particularly challenging to conserve. </p>
<p>They move this widely to find their prey and because they need to avoid other large predators, including lion and spotted hyena, which <a href="http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/6/624.full">may kill</a> their cubs and steal their kills. But this also means that cheetah occur at much lower densities than other big cats, sometimes seldom exceeding two for every 100 square kilometres. In the Sahara, where a critically endangered population of cheetah still survives, we have documented densities <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115136">as low as</a> only one cheetah in 4,000 square kilometres. </p>
<p>Thus cheetah need conservation over a much larger scale than is usually seen in terrestrial conservation.</p>
<p>To halt cheetah decline we also have to confront the realities of conservation in developing countries where they still survive. Communities who share their land with cheetah may face a daily challenge just to feed themselves and their families. They cannot afford to pay the costs of losing their precious livestock to cheetah, even if this is a <a href="http://conservationmagazine.org/2016/03/poop-clears-cheetahs-livestock-murder-accusations/">relatively rare</a> event.</p>
<h2>Conservation strategies</h2>
<p>Much has already been achieved. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a> and <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>’s joint <a href="http://cheetahandwilddog.org/">Range Wide Conservation Program for Cheetah and African Wild Dog</a> has been working with range state governments for nearly 10 years. They have helped to put in place regional strategies and national action plans that provide a road map for the conservation of cheetah together with African wild dogs. Wild dogs are a species with similar ecology and face similar threats to cheetah. </p>
<p>These strategies and plans have the strong support of range state governments and conservation NGOs and lay out a list of all the actions that need to be undertaken to secure the survival of both species. More financial mechanisms are needed, from
range state governments, bilateral and multilateral donors and NGOs, to implement these road maps, and we also need innovative new ways for communities to benefit from the presence of wildlife.</p>
<p>Over coming decades Africa faces a critical period for its biodiversity. The continent’s human population is <a href="http://www.euractiv.com/section/development-policy/news/africas-population-set-to-double-by-2050-says-new-report/">predicted</a> to double by 2050. The need to support and feed more people will exert unprecedented pressures on wildlife and the environment. </p>
<p>But lessons from Europe show what can be done. Here large carnivores faced imminent extinction towards the end of the 20th century. Yet today, due to protection and restoration programmes combined with policies that help foster coexistence between people and wildlife, there has <a href="https://howtoconserve.org/2016/06/10/carnivore-recovery-europe/">been a resurgence</a> of bears, wolves and lynx. </p>
<p>People and large carnivores can live together, even when human densities are relatively high.</p>
<p>For cheetah, we urgently need to find the political will and the financial means to enable people and wildlife to coexist, and for both to prosper. Only then can we be sure that future generations will be able to continue to marvel at the sight of a cheetah at full speed. If we fail, the fate of the cheetah will be in doubt.</p>
<p><em>A version of this article first appeared in the <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/28/halting-global-cheetah-decline/">National Geographic Cat Watch blog</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study was supported by the Howard G Buffett Foundation, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Safeguarding Animals From Extinction (AZA SAFE) and the National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative.</span></em></p>
A new study reveals that just 7,100 cheetahs remain globally, representing the best available estimate for the species to date.
Sarah Durant, Senior Research Fellow, Zoological Society of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/63068
2016-08-11T19:35:35Z
2016-08-11T19:35:35Z
People-powered science in Africa: a boost for democracy and knowledge
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133791/original/image-20160811-20932-bvp9q0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Citizen scientists have a great deal to contribute.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mount Rainier National Park/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>December 1900 marked the first ever “<a href="http://www.audubon.org/conservation/history-christmas-bird-count">Christmas Bird Count</a>”. Its aim was to get people counting bird species rather than killing them. It’s now an annual tradition. Every year on a specific day between December 14 and January 5, thousands of volunteers – ordinary people, not scientists – gather in more than 2,000 locations in the Western hemisphere to count birds.</p>
<p>Conservation biologists use this data to assess bird populations’ health and look at long-term trends.</p>
<p>This is probably the earliest recorded example of citizen science, a <a href="http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/15/03">phenomenon</a> that filmmaker Geoff Haines-Stiles calls</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…science with, for and by the people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Haines-Stiles, who produced the scientific TV series “<a href="http://www.space.com/24997-cosmos-reboot-carl-sagan-spacetime-odyssey.html">Cosmos</a>” during the 1980s, is an enthusiastic fan of citizen science. “It is truly a revolution in the way science is done,” he said during an online seminar organised by the Berlin Museum for Natural Science on July 18 2016. “It allows people who are not traditionally involved in doing science and gathering data, to become active contributors to real science.”</p>
