Local hunters and wildlife surveys: a design to enhance participation |
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|---|---|
| Author | |
| Marks, S.A. | |
| Year | |
| 2008 | |
| Secondary Title | |
| African journal of Ecology | |
| Volume | |
| 32 | |
| Pages | |
| 233-254 | |
| Abstract | |
| This experimental study compares the wildlife sightings recorded each month by three local hunters in the central Luangwa Valley of Zambia (Munyamadzi Game Management Area) during 1989. Mammals observed per search time for each foray was the basic measure for depicting the monthly means and standard deviations for pooled sightings of all mammals, as well as those for three individual species. Wildlife counts, encounters and stalks are provided for the three hunters, as are the times each spent searching, hiding, stalking, following, butchering, preparing, carrying and other activities while undertaking hunts and sample walks. Variations in counts between individuals are related to skill (more experienced individuals counted more game), to age, to locale (those hunting farther from settlements saw more wildlife) and to weapon (mostly muzzle-loading guns). Of the 38,936 mammals counted, impala were the most abundant with 40-6%, followed by buffalo (22-9%), zebra (20-2%), warthog (7-6%), wildebeest (4–9%) and elephant (0–3%). All other species contributed 3–5% to the total. A comparison with earlier counts from the 1960s indicates a drop of over 50% in wildlife sightings close to villages during a 23-year period. The objective of the study was to demonstrate a technique for assessing wildlife in which local hunters, with their knowledge and skills, are used as enumerators. The wildlife figures from 1989 show a consistency in trends, both corporately and individually, that suggests the utility of the technique for community-based wildlife programmes. The advantages of using local hunters and their skills include enhancing their stake and capacities in management and protection of wildlife, their cost effectiveness in comparison with other standard methods using expensive technologies and training, and in encouraging a new agenda, which emphasizes local use and perceptions, for state wildlife agencies. | |
| DOI | |
| 10.1111/j.1365-2028.1994.tb00574.x | |
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