As per Monday's (February 22) NZ Herald:

***
The Cecil Effect: Zimbabwe Park Warns It May Shoot 200 Surplus Lions

It is the country where Cecil the lion was killed, sparking international anger against the American dentist who shot him.

The outcry over Walter Palmer's killing of Cecil drove other big-game hunters away from Zimbabwe, fearful they too would attract the opprobrium of the public.

But in what is being described as a side-effect of the affair, Zimbabwe's largest wildlife area says it now finds itself suffering from an overpopulation of lions.

Bubye Valley Conservancy has more than 500 lions, the largest number in Zimbabwe's diminishing wildlife areas.

It has warned that its lion population has become unsustainable and that it may even have to cull around 200 as a result of what is being called "the Cecil effect".

Now Bubye is appealing for other institutions or wildlife sanctuaries to take some of its lions.

Conservationists estimate about half of Zimbabwe's wildlife has disappeared since president Robert Mugabe's seizure of white-owned land began in 2000, but Bubye has held on by attracting wealthy hunters whose fees support its wildlife work.

But last year's shooting of Cecil, in a conservancy bordering Hwange National Park, sparked a huge backlash against big-game hunting, and bolstered a US plan to ban trophy hunting imports.

Plummeting oil prices have further led to a drop in the number of visitors from US states such as Texas, from where traditionally large numbers of hunters go to Zimbabwe.

Bubye's lions are decimating populations of antelope, along with other animals such as giraffe, cheetah, leopards and wild dogs, after the driest summer on record kept grasses low and made the small game easy targets.

Blondie Leathem, general manager of Bubye Valley Conservancy, said: "I wish we could give about 200 of our lions away to ease the overpopulation. If anyone knows of a suitable habitat for them where they will not land up in human conflict, or in wildlife areas where they will not be beaten up because of existing prides, please let us know and help us raise the money to move them."

In the Forties, there were thought to be as many as 450,000 lions on Earth, but today they are classed as "vulnerable", with numbers feared as low as 20,000.

Conservationists fear that without a concerted push, particularly in high-risk areas of central and west Africa, their numbers could halve again in the next two decades because of human-animal conflict and reduced habit and food supplies.

Bubye, along with some game parks in neighboring countries, has been bucking the trend, according to a recent study, with healthy lion populations in "small, fenced, intensively managed, funded reserves". The conservation area was founded 22 years ago by Charles Davy, the rancher father of Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry's former girlfriend. It is now majority-owned by Dubai World, the investment fund of the wealthy emirate's government.

Millions of pounds were spent fencing 2,000 square miles of land previously cleared of wildlife by decades of cattle farming. The fence was then electrified and hundreds of people were hired to protect wildlife imported to the park.

Bubye also supports schools and clinics in several districts and provides meat every month for people nearby.

As well as its lion population, Bubye also has the third-largest community of black rhinos in Africa.

When The Sunday Telegraph visited Bubye in early February a matriarch lioness called Matilda, her sisters and her latest litter of cubs were lazing in the shade under mopane trees.

Matilda - who was fitted with a radio collar by the Oxford University researchers that also collared Cecil - chews through at least 10lb of meat every day.

Peter Kay, director of Lion Aid, a UK-based charity, said contraception should have been introduced at the conservancy years ago. "It's too late now," he said. "There is nowhere in Africa which could take so many lions."

Paul Bartels, a wildlife scientist from South Africa's Tshwane University of Technology, said female contraceptive implants used in smaller reserves would be impractical for Matilda's clan.

"There are a lot of lions on that [Bubye] conservancy. It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for contraception to make any real difference," he said.

Oxford's lion research project in Zimbabwe, which monitored Cecil, said that the Bubye conservancy was "a huge success story" in a region blighted by a lack of governmental help for its struggling wildlife sector.

Mr Leathem insisted he was not a hunter but a conservationist, and had no option but to maintain "sustainable" hunting to safeguard Bubye's future.
***

How could, in one year after Cecil's death, could there be such an over abundance of lions that 200 need to be culled? Do they breed and grow that fast?
Cal

Their population has been increasing for years .

Cal, google "The Conservation Imperative" for an informative video on the Buybe and lions as well as many others. Some excellent info there.

