ica

e largely0 the bestnside andmmarizedfor lion

tt limiteacutes agravetre 1 200 etpulationsns de lionsternationaleeur de leur

C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118

Research needs for lion conservation in West and Central Afr

Hans Baueralowast Hans H De Iongha Frank PG Princeacuteeb Daniel Ngantouc

a Centre of Environmental Science Leiden University PO Box 9518 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlandsb Foundation Dutch Zoos Help PO Box 20164 1000 HD Amsterdam The Netherlands

c IUCN Regional Office for Central Africa BP 5506 Yaoundeacute Cameroon

Abstract

The lion has historically probably been widespread at low densities in West and Central Africa nowadays they arrestricted to small isolated populations inside protected areas The total number is probably between 1200 and 270possible guesstimate would be 1700 Mankind is the main cause for the suspected decline of lion populations both ioutside protected areas Very little research has been done on West and Central African lions a few examples are suhere The international community is slowly becoming aware of threats to lions in the region and some initiativesconservation have startedTo cite this article H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) 2003 Acadeacutemie des sciences Published by Eacuteditions scientifiques et meacutedicales Elsevier SAS All rights reserved

Reacutesumeacute

Les recherches neacutecessaires agrave la conservation du lion en Afrique Centrale et de lrsquoOuest Les lions nrsquoont eacuteteacute historiquemenpreacutesents en Afrique Centrale et Occidentale qursquoagrave de faibles densiteacutes et de nos jours ils apparaissent majoritairemende petites populations confineacutees dans des aires proteacutegeacutees Les estimations de la population totale sont comprises en2 700 individus avec 1 700 comme valeur la plus probable Lrsquohomme est la cause principale du deacuteclin preacutesumeacute des pode lions agrave la fois au sein et en dehors des aires proteacutegeacutees Tregraves peu de travaux ont eacuteteacute effectueacutes sur les populatiodrsquoAfrique Centrale et Occidentale et nous proposons une synthegravese des connaissances actuelles La communauteacute inprend progressivement conscience des menaces auxquelles les lions sont confronteacutes et quelques initiatives en favconservation ont deacutebuteacutePour citer cet article H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) 2003 Acadeacutemie des sciences Published by Eacuteditions scientifiques et meacutedicales Elsevier SAS All rights reserved

Keywords lion West Africa Central Africa

Mots-cleacutes lion Afrique Centrale Afrique Occidentale

dnd

theeone

50sub-

1 Introduction

The lion (Panthera leo L 1758) once roamelarge parts of Africa Europe the Middle East a

Corresponding authorE-mail address bauercmlleidenunivnl (H Bauer)

1631-0691$ ndash see front matter 2003 Acadeacutemie des sciences Pureserveddoi101016S1631-0691(03)00047-7

Asia The species disappeared from Europe duringfirst century AD and from North Africa the MiddlEast and Asia between 1800 and 1950 exceptpopulation in India containing approximately 2lions of the sub-speciesP l persica The sub-specieP l africana now lives in savanna habitats across sSahara Africa [1]

blished by Eacuteditions scientifiques et meacutedicales Elsevier SAS All rights

H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118 S113

heer-ntlion

deedns000en-wnn-

li-00

in-op

st

facttesntlyisFig-subd toin

hedfor-

r of00in-allover

nwerthe

uchnglionnsreted

are

arp-tionpro-Na-mtoail-mto

on-an-ostith

sedsureere

antents isrgee-en-ingdi-onsreasing

con-)earre-

ntsult of

The African lion is classified as vulnerable on tRed List of Threatened Species of the World Consvation Union (IUCN) agriculture human settlemeand poisoning are mentioned as main threats Theis a member of the familyFelidae which is listed inappendix II of the Convention on International Train Endangered Species (CITES) Institutions involvin nature conservation do not generally focus on lio

Lion numbers were estimated at between 30and 100 000 in 1996 [1] Populations in West and Ctral Africa were then described as largely unknobut probably declining A recent unpublished invetory by the IUCN African Lion Working Group theAfrican Lion Database shows that the number ofons in Africa is more likely between 18 000 and 27 0(httpwwwafrican-lionorgald_2002pdf) Here wefocus on the West and Central African part of thatventory and describe numbers trends threats andportunities with regard to lion conservation in Weand Central Africa

