Conservation Biology and Controlling International Status of the African Wild Trade in Endangered Dog, Lycaon Pictus Species
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U PDATE IncludingEndangered a Reprint Species of theTechnical latest USFWS Bulletin School of Natural Resources and Environment August 7994 Vol. 7 7 No. 70 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN In this Issue Conservation Biology and Controlling International Status of the African Wild Trade in Endangered Dog, Lycaon pictus Species Resilience and Resistance: Old Growth Forests and the Relevance for Conservation Puerto Rican Parrot Biology and Management Conservation Biology and Status of the African wild dog, Lycaon pictus by - Joshua R, Ginsberg - The African wild dog (Lycaon Causes of Decline Loss of habitat and direct persecu- pictus) was once found from Senegal to tion by humans were probably respon- South Africa. Inhabiting a wide range of A number of explanations and hy- sible for initial declines and local extinc- ecosystems, from deserts to the alpine potheses have been invoked to explain tions. Morerecently, other factors which meadows of Mount Kilimanjaro (re- the pan-African decline in Lycaon num- may have led to local or regional de- viewed in Fanshawe et al. 1991 ; Ginsberg bers (Fanshawe et al. 1991). Wild dogs clines in numbers include competition andMacdonald 1990),Lycaon wasprob- occur at low densities relative to other with other carnivores (Frame 1986; ably found in all environments except large predators. For example, while Sinclair, in press); direct conflict with true rainforests. Well over a hundred lions frequently occur at densities of one humans (Childes 1988; Hines 1990; thousand wild dogs, or five times that lion per five square kilometers (Schaller Malcolm 1979); disease (Creel et al., in many, may have lived in Africa at the 1972), wild dog densities average one press; Burrows et al. 1994; Gascoyne et turn of the century. By the 19701s, dog per 70 to 100 square kilometers al. 1993; Alexander et a1.1993; Schaller however, many field biologists began to (Fuller et al. 1992a). In addition, be- 1972; Pienaar 1969); intervention by suspect that the species was in rapid cause wild dogs are highly social ani- scientists (Burrows et al. 1994; Burrows decline. mals that hunt and breed in extended 1992,but see Creel 1992and Macdonald Worried about the decline in wild family packs of up to 50 individuals, et al. 1992); and road kills (Ginsberg dog numbers, two scientists who have each pack encompasses an extremely and Cole, in press). A comparison of studied wild dogs in the Serengeti, John large home range (150 to 2000 square dataon causes of mortality in five differ- Fanshawe and Lory Frame, conducted a kilometers, Fuller et al. 1992). As a ent ecosystems indicated that at any postal survey of researchers and manag- result, wild dogs are probably particu- time in an ecosystem, and through time ers working in Africa in an attempt to larly sensitive to habitat fragmentation in different ecosystems, causes and pat- find out how many wild dogs remained and habitat loss (East 1981). terns of mortality differ (Ginsberg et al., in each range state. Their survey (sum- Wild dogs naturally have high rates in press; Burrows, in press). Studies in marized by Ginsberg and Macdonald of mortality and natality and appear to Botswana and in Kruger National Park 1990) showed that wild dogs have dis- have significant intra- and interpopula- suggest that inter- and intraspecific in- appeared, or have been reduced to relict tion variation in demographic measures teractions are responsible for most adult populations of fewer than 50 individu- (Burrows 1994; Fuller et al. 1992). mortality. In Zimbabwe's Hwange Na- als, in 19 of 34 countries where they Because of their large litter sizes (up to tional Park, mortality associated with once lived. Frame and Fanshawe sug- 16 pups per pack), populations can grow human activity (road kills, snaring)dorni- gested that fewer than 5000 wild dogs rapidly in years of low adult mortality nates. In the Serengeti/Mara over the remain in Africa, and of those individu- and high juvenile survivorship. If, how- past two decades, both interspecificcom- als, fewer than 3000 are found in pro- ever, high adult death rates and low petition (Sinclair in press; Frame 1986; tected areas. A significant decline in juvenile survivorship coincide, popula- Malcolm 1979) and disease appear to numbers has even been evidenced in tions can plummet. Computer modeling have been responsible for a large pro- countries where wild dog populations of Lycaon populations (Ginsberg and portion of adult mortality (Burrows et are relatively large. For example, popu- Mace, in prep) suggests that even wild al. 1994;Malcolm 1979; Schaller 1972). lations in Zimbabwe (Childes 1988) and dog populations as large as 300 indi- While