Bill

Yes, Bubye is probably one of the best examples - from an initial 14 to close on to 500 now; they also have the world's third largest black rhino population, and lion hunting pays for a lot of their security infrastructure. Or it would... 2015, the year Cecil died, numerous lions were poisoned throughout Zim by irate villagers, but not being "star attractions" they didn't even make the papers.

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
How could, in one year after Cecil's death, could there be such an over abundance of lions that 200 need to be culled? Do they breed and grow that fast?
Cal

Sadly, idiots in this world are breeding much faster too!

Where is Packer now?
They should bring turncoat idiots like him before the media and ask if he still maintains his position on lion populations.

Maybe if we offer him more money and bow down to him, he will be our friend again and turn on the antis.

SCI was right to distance themselves from him. He was only ever going to look after himself, to hell with lions, he wanted people eating out of his hand at any cost. In this case, the African lion will pay the price.
From what I hear, poisoning is already rife after the USFWS announcement.

Well done Packer, you just saved lions to death.

quote:

Sadly, idiots in this world are breeding much faster too!

Thats the truth!

I see two things:

1. sell a lion at a reduced rate and tell the antis where to shove it

2. WTF is the point of crying about how bad the lions have it, there aren't enough, don't hunt them oh by the way lets put them on birth control implants because there are too many.



I was very disappointed when the Bubye canceled their lion raffle earlier this year, I forget how much the tickets were but if it weren't for the incidentals I would have bought one as it would pretty much be my best bet at ever affording a lion hunt. I understand the incidentals but when they add up to a better part of my yearly wages I can't afford that at this point.

everything I have read about the Bubye has been great but I hope they don't keep giving in to pressure from the anti's when they can prove that they have done great things for the wildlife

I have not read about this in the Minnespolis news papers. But Cecil and Palmer were front page many times.

http://www.mazungasafaris.com/mazunga-species.html


Lion statistics from the Bubye:

2007 4 lions

2008 4 lions

2009 3 lions

2010 4 lions

2011 5 lions
3 lioness

2012 7 lions
8 lioness

2013 8 lions
20 lioness

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
http://www.mazungasafaris.com/mazunga-species.html


Lion statistics from the Bubye:

2007 4 lions

2008 4 lions

2009 3 lions

2010 4 lions

2011 5 lions
3 lioness

2012 7 lions
8 lioness

2013 8 lions
20 lioness

That's lions that are were on their quota. They quit having lioness on quota in 2013 I think. That would be the sensible thing to do, reduce the females and earn much needed money. Bubye is EXTREMELY sensitive to the antis and the lion issue. I was able to tag along with the Oxford researcher and remove a collar from a big male. It was a tremendous experience. We took measurements, even his fangs, hair samples. Paul said he was 8 years old and they had been following him for 5 years. We would see 10 to 15 lions everyday.

Prediction: High death rates from unnatural causes for male lions in Cecil the Lion's park
February 22, 2016

Prediction: High death rates from unnatural causes for male lions in Cecil the Lion's park

When Cecil the Lion was killed last year by a trophy hunter in Zimbabwe, it caused an international outcry. Now researchers from the Universities of Southern Denmark and Oxford have calculated that many more males from the same park are likely to die in conflicts with humans.
Cecil the Lion lived in the national park Hwange in Zimbabwe. One day he wandered out of the park - though some claim that he was lured out by his killer, a trophy-hunting dentist from the USA.
The death of Cecil made headlines all over the world. One reason was that he was a particularly famous member of the park's lion population, another that he came to symbolize how difficult it may be to effectively protect animals even in national parks.
There was no - and is still no - fence around Hwange, so animals from the park can freely cross its boundaries.
Male lions do this regularly, and this puts them at high risk of being killed outside the park.
Now researchers from the Universities of Southern Denmark and Oxford present a demographic model for estimating the risk using data of the past 15 years.
"69 out of 100 males were estimated to have died from age-independent causes in Hwange, and will continue to do so if estimated death rates remain unchanged. This means these males do not die of old age. The most likely cause of death is to be killed by trophy hunters or local farmers protecting their herds", says Julia Barthold, postdoc, Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging, University of Southern Denmark.
The demographic model is published in Journal of Applied Ecology. Barthold is lead author, co-authors are Andrew Loveridge, David Macdonald, Craig Packer and Fernando Colchero.
The Hwange National Park lies in north-western Zimbabwe. The study area extends to 7,000 square kilometers, and the park borders on hunting concessions in the north and north-east. Human settlements occur on the north and east of the park.
The researchers applied the same model to another area that is less disturbed: A 2,000-square-kilometer area in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. This population has almost no contact with humans.
"In Serengeti only 6 out of 100 male lions are likely to die from age-independent causes, meaning only very few die at the hands of humans", says Julia Barthold.
Death of male lions may impact the whole population
When a male lion dies it has big implications. The social structure of the pride is disturbed and this often leads to fights between the remaining males and new intruders that compete for control of the pride. New males usually kill the pride's cubs and chase away male sub-adults before these are old enough to manage on their own.
The females, trying to protect their cubs from aggressive males, may also get injured.
"How trophy hunting impacts the population as a whole is a key research question for lion conservation.", explains Julia Barthold, adding:
"Our mortality estimates can be used to improve lion population management."


