An analysis of Trophy Hunting Tourism Marketing Mix Performance of Zimbabwe

The study analysed the performance of trophy hunting tourism marketing mix activities in Zimbabwe in an attempt to improve tourism performance. Mixed methodology research comprising of 137 survey stakeholders and survey 274 tourists, one (1) focus group discussion and four (4) in-depth interview key informants was carried out from January 2019 to June 2019.Hunting quotas were based on the three regions, of Zimbabwe and Wildlife Management Authority, namely Southern Region, Western Region and Northern Region showing tourists type and stakeholder classes, and this was done. Quantitative data were analysed by correlation tests and one sample mean test values using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Qualitative data were synthesised using content and narrative analyses. The study indicated that Zimbabwe performed highly in terms of process, product, people and place marketing mix strategies in its trophy hunting activities. The results indicated a weak relationship between perceptions of local and foreign trophy hunting tourists on rating the marketing mix performance of Zimbabwe. Tourists and stakeholders were found to have a significant positive relationship in their perceptions of wildlife tourism performance of Zimbabwe. The test of trophy hunting acceptability showed a statistically significant and above average performance of Zimbabwe on trophy hunting marketing mix. The study concluded that, though Zimbabwe performs high on overall trophy hunting tourism marketing mix strategies, there was need for improvements on promotion and pricing strategies.

Implications for conservation and game management of the roadkill levels of the endemic Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis)

The Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) is an important small game species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula for which the incidence of roadkill is unknown. We surveyed Iberian hare–vehicle accidents on road networks in southern Spain, focusing on roads that mainly run through favorable habitats for this species: Mediterranean landscapes with plots of arable crops, olive groves, and vineyards. We recorded roadkills over a 5-month period, estimated hare accident densities on roads, and compared these numbers to hare hunting yields in adjoining hunting estates. We also analyzed the spatial patterns of and potential factors influencing hare roadkills. We detected the existence of black spots for hare roadkills in areas with high landscape heterogeneity that also included embankments and nearby crossroads and had high traffic intensity. Hare roadkill levels ranged from 5 to 25% of the annual harvest of hares killed on neighboring hunting estates. We suggest that road collisions should be considered in Iberian hare conservation in addition to hunting, since they may represent an additive source of mortality. Game managers should address the issue of hare roadkill in harvest planning to compensate for hare accidents, adjusting hunting quotas to account for this unnatural source of mortality. Our results suggest future directions for applied research in road ecology, including further work on demographic compensation and roadkill mitigation.

Understanding human-flying fox interactions in the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary as basis for conservation policy interventions

There is no documented flying fox hunting study done in the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS) which is known to harbor many threatened wildlife species. The Large Flying Fox Pteropus vampyrus is known to be threatened by hunting in the AMWS despite existing laws, such as the Wildlife Act. We conducted semi-structured interviews from September 2017 to January 2018 with 240 hunters in 10 villages through purposive sampling to determine the socio-demographic and economic profile of the hunters, their conservation awareness, perceptions on the monitoring scheme and enforcement, possible hunting patterns, and hunting drivers. Results showed that farming and fishing are the most common livelihoods of hunters. Most hunters achieved an education at the elementary level (42.9%), and belong to a household with 4–6 members (55.5%), often with only one member having a meager daily income (80.7%). Annual flooding was the main economic constraint to the hunters. Largely comprised of indigenous Manobos (62.9%), the majority of hunters did not believe in avoiding taboo species (85.4%). Most of the hunters were unaware of laws protecting Wildlife (62.9%) and unable to differentiate between threatened and non-threatened species (86.3%). Poor implementation of the monitoring scheme and insufficient enforcement were also observed in AMWS. Kites with hooks (55%) and guns (31.7%) were used to hunt P. vampyrus mostly for local consumption (83.3%). Multivariate analysis revealed that daily income and engagement in conservation negatively affected hunting intensity. With many constraints in totally banning hunting in poor and wildlife-dependent indigenous communities in AMWS, flexible policies must be considered. It is more reasonable and realistic to consider science-based hunting quotas in policy interventions to balance conservation and human welfare. Positive behavioral change towards sustainable hunting and trading bans requires a combination of effective education campaigns, engagement of indigenous communities in conservation, improved enforcement, and sustainable livelihood programs.

Quantifying the effects of delisting wolves after the first state began lethal management

Predators and their protection are controversial worldwide. Gray wolves, Canis lupus, lost U.S. federal protection (delisting) and the State of Wisconsin began lethal management first among all states and tribes that regained authority over wolves. Here we evaluated the initial success of reaching the state’s explicit objective, “…to allow for a sustainable harvest that neither increases nor decreases the state’s wolf population…” We used official state figures for hunter-killed wolves, population estimates from April 2017–2020, and the latest peer-reviewed model of individual wolf survival to estimate additional deaths resulting from federal delisting. More than half of the additional deaths were predicted to be cryptic poaching under the assumption that this period resembled past periods of liberalized wolf-killing in Wisconsin. We used a precautionary approach to construct three conservative scenarios to predict the current status of this wolf population and a minimum estimate of population decline since April 2020. From our scenarios that vary in growth rates and additional mortality estimates, we expect a maximum of 695–751 wolves to be alive in Wisconsin by 15 April 2021, a minimum 27–33% decline in the preceding 12 months. This contradicts the state expectation of no change in the population size. We draw a conclusion about the adequacy of regulatory mechanisms under state control of wolves and discuss the particular governance conditions met in Wisconsin. We recommend greater rigor and independent review of the science used by agencies to plan wolf hunting quotas and methods. We recommend clearer division of duties between state wildlife agencies, legislatures, and courts. We recommend federal governments reconsider the practice of sudden deregulation of wolf management and instead recommend they consider protecting predators as non-game or transition more slowly to subnational authority, to avoid the need for emergency relisting.

