Apparently, the lack of Leopard quota has some people concerned
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/leopard-situation-in-south-africa.25524/#post-243681
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/concern-over-leopard-hunting-quota.34855/#post-326909
https://www.africahunting.com/threa...opard-quota-a-huge-mistake.34789/#post-326349
https://www.africahunting.com/threa...g-in-south-africa-for-2017.34856/#post-326910
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/no-rsa-leopards-for-2017.34597/#post-324429
Then on February 8, 2017 a draft was released for comment. SEE ATTACHED PDF:
Have a read. It's interesting.
I have a copy of every article cited, but two that are unavailable to the public.
The fact there are two that are not available to the public pisses me off. How ware people supposed to comment on the content of the draft and the basis for it without the research on which it was based!
Bad form!
It only took twelve hours of hard research to find it all.
It is finding the free stuff that is hard. A bunch of crooks want to charge you for other peoples journal articles.
As part of the proposed norms and standards
Here is the sample (practice exam) of the proposed test required to qualify to hunt Leopards:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/practice-exam.html
There is a well developed EDUCATIONAL SECTION follow the links:
Pocket Guide to Leopard Aging:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/uploads/4/3/3/1/43316401/panthera_leopardagingtrifold_print.pdf
Full length course material:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/upl..._education_and_identification_course_-_v1.pdf
Known age Leopard pictures:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/known-age-leopard.html
There are two guys that are central players in this process.
These are THE researchers involved in just about everything you can find on the subject:
Dr. Guy Balme
Dr. Lourens Swanepoel
They are both members of the "Scientific Authority". The guys that drive the draft and funny enough, quote their own research in said draft. Not quite an independent body. (Hard to get away from it really)
This is the list of researchers and Institutions and contact details for lead researchers in the cited articles in the draft proposal.
The left Column is the count of the number of times the named researcher's research was cited in the draft.
A distribution of content of the citations in the draft.
When you really start to read it there are a few concerns ............
The biggest one I would have is the Age requirement. Not that we should not be targeting older Males, but that a very specific age is set. ie. Copying Tanzanian Lion criteria.
This is a defacto reduction in Quota based on unproven hypotheses. Namely that a Leopard population will be affected in the same manner as a Lion population by hunting. (Large Carnivore lumping)
There are quantifiable differences between the two "felids" beyond that absence of spots. Gregarious social animals or reclusive loners that raise young within those differing structures. Suggesting this restrictive structure without the science to back it up!
AGE
Large felids are especially susceptible to overhunting due to their complex social systems which
depend on the stability of long -term relationships (Caro et al. 2009).
An artificial increase in turnover and immigration rates can increase contact between unfamiliar individuals and promote intraspecific strife. Unnaturally high turnover among adult males may also increase infanticide, potentially to unsustainable levels (Whitman et al. 2007, Balme et al. 2009). Solitary species such as leopards appear particularly sensitive to infanticide as females cannot rely on cooperative defence against incoming males (Balme & Hunter 2013).
LION VS LEOPARD
Packer et al. (2009) showed that harvesting male leopards >_7 years old had little impact on population
persistence, regardless of the extent of offtake. By this age, males have held tenure for long enough to
allow at least one litter to reach independence, which is sufficient to maintain population stability.
Implementing a strict seven -year age minimum for trophy leopards would dramatically reduce the risk of
overharvesting despite uncertainties in population sizes. it would also ease pressure from the
inequitable distribution of hunting effort as local population recruitment will improve (Balme et al. 2009).
HUNTING EFFORT DISTRIBUTION
Use of Leopard Hunting Zones (LHZ )
ZONES EFFORT
catch -per -unit- effort (CPUE)
An increase in the effort required to secure a trophy infers a proportional decrease in population size, and vice versa. CPUE is most commonly applied in fisheries management, but it has also been used in terrestrial hunting systems (Bunnefeld et al. 2014, Edwards et al. 2014).
However, the success of leopard hunts is also dependent on the number of baits deployed by hunters, the frequency that baits are replaced, and whether an area was pre- baited (Edwards et al. 2014).
This list was "cherry picked". There is plenty of other research out there to draw from. Some from the same lead authors:
Published February 8, 2017 for comment. Literature cited:
1. Anderson CR, Lindzey FG (2005) Experimental evaluation of population trend and harvest composition
in a Wyoming cougar population. Wildlife Soc B 33: 179 -188.
2. Balme GA, Hunter LTB, Slotow R (2009) Impact of conservation interventions on the dynamics and
persistence of a persecuted leopard population. Biol Cons 142: 2681 -2690.
