IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Packer, C.; Lichtenfeld, L.; Trout, C.; Kiondo, M.R.; Magoma, N.; Konzo, E.; Munishi, L.; Kazaeli, C.; Rwiza, M.; Mwina, N.J.; Kibebe, J.; Lobora, A.; Sabuni, G.; Durant, S.; Lejora, I.A.; Erickson, D.; Ikanda, D.K. | |
| The Tanzania Lion and Leopard Conservation Action Plan | |
| 2009 Full Book | |
This report covers the proceedings of the First Tanzanian Lion and Leopard Conservation Action Plan Workshop held on February 20th-22nd 2006. The workshop brought together key stakeholders to assess existing information and establish a consensus on priorities for research and conservation of lion (_Panthera leo_) and leopard (_Panthera pardus_) in Tanzania. Tanzania holds important populations of both species: recent estimates suggest the country is home to half the world's lions. All participants at the workshop recognised Tanzania's importance in the conservation of both species, as well as the economic importance of the species for generating revenue through photographic tourism and through sport hunting. Both lions and leopards are fairly widespread across Tanzania, but there are better populations of lions inside protected areas. Information on leopards is particularly poor, as the species is highly cryptic and very hard to monitor. The group agreed that there was a need to get better information on both species, and given the importance of the species for hunting, it was important to obtain information on status of populations to ensure that they are being managed in a sustainable way. The group identified methods currently available for gathering such information, including spoor counts, call-in playback counts, tourist photos, detection dogs and transects, all of which had potential in certain circumstances. Questionnaire data and records of attacks on people were thought to be particularly useful for gathering information quickly on the distribution of both species at a national level, particularly for lions, however, only radio collars could be used to collect unambiguous data on ranging patterns and demography for lions, although for leopards, camera trapping surveys could also be fairly effective. The group discussed potential threats to lion and leopard conservation and agreed that prey availability, land use and land cover change, anthropogenic killing, inadequate management and disease may pose important threats to the conservation of these species. Of these threats, retaliatory killing, land use change and the problems arising from inadequate management were the most important factors affecting lion and leopard conservation. The acceleration of the Wildlife Management Area (WMA) process would go some way to address the latter threat. Finally, the group used a regional strategic plan developed at a southern and eastern Africa meeting in Johannesburg at the end of 2005 to develop a national action plan for lion conservation. This plan was readily transferable to the leopard. The group selected specific activities relevant to Tanzania and specified the details as to how they would be implemented in Tanzania. This allowed the development of a logical framework that could be used to plan lion and leopard conservation on a national scale. The WMA process, as implemented by Wildlife Division, is critical to the success of many of these activities, whilst monitoring and conservation targeted research, particularly addressing conflict issues, were priorities to be implemented under TAWIRI that will address information requirements. |
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