Oryx Vol 39 No 3 July 2005 Hunting patterns in tropical forests adjoining the Hkakaborazi National Park, north Myanmar Madhu Rao, Than Myint, Than Zaw and Saw Htun Abstract Hunting for subsistence and trade constitute information on hunting. Encounter and capture rates for a major threat to wildlife populations within and outside hunted species appear to be inversely related to proxi- protected areas in Myanmar. We examined hunting mity to villages as well as to large, commercial towns. patterns in a forested landscape adjoining the Hunting is indiscriminate, with offtake determined Hkakaborazi National Park in north Myanmar with the largely by relative abundance rather than intrinsic pre- aim of generating recommendations to manage hunting. ference or legislation. Specific management and policy The results described here focus on two issues: the sig- recommendations include the need to monitor the nificance of proximity to settlements and markets for impacts of hunting on vulnerable species, the demarca- prey abundance, and the influence of relative abundance tion of no-take areas, and modification of the legal and intrinsic preference on prey offtake. We used strip framework for wildlife conservation. transect and camera trap surveys to generate relative Keywords Bushmeat, hunting, Myanmar, wild meat, abundance indices and overall encounter/capture rates wildlife trade. for commonly hunted species at four sites that differed in their proximity to settlements and large trading towns. This paper contains supplementary material that can Questionnaires were used to obtain meal records and only be found online at http://journals.cambridge.org Introduction its borders with Thailand, Lao PDR, China, India and Bangladesh. The country is governed by a military Hunting and trade in wildlife species have resulted in regime and is subject to international trade and economic population declines both within and outside protected sanctions (Steinberg, 2001). Unlike many of its neigh- areas in South-east Asia (Srikosomatara et al., 1992; bours, Myanmar still contains large areas of relatively Bennett et al., 2000; Lee, 2000; Nooren & Claridge, 2001; intact forest, particularly north of 24º N, but these Kaul et al., 2004). Human populations in the region resources are under tremendous pressure for exploita- engage in hunting to meet nutritional, economic, cultural tion (UNDP/FAO, 1985; Salter, 1994; Global Witness, and recreational needs. The problem is complex and 2003). The protected area system has increased from multidimensional, involving a number of diverse and <2% of the land area in 1996 to >4.5% in 2003, but lack synergistic factors related to economic well-being, cul- of sufficient park management capacity, both technical tural traditions and food security (Robinson & Bennett, and financial, is a significant limitation to effective 2000). The continuous growth of human populations, management (Blower, 1985; Rabinowitz, 1999; Rao et al., both in numbers and per capita consumption, requires 2002). urgent and effective conservation measures to halt the The Hkakaborazi National Park (Fig. 1) was estab- decline of wildlife in the region. lished in 1998 and covers an area of 3,812 km2; it is the Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is the largest second largest protected area in Myanmar. High levels of country on the South-east Asian mainland and shares species richness and endemism have led to the region being recognized as a conservation hotspot (Myers et al., 2000) and a globally outstanding terrestrial ecoregion Madhu Rao* (Corresponding author) Department of Zoology, Downing (Wikramanayake et al., 2002). The region represents Street, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK. E-mail [email protected] one of the few places in the Indo-Pacific region where Than Myint, Than Zaw and Saw Htun Wildlife Conservation Society potential exists for proactive conservation action to Myanmar Program, Yangon, Myanmar. protect threatened species that are rare or declining in *Current address: Wildlife Conservation Society,185th Street and S. Blvd., neighbouring countries (Dinerstein & Wikramanayake, Bronx, New York, NY 10460, USA. 1993; Rabinowitz, 1999; Wikramanayake et al., 2002). Received 21 January 2004. Revision requested 9 September 2004. The Park consists primarily of large areas of subtropical Accepted 2 December 2004. broadleaved forests but also includes small patches of 292 © 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(3), 292–300 doi:10.1017/S0030605305000724 Printed in the United Kingdom Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.219, on 23 Sep 2021 at 15:17:38, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605305000724 Hunting patterns in north Myanmar 293 95º 100º 97º00' 97º30' 98º00' 98º30' 20 0 20 40 60 80 100 km INDIA N Town CHINA 25º 20ºVillage 15º 10º Adung Wang Study site H S E Thala Wang 28º00' 27º30' D A L G N Hkakaborazi National Park A B UNION OF MYANMAR 28º00' N a LAOS m