3. Balme GA, Hunter LTB, Goodman P, Ferguson H, Craigie J, et al. (2010) An adaptive management
approach to trophy hunting of leopards: A case study from KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. In:
4. Macdonald DW, Loveridge A, editors. Biology and conservation of wild felids. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. pp. 341 -352.
5. Balme GA, Chapman S, Kelly C, Morgan S, Hue C, et al (2013) KwaZulu -Natal Leopard Monitoring
Project 2013 Annual Report. Report for Ezemvelo KwaZulu -Natal Wildlife. Cape Town: Panthera.
6. Balme GA, Hunter LTB (2013) Why leopards commit infanticide. Anim Behav 86: 791 -799.
7. Braczkowski A, Balme GA, Dickman, Macdonald DW, Fattebert J, Dickerson T, Johnson P, Hunter
TB (2015) Who bites the bullet first? The use of harvest composition as a metric of leopard
population trend. PLoS One: in press.
8. Bunnefeld N, Edwards CT, Atickem A ,Hailu F, Milner -Gulland (2013) incentivizing monitoring and
compliance in trophy hunting. Cons Biol 27: 1344-1354.
9. Cooley HS, Wielgus RB, Koehler GB, Robinson HS, Maletzke BT (2009) Does hunting regulate cougar
populations? A test of the compensatory mortality hypothesis. Ecol 90: 2913 -2921.
10. Edwards CTT, Bunnefeld N, Balme GA, Milner -Gulland EJ (2014) Data -poor management of African
Lion hunting: How to set quotas when population size is unknown. P National Acad Sci: in press.
11. Lindsey PA, Romanach SS, Davies-Mostert HT (2009) The importance of conservancies for enhancing the value of game ranch land for large mammal conservation in southern Africa J Zool 277: 99-105
12. Lindsey PA, Marnewick, K, Balme GA, Swanepoel LH (2011) Non detriment finding assessment for the
trophy hunting of leopards in South Africa. Report for the South African National Biodiversity
Institute. Johannesburg: Endangered Wildlife Trust.
13. Loveridge AJ, Searle AW, Murindagomo F, Macdonald DW (2007) The impact of sport- hunting on the
population dynamics of an African lion population in a protected area. Biol Cons 134: 548 -558.
14. Packer C, Kosmala M, Cooley H, Brink H, Pintea L, et al. (2009) Sport hunting predator control and
conservation of large carnivores. PLoS One 4: e5941.
15. Peebles KA, Wielgus RB, Maletzke BT, Swanson ME (2013) Effects of remedial sport hunting on
cougar complaints and livestock depredations. PIoS One 8: e79713.
16. Pitman RT, Swanepoel LH, Hunter LTB, Slotow R, Balme GA (2015) The importance of refugia,
ecological traps, and scale for leopard population management. Biodivers. Cons. 24: 1975 -1987.
The importance of refugia, ecological traps and scale for large carnivore management
Ross T. Pitman, Lourens H. Swanepoel, Luke Hunter, Rob Slotow, Guy A. Balme Biodivers Conserv (2015) 24: 1975.
17. Robinson HS, Wielgus RB, Cooley HS, Cooley SW (2008) Sink populations in carnivore management:
cougar demography and immigration in a hunted population. Ecol Appl 18: 1028-1037.
18. Stander PE (1997) Field age determination of leopards by tooth wear. Afr J Ecol 35: 156 -161.
19. Swanepoel LH, Lindsey P, Somers MJ, Hoven WV, Dalerum F (2013) Extent and fragmentation of
suitable leopard habitat in South Africa. Anim Cons 16: 41 -50.
20. Swanepoel LH, Lindsey P, Somers MJ., Van Hoven W, Dalerum F (2014) The relative importance of
trophy harvest and retaliatory killing of large carnivores: South African leopards as a case study.
S Afr J Wild! Res 44:115 -134.
SOME OF THE ISSUES:
Cited without being included in the Literature listing:
21. Caro TM, Young CR, Cauldwell AE, Brown DDE. Animal breeding systems and big game hunting: Models and application. Biol Conserv. 2009;142(4):909–929.
(You try and find an article with "(Caro et al. 2009)" as a start point.
Cited but unavailable to the public for review:
Balme GA, Chapman S, Kelly C, Morgan S, Hue C, et al (2013) KwaZulu -Natal Leopard Monitoring
Project 2013 Annual Report. Report for Ezemvelo KwaZulu -Natal Wildlife. Cape Town: Panthera.
