Report on Lion Conservation, 2016
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Report on Lion Conservation with Particular Respect to the Issue of Trophy Hunting AreportpreparedbyProfessor David W. Macdonald CBE, FRSE, DSc⇤ tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt Director of WildCRU, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt at the request of Rory Stewart OBE ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt Under Secretary of State for the Environment tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt 28 November 2016 ⇤[email protected] Lion Conservation and Trophy Hunting Report Macdonald et al. Contributors TTT This report was prepared with the assistance of members of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, of which the core team was Dr Amy Dickman, Dr Andrew Loveridge, Mr Kim Jacobsen, Dr Paul Johnson, Dr Christopher O’Kane and..Dr Byron du Preez, supported by Dr Kristina Kesch and Ms Laura Perry. It benefitted from critical review by: TTTDr Guillaume Chapron TTTDr Peter Lindsey TTTProfessor Craig Packer It also benefitted from helpful input from: TTTDr Hans Bauer TTTProfessor Claudio Sillero TTTDr Christiaan Winterbach TTTProfessor John Vucetich Under the aegis of DEFRA the report was helpfully informed by evidence and opinions offered during consultations with the following organisations: TTTBorn Free TTTLionAid TTTSafari Club International Foundation (SCIF) TTTThe British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) TTTThe European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) TTTThe International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) TTTThe Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) TTTThe World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) ii Contents Contributors ii Abbreviations Used in the Text viii Preface ix Executive Summary and Recommendations xiii 1 Reasons for examining the issue of trophy hunting with respect to lion conservation 1 1.1 Reasons for being concerned about lion conservation . 1 1.1.1 Whatvaluedolionshave?. 1 1.1.2 To what extent have lions declined, in terms of numbers and geographic range?................................... 1 1.1.3 Whatisthecurrentthreatstatusoflions? . 2 1.1.4 Whatarethemajorcurrentthreatstolions? . 2 1.1.5 Future considerations for lion conservation . 3 1.1.6 Summary of reasons for being concerned about lion conservation . 4 1.2 Backgroundtoliontrophyhunting . 5 1.2.1 What is lion trophy hunting? . 5 1.2.2 Legality of lion trophy hunting . 6 1.2.3 Ethicalacceptabilityofliontrophyhunting . 10 1.2.4 Extentofliontrophyhuntinganditsmarkets . 11 1.2.5 Reason for the UK Government examining this issue now . 12 1.3 Summary of reasons for examining trophy hunting with regard to lion conser- vation ....................................... 18 2 Threats and impacts associated with lion trophy hunting 19 iii Lion Conservation and Trophy Hunting Report Macdonald et al. 2.1 Thesignificanceoftrophyhuntingasathreattolions . 19 2.1.1 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions at a population scale 19 2.1.1.1 Negative population effects associated with the removal of females . 20 2.1.1.2 Negative population effects associated with the removal of pridemales........................... 20 2.1.1.3 Threat to lion populations of trophy hunting relative to other threats ............................. 22 2.1.2 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions at a national scale 23 2.1.2.1 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions in Botswana 24 2.1.2.2 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions in Mozam- bique . 24 2.1.2.3 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions in Namibia 25 2.1.2.4 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions in Tanzania 27 2.1.2.5 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions in Zambia 29 2.1.2.6 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions in Zimbabwe 30 2.1.3 Factors mediating the threat posed by trophy hunting . 31 2.1.4 Significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions at a regional scale 32 2.1.5 Summary of the significance of trophy hunting as a threat to lions . 32 2.2 Impactsassociatedwithliontrophyhunting . 34 2.2.1 Ecologicalimpacts ............................ 34 2.2.1.1 Habitatprotection . 34 2.2.1.2 Reduction of other threats to lions and other wildlife . 35 2.2.2 Impacts of economic benefits generated from trophy hunting . 36 2.2.2.1 Level of trophy hunting revenue generated . 36 2.2.2.2 The economic contribution of lion hunting and its impact on land-use . 