POPULATION, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSERVATION STATUS OF SITATUNGA (TRAGELAPHUS SPEKEI) (SCLATER) IN SELECTED WETLANDS IN UGANDA Biological -Life history Biological -Ecologicl… Protection -Regulation of… 5 Biological -Dispersal Protection -Effectiveness… 4 Biological -Human tolerance Protection -proportion… 3 Status -National Distribtuion Incentive - habitat… 2 Status -National Abundance Incentive - species… 1 Status -National… Incentive - Effect of harvest 0 Status -National… Monitoring - confidence in… Status -National Major… Monitoring - methods used… Harvest Management -… Control -Confidence in… Harvest Management -… Control - Open access… Harvest Management -… Control of Harvest-in… Harvest Management -Aim… Control of Harvest-in… Harvest Management -… Control of Harvest-in… Tragelaphus spekii (sitatunga) NonSubmitted Detrimental to Findings (NDF) Research and Monitoring Unit Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Plot 7 Kira Road Kamwokya, P.O. Box 3530 Kampala Uganda Email/Web - [email protected]/ www.ugandawildlife.org Prepared By Dr. Edward Andama (PhD) Lead consultant Busitema University, P. O. Box 236, Tororo Uganda Telephone: 0772464279 or 0704281806 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected], [email protected] Final Report i January 2019 Contents ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND GLOSSARY .......................................................... vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... viii 1.1Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Justification of the study .................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Aims of the study ............................................................................................................. 4 1.3.1 Specific objective .................................................................................................. 4 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Species description, characteristics, distribution, habitat requirements and behaviour ... 5 2.1.1 Origin and Species description .............................................................................. 5 2.1.2 Distribution of sitatunga across Africa.................................................................. 6 2.1.3 Habitat requirements and behaviour ..................................................................... 8 2.2 Ecology and populations of sitatunga ................................................................................... 9 2.2.1 Feeding and home range ....................................................................................... 9 2.2.2 Reproduction, development and predation.......................................................... 10 2. 3. Sport/Trophy Hunting and Conservation of Sitatunga ...................................................... 11 2.3.1. Trophy/Sport hunting and its potential role in promoting biodiversity conservation ........................................................................................................................................... 12 2.3.2 Sport/Trophy hunting in Uganda......................................................................... 14 2.3.3. Case of benefit sharing from sport/trophy hunting proceeds in Uganda ............. 17 2.4 Challenges to conservation of Sitatunga ........................................................................ 17 2.5 Legal and Institutional framework for conservation of sitatunga in Uganda ................. 19 3.0 METHODS AND MATERIALS ................................................................................... 21 3.1 Location of study areas/sites .......................................................................................... 21 3.2 Detailed description of study sites ................................................................................. 22 3.2.1 Ssese Islands ........................................................................................................ 22 3.2.2 Opeta-Bisina wetland system .............................................................................. 22 3.2.3 Katonga river system ........................................................................................... 23 3.2.4 Mayanja and Lugogo river systems .................................................................... 23 3.2.5 Lugogo River system .......................................................................................... 24 3.2.6 Kafu River system.................................................................................................... 24 3.3. Population estimate ............................................................................................................ 24 3.3.1 Boat survey .......................................................................................................... 25 3.3.2 Recee walks ......................................................................................................... 27 3.3.3 Habitat (Vegetation) description ......................................................................... 28 ii 3.3.4. Human activity/factors threatening Sitatunga ......................................................... 28 3.4. Data analysis and presentation ........................................................................................... 29 3.4.1 Distribution information ...................................................................................... 29 3.4.2 Analyses of the occurrence and distribution of human threats ........................... 29 3.5 Community knowledge on the distribution and occurrence of Sitatunga ........................... 30 3.6 Determination of quota for sitatunga sport/trophy hunting ............................................ 30 4. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 31 4.1 General observations on sitatunga activity..................................................................... 31 4.2. Estimation of density .......................................................................................................... 32 4.2.2 Sitatunga evidence abundance in study sites....................................................... 34 4.3. Distribution of sitatunga across Uganda ........................................................................ 39 3.3. Habitat types ....................................................................................................................... 41 3.3.1. Vegetation description ............................................................................................ 41 4.4 Human disturbance activities .............................................................................................. 42 4.5 Local community knowledge on sitatunga..................................................................... 45 4.6 Guidelines for allocation of national sitatunga sport hunting quota .............................. 46 5: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................... 48 1.1 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 48 5.1.1 Occurrence and population sizes of sitatunga in study sites .................................... 48 5.1.2 Characteristics and intensity of threats affecting sitatunga conservation ........... 48 5.1.3 Opportunities for conservation of sitatunga ............................................................... 52 5.1.4 Monitoring for healthy populations of Sitatunga ................................................ 53 5.2 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 54 5.3 Recommendations ................................................................................................. 55 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 57 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................. 64 Appendix 1. Survey data sheet .................................................................................................. 64 Appendix 2: survey questionnaire: ............................................................................................ 65 Appendix 3: Stakeholder roles in conservation of sitatunga ............................................. 67 Appendix 4: Non-detrimental finding for Sitatunga Tragelaphus spekii (Speke, 1863) .......... 69 iii List of figures Figure 1 Sitatunga distribution adopted from IUCN-SSC (2016) .................................................. 7 Figure 2 Sitatunga distribution adopted from Furstenburg (2009) ................................................. 7 Figure 3. Locations of the six study sites ...................................................................................... 21 Figure 4. Periphery of Lake Bisina with human activities, including settlement (left and crop cultivation (right) very close to the shores .................................................................................... 26 Figure 5. The observation tower (Machan) for studying sitatunga