Republic of Zimbabwe Enhancement and Non
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Republic of Zimbabwe Enhancement and Non-Detrimental Findings for Panthera leo in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority October 2016 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 2 Status and Distribution of Lion in Zimbabwe .................................................................................. 2 2.1 The extent of lion distribution in Zimbabwe .......................................................................... 2 2.2 Minimum population of lion in Zimbabwe ............................................................................. 5 2.2.1 Captive Breeding Facilities .............................................................................................. 7 3 Conservation and Management ..................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Policy And Legislation ............................................................................................................. 7 3.2 The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority .................................................... 8 3.3 Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Lion ..................................................................... 9 3.3.1 National Lion Captive Breeding Policy .......................................................................... 14 4 Population Trend Data For Key Lion Populations In Zimbabwe ................................................... 14 4.1 Lion survey techniques ......................................................................................................... 15 4.2 Results of regional lion surveys ............................................................................................. 15 4.2.1 Gonarezhou National Park ............................................................................................ 15 4.2.2 Save Valley Conservancy ............................................................................................... 16 4.2.3 Bubiana Valley Conservancy ......................................................................................... 16 4.2.4 Mana Pools National Park ............................................................................................. 17 4.2.5 Hwange National Park ................................................................................................... 17 4.2.6 Zambezi National Park and Units 6 and 7 ..................................................................... 19 4.2.7 Chizarira National Park and Chirisa/Sengwa Safari Area .............................................. 19 5 Conservation in Zimbabwe ........................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Staff Establishment ............................................................................................................... 20 5.2 Transport operations ............................................................................................................ 20 5.3 Law enforcement .................................................................................................................. 21 5.3.1 Illegal Harvesting of Wildlife ......................................................................................... 21 5.3.2 Illegal trophy hunting – the “Cecil” effect..................................................................... 22 5.4 Human Wildlife Conflict ........................................................................................................ 23 5.4.1 Case Study of Human- Lion Conflict from Hwange National Park ................................ 24 5.5 Trend in Financial Performance of the Authority ................................................................. 26 6 Stakeholder involvement in lion management and conservation ................................................ 27 6.1 Beneficiaries of Wildlife Based Land Use .............................................................................. 27 6.2 Contribution of the Private Sector ........................................................................................ 28 6.3 CAMPFIRE Community programmes .................................................................................... 30 7 Management and Administration of the Safari Hunting Industry in Zimbabwe .......................... 34 7.1 Performance of the industry ................................................................................................. 34 7.1.1 Global earnings of the industry ..................................................................................... 34 i 7.1.2 Quota allocation, Utilisation and Total Trophy Fees Earned ........................................ 35 7.1.3 Total trophy fees generated by land category .............................................................. 36 7.5 Quota Setting Process ........................................................................................................... 37 7.6 Points system for adaptively managing lion quotas in Zimbabwe ....................................... 39 7.6.1 Results of the Adaptive Lion Quota Management System: 2013 to 2016 .................... 40 7.6.2 Case study: Safari Hunting surrounding Hwange National Park ................................... 43 8 Threats and Mitigation .................................................................................................................. 43 8.1 Human-lion conflict ............................................................................................................... 44 8.2 Habitat loss ........................................................................................................................... 44 8.3 Illegal Trade in Lion Products ................................................................................................ 44 8.4 Bushmeat Poaching............................................................................................................... 45 8.5 Prey Abundance .................................................................................................................... 46 9 Assessment of the Enhancement and Non-Detriment Findings ................................................... 53 10 References ................................................................................................................................ 60 11 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 63 11.1 Annex I: Summary of National Parks Estate, Forestry, Communal and Private Land where lion are known to occur .................................................................................................................... 63 11.2 Annex II: Summary of primary legislation and regulations ................................................... 68 11.2.1 The Policy for Wild Life of 1992 .................................................................................... 68 11.2.2 Wildlife Based Land Reform Policy ............................................................................... 69 11.2.3 Parks and Wild Life Act Chapter 20:14 of 1996 as amended in 2001: .......................... 71 11.2.4 The Rural District Councils Act Chapter [29:13] 2002 ................................................... 76 11.2.5 The Forest Act of 1948 .................................................................................................. 77 11.3 Annex III: Analysis of Total Revenue by Country of Destination........................................... 77 11.4 Annex IV: Analysis of Total Revenue by Species ................................................................... 79 ii Non-Detrimental and Enhancement Finding: Conservation and Management of Lion 1 INTRODUCTION The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWLS) made a ruling in terms of its Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) that the status of the southern and eastern African lion subspecies (Panthera leo melanochaita) is threatened (see http://www.regulations.gov). This ruling, which came into effect on January 22, 2016, now requires that the importation of all trophy lion from Zimbabwe will require an import permit. The decision whether to issue an import permit will in future be based on a Non-Detrimental Finding (NDF) that takes into consideration four main factors outlined under 50 CFR 17.22 and 17.32. These are: What direct and indirect impacts would occur on the wild population? Would issuing a permit conflict with any known programs intended to conserve the species? Would the purposes of the permit reduce the threat of extinction facing the species? What are the opinions of experts? In addition to these factors USFWLS will also take into consideration the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Guiding Principles on Trophy Hunting as a Tool for Creating Conservation Incentives, Ver. 1.0 (IUCN/SSC 2012). This document identifies five guiding principles of a hunting program that creates “incentives for the conservation of species and their habitats and for the equitable sharing of the benefits of use of natural resources” and recognizes that trophy hunting can contribute to biodiversity conservation and the conservation of the hunted species. These are: Biological sustainability i.e. the hunting program: o Cannot contribute to the long-term decline of the hunted species o It should not alter natural selection and ecological function