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-02-h...-male-lions.html#jCp

quote:

Bubye is EXTREMELY sensitive to the antis and the lion issue.

The Telegraph's article (dated 20 Feb 2016) begins with the following verbiage:

'Cecil effect’ leaves park’s lion at risk of cull
Bubye Valley Conservancy says it may have to cull 200 lions due to overpopulation and "the Cecil effect"

If the BVC is extremely sensitive to the antis and the lion issue, then they should have avoided using the word "cull" when they were interviewed by Peta Thornycroft (author of the article). If the BVC representative(s) did not use the word "cull" during the interview, then Peta Thornycroft should be called out. Unfortunately, in today's' convoluted world, the word "cull" is sure to elevate emotions among the low information conservationists (IMO). Just ask the folks attempting to manage Kruger National Park's burgeoning elephant population.

I specifially asked the BVC's operators about the culling number at SCI and yes, it will be 200. Martin Nel did away with the raffle due to death threats on himself and his family, and due to the international anti-hunting pressure that the raffle had somehow generated. Blondie wanted to continue with the raffle; Martin said no. That's because Blondie hadn't received the death threats that Martin and his family had received. And yes, there are a LOT of lion on the Bubye.

How sad!!! How about a Fire Sale on Lion Permits. I'm in!!!

200 lions, any idea how many hunters go through there in a given season?

is a lion just included with the price of admission?

i agree with others that it's a sad situation the conservancy is in. over in the hunt offers Zambia lion is $35,000(just a price reference), since there are 200 to get rid of throw them in at $10,000 x 200 lions= $2,000,000 USD I think that could help them more in one year both financially and ecologically than what the anti's will in 10 years

There are unintended consequences here as well. A well known PH for Bubye told me at SCI that the lion hunts fund the anti poaching forces that protect the black rhino population in the BVC. When the lion hunts go down in number, the poaching patrols will be reduced. Inevitably the BR population will suffer.
These are the things that the antis would never think of.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
I specifially asked the BVC's operators about the culling number at SCI and yes, it will be 200. Martin Nel did away with the raffle due to death threats on himself and his family, and due to the international anti-hunting pressure that the raffle had somehow generated. Blondie wanted to continue with the raffle; Martin said no. That's because Blondie hadn't received the death threats that Martin and his family had received. And yes, there are a LOT of lion on the Bubye.

Good on Blondie.

Death threats? From some lolly pop sucking teenagers sitting behind their laptops.

BVC should ask USF&W what they want to do with the excess Lions?

quote:

These are the things that the antis would never think of.

Do they think?

quote:

Originally posted by Tim629:
200 lions, any idea how many hunters go through there in a given season?

is a lion just included with the price of admission?

i agree with others that it's a sad situation the conservancy is in. over in the hunt offers Zambia lion is $35,000(just a price reference), since there are 200 to get rid of throw them in at $10,000 x 200 lions= $2,000,000 USD I think that could help them more in one year both financially and ecologically than what the anti's will in 10 years

I gather the 200 aren't all males. Would you pay $10,000 to go there for a hunt for a lioness that couldn't be exported?

quote:

Death threats? From some lolly pop sucking teenagers sitting behind their laptops.