37 2.2.2.3 Trophy hunting and economic incentives for lion conservation 41 iv 2.3 Summary of the impacts associated with trophy hunting . 44 3 Current and recommended lion trophy hunting practices 45 3.1 Leaselength,allocationandfixedquotas . 45 3.2 Restrictionsonlionsabletobehunted . 46 4 Options to improve the conservation impact of trophy hunting 49 4.1 Possibleimpactsofmaintainingthestatusquo . 49 4.2 Possibleimpactsofatotalimportban . 49 4.3 Possible impacts of stricter controls on the import of lion trophies to the UK 51 4.3.1 Reasons for considering stricter controls . 51 4.3.2 Possibleoptionsforstricterconditions . 52 4.3.2.1 Best-practice: Lion populations are sustainably managed, as determined by professional-standard science-based monitoring 54 4.3.2.2 Age-basedharvesting . 54 4.3.2.3 Interimscenario ........................ 55 4.3.2.4 Dealing with areas which do not meet the desired conditions 55 4.3.3 Notesonscaleandconditionsofimport . 56 4.3.3.1 Recommended scale at which criteria are applied . 56 4.3.3.2 Verificationofhuntingpractices . 57 5 An overview: Framing trophy hunting in the context of wider lion con- servation 59 5.1 Summary of lion trophy hunting in the context of conservation . 61 Appendix A Ethics and trophy hunting 64 A.1 Theethicalbackgroundtotrophyhunting . 64 A.2 What is the moral status of animals? . 64 A.3 If trophy hunting is permissible in principle, what affects this? . 67 v Lion Conservation and Trophy Hunting Report Macdonald et al. A.4 How does emotion affect judgements concerning trophy hunting? . 69 A.5 What inconsistencies are there in value judgments concerning acceptable reasonforkillinganimals? . 70 A.6 Does the Cecil event highlight changing perspectives on the acceptability of trophy hunting? . 72 A.7 Summary . 73 Appendix B Extent of trade in lion trophies 74 B.1 Botswana ..................................... 74 B.2 Mozambique.................................... 75 B.3 Namibia...................................... 76 B.4 Tanzania...................................... 77 B.5 Zambia ...................................... 78 B.6 Zimbabwe ..................................... 79 Appendix C Case study of a successful hunting area: the Bubye Valley Conservancy 80 C.1 Background to Bubye Valley Conservancy . 80 C.2 Lions in Bubye Valley Conservancy . 80 C.3 Revenue generated from lion hunting in Bubye Valley Conservancy . 81 Appendix D Example of an Adaptive Age Based Quota System 82 Literature Cited 85 vi List of Figures 1 Internationalliontrophytrademap. 13 2 Threat Rankings for Lions in (a) West and Central Africa and (b) East and SouthernAfrica.................................. 33 List of Tables 1 Summary of the historic extent of trophy hunting practice across Africa . 8 2 Summary of the total number of wild-sourced lion trophies . 12 3 Comparison of hunting revenue per country per year . 38 4 Reported international imports vs exports 2006-2015: Botswana ....... 74 5 Reported international imports vs exports 2006-2015: Mozambique ..... 75 6 Reported international imports vs exports 2006-2015: Namibia ....... 76 7 Reported international imports vs exports 2006-2015: Tanzania ....... 77 8 Reported international imports vs exports 2006-2015: Zambia ........ 78 9 Reported international imports vs exports 2006-2015: Zimbabwe ....... 79 10 Zimbabwe’sadaptivequotapointssystem . 82 11 Workedexamplesofanadaptivequotapointssystem . 83 vii Lion Conservation and Trophy Hunting Report Macdonald et al. Abbreviations Used in the Text TTT ALWG African Lion Working Group CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CMS Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries DEA Department of Environmental Affairs DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs FSC Forest Stewardship Council ISO International Organisation for Standardisation IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature PAC Problem Animal Control SCI Safari Club International SCIF Safari Club International Foundation TAWIRI Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute UNPD United Nations Population Division USFWS US Fish and Wildlife Service WWF World Wide Fund for Nature ZPWMA Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority viii Preface This is a scientific report about one aspect of the conservation of wildlife and, specifically, of lions in Africa. That aspect is the trophy hunting of wild lions, and the remit is to evaluate evidence that trophy hunting has, or could, impact on the distribution and abundance of lions for better or worse in terms of their conservation. Other considerations beyond this, most obviously ethics (Macdonald et al. 2016b), are relevant to society’s decisions on whether hunting