2 Material and methods

The study is based on extensive inquiries thethat almost every single country was covered indicathat there are few gaps More research on curreknown lion populations will improve precision butnot expected to change the estimate substantiallyures are presented as unrounded figures excepttotals and totals which are presented as roundethe nearest 100 Only a few figures were foundliterature very few census data have been publismost are therefore based on guesstimates by inmants with knowledge of the area

3 Results and discussion

The African Lion Database estimates the numbefree ranging lions in West and Central Africa at 17(lowest and highest conceivable estimate or ldquommaxrdquo 1200ndash2700 Table 1) Fig 1 highlights thatpopulations are small and fragmented scatteredthe region

Wildlife densities in any central and west Africaecosystem have always naturally been much lothan in eastern Africa generally speaking in

-

-

order of magnitude of 500ndash2500 kgkm2 This meansthat lion densities have probably always been mlower than in other parts of the continent Followithe correlation between lean season biomass anddensity [2] it probably varied between 1 and 20 lioper 100 km2 With the increase in human pressulions have virtually disappeared from non-protecareas and lion densities in most protected areasnow below 5 lions per 100 km2

In West and Central Africa lion populations appeto be small and isolated they have virtually disapeared from non-protected areas Scarce informasuggests a decline over the last three decades intected areas illustrated by changes in four reputedtional Parks (NP) Niokolo Koba NP in Senegal fro120 to 70 [3] Comoeacute NP in Ivory Coast from 10030 (estimate based on a 70 reduction in prey avability [4]) Pedjari conservation area in Benin fro80 to 50 [5] and Waza NP in Cameroon from 10050 lions [6] (Fig 2)

31 Causes of decline

Biodiversity loss is believed to be a general andgoing regional trend associated with human expsion because of demographic growth In fact mProtected Areas were originally created in areas wabundant wildlife due to the absence of man cauby river blindness and sleeping sickness but preson those areas only started when the epidemics wcontrolled and humans expanded [7]

The main economic activity in the Sahel and Sudvegetation belts the largest part of the regional exof occurrence is extensive animal husbandry Thimainly practised in a (semi-)nomadic way over laranges [8] Human lion conflict is therefore a widspread problem with a long history Herdsmen gerally accept livestock depredation up to a varythreshold lion poaching or poisoning is not immeately practised (pers obs) Gradually however lihave progressively been restricted to protected aand their surroundings only Poaching and poisonhas probably been the main direct cause but in atext indirect human impact (on prey and on habitat

Lion populations inside protected areas also appto be declining One important cause could be thegional economic crisis The number of civil servaand their salaries decreased substantially as a res

S114 H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118

tion size

)

Table 1Lion population estimates in West and Central Africa Figures are educated guesses of likely minimum and maximum popularespectively

Region Country Ecosystem Estimate Min Max Source

North Africa All countries All ecosystems 0 0 0 [1]West Africa Benin Pendjari ecosystem 50 38 63 Tehou Di Silvestre (pers com)

Benin Remainder 20 15 25 Tehou (pers com)Burkina Faso Arly ecosystem 75 49 101 Bouche (pers com)Cote drsquoIvoire Comoe NP 30 20 40 Fischer (pers com)Gambia National 0 0 0 Pers obsGhana Gbele Reserve 10 8 13 Ghana Wildlife Society (pers com)Ghana Mole NP 20 15 25 Ghana Wildlife Society (pers com)Guinea National 200 150 250 Oulare (pers com)Guinea-Bissau DoulombiBoe NP 30 23 38 Fai (pers com)Liberia National 0 0 0 [17]Mali National 50 33 68 Moriba (pers com)Mauritania National 0 0 0 [1]Niger ldquoWrdquo NP 70 60 81 Moussa Gay (pers com)Nigeria National 200 130 270 Jenkins (pers com)Senegal Niokola Koba ecosystem 60 20 150 Burnham Diop Di Silvestre (pers comSierra Leone National 0 0 0 [17]Togo National 0 0 0 [1]Sub-total 800 600 1100

Central Africa Cameroon Benoue ecosystem 200 100 400 Aarhaug (pers com) pers obsCameroon Waza NP 50 30 70 Pers obsCentral African Republic National 300 200 500 Scholte (pers com)Chad Zakouma ecosystem 50 38 63 Scholte (pers com)Chad Remainder 100 50 150 Scholte (pers com)Congo Odzilla NP 0 0 25 Anderson Aveling (pers com)Dem Rep Congo Virunga NP 90 60 125 Languy (pers com)Dem Rep Congo Garamba NP 150 100 200 Smith Languy (pers com)Equatorial Guinea National 0 0 0 [1]Gabon National 0 0 50 [1] Henschl (pers com)Sub-total 900 600 1600