<p>This is as true in Africa as it is elsewhere in the world. More and more Africans are becoming citizen scientists – and the benefits are huge both for them as individuals and for science on the continent.</p>
<h2>African initiatives</h2>
<p>Gathering environmental data is a key focus of African citizen science. </p>
<p>In South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, for instance, volunteers monitor and record data on everything from mangrove ecosystems to beach erosion; along with a variety of animals and insects like sea turtles, bats, owls, frogs, lizards and butterflies. </p>
<p><a href="http://citsci.co.za/">Cape Citizen Science</a> asks nature lovers to become “pathogen hunters” while on nature walks. This is done by recording dying fynbos plants and collecting samples of the <a href="http://citsci.co.za/pathhunter">dead plant material</a>. From time to time, visitors to South Africa’s Kruger National Park are asked to help <a href="https://www.sanparks.org/about/news/?id=56188">monitor endangered species</a> like wild dogs and cheetahs by submitting their photographs of these animals.</p>
<p>With internet access, it’s even possible to contribute to African-based citizen science projects around the globe without leaving home. Wildebeest Watch invites people to <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/aliburchard/wildebeest-watch">explore collective intelligence</a> in these animals as they navigate the Serengeti. <a href="https://www.snapshotserengeti.org">Snapshot Serengeti</a> asks for help in sorting photos gathered by hundreds of camera traps in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.</p>
<p>Professor Les Underhill of the University of Cape Town’s <a href="http://www.adu.uct.ac.za/">Animal Demography Unit</a> (ADU) is a pioneer of citizen science on the continent. Over the past 25 years, his research group has integrated citizen data into ambitious research projects across southern Africa. Through this unit, data from citizen scientists are feeding into atlases and distribution maps of birds, dung beetles, frogs, scorpions, spiders, butterflies, dragonflies, lacewing moths, sea stars, mushrooms and orchids. </p>
<p>The unit’s innovative <a href="http://vmus.adu.org.za/">virtual museum</a> contains more than 6,000 photographic records provided by hundreds of citizen scientists. Most of their bird ringers are amateurs, not professional scientists, who spend their own time and money to contribute valuable ringing data. </p>
<p>“Each data point the ADU’s citizen scientists collect is a piece in the jigsaw puzzle of biodiversity,” Underhill <a href="http://www.zoology.uct.ac.za/citizen_science.php">says</a>. “It is our job to turn the myriad bits of raw data into information that can support conservation policy and action.”</p>
<h2>The limitations of citizen science</h2>
<p>The contribution of citizen science goes beyond gathering or unravelling data. Enthusiastic volunteers also bring their computer equipment and technological skills to assist with number crunching and data analysis. They can fill in knowledge gaps by providing scientists with extra hands, eyes, computers, cameras, smartphones and vehicles.</p>
<p>But not everybody is convinced.</p>
<p>“Citizen science” is an oxymoron.“ That’s what Dr Rob Little, a biologist at the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, told me recently. "It is not possible to be a citizen dentist or a citizen lawyer, so why citizen scientists?” he asks. “Being a scientist requires a minimum of MSc-level training.”</p>
<p>Other <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/rise-of-the-citizen-scientist-1.18192">criticisms</a> revolve around the quality of data collected by non-experts and the potential for conflicts of interest – ordinary people who are opposed to fracking, for instance, might get involved in projects just to gather information that supports their stance.</p>
<p>Inclusivity is also a particular challenge when it comes to citizen science projects. It can be difficult to involve people who don’t have their own transport or access to smartphones, computers and internet; or where literacy rates are low. Some initiatives in Africa are getting creative to address these problems. The <a href="http://rdc.moabi.org/community-mapping/en/#5/-3.952/22.324&layers=">Extreme Citizen Science</a> research group in the Democratic Republic of Congo is doing some great work with communities in this regard.</p>
<h2>A powerful force for change</h2>
<p>Despite its limitations, citizen science has an important place in Africa. It is a way of driving public engagement; of creating linkages and dialogue between science and society. It can inspire people to take an interest in science and enthuse young people about careers in science. It helps make science a part of everyday life – after all, the evidence of science’s benefits is all around us.</p>
<p>It is also a vital step towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-communication-is-on-the-rise-and-thats-good-for-democracy-62842">democratising science</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marina Joubert 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>
More and more Africans are becoming citizen scientists – and the benefits are huge both for them as individuals and for science on the continent.
