Evaluating the spatial intensity and demographic impacts of wire-snare bush-meat poaching on large carnivores

The bush-meat poaching crisis is a significant threat to biodiversity in tropical forest and savannah biomes, however its impacts on wild animal populations are often difficult to quantify across large spatial scales. Using data from 17 camera trap survey sites in southern Africa, within the Kavango...

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Published in:Biological conservation Vol. 244; p. 108504
Main Authors: Loveridge, A.J., Sousa, L.L., Seymour-Smith, J., Hunt, J., Coals, P., O'Donnell, H., Lindsey, P.A., Mandisodza-Chikerema, R., Macdonald, D.W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2020
Subjects:
biodiversity
Bush-meat poaching
cameras
carnivores
conservation areas
Crocuta crocuta
ecosystems
human population
KAZA TFCA
land use
landscapes
Mortality
national parks
Panthera leo
population growth
savannas
Snare
Southern Africa
sport hunting
surveys
tropical forests
wild animals
Southern Africa
Bush-meat poaching
Panthera leo
Snare
KAZA TFCA
Mortality
Crocuta crocuta
ISSN:0006-3207, 1873-2917
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Summary:The bush-meat poaching crisis is a significant threat to biodiversity in tropical forest and savannah biomes, however its impacts on wild animal populations are often difficult to quantify across large spatial scales. Using data from 17 camera trap survey sites in southern Africa, within the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, we show it is possible to assess the demographic impact of wire-snare bush-meat poaching on large carnivore populations, distribution of snaring hotspots and drivers of bush-meat poaching prevalence across this landscape. Results suggest that mortalities in snares may have significant demographic effects on lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) with evidence for population declines and extirpation of large carnivores in the most heavily affected areas. Spatial drivers of bush-meat poaching were found to be a composite of anthropogenic threat scores, environmental resource extraction, protected area size and land-use type. Incidences of snared large carnivores were more prevalent in trophy hunting areas than national parks. Across our study sites, bush-meat poaching has the potential to cause severe declines in populations of large carnivores, particularly in small isolated protected areas surrounded by areas of high human population growth, with resulting loss of regional connectivity and increasing fragmentation of the KAZA landscape. •We used camera surveys to systematically evaluate drivers of bush-meat poaching•Large carnivores are highly susceptible to being trapped in wire snares•Snaring has significant implications for the persistence of carnivore populations•Hotspots snaring of large carnivores correlate closely to anthropogenic factors•Snaring could undermine conservation of extensive multi-use landscape such as KAZA
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ISSN:0006-3207
1873-2917
DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108504