Exposure to conditions of high concentrations of indoor air pollutants and prevalence of ARIs in children under 5 years of age, in Ouagadougou/Burkina Faso

The objective was to highlight effects of exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5 (emitted during cooking) on the prevalence of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children under 5 years of age. Results showed that the use of biomass in indoor kitchens in residential buildings in Uganda was linked to the occurrence of ARI in children. Living in a house with several bedrooms was a protective factor. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is an air pollutant which can affect people's health when levels are high

Embargo on Lion Hunting Trophies from West Africa: An Effective Measure or a Threat to Lion Conservation?

<div><p>The W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) ecosystem, shared among Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, represents the last lion stronghold of West Africa. To assess the impact of trophy hunting on lion populations in hunting areas of the WAP, we analyzed trends in harvest rates from 1999 to 2014. We also investigated whether the hunting areas with higher initial hunting intensity experienced steeper declines in lion harvest between 1999 and 2014, and whether lion densities in hunting areas were lower than in national parks. Lion harvest rate remained overall constant in the WAP. At initial hunting intensities below 1.5 lions/1000km², most hunting areas experienced an increase in lion harvest rate, although that increase was of lower magnitude for hunting areas with higher initial hunting intensity. The proportion of hunting areas that experienced a decline in lion harvest rate increased at initial hunting intensities above 1.5 lions/1000km². In 2014, the lion population of the WAP was estimated with a spoor count at 418 (230–648) adults and sub-adult individuals, comparable to the 311 (123–498) individuals estimated in the previous 2012 spoor survey. We found no significant lion spoor density differences between national parks and hunting areas. Hunting areas with higher mean harvest rates did not have lower lion densities. The ratio of large adult males, females and sub-adults was similar between the national parks and the hunting areas. These results suggested that the lion population was not significantly affected by hunting in the WAP. We concluded that a quota of 1 lion/1000km² would be sustainable for the WAP. Based on our results, an import embargo on lion trophies from the WAP would not be justified. It could ruin the incentive of local actors to conserve lions in hunting areas, and lead to a drastic reduction of lion range in West Africa.</p></div

Results of the lion count.

<p>Area in km², Number of transects, Transects length in km, Substrate quality, Number of fresh spoors observed, Track density (N/100 km), estimated lion population density (N/100 km²), lion estimate (N), Coefficient of variation (CV) in %, minimum and maximum 95% Confidence Interval (CI) in each stratum of < and > 5 km from water and for the entire W Arly Pendjari Ecosystem. Details per area is given in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0155763#pone.0155763.s002" target="_blank">S2 Table</a>.</p

Lion density in 2014 (N/100 km²), vs. the mean of 16 years harvest between 1999 and 2014 (mean number of lions harvested/1000 km²).

<p>Each point represents a hunting area.</p

Lion spoor densities (N/100km): (a) at < and > 5 km from water in the WAP (the vertical lines represent the standard error); (b) in national parks and hunting areas of the WAP (the vertical lines represent the standard error).

<p>Lion spoor densities (N/100km): (a) at < and > 5 km from water in the WAP (the vertical lines represent the standard error); (b) in national parks and hunting areas of the WAP (the vertical lines represent the standard error).</p

Proportional change in harvest of lions vs. initial average harvest regression models, value of the concordance criterion (CC), Equation, value of R² and P.

<p>The selected model is indicated in bold.</p

Trends of the total annual lion quota or harvest rate (number of lions /1000 km²) between the first year of lion hunting and 2014 in the WAP (Benin and Burkina Faso) (see text).

<p>A hunting season ran from December to May. Every season corresponds to a year. By convention the season of a particular year covers the month of December of the previous year. For example the season 1999 covers the months from December 1998 to May 1999. In Burkina Faso, data were available since 1999, just 2 years after the implementation of the concession system launched in 1996–97 season. Therefore we calculated the initial hunting intensity for the 1999–2001 period with one exception: Singou, which received its first quota in 2000 (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0155763#pone.0155763.s001" target="_blank">S1 table</a>). Benin started the concession system in 2001–02 (data per area are available since this year) but established a moratorium on lion hunting in 2003 and 2004. Therefore the initial hunting intensity was calculated for 2005–2007 except for Djona that started the harvest in 2010 (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0155763#pone.0155763.s001" target="_blank">S1 Table</a>).</p

Annual percentage change in the lion harvest between 1999–2014, vs. initial hunting intensity.

<p>Each point represents a hunting area. A single area (Mékrou) had an annual percentage change of -45% with an initial hunting intensity of 0.6 lion/year. It was considered as an outlier and discarded from the analysis.</p