Marina Joubert, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/58819
2016-05-08T15:05:24Z
2016-05-08T15:05:24Z
Counting cheetahs: a new approach yields results in the Maasai Mara
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121596/original/image-20160507-32047-1eullie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new method of counting cheetahs has helped researchers to get a better idea of their numbers.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mara Cheetah Project, Femke Broekhuis</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Being a cheetah researcher in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, I’m often asked how many cheetahs there are in the region. It’s an important question, especially for conservation as it is crucial to accurately estimate population sizes and to monitor trends into the future. </p>
<p>In the early 1900s it was believed that around 100,000 cheetahs roamed the earth. The most recent estimate by the International Union for Conservation of Nature puts the figure at <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/219/0">6,600</a> – mainly in eastern and southern Africa – amid fears that the fastest land mammal is racing to extinction. Cheetahs are now extinct in 20 countries and occupy only 17% of their historic range. The remaining populations that are of global importance are found in southern Africa – Botswana, Namibia and South Africa - and in East Africa – Kenya and Tanzania. Of all of these locations least is known about cheetahs in Kenya. </p>
<p>We set out to address this gap by designing and conducting an intensive field survey based on search-encounters of cheetahs in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153875.g001">Maasai Mara National Reserve and its surrounding conservancies</a>. Accurate estimations are important, especially when trying to determine whether a population is stable, increasing or decreasing.</p>
<p>But deriving an answer is more difficult than it might seem. The population size of any species is obviously affected by a number of factors including births and deaths and the fact that individuals move in and out of an area. </p>
<p>In the case of cheetahs, there are further complications. It is unrealistic to assume that every individual will be sighted during a survey. They are generally not easy to find partly because of their extensive ranging behaviour. In Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, home-ranges for both semi-nomadic females and males are around 800 km2 and in Namibia they are on average 1647 km2.</p>
<h2>The process of counting</h2>
<p>Our research covered about 2400 km², an area half the size of the Great Salt Lake in the US. The data for this <a href="http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153875">study</a> were collected during a three month period. The time period was to minimise the impact of birth or deaths and immigration or emigration. Over the three months a team of five field vehicles drove 8400 km, roughly the distance from South Africa’s Cape Town to Gibraltar off the coast of Spain, in search of cheetahs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121595/original/image-20160507-32037-9r940g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=597&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 Maasai Mara is one of the few remaining strongholds for the global cheetah population.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once cheetahs were found, the necessary information, including the identity of the cheetah – determined by its unique spot pattern – was recorded. These data were then analysed using an advanced Bayesian Spatially Explicit Capture Recapture model. This statistical model incorporates information on when and where a cheetah was sighted and when and where the cheetah was subsequently resighted during the survey period.</p>
<p>The method is more robust than those used previously because: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The spatially explicit method used can distinguish visiting animals from those that reside permanently within the surveyed area, avoiding potential overestimation of numbers. This can be compared to counting the population of Manhattan in the daytime, which would give a vastly inflated figure because of the influx of commuters from neighbouring areas.</p></li>
<li><p>It accounts for the probability that cheetahs are seen, thereby addressing the potential problem that not every single individual in a population is likely to be seen which would underestimate the numbers.</p></li>
<li><p>It does not conclude results in the way that is often done in surveys based on, for example, animal tracks.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>What the results showed</h2>
<p>The results showed a density of 1.28 adult cheetahs per 100km2. This is lower than previous figures published and estimates based on so-called expert opinion. This may be because the tools are now available to accurately estimate numbers. This number seems low, but it is higher than estimates currently available for other areas in Africa. In <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115136">Algeria</a> there are an estimated 0.02 to 0.05 per 100km² and in <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0142508">Botswana</a> 0.61 ± 0.18 cheetahs per 100km².</p>
<p>But this does not mean that cheetahs in the Maasai Mara are not threatened. Cheetahs face a kaleidoscope of threats. These include habitat loss, prey depletion and human-wildlife conflict. With the results from our current study we will now be able to determine the impact these threats have on cheetahs. </p>
<p>The Maasai Mara is one of the few remaining strongholds for the global cheetah population. This study provides the data needed to quantify and monitor threats and conservation efforts going into the future. The analysis, which was spatially-explicit, revealed hotspots of cheetah activity. The next step is to determine how the distribution of these high-density areas is correlated with environmental variables like habitat, prey, predators, or human factors including livestock grazing.</p>
<p>But the relevance of the study goes beyond cheetahs in the Maasai Mara. These measures also provide important information about big cat ecology that can aid conservation. For example, India has been considering the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah_reintroduction_in_India">reintroduction of the African cheetah</a>. Even in a prey-rich area like the Maasai Mara, the density of cheetahs is low. This suggests that the resource requirements for these cats are perhaps much larger than would currently be available in the Indian subcontinent. In addition, the method can be applied to other areas and other charismatic species like lions. Researchers are therefore encouraged, where possible, to move away from numbers based on expert opinion and estimate populations using more robust survey methods.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Femke Broekhuis is the Project Director of the Kenya Wildlife Trust's Mara Cheetah Project. The Mara Cheetah Project receives funding from the BAND Foundation, VIDDA Foundation, Wildscapes Foundation,Base Camp Foundation, African Wildlife Fund, Asilia and various private donors who have donated through the Kenya Wildlife Trust. Femke Broekhuis is affiliated with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford.</span></em></p>
Accurately counting cheetah numbers is crucial to ensuring the survival of the species.
