Quantifying the ecological success of a community-based wildlife conservation area in Tanzania
In Tanzania, community-based natural resource management of wildlife occurs through the creation of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). WMAs consist of multiple villages designating land for wildlife conservation, and sharing a portion of subsequent tourism revenues. Nineteen WMAs are currently operating, encompassing 7% of Tanzania’s land area, with 19 more WMAs planned. The ecological success or […]
Right on track? Performance of satellite telemetry in terrestrial wildlife research
Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental factors that determine the success and failure of satellite […]
The relative importance of large mammal species for tourism in Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Marketing for tourism in Kenya mostly revolves around ‘‘the big five’’ charismatic large mammals. However, it is not known if these are in fact the species tourists seek and prefer to see, or what other species are important when the ‘‘big five’’ are absent. This study investigated the large mammal interests of tourists in Amboseli […]
Herbivore Dynamics and Range Contraction in Kajiado County Kenya: Climate and Land Use Changes, Population Pressures, Governance, Policy and Human-wildlife Conflicts
Wildlife populations are declining severely in many protected areas and unprotected pastoral areas of Africa. Rapid large-scale land use changes, poaching, climate change, rising population pressures, governance, policy, economic and socio-cultural transformations and competition with livestock all contribute to the declines in abundance. Here we analyze the population dynamics of 15 wildlife and four livestock […]
The ecology and changes of the Amboseli ecosystem: Recommendations for planning and conservation
This report is prepared for the Amboseli Task Force responsible for presenting an integrated landuse plan for the Amboseli ecosystem. The landuse plan aims at fostering sustainable development in south-eastern Kajiado while ensuring the conservation of wildlife in Amboseli National Park and the larger ecosystem. The Task Force, chaired by the Amboseli and Tsavo Group […]
Identifying conservation constraints for the last West African giraffe: population dynamics determining factors and spatial distribution pattern
One of the main challenges for endangered species protection in Africa is to find a sustainable way of integrating objectives of nature conservation with the economic development needs of the local human population. Last West African giraffe population, Giraffa camelopardalis peralta, lives in Niger. These giraffe are unique for several reasons: (i) they represent the […]