IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Lindsey, P.A.; Romanach, S.S.; Davies-Mostert, H.T. | |
| A synthesis of early indicators of the drivers of predator conservation on private lands in South Africa | |
| 2009 Book Chapter | |
Legislative changes granting user rights to landowners over wildlife occurring on their land have resulted in a large-scale land-use shift from livestock farming to game ranching in southern Africa. These changes have resulted in significant benefits for wildlife conservation in general, but had more questionable outcomes for predator conservation. While predators have been widely reintroduced onto private game reserves, persecution of free-ranging predators on game ranch land is commonplace. Prospects for conserving predators are poor where land uses involve livestock or the consumptive utilization of wildlife (particularly where high proportions of ungulate populations are utilized annually). Conversely, effective predator conservation is most likely where the financial costs associated with having predators are low, and where the financial and ecological benefits associated with conserving them are high. These conditions are commonly met in conservancies where multiple landowners remove internal game fencing to create larger wildlife areas. On conservancies, the most viable land uses are typically ecotourism or low off-take trophy hunting. Under these conditions, predators are key draw cards for tourists and hunters, the financial costs associated with predators are low, and predators play an important ecological role by controlling prey populations. Efforts to promote the conservation status of predators on private land in southern Africa should focus on encouraging the formation of conservancies to increase the area available for predator reintroductions and to provide more areas where natural recolonization by large predators is tolerated. Encouragingly, there are several financial and ecological incentives for landowners to form conservancies, with the effect that a trend towards conservancy formation is likely and that prospects for predator conservation on private land in southern Africa may improve. |
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