Persistence of wild felids after a protracted civil war in Quiçama National Park and Quiçama Game Reserve, Angola

Altres ajuts: Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICRufford Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 20153-1; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Grant/Award Number: 2015102593

SISTEMAS DE CLASSIFICAÇÃO DA MASTOFAUNA UTILIZADOS PELAS COMUNIDADES LOCAIS DO PARQUE NACIONAL DA QUIÇAMA, ANGOLA

Muitos cientistas estão motivados a entender como as pessoas classificam espécies, concentrando seus esforços nas chamadas taxonomias folk. Com o propósito de melhor compreender e colaborar com pesquisas relacionadas ao assunto, este estudo visou identificar as classificações de etnoespécies de mamíferos silvestres utilizadas por moradores do Parque Nacional da Quiçama (PNQ), Luanda- Angola. Para o levantamento de dados, foram selecionadas 27 informantes. Para registrar os nomes vernaculares das etnoespécies presentes no PNQ realizou-se entrevistas semiestruturadas e checklist com estímulo visual e ‘‘turnê-guiada’’. Os dados foram analisados qualitativa e quantitativamente, buscando representar o consenso entre os informantes entrevistados. Foram registradas 48 etnoespécies de mamíferos, classificadas principalmente devido a aspectos morfológicos, seguidos pelos ecológicos e socioculturais. Critérios morfológicos encontrados estão associados à cor, tamanho, morfometria, ou por outra característica típica do corpo do animal. Como critério ecológico observou-se nomenclaturas relacionadas ao habitat do animal, ou se este está sozinho ou em grupo. Por exemplo, duas espécies de esquilos (nome em português), são classificadas de acordo com sua coloração e organização social, sendo assim chamadas de 1) Dicama (um único animal) ou macama (um grupo de animais)- em que ‘cama’ refere-se a uma coloração vermelha, e 2) Dibuco (um único animal) ou mabuco (em grupo de animais)- em que ‘buco’ refere-se a uma coloração castanha. Por vezes nomes binominal também são utilizados para especificar melhor determinada espécie. Aspectos socioculturais como localização e urbanização da comunidade também são responsáveis por influenciar na classificação das espécies. Observa-se, portanto neste estudo que além das características morfológicas e ecológicas , aquelas ligadas á sociedade e cultura também são utilizadas nos sistemas de classificações dos mamíferos pelas comunidades humanas do Parque Nacional da Quiçama

Warfare-induced mammal population declines in Southwestern Africa are mediated by species life history, habitat type and hunter preferences

Civil wars often coincide with global biodiversity hotspots and have plagued the everyday reality of many countries throughout human history. However, how do civil wars affect wildlife populations? Are these impacts the same in savannah and forest environments? How persistent are the post-war consequences on wildlife populations within and outside conflict zones? Long-term monitoring programs in war zones, which could answer these questions, are virtually nonexistent, not least due to the risks researchers are exposed to. In this context, only a few methodologies can provide data on wild populations during war conflicts. We used local ecological knowledge to assess the main consequences of a prolonged civil war (1975-2002) in Southwestern Africa on forest and savannah mammals. The post-war abundance in 20 of 26 (77%) mammal species considered in this study was lower in open savannah compared to the closed-canopy forest environments, with some species experiencing a decline of up to 80% of their pre-war baseline abundance. Large-bodied mammals were preferred targets and had been overhunted, but as their populations became increasingly depleted, the size structure of prey species gradually shifted towards smaller-bodied species. Finally, we present a general flow diagram of how civil wars in low-governance countries can have both positive and negative impacts on native wildlife populations at different scales of space and time

Struggles beneath the waves: Unveiling the incidental capture of sea turtles by artisanal fisheries in Angolan waters

The modernization and intensification of fishing practices have raised the threat to sea turtles, with escalating unintentional captures endangering turtles of all life stages. In this study, we examined the impact of artisanal fishing on sea turtles in two coastal regions of Angola, southern Africa. Between August 2015 - March 2016, through participatory monitoring (n = 8) and interviews with fishers (n= 41), we documented unintentional turtle captures occurring year-round during fishing activities. A total of 405 turtles, 403 olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and 2 green (Chelonia mydas), were caught in gillnets by fishers engaged in participatory monitoring. Net characteristics, including length and proximity to the shoreline, as reported by the interviewed fishers, correlated with those used by the monitoring group. We estimated approximately 1219 turtles captured by the 41 interviewed fishers over the 8-month study period. Most captures occurred within 100 m from the shoreline. The likelihood of accidental turtle captures increased significantly with proximity to the beach, larger mesh sizes, and greater net lengths and number of hauls. We calculated a survival rate of 41%, and a mortality rate of 59% for captured turtles. Number of turtles caught as bycatch varied throughout the year, with the highest Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) reported for Oct. – Dec. Since this period aligns with the nesting season, most captured turtles are likely to be females. The high mortality rate reported in this study emphasizes the immediate threat posed by accidental captures to sea turtle populations, underscoring the critical importance of conservation efforts, particularly in artisanal gillnet fisheries

