Abstract
Widespread bushmeat hunting represents one of the major threats to many mammals and birds in Africa. We studied the influence of illegal bushmeat hunting on large grassland birds in the Serengeti National Park (SNP) and adjoining protected areas, by using the ostrich (Struthio camelus) as a case study. First, we documented illegal hunting of both small and large birds by using a questionnaire in the villages on the western and eastern side of the SNP. Second, we studied the effect of illegal hunting on density by driving 4,659 km of transects inside SNP and on the adjacent protected areas, where the data were analysed by DISTANCE sampling. Last, we used flight initiation distance (FID, i.e. the distance between an approaching predator (human) and prey when flight is started), to assess possible impacts on behaviour from illegal hunting. We found that people from the western side of the SNP admitted to hunting both small and large grassland birds, and collect ostrich feathers and eggs. Although the Maasai also hunted small birds, only ostrich feathers and eggs of the large grassland birds were used. Surprisingly, we found no significant differences in densities between the SNP and adjoining partially protected areas, but ostriches had longer FID to an approaching human outside the SNP. Currently illegal hunting does not appear to affect the ostrich population, but given the extensive use of birds for consumption more awareness educational programs accompanied by provision of agricultural incentives within the protected areas are needed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anstey S (1991) Wildlife utilisation in Liberia. WWF/FDA Wildlife Survey Report
Barnett R (2000) Food for thought. The utilization of wild meat in eastern and southern Africa. TRAFFIC east/southern Africa. Nairobi, Kenya, p 264
Bertram BCR (1992) The ostrich communal nesting system. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Blumstein DT (2003) Flight initiation distance in birds is dependent on intruder starting distance. J Wildl Manag 67:852–857. doi:10.2307/3802692
Blumstein DT (2006) Developing an evolutionary ecology of fear: how life history and natural history traits affect disturbance tolerance in birds. Anim Behav 71:389–399. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.05.010
Blumstein DT, Fernández-Juricic E, Zoller PA et al (2005) Interspecific variation in anti-predator behaviour and human-wildlife coexistence. J Appl Ecol 42:943–953. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01071.x
Boone RB, Galvin KA, Thornton PK et al (2006) Cultivation and conservation in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. Hum Ecol 34:809–828. doi:10.1007/s10745-006-9031-3
Buckland ST, Anderson DR, Burnham KP et al (2001) Introduction to distance sampling–estimating the abundance of biological populations. Oxford University Press, New York
Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer, New York
Campbell KLI, Borner M (1995) Population trends and distribution of Serengeti herbivores: implications for management. In: Sinclair ARE, Arcese P (eds) Serengeti II—dynamics, management and conservation of an ecosystem.. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 117–145
Campbell K, Hofer H (1995) People and wildlife: spatial dynamics and zones of interaction. In: Sinclair ARE, Arcese P (eds) Serengeti II: dynamics, management and conservation of an ecosystem. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 534–570
Caro TM (1999) Densities of mammals in partially protected areas: the Katavi ecosystem of western Tanzania. J Appl Ecol 36:205–217. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2664.1999.00392.x
Caro TM, Pelkey N, Borner M et al (1998) Consequences of different forms of conservation for large mammals in Tanzania: preliminary analyses. Afr J Ecol 36:303–320. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2028.1998.00147.x
Caro TM, Rejmánek M, Pelkey N (2000) Which mammals benefit from protection in East Africa. In: Entwistle A, Dunstone N (eds) Priorities for the conservation of mammalian diversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 221–227
Crawley MJ (2002) Statistical computing: an introduction to data analysis using S-plus. Wiley, England
