The international trade in African lion (Panthera leo): ethics and evidence

A complex nexus of concerns is often attendant upon cases of international trade in wildlife products. Concerns may include: species conservation, livelihoods, personal freedoms, animal welfare, and politics. Regulatory decision-making regarding wildlife trade is rarely straight-forward, given the multitude of (often conflicting) perspectives manifest in such debates. The international trade in African lion (Panthera leo) skeletons, of which over 6000 have been legally exported from South Africa to Asia since 2008, is used as a case study of a multi-faceted contemporary wildlife trade debate. This thesis examines the lion skeleton trade debate both for insight into public decision-making in wildlife trade regulation and with the aim of contributing empirical information to further understanding of the trade in lion skeletons and body-parts. The thesis begins analysis of the lion skeleton trade in Chapter 1 by outlining major arguments present in the lion skeleton debate and demonstrates the inherently ethical nature of the debate, whilst showing how the use of formal argument analysis can provide clarity in public decision-making. To achieve this Chapter 1 details 10 generalisable lessons that can be applied to any ethical analysis. Through argument analysis a number of empirical information gaps in lion trade debate arguments were identified. Three of these gaps are addressed in the thesis’ central chapters. Firstly, in Chapter 2, I investigate preferences for lion or tiger (P. tigris) bone wine products from farmed or wild sources amongst the urban public in the consumer countries of China and Vietnam, and tested for the effect of demographic and attitudinal variables on those preferences for bone wines. Results indicate that tiger is greatly preferred over lion and that for second choices of bone wine product respondents will elect to switch between species over changing the farmed or wild origin. I discuss the findings in the context of the potential for farmed lion bone to reduce exploitation of wild felids. I then, in Chapter 3, looked to field reports of lion mortalities to assess the extent of targeted illegal killing of wild lions for bones and body parts, and explore trends over time, in two major lion population strongholds: finding that the majority of body part removals were opportunistic and there was no evidence for systemic targeted killings of lions. Finally, in Chapter 4, I focused on concerns surrounding the differentiation of wild from captive-bred lion bone and tested whether an emerging technology, DART mass spectrometry, could be used to distinguish between such sources of lion bone. Preliminary analysis showed that DART mass spectrometry could be used to differentiate between a batch of captive-bred lion bones and a batch of wild bones: indicating that this technology has potential for use in the investigation and regulation of captive-bred lion bone trade. I therefore discuss the results with regard to the enforcement of legal lion bone trade. Following exploration of new empirical information, I return in Chapter 5 to consideration of decision-making and regulation of the lion skeleton trade. I argue that the lion trade debate typifies decision-making under deep uncertainty; whereby conclusions of arguments are rendered perpetually uncertain due to the complexity and unboundedness of the system in question. After the revelation of deep uncertainty I conclude by articulating sets of values which I believe would best benefit from adjudication in the making of future policy decisions regarding lion farming and trade. </p

Wildlife collections of Royal Palace Museums in The West Region of Cameroon with a focus on wildlife conservation

The royal palace museums of the Grassfields’ Kingdoms of West Region of Cameroon are well recognized for the preservation of culturally significant objects and practices. To date, the role of palace museums in wildlife conservation has received little consideration. Herein, a preliminary study into the animalbased artefacts of palace museums from a wildlife conservation perspective is presented. A total of 11 chiefdom palace museums in the West Region of Cameroon were surveyed and the animal species represented in their exhibitions recorded. Parts of 32 different animal species, including locally extinct large mammals such as lion, cheetah, chimpanzee, and elephant were found. The primary purpose for inclusion of specimens in palace museums was for preservation of culture. However, potential wildlife conservation focused uses to which palace museums may also put their collections are discussed herein

Abundance of larger mammals in Dinder National Park, Sudan

Wildlife is in decline across Africa, particularly in the Sudan-Sahel savanna. An important but little-studied area on the eastern reaches of this biome is Dinder National Park in Sudan. In March 2021, we conducted a distance sampling survey in its ~ 3000 km2 core area around the main Gelego camp, walking a total of 56 line transects over a cumulative distance of 273 km. We calculated the densities of those species with over 20 independent detections using the best-performing model. The most abundant wild species recorded were the olive baboon (25.0 ind/km2) and common warthog (7.3 ind/km2), while the bohor reedbuck (2.1 ind/km2) and oribi (1.9 ind/km2) were the most abundant ungulates. Our survey confirmed the illegal presence of large cattle herds inside Dinder (10.7 ind/km2). The substantial ungulate densities in the core area support regionally important populations of large carnivores, making this one of the best functioning ecosystems in the region. When compared to historical unpublished data from the waterhole and road counts, we detected a declining trend in wildlife numbers over the past 5 decades. We call for improved wildlife monitoring and conservation actions to protect this important ecosystem and for increased efforts to extend effective protection beyond the core area of Dinder

Preferences for lion and tiger bone wines amongst the urban public in China and Vietnam

