Hunting and sale of Pangolins across Sub-Saharan Africa: a preliminary analysis

Pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) are hunted and traded for their meat and scales. We conducted preliminary analyses on the hunting and sale at markets of four species of pangolin across Sub-Saharan Africa based on data from the OFFTAKE database. Our analyses show that all four species of African pangolin are hunted and sold at markets throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of pangolins as part of the total vertebrates hunted has increased significantly during the 43 years, from 1972-2014, for which we have data

What constitutes a useful measure of protected area effectiveness? A case study of management inputs and protected area impacts in Madagascar

Peer reviewe

Towards a Sustainable, Participatory and Inclusive Wild Meat Sector

First paragraph: Expanding human demands on land, sea and fresh water have led to our planet experiencing unprecedented levels of wildlife declines and extirpations (Ceballos et al., 2017). The Living Planet Index (LPI) as an indicator of global vertebrate abundance declined by up to 58% between 1970–2012 (WWF, 2016). In the most recent version of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List as many as 32% of assessed vertebrate species are decreasing in terms of both population size and range (IUCN 2017). Larger species are suffering the steepest and most irreversible declines (Dirzo et al., 2014; Ripple et al., 2014, 2015). As wildlife is lost, biodiversity is reduced and ecosystem integrity suffers (Dirzo et al., 2014; Young et al., 2016)

New range limits of the sun-tailed monkey, Cercopithecus solatus, in Central Gabon

Cercopithecus solatus is a recently discovered monkey endemic to Gabon, present in parts of the Lopé National Park and the Forêt des Abeilles in the center of the country. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (2010) due to its restricted extent of occurrence and continuing decline in population caused by high hunting pressure. All known field observations of this species are compiled here. Data collected since 1999 show that C. solatus occurs further to the south, east, and west than was previously known, and that its extent of occurrence almost certainly includes three national parks, rather than one

A global analysis of management capacity and ecological outcomes in terrestrial protected areas

Protecting important sites is a key strategy for halting the loss of biodiversity. However, our understanding of the relationship between management inputs and biodiversity outcomes in protected areas (PAs) remains weak. Here, we examine biodiversity outcomes using species population trends in PAs derived from the Living Planet Database in relation to management data derived from the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) database for 217 population time-series from 73 PAs. We found a positive relationship between our METT-based scores for Capacity and Resources and changes in vertebrate abundance, consistent with the hypothesis that PAs require adequate resourcing to halt biodiversity loss. Additionally, PA age was negatively correlated with trends for the mammal subsets and PA size negatively correlated with population trends in the global subset. Our study highlights the paucity of appropriate data for rigorous testing of the role of management in maintaining species populations across multiple sites, and describes ways to improve our understanding of PA performance

WILDMEAT interventions database: A new database of interventions addressing unsustainable wild meat hunting, consumption and trade

First paragraph: Wild meat has long been used as a source of food and income by many communities across the tropics (Ingram et al., 2021). Recently, however, growing human populations and increasing commercial trade to urban markets have driven up demand and prices for wild meat products and led to unsustainable levels of wildlife harvesting in many places (Coad et al., 2019). Overexploitation of wildlife has been linked to significantly reduced wildlife populations (Benítez-López et al., 2017) and increased extinction risk for many medium and large-bodied species (Dirzo et al., 2014). The loss of these species poses food and income security risks for those dependent on wild meat for livelihoods (Ingram, 2020), disproportionately impacting the poorest households whose reliance on the resource is greatest (Nielsen et al., 2018). Despite the clear need to manage unsustainable wild meat harvesting to protect wildlife and the ecosystems they live in, management is poor in many areas, and in others, absent (Ingram et al., 2021; Wicander & Coad, 2018).Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Indicators for wild animal offtake: methods and case study for African mammals and birds

