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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses A socio-ecological approach towards understanding conict between leopards (Panthera pardus) and humans in South Africa: Implications for leopard conservation and farming livelihoods CONSTANT, NATASHA,LOUISE How to cite: CONSTANT, NATASHA,LOUISE (2014) A socio-ecological approach towards understanding conict between leopards (Panthera pardus) and humans in South Africa: Implications for leopard conservation and farming livelihoods , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10807/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 A socio-ecological approach towards understanding conflict between leopards (Panthera pardus) and humans in South Africa: Implications for leopard conservation and farming livelihoods Natasha Louise Constant Department of Anthropology March 2014 Thesis submitted to Durham University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Abstract The thesis investigates the socio-ecological factors driving human-leopard conflict due to livestock and game depredation in the Blouberg Mountain Range, South Africa. Local people’s perceptions of conservation are shaped by historical and contemporary relationships with protected areas and particularly, by conflicts of land and natural resource use. Legacies of disempowerment, marginalisation and stigmatisation manifest through people’s conservation discourses, social conflict and resistance towards protected area establishment, a process defined as traumatic nature. Traumatic nature elevates distrust of local people towards wildlife authorities and decreases support for wildlife conservation, aggravating human- leopard conflicts. Leopard predation on livestock and game is most strongly influenced by distance to village and distance to water, respectively, in addition to seasonal grazing patterns, the calving season and poor livestock husbandry practices. Livestock depredation represents significant economic costs for subsistence communal farmers’, which is exacerbated by the erosion of traditional cattle sharing systems and a lack of alternative livelihood strategies. Livestock depredation results in the loss of functional and material benefits, social capital, a spiritual resource, diminished wellbeing and perceived cultural decay. Camera trap results showed a lower leopard density of 0.7 leopards per 100km2 on commercial farms compared to the Blouberg Nature Reserve of 5.4 leopards per 100km2. Commercial farms may function as ecological traps because they represent areas with disproportionate leopard mortality that otherwise provide a high abundance of prey species for leopards. A male-biased sex ratio and a high number of sub-adult male leopards indicate high leopard mortality rates in the population. Camera trap results show low occupancy rates on communal land that may reflect a low large prey biomass, potentially caused by overhunting and habitat conversion. Farming communities ascribe a wide range of environmental values to the leopard that provide barriers and support for leopard conservation. Environmental institutions need to improve responses to reports of human-leopard conflicts and build trust and legitimacy in the eyes of local people by developing stronger working relationships with farming communities. The decentralisation of authority to local government actors to manage human-leopard conflicts and the devolution of responsibility to farmers to improve livestock husbandry practices is necessary to reduce depredation incidents. Incentive and education schemes are important for reducing lethal control measures and to improve tolerance of depredation incidents and leopard conservation. 2 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 8 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... 11 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 12 Definitions of Organisations ....................................................................................................... 13 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... 15 Statement of Copyright ............................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1: Introduction…..…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19 1.1 Human-carnivore conflict: A global problem .............................................................. 19 1.2 Considering the complexities of human-wildlife conflict ........................................... 20 1.2.1 Conservation ideology and relationships between people and protected areas ... 20 1.2.2 Extent of livestock depredation and bio-physical factors influencing the risk of predation ............................................................................................................................. 22 1.2.3 Visible and hidden impacts of human-wildlife conflict ........................................... 24 1.2.4 Impacts of human-wildlife conflict on carnivore ecology ....................................... 25 1.2.5 Values and attitudes associated with wild animals ................................................ 26 1.2.6 Strategies for mitigating human-carnivore conflict ................................................ 28 1.3 The African leopard: Population status and distribution in South Africa .................. 30 1.4 A socio-ecological approach towards understanding human-leopard conflict .......... 33 1.5 Chapter outline ........................................................................................................... 35 1.6 Research aims ............................................................................................................. 37 Chapter 2: Historical and political narrative of wildlife conservation and land dispossession in South Africa……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 38 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 38 2.2 Indigenous perceptions of the environment .............................................................. 40 2.3 Colonisation: The Europeans setters and their hunting activities .............................. 43 2.4 Game reserves ............................................................................................................ 45 2.5 Kruger National Park and “human reserves” .............................................................. 46 2.6 The apartheid era: African Bantustans ....................................................................... 47 2.7 The coming of democracy: A new South Africa .......................................................... 49 Chapter 3: Study site description…………………………………………………………….……………….……… …51 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 51 3.2 People of Blouberg ...................................................................................................... 54 3 3.2.1 History of the Bahananwa and European settlers in the Blouberg Mountain Range…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 54 3.2.2 Present-day demography and socio-economic conditions ................................. 58 3.3 Ecology and conservation of the Blouberg Mountain Range ..................................... 60 3.3.1 Climate ................................................................................................................ 60 3.3.2 Vegetation ........................................................................................................... 60 3.3.3 Blouberg Nature Reserve .................................................................................... 64 3.3.4 Maleboch Nature Reserve .................................................................................. 65 3.3.5 Lanjan Nature Reserve ........................................................................................ 66 3.4 Farming systems ......................................................................................................... 67 3.4.1 Crop farming ....................................................................................................... 67 3.4.2 Livestock farming ................................................................................................ 69 3.4.3 Game farming ....................................................................................................
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