I agree Andrew.
Our anti poaching teams are dodging bullets on the ground and these guys caved to some loser 8000 miles away.

I think they should man up and stand behind their conservation model.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

quote:

Originally posted by Tim629:
200 lions, any idea how many hunters go through there in a given season?

is a lion just included with the price of admission?

i agree with others that it's a sad situation the conservancy is in. over in the hunt offers Zambia lion is $35,000(just a price reference), since there are 200 to get rid of throw them in at $10,000 x 200 lions= $2,000,000 USD I think that could help them more in one year both financially and ecologically than what the anti's will in 10 years

I gather the 200 aren't all males. Would you pay $10,000 to go there for a hunt for a lioness that couldn't be exported?

I would. I would pay full price from a lion if I really wanted one.

The hell with these asses.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

quote:

Originally posted by Tim629:
200 lions, any idea how many hunters go through there in a given season?

is a lion just included with the price of admission?

i agree with others that it's a sad situation the conservancy is in. over in the hunt offers Zambia lion is $35,000(just a price reference), since there are 200 to get rid of throw them in at $10,000 x 200 lions= $2,000,000 USD I think that could help them more in one year both financially and ecologically than what the anti's will in 10 years

I gather the 200 aren't all males. Would you pay $10,000 to go there for a hunt for a lioness that couldn't be exported?

I would. I would pay full price from a lion if I really wanted one.

The hell with these asses.

Well I might do too for the experience and if I could afford it - I am just wondering if others feel the same, particularly since they cant be exported to the USA.

I'd be intereted in a lion cull hunt if the price was right. I certainly wouldn't pay the $35K referenced above for a non exportable lion.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

quote:

Originally posted by Tim629:
200 lions, any idea how many hunters go through there in a given season?

is a lion just included with the price of admission?

i agree with others that it's a sad situation the conservancy is in. over in the hunt offers Zambia lion is $35,000(just a price reference), since there are 200 to get rid of throw them in at $10,000 x 200 lions= $2,000,000 USD I think that could help them more in one year both financially and ecologically than what the anti's will in 10 years

I gather the 200 aren't all males. Would you pay $10,000 to go there for a hunt for a lioness that couldn't be exported?

I would. I would pay full price from a lion if I really wanted one.

The hell with these asses.

Good attitude Larry.

quote:

Sadly, idiots in this world are breeding much faster too!

Saeed,

Sadly your statement is all too true!

BH63

Andrew (FAIRGAME): Sorry, no they weren't lolly pop sucking teenagers. They were actual calls to Martin's home and family members in Zimbabwe, as well as other viable threats there. Martin's a tough guy, (ergo: he's even been through a terrible cape buffalo goring in Tanzania years ago when an errant client's shot brought the buffalo on full charge to Martin), but once your family's threatened, it becomes a different ball game for many. I know both Blondie and Martin very well, and can understand and see their two different viewpoints, but I side with Martin on this one.

They had too many lions back in 2010 but wouldn't make the price reasonable enough to take out the excess females. The huge population didn't happen overnight and could have been easily avoided while lions were still exportable. Simple solution when you get too many animals is to drop the price and remove the excess. I'd say they got caught with the britches down on this one.

Actually part of that would have been the securing of the necessary permits for lion from the Zimbabwe government. I recall PH Shaun Buffee telling me that they only could obtain a certain number of permits for lion each year, and one year they didn't obtain any permits until late in the hunting season. I know this for a fact, as I was looking to get a lioness permit that year and Shaun was unable to obtain one, so I changed to hunting Cape Buffalo instead.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/Z...t-necessary-20160224



Big lion cull in Zimbabwe 'not yet necessary'
2016-02-24 19:27

News24 Correspondent



Harare - A big cull of lions at an over-populated conservancy in southern Zimbabwe is "not yet necessary", a top researcher says.

Responding to claims that Bubye Valley Conservancy is about to cull up to 200 lions, Dr Byron du Preez told News24 that the possibility of a cull has been discussed but "[we] have agreed that for now, this is not necessary yet and we will continue to try and translocate these animals until our hand is forced."

Wildlife lovers have been loud in their condemnation of a possible cull at Bubye, fuelled no doubt by the furore that surrounded the July 2015 killing of Cecil the lion near Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe.