de Boer HY, van Breukelen L, Hootsmans MJM et al (2004) Flight distance in roe deer Capreolus capreolus and fallow deer Dama dama as related to hunting and other factors. Wildl Biol 10:35–41
Dublin HT, Sinclair ARE, Boutin S et al (1990) Does competition regulate ungulate populations? Further evidence from Serengeti, Tanzania. Oecologia 82:283–288. doi:10.1007/BF00323546
Fernádez-Juricic E, Schröeder N (2003) Do variations in scanning behaviour affect tolerance to human disturbance? Appl Anim Behav Sci 84:219–234. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2003.08.004
Fernández-Juricic E, Blumstein DT, Abrica G et al (2006) Relationships of anti-predator escape and post-escape with body mass and morphology: a comparative avian study. Evol Ecol Res 8:731–752
Fjeldsa J (1999) The impact of human forest disturbance on the endemic avifauna of the Udzungwa mountains, Tanzania. Bird Conserv Int 9:47–62
Gaston KJ, Blackburn TM (1995) Birds, body size and the threat of extinction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B 347:205–212. doi:10.1098/rstb.1995.0022
Giazi F, Ciofolo I, Alves K (2006) In favour of reintroducing the Niger ostrich (Struthio camelus) into the Air-Tenere reserve (Air-Niger massif). Rev Geogr Alp-J Alp Res 94:17–25
Herlocker D (1976) Woody vegetation of the Serengeti National Park College Station. Texas A and M University, Texas
Herremanns M (1998) Conservation status of birds in Botswana in relation to land use. Biol Conserv 86:139–160. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00016-0
Hofer H, Campbell KLI, East ML et al (1996) The impact of game meat hunting on target and non-target species in the Serengeti. In: Taylor J, Dunstone N (eds) The exploitation of mammal populations. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 117–146
Holmern T, Røskaft E, Mbaruka J et al (2002) Uneconomical game cropping in a community-based conservation project outside the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Oryx 36:364–372. doi:10.1017/S0030605302000716
Holmern T, Johannesen AB, Mbaruka J et al (2004) Human-wildlife conflicts and hunting in the western Serengeti, Tanzania. NINA Report 26. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim
Hugo S, van Rensburg BJ (2008) The maintenance of a positive spatial correlation between South African bird species richness and human population density. Glob Ecol Biogeogr. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00391.x
Kaltenborn BJ, Nyahongo JW, Tingstad KM (2005) The nature of hunting around the western corridor of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Eur J Wildl Res 51:213–222. doi:10.1007/s10344-005-0109-9
Kikula IS (1980) Landsat satellite data for vegetation mapping in Tanzania: the case of the Rukwa region. Bureau of resource assessment and land use planning, Research Report No 41, University of Dar es Salaam
Lawes MJ, Fly S, Piper SE (2006) Gamebird vulnerability to forest fragmentation: patch occupancy of the crested guineafowl (Guttera edouardi) in Afromontane forests. Anim Conserv 9:67–74. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2005.00006.x
Loibooki M, Hofer H, Campbell KLI et al (2002) Bushmeat hunting by communities adjacent to the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: the importance of livestock ownership and alternative sources of protein and income. Environ Conserv 29:391–398. doi:10.1017/S0376892902000279
Lord A, Waas JR, Innes J et al (2001) Effects of human approaches to nests of northern New Zealand Dotterels. Biol Conserv 98:233–240. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00158-0
Manu S, Peach W, Cresswell W (2007) The effects of edge, fragmentation size and degree of isolation on avian species richness in highly fragmented forest in West Africa. Ibis 149:287–297. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00628.x
Matson TK, Goldizen AW, Putland DA (2005) Factors affecting vigilance and flight behaviour in impalas. S Afr J Wildl Res 35:1–11
Ostrowski S, Massalatchi MS, Mamane M (2001) Evidence of a dramatic decline of the red-necked ostrich Struthio camelus camelus in the air and tenere national nature reserve, Niger. Oryx 35:349–352. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3008.2001.00205.x