Femke Broekhuis, Researcher, Project Director Mara Cheetah Project, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/54746
2016-02-17T19:17:36Z
2016-02-17T19:17:36Z
Going 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 University
Clare Morrison, Research Fellow - Academic Editor, Griffith University
Ralf Buckley, International Chair in Ecotourism Research, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/50470
2015-12-03T04:31:54Z
2015-12-03T04:31:54Z
What’s being done in Kenya’s Maasai Mara to protect cheetahs
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103902/original/image-20151201-18818-hofrp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Human and wildlife conflict threatens to become a problem in the Maasai Mara landscape.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global cheetah population has plummeted over the last 100 years. In the early 1900s an estimated 100 000 roamed the earth. Now there are only 7,500, a decline of more than <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/219/0">90%</a>. They are extinct in 20 countries and occupy only 17% of their historic <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6167/1241484.short">range</a>. </p>
<p>This decline has been caused by the loss and fragmentation of their natural habitats, a decline in their prey base, the illegal trade in wildlife and conflict with humans for <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/219/0">space</a>. </p>
<p>Cheetahs still occur across most of Africa but there are two areas that are of particular significance. The first is southern African - Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. The second is East Africa - <a href="https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/1996-008.pdf">Kenya and Tanzania</a>. </p>
<p>Throughout the cheetahs’ range there are projects working to conserve the few remaining animals. The majority of the conservation efforts and research published on wild cheetahs comes from Namibia, Tanzania - the Serengeti specifically - and Botswana. </p>
<p>Comparatively little is known about cheetahs in Kenya. In the last 15 years only two peer-reviewed publications have been published on cheetahs in the area. One was on <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23036718">mange</a> and the other on <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10531-006-9124-8#page-1">human-wildlife conflict</a>. As a consequence of this scarcity of data a new initiative, the Mara Cheetah Project, has been launched to save the country’s dwindling population.</p>
<h2>The threats</h2>
<p>In Kenya, the Maasai Mara region towards the south west of the country boasts abundant wildlife and vast plains. It is also renowned for its annual wildebeest migration and high densities of predators, including cheetahs. Cheetahs in the Maasai Mara face a kaleidoscope of threats. Most are very similar to the threats faced by cheetah populations in the rest of Africa as well as in Iran. </p>
<p>The human population of Kenya has tripled over the last 45 years to over 42 <a href="http://www.knbs.or.ke/">million</a>, increasing the need for land and space. This has posed the biggest threat to cheetahs. They have large home-ranges. Females can cover an area of over <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00375.x/full">1500 km2</a>, leading to a conflict over land. Cheetah populations are severely affected by habitat loss and fragmentation. </p>
<p>With an increasing human-wildlife interface there is also an increased risk of disease transmission from domestic animals to wildlife. In the Maasai Mara National Reserve 12.5% of the cheetah population has been diagnosed with sarcoptic <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23036718">mange</a>. This is a skin disease caused by the Sarcoptes mite that is similar to human scabies.</p>
<p>The disease leads to weight loss and weakness. This results in lower hunting success, lower fertility rates and increased vulnerability to predation. When severe, mange can result in <a href="http://www.oie.int/doc/ged/d521.pdf">death</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, stress levels can reduce immunity in animals, making them more prone to contracting the disease. Elevated stress levels can also have severe consequences on behaviour and reproductive success.</p>
<p>Stress levels can rise for a range of reasons including predation risk, competition and social circumstances. Human based factors can also elevate stress levels in animals. These include mechanised vehicles, livestock and rowdy tourists. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103717/original/image-20151130-10285-1eafcwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Interaction with humans is creating elevated stress levels for cheetahs in the Maasaai Mara region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Femke Broekhuis</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Mara cheetah project</h2>
<p>The Kenya Wildlife <a href="http://www.kenyawildlifetrust.org/">Trust</a> has set up the Mara Cheetah <a href="http://www.maracheetahs.org/">Project</a> to tackle the problem. Its aim is to establish the number of cheetahs in the Mara, identify the threats they face and, where possible, to find ways to mitigate the threats. </p>
<p>The project is using a research-driven conservation approach through a combination of long-term population monitoring, ecological research and community-based conservation.</p>
<p>The project team is collecting data on cheetahs to help understand and mitigate some of these threats. Like the human fingerprint, each cheetah has a unique spot pattern. This is used to <a href="http://www.maracheetahs.org/cheetah-identification/">identify individuals</a> so that team members can effectively monitor the Mara’s cheetah population.</p>
<p>This allows the project to determine important parameters such as densities, number of births and deaths, ranging behaviour and disease prevalence. In addition, whenever possible the team collects biological samples in the form of blood, tissue and faeces.</p>
<p>Education, community involvement and capacity building are central to the conservation efforts in the Mara. Some of these include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>anti-poisoning campaigns to discourage people in the communities from using poisons to kill predators, </p></li>
<li><p>school visits and creative activities to engage children in wildlife-related issues, and</p></li>
<li><p>human-wildlife conflict questionnaires to identify conflict hotspots to help management plans and enhance the distribution of conservation efforts in most affected areas. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The hope is that by building understanding and tolerance there is a chance that cheetahs and humans can continue to co-exist in this magnificent ecosystem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50470/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Mara Cheetah Project receives funding from the BAND Foundation, VIDDA Foundation, Wildscapes Foundation,Base Camp Foundation, African Wildlife Fund, Asilia and various private donors. Femke Broekhuis is affiliated with the Kenya Wildlife Trust and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford. </span></em></p>
Cheetahs face a number of threats in the Maasai Mara landscape but there are efforts underway to help them overcome these.
