IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Balme, G.; Hunter, L.; Goodman, P.; Ferguson, H.; Craigie, J.; Hughes, S.; de Jager, S.; Slotow, R. | |
| A Model for Sustainable Trophy Hunting of Leopards in South Africa | |
| 2007 Conference Proceeding | |
Leopards are highly sought-after as a trophy hunting species in Africa yet there is still remarkably little scientific input on the allocation of harvest quotas and the implementation of hunting practices. In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, we show that an uneven distribution of hunting effort contributed towards high mortality rates and low recruitment in a nominally protected leopard population. Against this backdrop, we developed a revised protocol for the trophy hunting of leopards in the province, which has since been adopted by the local statutory authority. The revised protocol is based on five key recommendations: (1) limiting the number of CITES tags allocated in the province to five each year, (2) evenly distributing the allocation of permits across the province, (3) allocating applications for leopard hunts to individual properties rather than hunting outfitters, (4) linking the likelihood of obtaining a tag to the size of the property, and (5) restricting the trophy hunting of leopards to adult males. This protocol represents the first scientifically rigorous effort to ensure the sustainable trophy hunting of leopards and, as such, has potential to act as a model for the hunting of the species where currently permitted or proposed across its range. |
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