Total 1700 1200 2700

Disputed

tedge-res-iallyazainsur-ac-uc-of

rds]

fored

ory

nal

se

the Structural Adjustment Program that was adopfor economic recovery The effects on the manament of National Parks have been negative the pence of guards has considerably reduced especin the remote areas The number of guards in WNP for example dropped from 19 in 1997 to 82001 (Saleh pers comm) Road maintenanceveillance infrastructure maintenance and touristcommodations have all suffered from budget redtions In many areas authorities faced with a lackcapacity for lsquorepressiversquo management shifted towalsquoparticipatoryrsquo management in various forms [910Since the lion is a species with high propensityconflict with local people its conservation in protect

areas in West and Central Africa under participatmanagement is not easy

32 Current threats

The main direct threats mentioned during a regioworkshop were [11]

bull poachingpoisoning for livestock protectionbull poachingpoisoning for commercialtraditional u

of lion organsbull habitat destructionbull livestock encroachment

H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118 S115

Fig 1 Lion distribution in Africa

g

gtheverablen-

ob-ge-en-ende-ain

bull risks inherent to small populations (inbreedinstochasticity etc)

In addition most countries allow safari huntinThis paper is not intended to contribute to any ofcurrent debates on lion hunting We observe howethat the low figures presented suggest that sustainofftake is hardly possible It could therefore be metioned as a threat

Risks associated with small populations are prably an important theme for research and manament in the near future However no systematic invtory of genetic diversity or veterinary survey has bepublished so far Therefore we cannot give anytails and the next section will focus on the other mthreat

Fig 2 Lion population trends in four National Parks

S116 H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118

oon

ais

1]aza

atheof

2]edhatther000rilyS$edueis

3]ay

hey

ontionals

alsoresreallter

asednonoiseto

on-nra-ntsn-

butex-tionen-ser-byct

areaac-

ra-n-seahox-00lesus-rs

fs iseverckslo-

Fig 3 Human lion conflict assessment in Waza NP Camer(from Bauer 2001)

33 Human lion conflict

Human lion conflict is generally recognised asregional management problem some informationavailable on the Guinea Senegal and Benin [1but the most detailed study was undertaken in WNP Cameroon Here predation on livestock isserious phenomenon especially to the south ofpark The situation was first assessed with the aidParticipatory Rural Appraisal techniques in 1995 [1(Fig 3) More quantitative information was gatherwith structured interviews in 1998 These showed tlions are responsible for more damage than any ocarnivore it is estimated that 700 cattle and over 1small stock are attacked annually (not necessakilled and consumed) valued at approximately U140 000 The number of domestic animals killby all carnivores together equals the mortality dto animal disease it is estimated that livestock

the main prey for between 20 and 30 lions [1These figures obviously suffer from bias (people mexaggerate) but whatever the lsquorealrsquo figures are tare impressive

People in all settlements gave similar informatiabout the locations and moments at which predaoccurred Lions attack all species of domestic animon the pastures at daytime People know that lionshunt at night but livestock is then kept in enclosuinside the villages where lions hardly ever ventuHyenas are exclusively nocturnal they attack smstock in or near the settlements at night They enenclosures and even houses but are easily chaway if the owner is awake All forms of predatiowere said to occur more often in the rainy seasbecause the grass is tall and the rain makes nwhich makes stalking easier This is contraryexperiences in east Africa [14]

Some management options for human lion cflict mitigation were described by Stander [15] Ainstrument which has not been described in liteture is to chase lions away with the use of repelleTo our knowledge this technique is generally cosidered effective in elephant damage mitigationnot used on lions except in Guinea The Guineanperience has not been described in any publica(Oulare pers com) The Haut Niger NP park (ctral Guinea) consists of a core area for strict convation and a buffer zone which is managed jointlythe state and the local population Lions were extinbut an estimated seven individuals re-invaded thein 1997 and attacked 168 cattle in 1997 and 1998cording to local authorities The well organised tditional huntersrsquo fraternity decided to apply an acient technique in collaboration with the authoritieaimed at chasing the lions into the parkrsquos core arThis is done by at least 40 traditional hunters wwalk in parallel lines towards the park over approimately 30 km during three or four days about 1m between them While marching they blow whistand they each fire one or two blank shots a daying a muzzle loader with a mixture of three powdephosphorous nitrate and dried fibre ofTrema guineen-sis andAuthonata crassifolia This produces a lot onoise and an irritating and pervasive smoke Thirepeated on several sides of the core area whennecessary It has led to a reduction in cattle attato 6 cases between 1998 and 2000 according to