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations governing prey choice by hunters in a post-war African forest-savannah macromosaic

Overhunting typically increases during and after armed conflicts, and may lead to regionalscale defaunation. The mitigation of hunting impacts is complex because, among other reasons, several intrinsic and extrinsic motivations underpin the elevated deployment of hunting practices. Here we present the first study focusing on these motivations in a post-war zone. Following persistently heavy hunting pressure during the 27-year Angolan civil war, the offtake of small to medium-bodied species has increased recently as a result of large mammal depletion. However, prey choice associated with different motivations varied in terms of species trophic level and body size. While most residents hunted large-bodied species to maximize revenues from wildlife trade, many low-trophic level smaller species were harvested to meet local subsistence demands because they were more palatable and could be captured using artisanal traps near hunters' households. Mainly low-trophic level species were killed in retaliation for crop-raiding or livestock depredation. Considering all game species sampled in this study, 96% were captured to attend two or more motivations. In addition, hunting associated with different motivations was partitioned in terms of age and gender, with prey acquisition for the wildlife trade primarily carried out by adult men, while hunting to meet local subsistence needs and inhibit human-wildlife conflicts were carried out by adult men and women, children and even the elderly. In natural savannah areas lacking fish as a source of protein, a higher number of species was selected to supply both the meat trade and subsistence, while more species in forest areas were targeted for trade in animal body parts and conflict retaliation. Finally, local commerce in bushmeat and other body parts accrued higher domestic revenues compared to any alternative sources of direct and indirect income. However, these financial benefits were at best modest, largely unsustainable in terms of prey population collapses, and generated high long-term costs for the local to regional scale economy and native biodiversity

Hunting practices in southwestern Amazonia: a comparative study of techniques, modalities, and baits among urban and rural hunters

Background: Hunting is a vital means of obtaining animal in various human populations. Hunters rely on their knowledge of species ecology and behavior to develop and employ hunting techniques and increase their chances of success. The comparison of the hunting practices of different human societies can shed light on the sustainability of hunting and the impact it has on species’ populations. In this study, we examine and compare the techniques, modalities, and baits used by urban and rural hunters in Rondônia, a state in southwestern Amazonia, Brazil. We expected that rural hunters would use these elements and have greater knowledge when compared to urban hunters. We also expect that the use of specific hunting techniques and modalities will have greater selectivity and specificity of capture for rural hunters and that this knowledge will differ between groups. Methods: We conducted 106 semi-structured interviews with rural and urban hunters from October 2018 to February 2020. We analyzed the data using PERMANOVA and Network analyses to compare and contrast the hunting practices of each group. Results: We recorded four main hunting techniques divided into ten modalities with three techniques and seven modalities being the preferred choices among hunters. Waiting for at a Fruit Tree was cited as the primary technique employed by hunters living in urban and rural areas indicated. While the techniques and modalities were similar among hunters, the composition of species targeted and baits used differed between groups. Our network approach showed that modularity in urban areas was numerically lower than in rural areas. All species had one to more techniques associated with their capture. Conclusions: Hunters living in urban and rural environments showed high similarity in their practices, probably due to sharing similar environments to hunt containing similar species, as well as targeting preferably the same species

The Role of Religion, Wealth, and Livelihoods in the Hunting Practices of Urban and Rural Inhabitants in Western Amazonia

Hunting by rural and urban populations is essential for securing access to protein and other nutrients throughout the tropics. The hunting patterns of urban hunters in Amazonia, and the similarities with those of rural hunters, are unclear, as are the social factors that influence hunting practices. We analyze the effects of socioeconomic and cultural factors on hunting frequency and composition of species hunted by urban and rural Amazonian hunters. We interviewed 49 urban hunters and 57 rural hunters within 10 municipalities in western Amazonia in Brazil. A total of 44 species were cited as hunted. Our analyses show that the probability of engaging in sport hunting (for recreation) is greater among urban hunters. Rural inhabitants, hunters with lower monetary incomes, and hunters who were non-practicing Christians and atheists hunted more frequently. The composition of species hunted was similar, regardless of the hunters’ livelihood (rural or urban) or religion. We found that hunting frequency is influenced by hunters’ socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, but these factors do not affect the composition of the harvest. This similarity between urban and rural hunters might be related to species distribution and availability and could potentially impact the most hunted species if hunting grounds overlap. Understanding hunting patterns, especially those of urban hunters, allows for more effective hunting management strategies, improvements in law enforcement against illegal hunting, as well as development of more effective and sustainable conservation actions