In the wake of the killing, US dentist Walter Palmer who shot Cecil, became a global figure of hate. Since then the number of big game hunters travelling to Zimbabwe from the US appears to have dropped.

Du Preez, who runs the Bubye Valley Conservation Research Initiative, said the exploding population of lions in 3,000 kilometre-squared Bubye is putting huge pressure on other species living in the privately-owned conservancy.

Bubye is much smaller than Hwange's 14 000 square kilometres.

"We have a whole ecosystem of animals to conserve, not just lions," he said.

"We are starting to see declines in even the more common and robust prey such as zebra and wildebeest, not to mention the more sensitive species such as sable, kudu, nyala, warthog and even buffalo and giraffe," he added.

In fact, an over-population of lions in a restricted area can result in cubs starving to death.

He told News24: "A high density of lions can severely reduce the density of their prey, ultimately leading to the death of lions via disease and starvation, far more horrific than human operations conducted by professionals."

Du Preez estimated that Bubye has a lion population of between 503 and 552 lions.

While the conservancy's carrying capacity of lions stands at around 500, that figure is only viable if some of the animals can be hunted to generate funds, he says.

The agreement not to cull the lions - for now - was reached in August 2015, according to the researcher.

Previous attempts to translocate lions from Bubye Valley Conservancy "have been derailed by factors entirely out of our control," Du Preez said.

A tentative plan to raffle a lion hunt at the conservancy was called off last month after a media outcry. Tickets were selling at $1 500 each. The organisers said the intention was to raise money for conservation, adding that the raffle would have raised more than $50 000.

quote:

I gather the 200 aren't all males. Would you pay $10,000 to go there for a hunt for a lioness that couldn't be exported

Absolutely, to be able to hunt a lioness and PG in the BVC and to see some of the best male lions in the world. It won't happen though. They stopped those hunts three years ago due to the fear of the antis. That would be the way to solve two problems, reduce the lion population and raise much needed money. On the lion issue and to a lesser existent the elephants, decisions are based on fear of the antis.

this is a good rebuttal to the anti's hysteria.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/02/25/3142016/

Here's an article from today on Fox News Online. It tells it like it is.

'Cecil Effect' dangerous for lions, guides
Cody Derespina
By Cody Derespina Published February 25, 2016 FoxNews.com
Facebook0 Twitter0 livefyre60 Email Print
Lion overpopulation has become a serious issue in Zimbabwe.
Lion overpopulation has become a serious issue in Zimbabwe. (Byron du Preez)
The international backlash against big game hunters triggered by last year's killing of a beloved lion named “Cecil” could spell doom for hundreds of the beasts who now roam a Zimbabwe preserve.

The deafening criticism after Cecil’s death in July has created a chilling effect among many in the industry, leading to more hunters staying home, animal populations growing out of control and a more dangerous environment for guides, say experts.

Related Image

Expand / Contract
The death of a lion named Cecil sparked international outrage. (AP)
“Far fewer hunters are going to Zimbabwe,” said Steve Taylor, a former game ranger and guide in Zimbabwe who is now associate director for International Safety and Security at Harvard University. “Directly after the Cecil situation numbers declined precipitously.”

One Zimbabwean conservancy floated the idea of culling nearly 200 of its lions to fight overpopulation. That notion – since tabled – has drawn condemnation, but it highlights the desperation some conservancies face as lion and other animal populations go unchecked, say some conservationists.

Efforts to move some of the more than 500 lions living in the confines of the Bubye Valley Conservancy have so far been derailed. But the issue of overpopulation received little attention – until the cull proposal was mentioned.

“We were all talking about it: If you shoot a lion, your career’s over.”

- Steve Taylor
“I think this is their way of saying to the naysayers who have denigrated the whole concept of a conservancy, ‘Somebody needs to step up to the plate,’” Taylor told FoxNews.com. “Hunters will not do it anymore. Somebody needs to step up to the plate and finance the translocation of those lions. It’s a great way to grab the media attention.”

