Spatially explicit camera trap‐based lion monitoring in Tanzania's Selous–Nyerere landscape

Recent years have seen the emergence of spatially explicit capture‐recapture (SECR) modeling as the recommended tool to monitor lion populations. In this study, we apply this method to camera trap data collected within Tanzania's Selous–Nyerere landscape, which is considered one of the species' few remaining strongholds in Africa. We estimated lion population density through SECR modeling of camera trap data from seven sites within Nyerere National Park (NP) and Selous Game Reserve (GR), the largest protected areas in the complex, to examine variation in lion population density. Our findings reveal lion population densities ranging from 0.33 (95% CIs: 0.12–0.91) lions over 1 year of age per 100 km2 in the dry eastern Miguruwe sector of Selous GR to 6.27 (95% CIs: 4.18–9.39) individuals over 1 year per 100 km2 in the prey‐rich lakes area of the Matambwe sector of Nyerere NP. Dry season lion density in the system appears to be primarily driven by prey availability, which is itself principally determined by the productivity of miombo woodlands. However, evidence of human impacts and lower than expected densities at some sites suggest that anthropogenic pressure may be affecting Selous–Nyerere's lion population, particularly in areas close to boundaries. We show that camera trap‐based monitoring combined with SECR can be a valuable tool to monitor lion populations in remote areas, particularly as it allows for simultaneous monitoring of other large carnivores, provides insights into wider mammal communities, aids the identification of threats, and can form the basis of sustainable offtake quotas. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of direct monitoring to understand how carnivore populations are faring and inform evidence‐based conservation management

New record of strawberry leopard ( Panthera pardus ) in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

Strawberry or red leopards are a rare colour morph of leopard (Panthera pardus) characterised by spot markings that are red or brown instead of black, thought to be a result of a mutation in the tyrosinase‐related protein (TYRP1) gene. We report the first record of this phenotype on the African continent outside of South Africa, from Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania. One female leopard with strawberry colouration was documented out of 373 individual leopards (0.3%) identified through camera trap surveys conducted from 2020 to 2022 over a combined area of more than 4600 km2 in the Nyerere‐Selous landscape

Phylogeography and conservation genomics of the African lion (Panthera leo) at a continental and local scale based on mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers

Presented at the 9th international wildlife ranching symposium: wildlife - the key to prosperity for rural communities, held on 12-16 September 2016 at Hotel Safari & the Safari Court, Windhoek, Namibia.The African lion (Panthera leo) is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List, mainly threatened by indiscriminate killing, primarily as a result of retaliatory or pre-emptive killing to protect human life and livestock, and prey base depletion. Habitat loss and conversion has led to a number of subpopulations becoming small and isolated. With the weakened connectivity between the main strongholds, genetic drift and loss of genetic diversity could affect the genetic health of the species. In the present study, we investigated the evolutionary history of the species at different scales of time and space. A total of 182 samples were used, including a larger number of 77 samples from Tanzanian protected areas. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was sequenced and the specimens were genotyped for 11 microsatellites and more than 9,000 SNPs. The preliminary results indicate that the lion is structured into two lineages at the continental scale (West-Central vs South-Eastern), a pattern observed within many other large African savanna species displaying large distribution ranges. Pleistocene climatic oscillations and biogeographical barriers were proposed as the main factors to have driven the lineage sorting. The first results based on microsatellites highlighted that the Tanzanian population displayed good level of genetic diversities with no signs of inbreeding. Indication of isolation-by-distance nevertheless highlighted a potential future impact of fragmentation on the population genetic health. SNPs allowed to identify 3 populations of lions in Tanzania, geographically structured. Using various molecular markers, the present work will further explore the taxonomy and the evolutionary history of the African lion for bringing insights in its conservation requirements

Commercially-driven lion part removal: what is the evidence from mortality records?

Trade-driven killing for body parts has long been a major cause of population decline for a number of big cat species. There are now worrying suggestions that commercialised illegal trade in body parts might become a threat for wild lions in Africa, and recent concerns have been raised that trade in captive-bred lion skeletons from South Africa may have stimulated demand for lion bones, claws, and teeth and thus incentivised commercially-driven, targeted poaching of wild lions for illegal trade. However, analysis of the prevalence of commercially-driven, targeted killing of lions for body parts is currently lacking for most major lion populations. In this study we make use of detailed, long-term records of mortality and body part removal from field sites in two of Africa’s lion population strongholds, the Hwange National Park and surrounds, Zimbabwe, within the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area and the Ruaha landscape in Tanzania, to evaluate potential cases of commercially-driven part removal and targeted killings. We find no evidence of systemic targeted killing of lions for commercial trade at either site and suggest that the majority of part removals are opportunistic and culturally-driven. Nevertheless, we stress the requirement for vigilance around the issue of lion trade and support the development of further range-wide capacity to record wild lion mortality and body part removal data