Pelkey NW, Stoner CJ, Caro TM (2000) Vegetation in Tanzania: assessing long term trends and effects of protection using satellite imagery. Biol Conserv 94:297–309. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(99)00195-0
R Development Core Team (2006) R language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical computing, Vienna
Rodger JA, Smith HT (1997) Set-back distances to protect nesting colonies from human disturbance in Florida. Conserv Biol 9:89–99. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09010089.x
Runyan AM, Blumstein DT (2004) Do individual differences influence flight initiation distance? J Wildl Manag 68:1124–1129. doi:10.2193/0022-541X(2004)068[1124:DIDIFI]2.0.CO;2
Rusch G, Stokke S, Røskaft E et al (2005) Human-wildlife interactions in western Serengeti, Tanzania. Effects of land management on migratory routes and mammal population densities. NINA Report 85. Trondheim, Norway, p 47
Sakamoto Y, Ishiguro M, Kitawaga G (1986) Akaike information criterion statistics. KTK Scientific Publishers, Tokyo
Setsaas TH, Holmern T, Mwakalebe G et al (2007) How does human exploitation affect impala populations in protected and partially protected areas? A case study from the Serengeti Ecosystem, Tanzania. Biol Conserv 136:563–570. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.01.001
Sinclair ARE, Mduma SAR, Arcese P (2002) Protected areas as biodiversity benchmarks for human impact: agriculture and the Serengeti avifauna. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 269:2401–2405. doi:10.1098/rspb.2002.2116
Stankowich T, Blumstein DT (2005) Fear in animals: a meta-analysis and review of risk assessment. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 272:2627–2634. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3251
Stevenson T, Fanshawe J (2002) Field guide to the birds of East Africa. T & A D Poyser Ltd, London
Thiel D, Menoni E, Brenot JF et al (2007) Effects of recreation and hunting on flushing distance of capercaillie. J Wildl Manag 71:1784–1792. doi:10.2193/2006-268
Thiollay JM (2006a) Large bird declines with increasing human pressure in savanna woodlands (Burkina Faso). Biodivers Conserv 15:2085–2108. doi:10.1007/s10531-004-6684-3
Thiollay JM (2006b) Severe decline of large birds in the Northern Sahel of West Africa: a long-term assessment. Bird Conserv Int 16:353–365. doi:10.1017/S0959270906000487
Thiollay JM (2006c) The decline of raptors in West Africa: long term assessment and the role of protected areas. Ibis 148:240–254
Thomas L, Laake JL, Strindberg S et al. (2006) Distance 5.0. Release 2. Research unit for wildlife population assessment, University of St. Andrews, UK. http://www.ruwpa.st-and.ac.uk/distance/. Cited 15 Dec 2007
WRI (World Resource Institute) (2005) Earth trends data tables: biodiversity and protected areas, Washington, DC, World Resource Institute. http://www.earthtrends.wri.org/country_profiles/index.php?theme=7. Accessed 2 March 2007
Ydenberg RC, Dill LM (1986) The economics of fleeing from predators. Adv Stud Behav 16:229–249. doi:10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60192-8
Acknowledgements
This study would not have been successful without funds from the World Bank sponsored Lower Kihansi Environmental Management Project. We thank G. Mwakalebe, N. Masawe, J. Kabondo, O. Mwakabejela and R. Sortland for their excellent field assistance. Thanks are also due to C. Melis and T. H. Setsaas for helping us with some of the statistics, and Frank Hanssen and Graciela Rusch for providing data on the vegetation. Thanks to Asanterabi Lowassa for assisting with administering the questionnaires. We would also like to thank TANAPA for granting permission to work in the SNP and its people for being cooperative during the whole period of data collection. Finally we would like to acknowledge the cooperation and kindness of all TAWIRI people at the headquarters and Seronera Research Centre.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Magige, F.J., Holmern, T., Stokke, S. et al. Does illegal hunting affect density and behaviour of African grassland birds? A case study on ostrich (Struthio camelus). Biodivers Conserv 18, 1361–1373 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9481-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9481-6