Related Image

zimbo4Expand / Contract
A map of Zimbabwe showing the location of the Hwange National Park where Cecil was shot and the Bubye Valley Conservancy.
Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer faced global scorn after he shot and killed Cecil with a compound bow. Palmer was lambasted on social media, had demonstrators protest outside of his office and even faced death threats. But he was never charged with a crime because authorities said he had obtained the legal authority to hunt Cecil.

Bubye, located about 300 miles southeast of the Hwange National Refuge where Cecil was shot, relies on trophy hunting to support its operating costs. But since Cecil’s death – and the outrage that followed – there has been a slowdown of hunters willing to travel to Zimbabwe to bag big game. In addition to negative public opinion impacting decisions, hunters have also been hampered by several major airlines refusing to fly exotic animal trophies and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listing species of African lions as endangered.

Some have referred to the trend as the “Cecil Effect.”

Related Image

lions1Expand / Contract
The Bubye Valley Conservancy has more than 500 lions. (Byron du Preez)
Brent Stapelkamp, a researcher who works at Hwange and studied Cecil, also said he’s heard “many, many hunters” have cancelled trips since Cecil’s death.

“Now, whether that has to do with an awareness that things in the Zimbabwe hunting industry are not right, fear of being exposed on social media, restrictions on getting trophies home or what, we can’t say,” Stapelkamp told FoxNews.com. “But I am sure that there has been a massive cancellation of hunts and the industry is suffering.”

Byron du Preez, the project leader at Bubye, said in an email that linking declining hunts to Cecil’s demise may be an overreach.

“In my opinion, the ‘Cecil Effect’ doesn’t even exist,” he said. “Hunters are not coming because there is a massive recession [in the U.S.].”

But criticism has certainly reached Bubye’s fences, and not only for the cull suggestion. A professional hunter familiar with Bubye attempted to set up a hunting raffle for the conservancy, with 100 tickets each selling for $1,500. The raffle would have provided economic benefits for Bubye as well as helped to thin the lion population. But advocacy groups quickly sounded the alarm and the raffle was cancelled.

And there’s another face of the so-called effect – one that’s far more dangerous for humans.

Less than two months after Cecil’s death, an experienced guide was leading a tour group in Hwange when he was confronted by an aggressive lion named Nxaha and was mauled to death. Taylor speculates the criticism stemming from Cecil’s shooting may have caused the guide to hestitate in defending himself.

“We were all talking about it: If you shoot a lion, your career’s over,” said Taylor, who believes Swales may have been reluctant to shoot the beast for fear of public reprisal. “This guy was a really successful guide, and he died by a lion. And I think that’s the Cecil Effect. Guides in Zimbabwe are petrified of having the world turn on them.”

Taylor said he used to hunt, but hasn’t for more than a decade. Still, he understands the benefits of controlled hunting for the environment. But even Taylor – born in Kenya, raised in Zimbabwe, experienced in the industry – isn’t sure how the nation can change the West’s perception of hunting following Cecil’s death.

“Hunters in America now are even afraid to post photographs on Facebook and social media,” he said. “And with the groundswell of public opinion – how do you combat ignorance?”

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Actually part of that would have been the securing of the necessary permits for lion from the Zimbabwe government. I recall PH Shaun Buffee telling me that they only could obtain a certain number of permits for lion each year, and one year they didn't obtain any permits until late in the hunting season. I know this for a fact, as I was looking to get a lioness permit that year and Shaun was unable to obtain one, so I changed to hunting Cape Buffalo instead.

Are they permits to export though or would it be easier to get 'non-exportable' permits for these excess lions? I dont know if there is a difference?

quote:

Originally posted by Bama15:

quote:

I gather the 200 aren't all males. Would you pay $10,000 to go there for a hunt for a lioness that couldn't be exported

Absolutely, to be able to hunt a lioness and PG in the BVC and to see some of the best male lions in the world. It won't happen though. They stopped those hunts three years ago due to the fear of the antis. That would be the way to solve two problems, reduce the lion population and raise much needed money. On the lion issue and to a lesser existent the elephants, decisions are based on fear of the antis.

I know a lot of Aussie hunters would pay good money to do all that.

http://voices.nationalgeograph...r-lion-conservation/



Culling to Conserve: A Hard Truth for Lion Conservation

Posted by Michael Schwartz in Cat Watch on February 25, 2016

People that don’t live in Africa tend to learn about wildlife conservation in easy to understand terminology. But safeguarding animal species like lions is often more complex than mainstream media sound bites would have their audiences believe.

