Questionnaire survey of the pan-African trade in lion body parts - Fig 6

<p><b>Sources for (A) body parts (excl. bones) and (B) bones, in Africa, based on the number of responses per category.</b> Selection of multiple sources was allowed. (Answers correspond to survey Question 14) (Excl. ZA = excluding South Africa).</p

‘Skullduggery’: Lions Align and Their Mandibles Rock!

<div><p>South Africa has legally exported substantial quantities of lion bones to Southeast Asia and China since 2008, apparently as part of the multinational trade substituting bones and body parts of other large cats for those of the tiger in wine and other health tonics. The legal sale of lion bones may mask an illegal trade, the size of which is only partially known. An observed component of the illegal trade is that quantities of skeletons are sometimes declared falsely/fraudulently on CITES export permits. Furthermore, there are emerging concerns that bones from tigers reared in captivity in South Africa and elsewhere are being laundered as lion bones using CITES Appendix II permits. There is therefore a need for tools to monitor the trade in lion body parts and to distinguish between lions and tigers. Our research indicates that it is possible to use skeletons, skulls and cranial sutures to detect misdeclarations in the lion bone trade. It is also possible to use the average mass of a lion skeleton to corroborate the numbers of skeletons declared on CITES permits, relative to the weight of the consolidated consignments stated on the air waybills. When the mass of consolidated consignments of skeletons destined for export was regressed against the number of skeletons in that consignment, there was a strong correlation between the variables (r² = 0.992) that can be used as a predictor of the accuracy of a declaration on a CITES permit. Additionally, the skulls of lions and tigers differ: two cranial sutures of lions align and their mandibles rock when placed on a flat surface, whereas the cranial sutures of tigers are not aligned and their mandibles rest naturally on two contact points. These two morphological differences between the skulls of tigers and lions are easy to observe at a glance and provide a method for distinguishing between the species if illegal trade in the bones is suspected and the skulls are present. These identifications should ideally be confirmed by a DNA test to provide rigorous evidence to prosecute offenders violating CITES regulations.</p></div

Quantities listed on CITES permits issued by South African provinces to export lion skeletons (SKE) to East-Southeast Asia from 2008–2015.

<p>Quantities listed on CITES permits issued by South African provinces to export lion skeletons (SKE) to East-Southeast Asia from 2008–2015.</p

All African countries named during the survey.

<p>The legend further indicates countries (i) where respondents worked/resided, (ii) for which respondents specifically stated they had information for (includes multiple responses), and (iii) nominated as priorities for further research (includes multiple responses). Countries mentioned include lion range states with extinct and possibly extinct lion populations. Range states not mentioned during the survey are Malawi, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. In addition, 10% of respondents worked in Europe and the USA. (See S1 & S6 \s. for sub-region summaries).</p

The influence of a) body mass BM, b) SCI index and c) IUCN category on mean price (MP) for bovid taxa within countries.

<p>(Dashed line denotes category means among taxa: V mean = $3112.2 (SE = 685.7), LR/NT$1640.9 (256.1), LR/CD $1481.7 (129.6), LR/LC$610.3 (78.4)).</p

Frequency of maxilla-nasal-frontal cranial suture alignment in lions and tigers.

<p>^a One tiger specimen had no cranium, hence n = 21 and not n = 22</p><p>^b Nasal-frontal suture terminates slightly posterior to the maxilla-frontal suture</p><p>^c Nasal-frontal suture terminates slightly anterior to the maxilla-frontal suture</p><p>Frequency of maxilla-nasal-frontal cranial suture alignment in lions and tigers.</p

Number and proportion of wild-sourced and captive-bred lion bodies and skeletons originating in South Africa listed on issued CITES permits and destined for East-Southeast Asia from 2008–2015.

<p>Number and proportion of wild-sourced and captive-bred lion bodies and skeletons originating in South Africa listed on issued CITES permits and destined for East-Southeast Asia from 2008–2015.</p

Sub-regional division of African lion range states with extant, extinct and possibly extinct wild populations.

<p>Countries in parentheses were not mentioned by any respondent in the survey.</p

Family level effects on trophy prices.

<p>a) Mean price (MP) as a function of mean body mass (MBM). MP = 42.5*MBM ^0.62, exponent CI 0.462 to 0.778, R² = 80.5% b) MP and IUCN category. MP = e ^{(11.1–1.31.IUCN)}, exponent CI −1.51 to −1.11) R² = 73.7%. (V = vulnerable, LR/NT = Least risk, near threatened, LR/CD = Least risk, conservation dependent, LR/LC = Least risk, least concern). Family locations plotted as mean among ordinal categories.</p

Predictors of bovid trophy value.

<p>Partial r-squared values (%). All models with country ID entered first. Parameter estimates from full model (ranked first in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0012866#pone-0012866-t001" target="_blank">table 1</a>, and from models with country plus single predictor.</p