Global online trade in primates for pets

The trade in primates as pets is a global enterprise and as access to the Internet has increased, so too has the trade of live primates online. While quantifying primate trade in physical markets is relatively straightforward, limited insights have been made into trade via the Internet. Here we followed a three-pronged approach to estimate the prevalence and ease of purchasing primates online in countries with different socioeconomic characteristics. We first conducted a literature review, in which we found that Malaysia, Thailand, the USA, Ukraine, South Africa, and Russia stood out in terms of the number of primate individuals being offered for sale as pets in the online trade. Then, we assessed the perceived ease of purchasing pet primates online in 77 countries, for which we found a positive relationship with the Internet Penetration Rate, total human population and Human Development Index, but not to Gross Domestic Product per capita or corruption levels of the countries. Using these results, we then predicted the levels of online primate trade in countries for which we did not have first-hand data. From this we created a global map of potential prevalence of primate trade online. Finally, we analysed price data of the two primate taxa most consistently offered for sale, marmosets and capuchins. We found that prices increased with the ease of purchasing primates online and the Gross Domestic Product per capita. This overview provides insight into the nature and intricacies of the online primate pet trade and advocates for increased trade regulation and monitoring in both primate range and non-range countries where trade has been substantially reported. © 2023 The Author

Predicting animal abundance through local ecological knowledge: An internal validation using consensus analysis

Given the ongoing environmental degradation from local to global scales, it is fundamental to develop more efficient means of gathering data on species and ecosystems. Local ecological knowledge, in which local communities can consistently provide information on the status of animal species over time, has been shown to be effective. Several studies demonstrate that data gathered using local ecological knowledge (LEK)-based methods are comparable with data obtained from conventional methods (such as line transects and camera traps). Here, we employ a consensus analysis to validate and evaluate the accuracy of interview data on LEK. Additionally, we investigate the influence of social and bioecological variables on enhancing data quality. We interviewed 323 persons in 19 villages in the Western and Central Amazon to determine the level of consensus on the abundance of hunted and non-hunted forest species. These villages varied in size, socio-economic characteristics and in the experience with wildlife of their dwellers. Interviewees estimated the relative abundance of 101 species with a broad spectrum of bioecological characteristics using a four-point Likert scale. High consensus was found for species population abundance in all sampled villages and for 79.6% of interviewees. The village consensus of all species abundance pooled was negatively correlated with village population size. The consensus level was high regardless of the interviewees' hunting experience. Species that are more frequently hunted or are more apparent had greater consensus values; only two species presented a low consensus level, which are rare and solitary species. We show in our study in the Amazon that information gathered by local peoples, Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous, can be useful in understanding the status of animal species found within their environment. The high level of cultural consensus we describe likely arises from knowledge sharing and the strong connection between the persons interviewed and the forest. We suggest that consensus analysis can be used to validate LEK-generated data instead of comparing these types of data with information obtained by conventional methods

Congruence of local ecological knowledge (LEK)-based methods and line-transect surveys in estimating wildlife abundance in tropical forests

Effective estimation of wildlife population abundance is an important component of population monitoring, and ultimately essential for the development of conservation actions. Diurnal line-transect surveys are one of the most applied methods for abundance estimations. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is empirically acquired through the observation of ecological processes by local people. LEK-based methods have only been recognized as valid scientific methods for surveying fauna abundance in the last three decades. However, the agreement between both methods has not been extensively analysed. We compared concomitant abundance data for 91 wild species (mammals, birds and tortoises) from diurnal line transects (9,221 km of trails) and a LEK-based method (291 structured interviews) at 18 sites in Central and Western Amazonia. We used biological and socioecological factors to assess the agreements and divergences between abundance indices obtained from both methods. We found a significant agreement of population abundance indices for diurnal and game species. This relationship was also positive regardless of species sociality (solitary or social), body size and locomotion mode (terrestrial and arboreal); and of sampled forest type (upland and flooded forests). Conversely, we did not find significant abundance covariances for nocturnal and non-game species. Despite the general agreement between methods, line transects were not effective at surveying many species occurring in the area, with 40.2% and 39.8% of all species being rarely and never detected in at least one of the survey sites. On the other hand, these species were widely reported by local informants to occur at intermediate to high abundances. Although LEK-based methods have been long neglected by ecologists, our comparative study demonstrated their effectiveness for estimating vertebrate abundance of a wide diversity of taxa and forest environments. This can be used simultaneously with line-transect surveys to calibrate abundance estimates and record species that are rarely sighted during surveys on foot, but that are often observed by local people during their daily extractive activities. Thus, the combination of local and scientific knowledge is a potential tool to improve our knowledge of tropical forest species and foster the development of effective strategies to meet biodiversity conservation goals