Femke Broekhuis, Researcher, Project Director Mara Cheetah Project, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/46764
2015-08-31T04:45:27Z
2015-08-31T04:45:27Z
Carnivores in captivity: a question of motive and ethics
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93286/original/image-20150828-19937-1ny55pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The debate on whether animals should be kept in captivity or not continues to rage on.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Muhammad Hamed</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the aftermath of several – in some cases fatal – <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2015/06/01/Lion-Park-attacks-Tourists-beware">wildlife attacks</a>, social and mainstream media have been alive with the debate about whether wild animals, especially large predators, should be kept in captivity. </p>
<p>Personally, I try to steer well clear of the emotionally charged, and generally not evidence-based, social media feeds and instead focus on the bare facts of the issue. So, what is at play when we start to talk about the merits and problems of keeping wild animals, particularly ones with large teeth and sharp claws, in captive or even semi-captive situations?</p>
<p>On the one hand, animal rights activists argue that no wild animal should be kept in captivity because it is <a href="http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsinentertainment/a/Arguments-For-And-Against-Zoos.htm">cruel and unethical</a>. </p>
<p>On the other, captive facilities offer a slightly more convoluted argument. Some operations argue that the experience of seeing and sometimes touching an animal in captivity provides people with an important link to nature through <a href="http://clearingmagazine.org/archives/767">practical education</a>. </p>
<p>Other captive facilities argue that they are vital cogs in the wheel of <a href="http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsinentertainment/a/Arguments-For-And-Against-Zoos.htm">endangered species conservation</a>. In southern Africa, captive facilities take the conservation angle even further by claiming that their animals will be released back <a href="https://lionalert.org/alert/project-detail/african-lion-rehabilitation--release-into-the-wild-program">into the wild</a>. </p>
<p>Some of the studies on wild animals in captivity make no bones about the fact that keeping animals in captivity is harmful to the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v425/n6957/abs/425473a.html">animals</a>. </p>
<p>But whose argument is based on fact and who is blowing smoke up your sails?</p>
<h2>The ethics are tricky</h2>
<p>Your attitude to keeping animals in captivity will almost certainly change depending on your philosophical outlook. Some may say that as long as the animals are happy, there isn’t a problem. But how do you measure happiness in a captive animal? And does the reason for the animal being in captivity make a situation more or less ethical?</p>
<p>Let me use the example of large carnivores in captive and semi-captive facilities in South Africa. Almost all of these facilities will tell you that their animals are contributing towards the <a href="http://theranch.co.za/conservancy/walking-with-lions/">conservation of the species</a>. </p>
<p>Some may also tell you that their animals will be released back into the wild once they reach a certain age. But both of these statements are false and misleading. It is extremely unlikely that captive-born carnivores will ever be successfully <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320707004417">re-wilded</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93288/original/image-20150828-19916-99xaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tourists watch a cheetah in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Radu Sigheti</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, if you cannot re-wild a captive-born carnivore, then it cannot effectively contribute towards the conservation of the species. So, what then is the motivation behind these captive facilities and can this be considered ethical? The answer, quite simply, is money. Tourists are willing to pay huge money to <a href="https://www.afrizim.com/Activities/Victoria_Falls/Lion_Walk.asp">“walk with lions”</a> or <a href="http://www.cheetahinteraction.com/">“pet a cheetah”</a>. To me, this is unethical and certainly does not promote any form of carnivore conservation.</p>
<p>Such facilities cannot be considered ethical if there is any risk whatsoever to human life. Recent events in KwaZulu-Natal involving <a href="https://twitter.com/Blood_Lions/status/636227791688704000?utm_source=fb&fb_ref=Default&utm_content=636374277512687616&utm_campaign=Workingwild&utm_medium=fb">cheetahs attacking people</a> indicate there often is a significant risk and this is related to the animals losing their fear of humans.</p>
<p>But what of the argument that getting close to animals and even touching them gets you to connect better with nature and promotes wildlife conservation awareness? A <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/tri/2007/00000011/00000003/art00004">published study</a> indicates that this is probably not the case for the specific situation they were assessing – particularly not in a captive setting.</p>
<p>The conservation awareness of visitors to captive, semi-captive and wildlife parks did not appear to be affected, even in the more extensive environment of the wildlife park. There are several <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MQDPBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=the+ethics+of+captive+animal+facilities+for+tourism&ots=0vIlRFzqPV&sig=yNZ8Akyq8ttgILGYAov4Srl_7fI#v=onepage&q&f=false">books</a> on the topic and while we may be divided about the overall educational value of captive animals, perhaps we should take a leaf out of New Zealand’s book and recognise all animals as being <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/new-zealand-now-recognizes-all-animals-as-sentient-beings/?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=antimedia">sentient</a> creatures just like us. </p>
<p>If we were to do that, then there probably wouldn’t be a place for animals in captivity.</p>
<p>Most of the research done on the topic is divided, so drawing hard and fast conclusions is not necessarily possible. No doubt this debate is going to continue to rage and the internet and the scientific literature is going to continue to be flooded by opinion pieces and studies attempting to debunk the findings of some previous study – but that’s what science is about. </p>
<p>For now, knowledge is power. Ask the tough questions of captive wildlife owners, do some background research and make sure that you go into any captive wildlife scenario fully informed. If you do that, all you have left to contend with is your conscience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Parker 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>
Some say that keeping wild animals in captivity is cruel. Others believe they promote conservation and give people a link to nature.
