IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Tawiri, | |
| The Tanzania Cheetah Conservation Action Plan | |
| 2009 Full Book | |
This report covers the proceedings of the First Tanzanian Cheetah Workshop held on September 15th 2005. The workshop brought together key stakeholders to assess existing information and establish a consensus on priorities for research and conservation of cheetah _Acinonyx jubatus_. Tanzania holds important populations of cheetah, including one of the world's largest and most famous populations in the Serengeti ecosystem, and is a stronghold for this threatened species. All participants at the workshop recognised Tanzania's importance in the conservation of this species, but agreed that there was an urgent need for better information on the distribution of cheetah across the country, as well as more detailed data in specific regions. Cheetah are known to occur across the Serengeti ecosystem through to west Kilimanjaro, across the Maasai steppe, Ugalla Game Reserve, Katavi National Park, the Ruaha/Rungwa ecosystem and Rukwa/Lukwati. Their distribution around the Selous ecosystem is unclear as there are no recent documented records of the species in the area. Despite the wide distribution of this species, there are only good up to date estimates of population size and trends in the Serengeti because of the long term study. The group agreed that this study continued to collect important information relevant for cheetah conservation and should be maintained, however they identified clear data needs for other regions. They agreed that information on distribution and trends was a high priority for all regions. Information on density was agreed to be highest priority for the Maasai steppe and the Ruaha/Rungwa ecosystem. Information on survival and reproduction and ranging patterns is extremely difficult to collect therefore, here, the group gave highest priority to representative habitat in the Ruaha/Rungwa ecosystem (other than the Serengeti). The group went on to identify methods currently available for gathering such information, including spoor counts, tourist photos, detection dogs and transects, all of which had potential in certain circumstances. However, only radio collars could be used to collect unambiguous data on ranging patterns and demography - although the use of tourist photographs also showed some potential. The group discussed potential threats to cheetah conservation and agreed that loss of habitat and land use change, retaliatory killing and unregulated tourism may pose important threats to cheetah conservation, particularly the former. Snaring, death on roads and disease were thought to be less important although more information was needed to determine this. Interspecific killing of cheetah by lions and hyaena, whilst not strictly a threat, as it is a natural component of ecosystems, was an important ecological constraint, as it limits the density of cheetah, ensuring that they occur at lower densities than these other large carnivores. The techniques found to be useful for gathering information on cheetah status could also be used to provide information on threats. Radio collaring, because it allows the following of individual animals, is particularly useful in this, as well as a well designed questionnaire survey. Information needs on threats varied between region. Information on retaliatory killing was agreed to be of the highest priority in the Maasai steppe and the Sonjo area in the northern sector; on habitat loss or land use change in the northern, Maasai steppe and Ruaha/Rungwa regions; on unregulated tourism in the northern area; and on the impacts of interspecific competition on the Maasai steppe. It was agreed that it was important to ensure that incidence reports were made of any cheetah caught in snares or found dead on the road across the country. Managers need information on the status and threats to cheetah in their areas to plan management activities and to enable cheetah conservation, as well as assess the impact of their activities on cheetah conservation. All participants wished to improve the standards of information on cheetah across the country as, without better information, it is difficult to plan conservation and management for the species. It is hoped that this report provides a first step along this process, and will provide cheetah research and conservation in Tanzania with a new impetus to address the identified priorities hand in hand with training and capacity development. |
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