T CHINA a m a T l ar BAY OF BEN on W THAILAND ang INDIA GAL ka GULF li H Htonladam OF a MOTTAMA M Naungmung i Maza T 27º30' g Namlang Namsabun n a y Namhti k In h Putao A m a Machanbaw i H k a 3000 300 600 km 10º 15º 20º 25º Nam Tisang 95º 100º 97º00' 97º30' 98º00' 98º30' Fig. 1 Map of study sites and location of Hkakaborazi National Park in north Myanmar. temperate broadleaved forests and sub-alpine conifer Hkakaborazi National Park. Results presented here forests. The region contains the headwaters of the comprise a part of the larger study and focus on two country’s most important river system, the Ayeyarwady, issues: the significance of proximity to settlements and which drains vast expanses of agricultural lands and markets for prey abundance, and the influence of relative helps sustain extensive rice production areas in this abundance and intrinsic preference on prey offtake. predominantly agrarian economy. Forest areas lying south of the Park border and demar- Legal and institutional framework for cated by the Nam-Tamai River have been proposed for designation as Protected Public Forests. These forests conservation 2 comprise a total area of 690 km and include parts of The Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division the watersheds of Mali Kha River and southern drainage (NWCD), created in 1984 and placed within the Forest of Nam Tamai River (Fig. 1). Selective extraction of Department, is primarily responsible for the conserva- commercial timber is legally permitted within these tion and management of protected areas in Myanmar. protected public forests. Paddy and shifting cultivation, Wildlife conservation legislation enacted in Myanmar in hunting, mining, raising livestock and gathering of 1994 (the Protection of Wildlife and Protected Areas Law; diverse non-timber forest products constitute the pri- State Law and Order and Restoration Council, 1994) mary occupations of the relatively low human popu- ensures protection of wild flora and fauna, their habitats lation in the area. Hunting for subsistence and trade, and representative ecosystems. Species are afforded together with habitat loss due to logging and shifting cul- varying degrees of protection according to their desi- tivation, adversely affect biodiversity in north Myanmar gnation (Ministry of Forestry, 1994): (1) Completely (Uga, 1995; Brunner et al., 1998; Rabinowitz, 1998; Lynam, Protected species may not be hunted except for scientific 2003). Hunting is suspected to have resulted in the local extirpation of mammals such as the elephant purposes under a special licence; (2) Protected species Elephas maximus, tiger Panthera tigris, rhino Dicerorhinus may be hunted but only with special permission; (3) sumatrensis and gaur Bos gaurus (Milton & Estes, 1963; Seasonally Protected species are subject to traditional Rabinowitz & Khaing, 1998). However, data on the subsistence hunting by rural communities only during nature and intensity of current hunting patterns is the open (i.e. non-breeding) season. Hunting is illegal largely inadequate to inform effective management within protected areas but legally allowed elsewhere strategies for threatened species and sites. including, with a licence, buffer zones of protected areas. We conducted a study to examine general patterns In reality, however, the Forest Department no longer of hunting and wild meat consumption to generate issues licences, and hence hunting within buffer zones is management recommendations for the buffer zone of the considered an illegal activity. © 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(3), 292–300 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.219, on 23 Sep 2021 at 15:17:38, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605305000724 294 M. Rao et al. Table 1 Proximity of study sites (Fig. 1) to human settlements and when animals were most active. Between May 2002 and trading towns. May 2003 a total of 361 km of transect lines were Shortest straight-line Number of households surveyed at the four sites in both wet and dry seasons. distance to a trading (human population size) Survey data were used to estimate: (a) average encounter Study site town (km) within a 10 km radius rates per km of transect surveyed at each of the four sites, and (b) overall relative abundance indices for 14 mam- Htonlardam 17.2 131 (684) mal species (>1 kg) across all four sites. Count data were Namhti 16.0 0 Maza 10.8 42 (229) analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. Comparisons were Namsabum 12.2 296 (1,315) made of relative encounter rates across the four sites using distance to trading towns as the explanatory variable. Study area The study focused on 26 villages and four forested sites Camera trap surveys within the Naungmung and Machanbaw townships Given that direct observations of wildlife are typically (Fig. 1) using questionnaires, track/sign and camera-trap rare in these forest types, camera traps were deployed to surveys from May 2002 to May 2003.