Safeguarding human–wildlife cooperation

Human–wildlife cooperation occurs when humans and free-living wild animals actively coordinate their behavior to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. These interactions provide important benefits to both the human and wildlife communities involved, have wider impacts on the local ecosystem, and represent a unique intersection of human and animal cultures. The remaining active forms are human–honeyguide and human–dolphin cooperation, but these are at risk of joining several inactive forms (including human–wolf and human–orca cooperation). Human–wildlife cooperation faces a unique set of conservation challenges, as it requires multiple components—a motivated human and wildlife partner, a suitable environment, and compatible interspecies knowledge—which face threats from ecological and cultural changes. To safeguard human–wildlife cooperation, we recommend: (i) establishing ethically sound conservation strategies together with the participating human communities; (ii) conserving opportunities for human and wildlife participation; (iii) protecting suitable environments; (iv) facilitating cultural transmission of traditional knowledge; (v) accessibly archiving Indigenous and scientific knowledge; and (vi) conducting long-term empirical studies to better understand these interactions and identify threats. Tailored safeguarding plans are therefore necessary to protect these diverse and irreplaceable interactions. Broadly, our review highlights that efforts to conserve biological and cultural diversity should carefully consider interactions between human and animal cultures. Please see AfricanHoneyguides.com/abstract-translations for Kiswahili and Portuguese translations of the abstract

Safeguarding human–wildlife cooperation

Human–wildlife cooperation occurs when humans and free-living wild animals actively coordinate their behavior to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. These interactions provide important benefits to both the human and wildlife communities involved, have wider impacts on the local ecosystem, and represent a unique intersection of human and animal cultures. The remaining active forms are human–honeyguide and human–dolphin cooperation, but these are at risk of joining several inactive forms (including human–wolf and human–orca cooperation). Human–wildlife cooperation faces a unique set of conservation challenges, as it requires multiple components—a motivated human and wildlife partner, a suitable environment, and compatible interspecies knowledge—which face threats from ecological and cultural changes. To safeguard human–wildlife cooperation, we recommend: (i) establishing ethically sound conservation strategies together with the participating human communities; (ii) conserving opportunities for human and wildlife participation; (iii) protecting suitable environments; (iv) facilitating cultural transmission of traditional knowledge; (v) accessibly archiving Indigenous and scientific knowledge; and (vi) conducting long-term empirical studies to better understand these interactions and identify threats. Tailored safeguarding plans are therefore necessary to protect these diverse and irreplaceable interactions. Broadly, our review highlights that efforts to conserve biological and cultural diversity should carefully consider interactions between human and animal cultures

Aging traits and sustainable trophy hunting of African lions

Trophy hunting plays a significant role in wildlife conservation in some contexts in various parts of the world. Yet excessive hunting is contributing to species declines, especially for large carnivores. Simulation models suggest that sustainable hunting of African lions may be achieved by restricting offtakes to males old enough to have reared a cohort of offspring. We tested and expanded criteria for an age-based approach for sustainably regulating lion hunting. Using photos of 228 known-age males from ten sites across Africa, we measured change in ten phenotypic traits with age and found four age classes with distinct characteristics: 1-2.9 years, 3-4.9 years, 5-6.9 years, and ≥7 years. We tested the aging accuracy of professional hunters and inexperienced observers before and after training on aging. Before training, hunters accurately aged more lion photos (63%) than inexperienced observers (48%); after training, both groups improved (67-69%). Hunters overestimated 22% of lions <5 years as 5-6.9 years (unsustainable) but only 4% of lions <5 years as ≥7 years (sustainable). Due to the lower aging error for males ≥7 years, we recommend 7 years as a practical minimum age for hunting male lions. Results indicate that age-based hunting is feasible for sustainably managing threatened and economically significant species such as the lion, but must be guided by rigorous training, strict monitoring of compliance and error, and conservative quotas. Our study furthermore demonstrates methods for identifying traits to age individuals, information that is critical for estimating demographic parameters underlying management and conservation of age-structured species.http://www.elsevier.com/ locate/biocon2017-09-30hb2016Centre for Wildlife ManagementMammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Multigene phylogeny of the Mustelidae: Resolving relationships, tempo and biogeographic history of a mammalian adaptive radiation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adaptive radiation, the evolution of ecological and phenotypic diversity from a common ancestor, is a central concept in evolutionary biology and characterizes the evolutionary histories of many groups of organisms. One such group is the Mustelidae, the most species-rich family within the mammalian order Carnivora, encompassing 59 species classified into 22 genera. Extant mustelids display extensive ecomorphological diversity, with different lineages having evolved into an array of adaptive zones, from fossorial badgers to semi-aquatic otters. Mustelids are also widely distributed, with multiple genera found on different continents. As with other groups that have undergone adaptive radiation, resolving the phylogenetic history of mustelids presents a number of challenges because ecomorphological convergence may potentially confound morphologically based phylogenetic inferences, and because adaptive radiations often include one or more periods of rapid cladogenesis that require a large amount of data to resolve.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We constructed a nearly complete generic-level phylogeny of the Mustelidae using a data matrix comprising 22 gene segments (~12,000 base pairs) analyzed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. We show that mustelids are consistently resolved with high nodal support into four major clades and three monotypic lineages. Using Bayesian dating techniques, we provide evidence that mustelids underwent two bursts of diversification that coincide with major paleoenvironmental and biotic changes that occurred during the Neogene and correspond with similar bursts of cladogenesis in other vertebrate groups. Biogeographical analyses indicate that most of the extant diversity of mustelids originated in Eurasia and mustelids have colonized Africa, North America and South America on multiple occasions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Combined with information from the fossil record, our phylogenetic and dating analyses suggest that mustelid diversification may have been spurred by a combination of faunal turnover events and diversification at lower trophic levels, ultimately caused by climatically driven environmental changes. Our biogeographic analyses show Eurasia as the center of origin of mustelid diversity and that mustelids in Africa, North America and South America have been assembled over time largely via dispersal, which has important implications for understanding the ecology of mustelid communities.</p