Unsustainable exploitation of wild animals is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and to millions of people depending on wild meat for food and income. The international conservation and development community has committed to implementing plans for sustainable use of natural resources and has requested development of monitoring systems of bushmeat offtake and trade. Although offtake monitoring systems and indicators for marine species are more developed, information on harvesting terrestrial species is limited. Building on approaches developed to monitor exploitation of fisheries and population trends, we have proposed two novel indicators for harvested terrestrial species: the mean body mass indicator (MBMI) assessing whether hunters are relying increasingly on smaller species over time, as a measure of defaunation, by tracking body mass composition of harvested species within samples across various sites and dates; and the offtake pressure indicator (OPI) as a measure of harvesting pressure on groups of wild animals within a region by combining multiple time series of the number of harvested individuals across species. We applied these two indicators to recently compiled data for West and Central African mammals and birds. Our exploratory analyses show that the MBMI of harvested mammals decreased but that of birds rose between 1966/1975 and 2010. For both mammals and birds the OPI increased substantially during the observed time period. Given our results, time-series data and information collated from multiple sources are useful to investigate trends in body mass of hunted species and offtake volumes. In the absence of comprehensive monitoring systems, we suggest that the two indicators developed in our study are adequate proxies of wildlife offtake, which together with additional data can inform conservation policies and actions at regional and global scales

Notes on the distribution and status of small carnivores in Gabon

The distribution and status of small carnivore species in Gabon have never been comprehensively assessed. We collated data from general wildlife surveys, camera-trap and transect studies and analyses of bushmeat consumption and trade, to map their country-wide occurrence and assess current exploitation levels. Records of Common Slender Mongoose Herpestes sanguineus and Cameroon Cusimanse Crossarchus platycephalus represent the first confirmation of their occurrence in Gabon. Cameroon Cusimanse was believed to extend into north-east Gabon, but the Slender Mongoose records extend its known range well outside that previously suspected. We furthermore extended the known range for Egyptian Mongoose Herpestes ichneumon. Crested Genet Genetta cristata has also been proposed to occur in Gabon but our records were not suited to evaluating this possibility given the difficulties of separation from Servaline Genet G. servalina. Most species appear to be distributed widely across the country. While several are commonly recorded in hunter catch and bushmeat markets, they form only a small proportion (3.4% and 3.1%, respectively) of all bushmeat records. However, in proximity to settlements, small carnivore exploitation, for bushmeat and use of body parts in traditional ceremonies, appears to have adverse effects on species richness and abundance

Assessing Africa-wide pangolin exploitation by scaling local data

Overexploitation is one of the main pressures driving wildlife closer to extinction, yet broad-scale data to evaluate species’ declines are limited. Using African pangolins (Family: Pholidota) as a case study, we demonstrate that collating local-scale data can provide crucial information on regional trends in exploitation of threatened species to inform conservation actions and policy. We estimate that 0.4-2.7 million pangolins are hunted annually in Central African forests. The number of pangolins hunted has increased by ~150% and the proportion of pangolins of all vertebrates hunted increased from 0.04% to 1.83% over the past four decades. However, there were no trends in pangolins observed at markets, suggesting use of alternative supply chains. We found evidence that the price of giant (Smutsia gigantea) and arboreal (Phataginus sp.) pangolins in urban markets has increased, mirroring trends in Asian pangolins. Efforts and resources are needed to increase law enforcement and population monitoring, and investigate linkages between subsistence hunting and illegal wildlife trade

Wild Meat Is Still on the Menu: Progress in Wild Meat Research, Policy, and Practice from 2002 to 2020

Several hundred species are hunted for wild meat in the tropics, supporting the diets, customs, and livelihoods of millions of people. However, unsustainable hunting is one of the most urgent threats to wildlife and ecosystems worldwide and has serious ramifications for people whose subsistence and income are tied to wild meat. Over the past 18 years, although research efforts have increased, scientific knowledge has largely not translated into action. One major barrier to progress has been insufficient monitoring and evaluation, meaning that the effectiveness of interventions cannot be ascertained. Emerging issues include the difficulty of designing regulatory frameworks that disentangle the different purposes of hunting, the large scale of urban consumption, and the implications of wild meat consumption for human health. To address these intractable challenges, wepropose eight new recommendations for research and action for sustainable wild meat use, which would support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Additional co-authors: Donald Midoko Iponga, Nguyễn Văn Minh, Thais Q. Morcatty, Robert Mwinyihali, Robert Nasi, Vincent Nijman, Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, Freddy Pattiselanno, Carlos A. Peres, Madhu Rao, John G. Robinson, J. Marcus Rowcliffe, Ciara Stafford, Miriam Supuma, Francis Nchembi Tarla, Nathalie van Vliet, Michelle Wielan