Trophy Hunting and Possible Source-Sink Dynamics in Protected Areas: Insights from Trophy Size and Offtake Patterns in Southeast Zimbabwe

Abstract

Developing harvest management strategies in designated hunting areas requires systematic and robust monitoring. We assessed the trophy size, quota utilization, and distribution of kill sites of African elephant, Cape buffalo, greater kudu, and leopard for the period 2007-2014 in Malapati Safari Area, southeast Zimbabwe. Trophy sizes for African elephant significantly increased over time albeit being below the expected minimum Safari Club International (SCI) score. Cape buffalo trophy sizes declined significantly over time but were not different from the SCI minimum score. However, greater kudu trophy sizes were higher than the SCI minimum score despite being constant over time. Leopard trophy sizes were higher than the SCI minimum score and increased with time. Quota utilization for African elephant and Cape buffalo increased while that of greater kudu and leopard did not change between 2007 and 2014. Some kill sites, in particular, for the African elephant and Cape buffalo, were within the buffer area with the state protected area, i.e., Gonarezhou National Park. Increased hunting pressure likely leads to poor trophy quality and hunting within the protected buffer areas. In contrast, effective adherence to hunting ethics and scientifically and conservatively set quotas largely does not compromise the trophy quality of harvested species. The observed trophy size patterns and kill sites distribution suggest the possible existence of source and sink dynamics of trophy species occurring in a protected area complex within the Zimbabwe’s component of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. To ensure sustainable trophy hunting in the study area and similar ecosystems the following are recommended: (i) scientifically robust, adaptable, and participatory quota setting process, (ii) enhanced adherence to good practice in terms of ethical hunting conduct, and (iii) development of a robust hunting monitoring system covering all elements of hunting for adaptive wildlife management.

Trophy quality trends and hunting effort of selected big game in Chewore South Safari Area, northern Zimbabwe, 2009–2012

“…A regression analysis was used to analyse trends in trophy size across the study species and over years following von Brandis and Reilly ( 2008 ). Trophy size value of each of the recorded four big game species was divided by the respective minimum trophy size required to determine the hunting effort and quota set to ensure sustainable off-take (Jeke et al 2019 ). We expressed the total number of harvested individuals for each of the four big species per given year from the corresponding allocated quota as percentage quota utilization using the formula: (Hunting success = [Total harvested/Total quota] × 100) (Jeke et al 2019 ).…”

“…Trophy size value of each of the recorded four big game species was divided by the respective minimum trophy size required to determine the hunting effort and quota set to ensure sustainable off-take (Jeke et al 2019 ). We expressed the total number of harvested individuals for each of the four big species per given year from the corresponding allocated quota as percentage quota utilization using the formula: (Hunting success = [Total harvested/Total quota] × 100) (Jeke et al 2019 ). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the variation in hunting effort for each species over the years in STATISTICA version 10 for Windows (StatSoft 2010 ).…”

Effects of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal in Finnish black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix)

“…Particularly when individuals are targeted on the basis of specific traits, hunting can have consequences for population genetics (Allendorf et al, 2008 ). Selective harvesting is known to induce phenotypic changes (Allendorf & Hard, 2009 ; Coltman et al, 2003 ; Fenberg & Roy, 2008 ; Grift et al, 2003 ; Jeke et al, 2019 ; Proaktor et al, 2007 ; although see Festa‐Bianchet, 2017 for the limitations of hunting‐induced evolution). Furthermore, selective harvesting can unintentionally select for or against other heritable traits or genetic variants that might be important for population persistence (Harris et al, 2002 ).…”