The National Post recently reported that management from Zimbabwe’s Bubye Valley Conservancy was considering a controversial move to cull upwards of 200 lions out of a rough population of 500 in order to ensure the reserve’s wildlife biodiversity.

It was also reported that since the growing calls to end trophy hunting, due in large part to the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park last year, conservancies like Bubye are no longer seeing the funding necessary to adequately cover conservation costs, which includes fence maintenance, financing local schools and health clinics, and providing meat to local people.

Given the many challenges conservationists face in Africa, coupled with culling and trophy hunting being such contentious issues, I decided to reach out to Dr. Byron du Preez, a Bubye Valley Conservancy project leader and member of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), in the Department of Zoology at Oxford University.

Specifically, I was hoping for clearer answers regarding the potential paradox that increasing calls for hunting bans in Africa have on existing lion populations, and how that may be playing out within the recent culling conundrum.

Fortunately, Du Preez went one step further by clearing up what was initially reported, clarifying the proposed cull, explaining how culling works, and elaborating on the dangers of promoting single species management.

Clarification on the Proposed Lion Cull

I am an independent scientist working on the Bubye Valley Conservancy, focused on lion ecology, which actually means just about every aspect of the ecosystem, such is the influence that lions have. I am neither pro- nor anti-hunting. I simply focus on practical conservation solutions that actually work in the real world.

We are hopeful that we will be able to translocate some lions, although all previous attempts to translocate lions out of the Bubye Valley Conservancy have been derailed by factors entirely out of our control. However, if the species was in as much trouble as the sensationalist reports like to focus on, one would think that it would be a lot easier to find new homes for these magnificent animals than it actually is.

‘There is basically no more space left in Africa for a new viable population of lions.’

The fact remains that habitat destruction is their biggest enemy, and there is basically no more space left in Africa for a new viable population of lions.


The Science of Culling

A cull is not a once-off fix (neither is translocation, nor contraception), but would be more of an ongoing management operation conducted on an annual basis. When given adequate space, resources, and protection, lion populations can explode, such as they have done on the Bubye Valley Conservancy.

Reducing numbers to alleviate overpopulation pressure does nothing to permanently solve the problem, nor halts the species’ breeding potential; [it] only slows it down for a relatively short time until their population growth returns to the exponential phase once again.

Culling is a management tool that may be used for many species. That includes: elephants, lions, kangaroos, and deer, basically animals that have very little natural control mechanisms other than disease and starvation, and that are now bounded by human settlements and live in smaller areas than they did historically.

As responsible wildlife managers who have a whole ecosystem full of animals to conserve (not just lions), we have therefore discussed culling as an option for controlling the lion population, but have agreed that, for now, this is not necessary just yet and we will continue to try and translocate these animals until our hand is forced.

As already mentioned, there is very little space left in Africa that can have lions but doesn’t already. Also, where lions do occur, especially in parks and private wildlife areas, they often exist at higher densities than they ever did historically.

This is mainly due to augmented surface water supply resulting in greater numbers of non-migratory prey that now no longer limit lion nutrition and energy availability, allowing the lion population to rapidly expand.

For example, successful hunting to feed cubs all the way through to adulthood and independence is one of the greatest stresses for a lion, and often results in dead cubs and reduced population growth. In turn, a high density of lions can severely reduce the density of their prey, ultimately leading to the death of the lions via disease and starvation—far more horrific than humane culling operations conducted by professionals.

The Dangers of Single Species Management

Lions are the apex predator wherever they occur, and as such exert a level of top-down control on the rest of the ecosystem. Lions prey on a wide variety of species, and we are starting to see declines in even the more common and robust prey such as zebra and wildebeest—not to mention the more sensitive species such as sable, kudu, nyala, warthog, and even buffalo and giraffe.

Apart from their prey, lions are aggressively competitive and will go out of their way to kill any leopard, cheetah, wild dog, or hyena that they encounter, and have caused major declines in these species, not just on the Bubye Valley Conservancy, but elsewhere in Africa where lion densities are high.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), cheetah are listed as vulnerable, and wild dogs are endangered.