Dan Parker, Lecturer In Large Wildlife Ecology, Rhodes University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/36188
2015-01-13T15:56:20Z
2015-01-13T15:56:20Z
How cat flaps for warthogs can help save the cheetah
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68837/original/image-20150113-28449-19t33km.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cheetahs have to eat somehow.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/76192039@N05/8166193072">Rogan Templar</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Southern Africa’s game farms are private reserves that house wildlife such as giraffes, zebras and antelope to be used for restocking national parks, meat production or trophy hunting. But these farms have a problem. Warthogs and porcupines want to move around the reserves too, and they have an annoying habit of making large holes under the boundary fences to burrow their way in and out. For cheetahs, these holes are an ideal way to get inside and prey on the valuable game. </p>
<p>Cheetahs are considered pests in these reserves and, in Namibia, game farmers end up <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02077.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">killing more cheetahs</a> than livestock farmers do. These game farms needed to find a way to let the warthogs in while keeping the big predators out.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68854/original/image-20150113-28416-kc8rka.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warthogs in, cheetahs out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Niki Rust</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The solution is simple but unusual – have you ever considered whether your cat flap might be used by other animals besides your feline friend? It turns out “swing gates” (a technical term for a glorified cat flap installed along a fence line) are ideal.</p>
<p>According to research I carried out with colleagues in Namibia, recently published in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aje.12188/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">African Journal of Ecology</a>, warthogs and porcupines have learned how to use these gates, but big cats such as cheetahs and leopards don’t seem to have figured this out yet. It could be that the big cats see an intact fence and do not bother to investigate the integrity of it, whereas warthogs may be more inquisitive and spend more time rummaging around the fence line looking for holes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68857/original/image-20150113-28428-16uug6k.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warthogs: happy in holes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/conservationconcepts/14159548539">Mark Jordahl</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is great news for both livestock and wildlife farmers because it now stops movement of large carnivores into farms and can limit the amount of expensive antelope or buffalo that are killed by predators. With the threat removed, farmers now do not need to resort to hunting carnivores to limit the damage that they cause on the farms, and it also means that they no longer kill hole-digging species like warthogs, aardvarks and porcupines to limit the number of fence breaches.</p>
<p>Our study determined that the number of holes dug by burrowing animals under game fences decreased over time and this was most evident when the swing gates were easily accessible and ideally placed. This means installing gates in open areas with harder soil, dense vegetation, close to the watering holes where water-loving, perpetually-thirsty warthogs like to hang out.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68858/original/image-20150113-28455-x16ekh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cheetahs keep out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Niki Rust</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, swing gates are far cheaper than electric fencing – the conventional way to stop animals burrowing their way in. So it’s really a win for both people and wildlife. Electric fencing requires continual application of weed killer to stop the grass from <a href="http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication_article/wild_v36_n2_a10">short-circuiting the electric current</a>, but the only maintenance that is needed with swing gates is the occasional hole-filling from the rogue warthog that does decide to dig a new hole under the fence.</p>
<h2>Temporary fix but no long-term solution</h2>
<p>If we want to conserve cheetahs and promote co-existence between humans, wild game and wild predators, then using fences to exclude big cats from their natural habitat won’t work in the long term. But for the time being, this is a quick and simple fix. Farmers can add swing gates to their <a href="http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=icwdmsheepgoat">tool box</a> of effective yet non-lethal techniques to combat predation of livestock.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68859/original/image-20150113-28428-1901nm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Still hungry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/4139034876">Tambako</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund and one of the study’s co-authors, points out why it is so crucial that this works for game farmers too. Predators, she says, create large financial losses on game farms. “Swing gates will enable us time to work on a permanent solution that will enable all species to peacefully coexist on the same land, such as the development of conservancies”. </p>
<p>In these <a href="http://www.nacso.org.na/">conservancies</a> wildlife is allowed to roam free, without high game fences. As Marker points out, “neighbouring farmers and land occupiers then manage the resources collectively, allowing for predators to be managed within the larger landscape system.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, you better watch out what other critters enter your house via your cat flap, as it <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1346866/Fox-came-cat-flap-bit-finger-says-ambulance-driver-Tammy-Page.html">might not just be Felix</a> that is coming inside.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36188/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niki Rust 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>
Southern Africa’s game farms are private reserves that house wildlife such as giraffes, zebras and antelope to be used for restocking national parks, meat production or trophy hunting. But these farms…