A controversial, multifaceted debate surrounds the trade in commercially captive-bred (farmed) lion skeletons. A prominent topic relates to relative preferences for tiger and lion bone in Asian consumer countries. To contribute preliminary information on this subject we conducted the first quantitative study to assess the consumer preferences of the urban public in China and Vietnam for lion versus tiger and wild versus farmed bone wine products. Using an online questionnaire we ranked respondents’ stated preference for wild tiger, farmed tiger, wild lion, and farmed lion bone, and tested for the effect of demographic and attitudinal variables on product preferences. Our findings indicate that in both China and Vietnam tiger bone wine is greatly preferred over lion bone wine, and that respondents showed high levels of fidelity to their choice of farmed or wild designation across species. We emphasise the real-world complexity of lion and tiger bone product interactions and highlight opportunities for further in-depth study

Deep uncertainty, public reason, the conservation of biodiversity and the regulation of markets for lion skeletons

Public reason is a formal concept in political theory. There is a need to better understand how public reason might be elicited in making public decisions that involve deep uncertainty, which arises from pernicious and gross ignorance about how a system works, the boundaries of a system, and the relative value (or disvalue) of various possible outcomes. This article is the third in a series to demonstrate how ethical argument analysis—a qualitative decision-making aid—may be used to elicit public reason in the presence of deep uncertainty. The first article demonstrated how argument analysis is capable of probing deep into a single argument. The second article demonstrated how argument analysis can analyze a broad set of arguments and how argument analysis can be operationalized for use as a decision-making aid. This article demonstrates (i) the relevance of argument analysis to public reasoning, (ii) the relevance of argument analysis for decision-making under deep uncertainty, an emerging direction in decision theory, and (iii) how deep uncertainty can arise when the boundary between facts and values is inescapably entangled. This article and the previous two make these demonstrations using, as an example, the conservation and sustainable use of lions

Wars over wildlife: green militarisation and just war theory

Militarisation of conservation (sometimes known as 'green militarisation') is an issue of growing international interest. Rhino horn is immensely valuable (in 2013 its value exceeded that of gold or cocaine), and its illegal trade has attracted widespread attention. Conservationists have declared a 'war' on poaching, with extensive military resources deployed to combat it. This sometimes includes operations which are referred to, particularly in the media, as 'shoot-to-kill'. These can be tantamount to extra-judicial killings. We scrutinise this issue using 'Just War' principles, to explore whether the 'war' on poaching meets the criteria expected of armed conflict. Our perspective suggests that it fails both ethical and pragmatic examination. This piece encourages conservation scientists, and the public, to consider which actions are justified in protecting wildlife, and how we should rethink conservation policy to achieve ethical, successful outcomes for both people and wildlife

Deep uncertainty, public reason, the conservation of biodiversity and the regulation of markets for lion skeletons

Public reason is a formal concept in political theory. There is a need to better understand how public reason might be elicited in making public decisions that involve deep uncertainty, which arises from pernicious and gross ignorance about how a system works, the boundaries of a system, and the relative value (or disvalue) of various possible outcomes. This article is the third in a series to demonstrate how ethical argument analysis—a qualitative decision-making aid—may be used to elicit public reason in the presence of deep uncertainty. The first article demonstrated how argument analysis is capable of probing deep into a single argument. The second article demonstrated how argument analysis can analyze a broad set of arguments and how argument analysis can be operationalized for use as a decision-making aid. This article demonstrates (i) the relevance of argument analysis to public reasoning, (ii) the relevance of argument analysis for decision-making under deep uncertainty, an emerging direction in decision theory, and (iii) how deep uncertainty can arise when the boundary between facts and values is inescapably entangled. This article and the previous two make these demonstrations using, as an example, the conservation and sustainable use of lions

The ethics of human-animal relationships and public discourse: A case study of lions bred for their bones

Conservation and natural resource management are increasingly attending the ethical elements of public decisions. Ethical considerations are challenging, in part, because they typically require accounting for the moral consideration of various human and nonhuman forms of life, whose interests sometimes conflict (or seem to conflict). A valuable tool for such evaluations is the formal analysis of ethical arguments. An ethical argument is a collection of premises, logically interrelated, to yield a conclusion that can be expressed in the form, "We ought to…" According to the rules of logic, a conclusion is supported by an argument if all its premises are true or appropriate and when it contains no mistaken inferences. We showed how the formal analysis of ethical arguments can be used to engage stakeholders and decision-makers in decision-making processes. We summarised the method with ten specific guidelines that would be applicable to any case. We illustrated the technique using a case study focused on captive-bred lions, the skeletons of which form part of an international trade to supply traditional medicine markets in Southeast Asia with felid bones. As a matter of public policy, the practice is a complicated nexus of concerns for entrepreneurial freedom, wildlife conservation, and the fair treatment of animals

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

Diario de Burgos : de avisos y noticias: Año XXXII Número 9615 - 1922 octubre 21

Copia digital. España : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria, 201