RESEARCH ARTICLE Trophy Hunting and Sustainability: Temporal Dynamics in Trophy Quality and Harvesting Patterns of Wild Herbivores in a Tropical Semi-Arid Savanna Ecosystem Victor K. Muposhi1*, Edson Gandiwa1, Paul Bartels2, Stanley M. Makuza3, Tinaapi H. Madiri4 1 School of Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Private Bag 7724, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, 2 Department of Nature Conservation, Tshwane University of Technology, Private a11111 Bag X680, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa, 3 School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Private Bag 7724, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, 4 Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, PO Box CY140, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe *
[email protected] Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Muposhi VK, Gandiwa E, Bartels P, The selective nature of trophy hunting may cause changes in desirable phenotypic traits in Makuza SM, Madiri TH (2016) Trophy Hunting and harvested species. A decline in trophy size of preferred species may reduce hunting desti- Sustainability: Temporal Dynamics in Trophy nation competitiveness thus compromising the sustainability of trophy hunting as a conser- Quality and Harvesting Patterns of Wild Herbivores in a Tropical Semi-Arid Savanna Ecosystem. PLoS vation tool. We explored the trophy quality and trends in harvesting patterns (i.e., 2004± ONE 11(10): e0164429. doi:10.1371/journal. 2015) of Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), greater pone.0164429 kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and sable (Hippotragus niger) in Matetsi Safari Area, Editor: Suzannah Rutherford, Fred Hutchinson northwest Zimbabwe. We used long-term data on horn and tusk size, age, quota size allo- Cancer Research Center, UNITED STATES cation and offtake levels of selected species.