disease may have been re- Namibia (Hines 1990), have halved in a viduals have a distinct probability of sponsible for the local disappearance of decade. In response to these declines, going extinct in under 200 years. How- wild dogs in the Serengeti plains, epi- the wild dog was listed as endangered by ever, if several populations of up to 300 demic disease does not always have the USFWS in 1984. In 1990 the IUCN animals are linked, the probability of catastrophiceffects. In the Selous Game revised its assessment of the status of the extinction drops dramatically. Political Reserve in Tanzania, a closely moni- wild dog from Vulnerable to Endan- initiatives to keep corridors open, such tored outbreak of infectious anthrax had gered, reflecting an increased threat as those found between northern minor effects. In a pack of 42 individu- (Ginsberg and Macdonald 1990). Botswana, western Zimbabwe, eastern als, all adults and yearlings survived and Namibia, and southern Zambia are criti- only four of 24 puppies succumbed to cal, although not necessarily sufficient, the disease (Creel et al., in press). In if this species is to survive. fact, automobiles had a greater effect 1 Endangered Species UPDATE VoL 11 No. 10 1994 than disease on wild dog population both the Selous Reserve in Tanzania Endangewed Species numbers in the Selous Reserve. In (Creel et al., in press) and the Luangwa UPDATE Mikumi National Park, locatedin a small Valley in Zambia (Ginsberg and section of the Reserve, 11 wild dogs Macdonald 1990). A forum for information exchange on were killed by automobiles in one year Rabies was confirmed from analy- endangered species issues alone (Creel and Creel 1994). sis of samples taken from a single wild August 1994 Vol. 11 No. 10 dog carcass in the Serengeti (Gascoyne Effects of Intervention et al. 1993) and two carcasses in the John F. Watson................................ Editor Terry Root ..................... ,..Faculty Advisor Masai Mara (Richardson et al., in re- Christian Synderman...... Editorial Assistant The need for intensivemanagement view). Individuals in each population Eric he........................ Editorial Assistant of fragmented populations is a reality were vaccinated in an attempt to provide Nicole Shutt ..........Subscription Coordinator facing not just wild dogs but many spe- protection against the disease. How- Instructions for Authors: cies of endangered animals. As popula- ever, by 1992 all wild dogs in the study The Endangered Species UPDATE tions become increasingly fragmented, areas in the Serengeti and Masai Mara welcomes articles related to species intensive management, and thus inter- had died or disappeared (Gascoyne et al. protection in a wide range of areas vention, will become more common (see 1993; Burrows et al. 1994). Disappear- including but not limited to: research and management activities and policy analyses papers in Olney et al. 1994). Further- ance of the plains subpopulation of wild for endangered species, theoretical more, many of the data required for dogs in the Serengeti ended a 20 year approaches to species conservation, and conservation planning and management decline in which populations dropped habitat protection. Book reviews, editorial can only be collected with some level of from 77 adults and yearlings in 1970 to comments, and announcements of current events and publications are also welcome. intervention - translocation, disease 26 adults and yearlings in 1977, and then screening and genetic studies, for in- fluctuated between 12 and 31 individu- Readers include a broad range of stance, require anesthesia andlor collec- als from 1976 to 1991 (Burrows, in professionals in both scientific and policy tion of tissue samples. For many spe- press, et al. 1994 ). fields. Articles should be written in an easily understandable style for a knowl- cies -from large, highly mobile ones to Burrows (1992) suggestedthat han- edgeable audience. For further informa- those that are small, cryptic and noctur- dling of the wild dogs to fit radio collars tion, contact the editor. nal -fitting radio transmitters to study and vaccinating the animals with pro- ecology and mortality of animals may jectile darts stressed the dogs, activated Subscription Information: The Endangered Species UPDATE is be the only way in which accurate long- latent disease infections (probably ra- published approximately ten times per year term data can be collected (Kenward bies), and caused the early death of dogs by the School of Natural Resources and 1987). Intervention, however, has po- in these packs. This hypothesis has been Environment at The University of tential costs to survivorship, reproduc- questioned on theoretical grounds by Michigan. Annual rates are $23 for regular subscriptions, and $18 for students and tion, or persistence of apopulation (e.g., Creel (1992), who questioned