Niki Rust, PhD candidate in Carnivore Conservation, University of Kent
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/28791
2014-07-11T15:37:32Z
2014-07-11T15:37:32Z
Captive breeding could bring big cats back from the brink
<p>It may be the fastest animal on earth, but the cheetah is struggling to outrun the threats to its extinction. With only <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/220/0">50 to 70</a> animals estimated to remain in Iran, the Asiatic cheetah is <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/iran-tries-save-asiatic-cheetah-extinction">on the verge of extinction</a> in the wild. While the more familiar African cheetah is more numerous, with <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/219/0">around 12,000 individuals</a> across the whole continent, it’s also at risk.</p>
<p>So long as humans and wildlife compete for the use of the same land and resources, there will always be a struggle. This comes down to rights, and which species have more. Animals, including humans, are resource-driven, so removing food sources and fragmenting habitats will have the most serious impact on a species. But when humans go beyond this by actively removing “problem animals”, perhaps due to a perceived threat to crops or livestock, this puts an even greater pressure on their survival.</p>
<p>However, there are means to try to boost cheetah numbers in the wild. Fenced, predator-proof refuge areas, such as private reserves like <a href="http://www.cheetahplains.com/">Cheetah Plains Private Game Reserve</a> and <a href="http://www.timbavati.co.za/">Timbavati Nature Reserve</a>, can be appropriately stocked and managed to ensure cheetah survival. Populations can also be relocated to regions where cheetahs historically ranged but where the cause of their extermination has been addressed. This was demonstrated by the <a href="http://www.cheetah.org">Cheetah Conservation Fund</a> in Namibia and the <a href="http://www.ewt.org.za">Endangered Wildlife Trust</a> in South Africa. </p>
<p>Alternatively, cheetahs can be bred in captivity, trained, and released into controlled wild areas. Where species or sub-species are critically endangered, the release of captive-bred animals into the wild can be used as way of supplementing existing populations or forming new founder populations.</p>
<h2>In training for the wild</h2>
<p>In South Africa, the most promising strategy has been when cheetahs, prior to release, have been “trained to be wild”. This includes changing their diet to the wild game they will encounter on release so they become accustomed to tearing skin and even chewing around bones. And they must develop the strength to be able to bring down prey. It’s also important that these cheetahs become accustomed to starvation periods when prey is scarce or other conditions hinder a successful hunt. These are simple things that a wild cheetah would learn through nurture, but captive breeding does not afford the luxury of learning from mother.</p>
<p>Removing any conditioning or familiarity to human presence that can develop during captivity is also important as this could pose a threat to the cheetahs – and to people. If cheetahs gravitate to human settlements which carry familiar associations with food they are likely to be harmed, and in a volatile situation a cheetah is perfectly capable of causing harm with its teeth and claws.</p>
<p>Once the animal has been released, there are even more decisions to be made about how to monitor and manage the programme. There is debate as to what is deemed a successful re-introduction – for example, if and when breeding can take place, and how independent of human interference the animals really are.</p>
<h2>Difficult but needed</h2>
<p>Such re-introductions <a href="http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-07042011-101546/">have been tried</a> but have not always been successful, mainly because of human influences like poisoning, hunting, and road accidents. Other deaths have been due to natural problems of starvation, disease, or often due to insufficient conditioning of the animal prior to release.</p>
<p>The forerunner of these style of re-introduction projects is the <a href="http://www.dewildt.co.za">Ann Van Dyke Cheetah Centre</a> (formerly the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre), which produced 785 cubs between 1975-2005. As part of a re-introduction project, the centre released six captive bred cheetahs into the wild between 2007-2010 – two single females and two pairs of male <a href="http://www.catcollection.org/cat/cheetah/">coalitions</a> (as social animals, cheetah males often form a group known as a coalition). After extensive training, only one female and two males survived and recovered their wild habits. Since then, there have been no more attempts to re-introduce captive bred cheetah into the wild in South Africa.</p>
<p>Until human populations see evident economic or cultural value in wildlife then protecting endangered species such as the cheetah will continue to be a struggle. And until these values can be assured then any efforts to increase wild cheetah populations will be futile. It’s essential – particularly when dealing with endangered species and predators – that the issues that drove them to become endangered in the first place are tackled.</p>
<p>Unfortunately this usually takes time and effort, and so it’s important to continue working on programmes of captive-born reintroductions. While these have not always been successful, the ground has been laid for future work, and re-introduction remains an important means to win time in the fight against species extinction. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nkabeng Maruping-Mzileni 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>
It may be the fastest animal on earth, but the cheetah is struggling to outrun the threats to its extinction. With only 50 to 70 animals estimated to remain in Iran, the Asiatic cheetah is on the verge…
Nkabeng Maruping-Mzileni, Lecturer in Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation, Tshwane University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/28931
2014-07-11T05:14:03Z
2014-07-11T05:14:03Z
It’s still possible to save the Asiatic cheetah, the world’s second-rarest cat
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53448/original/3k873w7h-1404922346.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Glimpsed in the wild, camera traps capture the last remaining Asiatic cheetahs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ICS/DoE/CACP/UNDP/Panthera</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The last few surviving Asiatic cheetahs live in Iran, where they stalk the hyper-arid landscape, where temperatures swing from -30°C to 50°C. This is the only place in the world a cheetah, most of which live in Africa, will experience snow.</p>