It is easy to simply focus on the number of lions remaining in Africa that has fallen steeply over the last century from ~100,000 to ~20,000 today, but which is directly linked to the reduction in available habitat.

Simply focusing on increasing the abundance of one species at the cost of another cannot be considered a conservation success—assuming that holistic conservation for the benefit of the entire ecosystem is the end goal—no matter how iconic that species is.

Luckily, lions kill lions, resulting in more lion mortality than any other species—including man on the Bubye Valley Conservancy—and in an ideal world the lion population would level off at a putative carrying capacity where lions control their own numbers (deaths from conflict equal or exceed new births). However, it is possible and probable (man-made water points increase the carrying capacity of — and therefore also the competition and conflict between — all wildlife species) that this would still be at the cost of certain other sensitive species.

Ecosystem stability is related to size (and conversely ecosystem sensitivity is inversely related to size) and smaller areas need to control their lion numbers a lot more carefully than large areas such as the Bubye Valley Conservancy, which is over 3,000 square kilometres [1,160 square miles]. In fact, small reserves in South Africa alone culled over 200 lions in total between 2010 and 2012 ,according to the 2013 report from the Lion Management Forum workshop.

Understanding Carrying Capacity

The Bubye Valley Conservancy does not rely on trophy hunting to manage the lion population. I will discuss the economics of hunting in brief. The most recent and robust lion population survey data calculate a current lion population on the Bubye Valley Conservancy of between 503 and 552 lions (it is impossible to get a 100 percent accurate count on the exact lion number — which also changes daily with births and deaths).

Carrying capacity is an extremely fluid concept, and changes monthly, seasonally, and annually depending on all sorts of factors including rainfall, disease (of both predator and prey), and economics.

It is estimated that 500 lions eat more than U.S. $2.4 million each year (the meat value used is a very conservative $3 per kg – compare that to the price of steak in a supermarket, and then remember that the Bubye Valley Conservancy used to be a cattle-ranching area, and if wildlife becomes unviable, then there is no reason not convert it back to a cattle ranching area once again).


To give the question of carrying capacity a fair, if necessarily vague, answer, I would personally estimate that the upper carrying capacity of lions on the Bubye Valley Conservancy would be around 500 animals—assuming that they are allowed to be hunted and therefore generate the revenue to offset the cost of their predation.

Remember, lion numbers can get out of hand. And if there was no predation, then thousands upon thousands of zebra and wildebeest and impala would need to be culled to prevent them from over grazing the habitat, leading to soil erosion, starvation, and disease.

The ecosystem is a very complex machine and whether anyone likes it or not, humans have intervened with cities, roads, dams, pumped water, fences, and livestock. The only way to mitigate that intervention is by further, more focused, and carefully considered intervention, for the sake of the entire ecosystem.

It is important to bear in mind that the wildlife here, and in the majority of other wildlife areas in Africa (hunting areas exceed the total area conserved by Africa’s national parks by more than 20 percent), does not exist as our, or anyone else’s, luxury.

The Bubye Valley Conservancy is a privately owned wildlife area, or to put it another way, it is a business. The fact that it is a well-run business is the reason why it is one of the greatest conservation successes in Africa, converting from cattle to wildlife in 1994 (only 22 years ago) and now hosting Zimbabwe’s largest contiguous lion population at one of the highest densities in Africa, as well as the third largest black rhino population in the world (after Kruger and Etosha).

This is only possible because it is a business, and is self-sufficient in generating the funds to maintain fences, roads, pay staff, manage the wildlife, pump water, and support the surrounding communities—all extremely necessary factors involved in keeping wildlife alive in Africa.

Michael Schwartz is a freelance journalist and African wildlife conservation researcher. He is also an honorary member of the Jane Goodall Institute and International Institute for Environment and Development’s Uganda Poverty Conservation Learning Group.

quote:

‘There is basically no more space left in Africa for a new viable population of lions.’

The fact remains that habitat destruction is their biggest enemy, and there is basically no more space left in Africa for a new viable population of lions.

I find this an incredibly inaccurate statement. Without too much investigation I bet there are vast belts of Zimbabwe that could support some of these Lion. The Matetsi, Dande and Omay areas to name a few.