S116 H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118

oon

ais

1]aza

atheof

2]edhatther000rilyS$edueis

3]ay

hey

ontionals

alsoresreallter

asednonoiseto

on-nra-ntsn-

butex-tionen-ser-byct

areaac-

ra-n-seahox-00lesus-rs

fs iseverckslo-

Fig 3 Human lion conflict assessment in Waza NP Camer(from Bauer 2001)

33 Human lion conflict

Human lion conflict is generally recognised asregional management problem some informationavailable on the Guinea Senegal and Benin [1but the most detailed study was undertaken in WNP Cameroon Here predation on livestock isserious phenomenon especially to the south ofpark The situation was first assessed with the aidParticipatory Rural Appraisal techniques in 1995 [1(Fig 3) More quantitative information was gatherwith structured interviews in 1998 These showed tlions are responsible for more damage than any ocarnivore it is estimated that 700 cattle and over 1small stock are attacked annually (not necessakilled and consumed) valued at approximately U140 000 The number of domestic animals killby all carnivores together equals the mortality dto animal disease it is estimated that livestock

the main prey for between 20 and 30 lions [1These figures obviously suffer from bias (people mexaggerate) but whatever the lsquorealrsquo figures are tare impressive

People in all settlements gave similar informatiabout the locations and moments at which predaoccurred Lions attack all species of domestic animon the pastures at daytime People know that lionshunt at night but livestock is then kept in enclosuinside the villages where lions hardly ever ventuHyenas are exclusively nocturnal they attack smstock in or near the settlements at night They enenclosures and even houses but are easily chaway if the owner is awake All forms of predatiowere said to occur more often in the rainy seasbecause the grass is tall and the rain makes nwhich makes stalking easier This is contraryexperiences in east Africa [14]

Some management options for human lion cflict mitigation were described by Stander [15] Ainstrument which has not been described in liteture is to chase lions away with the use of repelleTo our knowledge this technique is generally cosidered effective in elephant damage mitigationnot used on lions except in Guinea The Guineanperience has not been described in any publica(Oulare pers com) The Haut Niger NP park (ctral Guinea) consists of a core area for strict convation and a buffer zone which is managed jointlythe state and the local population Lions were extinbut an estimated seven individuals re-invaded thein 1997 and attacked 168 cattle in 1997 and 1998cording to local authorities The well organised tditional huntersrsquo fraternity decided to apply an acient technique in collaboration with the authoritieaimed at chasing the lions into the parkrsquos core arThis is done by at least 40 traditional hunters wwalk in parallel lines towards the park over approimately 30 km during three or four days about 1m between them While marching they blow whistand they each fire one or two blank shots a daying a muzzle loader with a mixture of three powdephosphorous nitrate and dried fibre ofTrema guineen-sis andAuthonata crassifolia This produces a lot onoise and an irritating and pervasive smoke Thirepeated on several sides of the core area whennecessary It has led to a reduction in cattle attato 6 cases between 1998 and 2000 according to

H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118 S117

nalin-h-

tedile

ralytralialnsive

fonitys aoponlesas

arch

rsnd

ini-

d in

ec-

omcur-mi-

m-t-hic

sa-s-mend

oftheyederesti-

ofi-pni-of

f-

rva-

r-

al

tionory

ark

fr

re

A

r-

rva-li-

cal authorities This experience is based on traditioknowledge and has not been verified but it couldspire the development of new conflict mitigation tecniques

4 Conclusion

It is surprising that so much effort has been invesin lion research in Southern and Eastern Africa whso little is known about lions in West and CentAfrica This is not justified by conservation prioritlions are certainly more threatened in West and CenAfrica At this moment there are hardly any specresearch training or conservation programs for lioand large conservation organisations still do not gpriority to carnivore conservation