<p>Iran is home to the last known population of Asiatic cheetah, a creature which once roamed across vast ranges of west and south Asian countries, from the Middle East to India. Today, the cheetahs are known only from around 15 reserves in Iran, all officially protected by the country’s government.</p>
<p>Together with genetic distinctiveness from their African cousins, the Asiatic cheetahs are smaller and more slightly built. Iranian biologists were surprised to learn that the Asiatic cheetahs are mainly found in mountainous regions – a very different proposition from the view expected from wildlife documentaries in which cheetahs pursue sprinting gazelles across open plains. </p>
<p>Camera traps are reliable tools to try to gauge the population of these spotted cats, whose markings are individually unique. However, this technology has been rarely applied to cheetahs across their global range due to the paucity of individuals and their elusive nature. Due to political sanctions, the necessary equipment is not easily available in Iran, and this has prevented a thorough assessment of the species in the past. </p>
<p>Thanks to various donors and partners, including <a href="http://www.panthera.org/node/30">Panthera</a> and Dutch NGO <a href="http://www.stichtingspots.nl/">Stichting SPOTS</a>, a monitoring program was recently launched that would fill the gaps in our knowledge about the cheetah that is essential for its protection. Even so the results were surprising, revealing only 40 to 70 cheetahs across the country – smaller even than previous estimates of <a href="http://www.wildlife.ir/en/2013/09/18/only-40-to-70-asiatic-cheetahs-left-in-iran/">up to 100</a>. Listed as <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/220/0">critically endangered</a> by the IUCN, the Asiatic cheetah is among the rarest cats in the world at subspecies level, after the Amur leopard. </p>
<h2>Guarding Iran’s last cheetahs</h2>
<p>Around 125 game guards protect the cheetah’s range in Iran as Cheetah Guardians, thanks to tremendous efforts of the Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (<a href="http://www.cacp.ir/">CACP</a>), the Iranian Department of the Environment (DoE), and <a href="http://www.ir.undp.org/content/iran/en/home/operations/projects/environment_and_sustainable_development/conservation-of-asiatic-cheetah--cacp---phase-ii.html">UNDP in Iran</a>, which tried to double the number of guards employed by the DoE during the past decade. Equipped with 4WD vehicles and motorbikes, each guard is responsible for protecting around 640km<sup>2</sup> of the landscape, an indication that more forces are needed.</p>
<p>In order to safeguard the cheetahs, the DoE established more reserves while existing reserves received more resources. In the Iran’s northeast <a href="http://www.cacp.ir/habitats/miandasht-wildlife-refuge/">Miandasht Wildlife Refuge</a> has been a key site for the cheetahs after a threefold boom in prey species. As a result, the cheetahs have established a breeding population there, vital to help <a href="http://www.wildlife.ir/en/2013/05/30/large-family-of-asiatic-cheetah-near-turkmenistan-border/">re-colonise other reserves</a>.</p>
<p>As is the case for many wildlife species, the cheetah was little known among the public ten years ago. But with the animals’ plight appealing to the media it has garnered considerable coverage, leaving the public in no doubt about the state of the cheetah’s decline. With united effort from government and NGOs, this year the cheetah even became the first species to appear <a href="http://www.ir.undp.org/content/iran/en/home/presscenter/articles/2014/02/03/cheetah-logo-unveiled-on-iran-national-football-team-s-uniform-for-2014-world-cup.html">emblazoned on the Iranian national football team’s jersey</a> during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.</p>
<p>So as a symbol of the nation’s wildlife, the public awareness and support the cheetah receives is an important step to ensure its long-term survival. But it is not enough. It is vital to build an expert opinion on what to do about the species’ critically small population, rising mortality from human causes, such as traffic collisions, and falling birth rates. </p>
<p>While further research is needed, we know that Asiatic cheetahs have much lower genetic diversity than African cheetahs, but we are still hopeful that better connectivity between the various reserves to allow cheetahs to intermingle could maintain a basic level of gene flow between small cheetah populations. </p>
<p>We need the authorities to confront and defeat plans for property development and infrastructure such as roads, mines and railways within the main cheetah reserves. For example, a <a href="http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bafq-leopards.html#cr">road to be constructed through Bafq Protected Area</a> in central Iran was a major concern, but the DoE managed to stop construction and propose an alternative route.</p>
<p>Cheetahs are known to kill small livestock, and claims of cheetahs killing young camel, sheep, and goat are rife among shepherds. Recent cases in different parts of the country have raised concerns that cheetahs could be killed by protective herders. At least five have been known to be killed by herders since 2010, twice the number killed in the previous decade. To try to prevent this, the Iranian Department of Environment and CACP established a programme to compensate for cheetah predation for five years.</p>
<p>On August 31 1994 a cheetah was rescued from dying of thirst in central Iran. Named <a href="http://www.cacp.ir/our-cheetahs/marita/">Marita</a>, for nearly ten years she was the only evidence of the existence of cheetahs outside Africa. In 2007, the Iranian Cheetah Society (<a href="http://www.wildlife.ir/en">ICS</a>) designated August 31 as National Cheetah Day, an annual event to draw people’s attention to conservation issues in Iran. The cheetah is lucky to have a day bearing its name, but to survive they will need much more than luck.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohammad Farhadinia is co-founder of the Iranian Cheetah Society. </span></em></p>
The last few surviving Asiatic cheetahs live in Iran, where they stalk the hyper-arid landscape, where temperatures swing from -30°C to 50°C. This is the only place in the world a cheetah, most of which…
Mohammad Farhadinia, Co-founder, Iranian Cheetah Society, PhD student, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.