Guidelines for evaluating the conservation value of African lion (Panthera leo) translocations

As the top predator in African ecosystems, lions have lost more than 90% of their historical range, and few countries possess strong evidence for stable populations. Translocations (broadly defined here as the capture and movement of lions for various management purposes) have become an increasingly popular action for this species, but the wide array of lion translocation rationales and subsequent conservation challenges stemming from poorly conceived or unsuitable translocations warrants additional standardized evaluation and guidance. At their best, translocations fill a key role in comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing the threats facing lions and fostering the recovery of wild populations in their historic range. At their worst, translocations can distract from addressing the major threats to wild populations and habitats, divert scarce funding from more valuable conservation actions, exacerbate conflict with humans in recipient sites, disrupt local lion demography, and undermine the genetic integrity of wild lion populations in both source and recipient sites. In the interest of developing best practice guidelines for deciding when and how to conduct lion translocations, we discuss factors to consider when determining whether a translocation is of conservation value, introduce a value assessment for translocations, and provide a decision matrix to assist practitioners in improving the positive and reducing the negative outcomes of lion translocation.Grant from the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/conservation-scienceam2023Zoology and Entomolog

Feeding ecology and social organisation of honey badgers (Mellivora capensis) in the southern Kalahari

The lack of fundamental biological information on the honey badger Mellivora capensis and its vulnerable conservation status were the motivating factors behind this study. A study population of 25 individuals (12 females; 12 males) was radio-marked in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP), South Africa. Through a combination of radio telemetry and visual observations (5 244 h) of nine habituated individuals (five females; four males), the feeding ecology, scent marking and social behaviour of the honey badger were investigated. The honey badger is a solitary, generalist carnivore with strong seasonal differences in diet. In support of optimal diet theory, the cold dry season diet is characterized by low species richness, low foraging yield, high dietary diversity and increased foraging time while the reverse is true in the hot wet and hot-dry seasons. The honey badger appears to shift between alternative prey species depending on their availability on a seasonal and daily level. The daily activity patterns of both sexes show a strong seasonal shift from predominantly nocturnal activity in the hot-wet and hot-dry season to more diurnal activity in the cold-dry season and this appears to be primarily affected by temperature. Despite marked sexual size dimorphism (males a third larger than females), no intersexual differences in diet or foraging behaviour were observed, but there were sexual and in males age-related differences in movement patterns, scent marking and social behaviour. The honey badger appears to have a polygynous or promiscuous mating system, but did not fit the general mustelid pattern of intrasexual territoriality. Instead, adult males had extensive overlapping home ranges (548 km2) that encompassed the smaller, regularly spaced home ranges of the females (138 km2) and young males (178 km2). Receptive females are an unpredictable and scare resource in space (large home ranges) and time (no breeding season) with a long time to renewal (inter-birth interval > 1 year). As a result adult males adopt a roaming rather than a staying tactic with competition for access to the mating burrow mediated by a dominance hierarchy loosely based on age, mass and testes size. The hierarchy appears to be maintained through regular aggressive and agonistic interactions and scent marking. Data suggest that latrine scent marking in adult males is related to advertising social status and maintaining the dominance hierarchy though “scent matching”. In females and young males latrine visits are rare, but token urination is common and its association with foraging behaviour suggests that it mediates spatio-temporal separation and/or resource utilization. Interspecific interactions between the honey badger and other mammalian and avian predators were common and included intraguild predation and interspecific feeding associations between the honey badger and seven other species (two mammals; five birds). The most common foraging associations were observed between the honey badger and the pale chanting-goshawk Melierax canorus and black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas. These associations appear to be commensalisms, with associating species benefiting from increased hunting opportunities and intake rate but no significant costs or benefits to the honey badger. Copyright 2001, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Begg, CM 2001, Feeding ecology and social organisation of honey badgers (Mellivora capensis) in the southern Kalahari, DPhil thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd Thesis (DPhil (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2001.Zoology and Entomologyunrestricte

Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism

Greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) lead human honey-hunters to wild bees' nests, in a rare example of a mutualistic foraging partnership between humans and free-living wild animals. We show experimentally that a specialized vocal sound made by Mozambican honey-hunters seeking bees' nests elicits elevated cooperative behavior from honeyguides. The production of this sound increased the probability of being guided by a honeyguide from about 33% to 66%, and the overall probability of thus finding a bees’ nest from 17% to 54%, as compared to other animal or human sounds of similar amplitude. These results provide experimental evidence that a wild animal in a natural setting responds adaptively to a human signal of cooperation.CNS was supported by a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/J014109/1) and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AAAS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf488

Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism.

Greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) lead human honey-hunters to wild bees' nests, in a rare example of a mutualistic foraging partnership between humans and free-living wild animals. We show experimentally that a specialized vocal sound made by Mozambican honey-hunters seeking bees' nests elicits elevated cooperative behavior from honeyguides. The production of this sound increased the probability of being guided by a honeyguide from about 33 to 66% and the overall probability of thus finding a bees' nest from 17 to 54%, as compared with other animal or human sounds of similar amplitude. These results provide experimental evidence that a wild animal in a natural setting responds adaptively to a human signal of cooperation.CNS was supported by a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/J014109/1) and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AAAS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf488

Data from: Effective implementation of age restrictions increases selectivity of sport hunting of the African lion

1. Sport hunting of wildlife can play a role in conservation but can also drive population declines if not managed sustainably. Previous simulation modelling found that large felid species could theoretically be hunted sustainably by restricting harvests to older individuals that have likely reproduced. Several African countries currently use age-based hunting for lions although the outcomes have yet to be evaluated in a wild population. 2. Here we provide the first empirical evidence that a system of incentives sufficiently encouraged age-based hunting and reduced offtake of a wild felid, thereby reducing the potential risk of unsustainable hunting on a threatened species. We examined long-term hunting data and the lion population trend in Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique. 3. To incentivise hunter compliance, a ‘points’ system was developed which rewards operators that harvest lions older than the 6-year minimum trophy age recommended for sustainable hunting and penalises operators that hunt ‘underage’ lions (6 years), from 25% of offtakes in 2004 to 100% by 2014. 4. Simultaneously, the number of lions and percentage of quota harvested decreased, resulting in lower lion offtakes. Following an initial decrease after enforcement of the aging system, the percentage of hunts harvesting lions stabilised, demonstrating that hunters successfully located and aged older lions. 5. Synthesis and applications. Evidence suggests that age restrictions combined with an incentive-based points system regulated sport hunting and reduced pressure on the lion population. We attribute the successful implementation of this management system to: 1) committed, consistent enforcement by management authorities, 2) genuine involvement of all stakeholders from the start, 3) annual auditing by an independent third party, 4) the reliable, transparent, straight-forward aging process, and 5) the simple, pragmatic points system for incentivising hunter compliance. Our study demonstrates that the use of age restrictions can increase the selectivity of sport hunting and lower trophy offtakes to reduce the possibility of unsustainable sport hunting negatively impacting species populations in the absence of reliable estimates of population size. It must be noted, however, that there was no measurable change in the lion numbers over the past decade that could be attributed to the implementation of this policy alone

Bees' nests found

Column descriptions: Date: date on which the bees' nests was found (dd/mm/yy). Latitude: latitude of the bees' nest (d.ddddd). Longitude: longitude of the bees' nest (d.ddddd). Honeyguide: whether the nest was found with the help of a honeyguide (Yes) or without the help of a honeyguide (No). BeeSpecies: the bee species to which the nest belonged. Note: "Stingless bee sp." refers to an unidentified species; see Materials and Methods