Camera trapping and spatially explicit capture–recapture for the monitoring and conservation management of lions: Insights from a globally important population in Tanzania

1. Accurate and precise estimates of population status are required to inform and evaluate conservation management and policy interventions. Although the lion (Panthera leo) is a charismatic species receiving increased conservation attention, robust status estimates are lacking for most populations. While for many large carnivores population density is often estimated through spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) applied to camera trap data, the lack of pelage patterns in lions has limited the application of this technique to the species. 2. Here, we present one of the first applications of this methodology to lion, in Tanzania's Ruaha-Rungwa landscape, a stronghold for the species for which no empirical estimates of status are available. We deployed four camera trap grids across habitat and land management types, and we identified individual lions through whisker spots, scars and marks, and multiple additional features. 3. Double-blind identification revealed low inter-observer variation in photo identification (92% agreement), due to the use of xenon-flash cameras and consistent framing and angles of photographs. 4. Lion occurred at highest densities in a prey-rich area of Ruaha National Park (6.12 ± SE 0.94 per 100 km2), and at relatively high densities (4.06 ± SE 1.03 per 100 km2) in a community-managed area of similar riparian-grassland habitat. Miombo woodland in both photographic and trophy hunting areas sustained intermediate lion densities (1.75 ± SE 0.62 and 2.25 ± SE 0.52 per 100 km2, respectively). These are the first spatially explicit density estimates for lion in Tanzania, including the first for a trophy hunting and a community-managed area, and also provide some of the first insights into lion status in understudied miombo habitats. 5. We discuss in detail the methodology employed, the potential for scaling-up over larger areas, and its limitations. We suggest that the method can be an important tool for lion monitoring and explore the implications of our findings for lion management.</p

Phylogeography and conservation genomics of the African lion (<i>Panthera leo</i>) at a continental and local scale based on mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers

The African lion (Panthera leo) is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, mainly threatened by indiscriminate killing, primarily as a result of retaliatory or pre-emptive killing to protect human life and livestock, and prey base depletion. Habitat loss and conversion has led to a number of subpopulations becoming small and isolated. With the weakened connectivity between the main strongholds, genetic drift and loss of genetic diversity could affect the genetic health of the species. In the present study, we investigated the evolutionary history of the species at different scales of time and space. A total of 182 samples were used, including a larger number of 77 samples from Tanzanian protected areas. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was sequenced and the specimens were genotyped for 11 microsatellites and more than 9,000 SNPs. The preliminary results indicate that the lion is structured into two lineages at the continental scale (West-Central vs South-Eastern), a pattern observed within many other large African savanna species displaying large distribution ranges. Pleistocene climatic oscillations and biogeographical barriers were proposed as the main factors to have driven the lineage sorting. The first results based on microsatellites highlighted that the Tanzanian population displayed good level of genetic diversities with no signs of inbreeding. Indication of isolation-by-distance nevertheless highlighted a potential future impact of fragmentation on the population genetic health. SNPs allowed to identify 3 populations of lions in Tanzania, geographically structured. Using various molecular markers, the present work will further explore the taxonomy and the evolutionary history of the African lion for bringing insights in its conservation requirements

Resolving the shallow population structure of the African Lion (<i>Panthera leo</i>) in Tanzania through genomics

The African lion (Panthera leo) is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. The species is mainly threatened by indiscriminate killing, primarily as a result of retaliatory or pre-emptive killing to protect human life and livestock, and by prey base depletion. In addition, habitat loss and its conversion into farmland have led to a number of subpopulations becoming small and isolated. As a consequence of the weakened connectivity between the main strongholds, genetic drift and loss of genetic diversity could affect the long-term survival of the species. In the present study, we investigated the evolutionary history of P. leo at different temporal and spatial scales. A total of 182 individuals were used, 77 of which came from Tanzanian protected areas. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was sequenced and the specimens were genotyped for 11 microsatellites and more than 9,000 SNPs through the Genotyping by Sequencing methodology. Results indicate that the African lion is structured into two lineages at the continental scale (West-Central vs South-Eastern), a pattern observed within many other large savanna species displaying large distribution ranges. Pleistocene climatic oscillations and biogeographical barriers were proposed as the main factors to have driven the lineage sorting. The SNPs in addition, allowed for the identification of 3 lion populations in Tanzania (STRUCTURE), geographically structured between the North, South and West-Southern regions. Overall, the Tanzanian populations displayed good levels of genetic diversity with limited signs of inbreeding, while their effective population sizes were shown to have been decreasing over the last 70 generations. Since the uncovered population structure did not seem to emerge from isolation-by-distance (IBD, spatial autocorrelation) and was shown to be of recent origin (DIYABC), recent land conversion and agricultural activities appear to best explain the genetic population differentiation within the African lion of Tanzania. Using various molecular markers, the present work will further explore the evolutionary history of the species to bring new insights in its conservation requirements