Environmental Factors Determinate Roadkill Levels of the Endemic Iberian Species, Iberian Hare (Lepus Granatensis)

Lepus granatensis is an Iberian Peninsula endemic species and one of the most important small game species. We surveyed Iberian hare-vehicle accidents in roads network in southern Spain, analysing the Mediterranean landscape, the main habitats of this species. We recorded roadkill of roads during 6-month, compared hare roadkill densities to hare hunting yields. We analyzed the spatial patterns and factors that could be influencing the hare road kill. We detected blackspots of hare road kill in areas with high landscape heterogeneity and included embankments, intersections roads and high traffic intensity. The hare roadkill ranged between 6% and 41% of the annual harvest of hares killed on neighbouring hunting estates. We therefore consider it highly relevant to take into account the hare road kill, especially in hare hunting areas, suggesting to gamekeepers and managers addressing the issue of road kill of hares. It would be necessary that hunting quotas be adjusted in territories where the additive effect of these non-natural hare mortalities converge. Results point to future directions for applied research in road ecology, which would include demographic compensation and roadkill mitigation. Our methodology could be of wide use to identify lagomorphs’ road kill blackspots by analysing environmental spatial patterns.

Understanding population baselines: status of mountain ungulate populations in the Central Tien Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan

We assessed the density of argali (Ovis ammon) and ibex (Capra sibirica) in Sarychat-Ertash Nature Reserve and its neighbouring Koiluu valley. Sarychat is a protected area, while Koiluu is a human-use landscape which is a partly licenced hunting concession for mountain ungulates and has several livestock herders and their permanent residential structures. Population monitoring of mountain ungulates can help in setting measurable conservation targets such as appropriate trophy hunting quotas and to assess habitat suitability for predators like snow leopards (Panthera uncia). We employed the double-observer method to survey 573 km2 of mountain ungulate habitat inside Sarychat and 407 km2 inside Koiluu. The estimated densities of ibex and argali in Sarychat were 2.26 (95% CI 1.47–3.52) individuals km−2 and 1.54 (95% CI 1.01–2.20) individuals km−2, respectively. Total ungulate density in Sarychat was 3.80 (95% CI 2.47–5.72) individuals km−2. We did not record argali in Koiluu, whereas the density of ibex was 0.75 (95% CI 0.50–1.27) individuals km−2. While strictly protected areas can achieve high densities of mountain ungulates, multi-use areas can harbour meaningful though suppressed populations. Conservation of mountain ungulates and their predators can be enhanced by maintaining Sarychat-like “pristine” areas interspersed within a matrix of multi-use areas like Koiluu.

Spotty Data: Managing International Leopard (Panthera pardus) Trophy Hunting Quotas Amidst Uncertainty

Leopard (Panthera pardus) conservation has a strong international dimension. Hunting trophy export quotas established for African range states under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are a case in point. We test these quotas, and the methods for their establishment, against the benchmark of the general principles of precaution, sustainable use and adaptive management. The various national approaches and the CITES regime condoning them largely fail this test. For decades, CITES bodies have endorsed apparently arbitrary quotas lacking robust scientific bases, without regular adjustment. Thus, the quotas have been inadequately performing their assigned function within the Convention’s framework. The way in which the CITES leopard quota regime has been operating is fundamentally at odds with the principles of sustainable use, precaution and adaptive management. To remedy this, we offer recommendations on how to embed a science-based, sustainable, precautionary and adaptive approach to quota-setting within the CITES system.

Estimating Sustainable Harvest Rates for European Hare (Lepus Europaeus) Populations

Hunting quotas are used to manage populations of game species in order to ensure sustainable exploitation. However, unpredictable climatic events may interact with hunting. We established a population model for European hares (Lepus europaeus) in Lower Austria. We compared the sustainability of voluntary quotas used by hunters—which are derived from hare-specific guidelines—with the actual numbers of hares shot and our recommended quotas for hares, which have been derived from climate and population modeling. We used population modeling based on vital rates and densities to adjust our recommended quotas in order to achieve sustainable harvest. The survival of age classes 1 and 3 had the highest impact on the population growth rate. Population viability analysis showed that a recommended quota with a harvest rate of 10% was sustainable for population densities of 45 hares/km2, and that the threshold for hunting should be raised from 10 hares/km2 so that hare populations with <15 hares/km2 are not hunted. The recommended quota outperformed the voluntary hunting quota, since more hares could be harvested sustainably. Age Class 1 survival was strongly linked with weather: a single year with unfavorable weather conditions (low precipitation) negatively affected population densities. Game species, including the European hare, face increasingly frequent weather extremes due to climate change, so hunting quotas need to be sensitive to frequent population fluctuations.