The African Lion Working Group was aware othis situation and defined information gatheringWest and Central African populations as a prior[16] So far this has led to a process that givepromising prospect The publication of the workshproceedings [11] was given much media attentiawareness is now much higher in conservation circIn addition a West and Central Lion Network wcreated with the following visionto promote the longterm conservation of lion populations across West andCentral Africa and to promote management aimedat maintaining long term viability while reducinghuman-lion conflict and in a way that contributes tothe sustainable development of the region

Based on the current threats as cited above reseneeds and priorities can be defined as

bull systematic regional inventories of lion numbetrends genetic variability health prey base ahuman lion conflicts

bull biological research on small population viabilitybull animal production research on systems to m

mize predator damage to livestockbull socio-economic research on the actors involve

poaching and the trade in lion organsbull interdisciplinary research on Protected Area eff

tiveness

This research agenda is somewhat different frthe current East and Southern African agendarently focussing on two themes These are epide

ological research into Tuberculosis Canine Disteper and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV or lsquocaaidsrsquo) and ecological research into the demograpand behavioural effects of selective off-take forfari hunting Human lion conflict is also being invetigated but it does not appear to be the main thewhich is exactly what we propose for the West aCentral African lion research agenda

Acknowledgements

The inventory is based on the kind cooperationour sources as listed in the table We acknowledgeassistance of (alphabetically) J Blanc GH BoakG Chapron WT de Groot P Jackson S vanMerwe J Naude EM de Roos HA Udo de HaUS Seal and M van trsquoZelfde The following instutions contributed in various ways to the processinformation gathering Cameroon Ministry for Envronment and Forests African Lion Working GrouConservation Breeding Specialist Group Leiden Uversity Foundation Dutch Zoos Help Dutch branchWWF Garoua Wildlife School and IUCN regional ofice for Central Africa

References

[1] K Nowell P Jackson Wild Cats Status Survey and Consetion Action Plan IUCN Gland 1996

[2] KG Van Orsdol JP Hanby JD Bygott Ecological corelates of lion social organization (Panthera leo) J ZoolLond 206 (1985) 97ndash112

[3] AR Dupuy J Verschuren Wildlife and Parks in SenegOryx 14 (1977) 36

[4] F Fischer KE Linsenmair Decrease in ungulate populadensities Examples from the Comoeacute National Park IvCoast Biol Cons 101 (2001) 131ndash135

[5] C Geerling J Bokdam Fauna of the Comoeacute National PIvory Coast Biol Cons 5 (1973) 251ndash257

[6] P Flizot The Waza National Park in Northern Cameroon AWildl 16 (1962) 293ndash298

[7] JA McNeely J Harrison P Dingwall Protecting NatuRegional Reviews of Protected Areas IUCN Gland 1994

[8] Anonymus Livestock Atlas of the Lake Chad Basin CTWageningen 1996

[9] JS Adams TO McShane The Myth of Wild Africa Univesity of California Press Berkeley 1992

[10] JF Oates Myth and Reality in the Rainforest How Consetion Strategies are Failing in West Africa University of Cafornia Press California 1999

S118 H Bauer et al C R Biologies 326 (2003) S112ndashS118

tustralle

con-LA

r laonalng

nJ

tock-0)

9)

on-ttee

[11] H Bauer HH De Iongh FPG Princeacutee D Ngantou Staand Needs for Conservation of Lions in West and CenAfrica IUCN Conservation Breeding Specialist Group AppValley 2001

[12] H Bauer S Kari Assessment of the humanndashpredatorflict with thematic PRA around Waza NP Cameroon PNotes 41 (2001) 9ndash13

[13] N Sonne Preacutedation des animaux domestiques pafaune sauvage dans les peacuteripheacuteries du Parc Natide Waza BSc thesis University of Dschang Dscha1997

[14] JRA Butler The economic costs of wildlife predatioon livestock in Gokwe communal land Zimbabwe AfrEcol 38 (2000) 23ndash30

[15] PE Stander A suggested management strategy for sraiding lions in Namibia S Afr J Wildl Res 20 (2) (19937ndash43

[16] D Wildt Lion Working Group Report CBSG News 10 (19921ndash22

[17] T Garnett C Utas The Upper Guinea Heritage Nature Cservation in Liberia and Sierra Leone Netherlands Commifor IUCN Amsterdam 2000