Braczkowski A, Balme GA, Dickman, Macdonald DW, Fattebert J, Dickerson T, Johnson P, Hunter TB (2015) Who bites the bullet first? The use of harvest composition as a metric of leopard population trend. PLoS One: in press.
Cited and misquoted the title emphasizing Leopard focus that is not correct:
Pitman RT, Swanepoel LH, Hunter LTB, Slotow R, Balme GA (2015) The importance of refugia,
ecological traps, and scale for leopard population management. Biodivers. Cons. 24: 1975 -1987.
The proper title does not specify Leopard:
The importance of refugia, ecological traps and scale for large carnivore management
Ross T. Pitman, Lourens H. Swanepoel, Luke Hunter, Rob Slotow, Guy A. Balme Biodivers Conserv (2015) 24: 1975.
Cited with a focus on LION:
Swanepoel LH, Lindsey P, Somers MJ., Van Hoven W, Dalerum F (2014) The relative importance of
trophy harvest and retaliatory killing of large carnivores: South African leopards as a case study.
S Afr J Wild! Res 44:115 -134
Loveridge AJ, Searle AW, Murindagomo F, Macdonald DW (2007) The impact of sport- hunting on the
population dynamics of an African lion population in a protected area. Biol Cons 134: 548 -558.
Packer C, Kosmala M, Cooley H, Brink H, Pintea L, et al. (2009) Sport hunting predator control and
conservation of large carnivores. PLoS One 4: e5941.
Edwards CTT, Bunnefeld N, Balme GA, Milner -Gulland EJ (2014) Data -poor management of African
Lion hunting: How to set quotas when population size is unknown. P National Acad Sci: in press.
Cited with a focus on COUGAR:
Robinson HS, Wielgus RB, Cooley HS, Cooley SW (2008) Sink populations in carnivore management:
cougar demography and immigration in a hunted population. Ecol Appl 18: 1028-1037.
Cooley HS, Wielgus RB, Koehler GB, Robinson HS, Maletzke BT (2009) Does hunting regulate cougar
populations? A test of the compensatory mortality hypothesis. Ecol 90: 2913 -2921.
Anderson CR, Lindzey FG (2005) Experimental evaluation of population trend and harvest composition
in a Wyoming cougar population. Wildlife Soc B 33: 179 -188.
Countries where research was conducted in the cited research:
Ethiopia
Tanzania
Zimbabwe
USA
South Africa
The draft is a great place to start.
The thought and direction for having science drive the process is nothing short of commendable. If you are impacted by this draft I would suggest you get commenting to your minister.
Anyone interested in copies of the entire citation list just PM me you email and I'll send them off to you.
by the way you can thank @SS Pro Safaris for asking for this. I will be sending him an invoice for the 12 hours I have spent digging all this up. It is going to cost you a lot of rum Scott!
I am going to open up a paypal account for donations to BRICKBURN RESEARCH!
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/leopard-situation-in-south-africa.25524/#post-243681
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/concern-over-leopard-hunting-quota.34855/#post-326909
https://www.africahunting.com/threa...opard-quota-a-huge-mistake.34789/#post-326349
https://www.africahunting.com/threa...g-in-south-africa-for-2017.34856/#post-326910
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/no-rsa-leopards-for-2017.34597/#post-324429
Then on February 8, 2017 a draft was released for comment. SEE ATTACHED PDF:
Have a read. It's interesting.
I have a copy of every article cited, but two that are unavailable to the public.
The fact there are two that are not available to the public pisses me off. How ware people supposed to comment on the content of the draft and the basis for it without the research on which it was based!
Bad form!
It only took twelve hours of hard research to find it all.
It is finding the free stuff that is hard. A bunch of crooks want to charge you for other peoples journal articles.
As part of the proposed norms and standards
Here is the sample (practice exam) of the proposed test required to qualify to hunt Leopards:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/practice-exam.html
There is a well developed EDUCATIONAL SECTION follow the links:
Pocket Guide to Leopard Aging:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/uploads/4/3/3/1/43316401/panthera_leopardagingtrifold_print.pdf
Full length course material:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/upl..._education_and_identification_course_-_v1.pdf
Known age Leopard pictures:
http://www.saleopardhunting.com/known-age-leopard.html
There are two guys that are central players in this process.
These are THE researchers involved in just about everything you can find on the subject:
Dr. Guy Balme
Dr. Lourens Swanepoel
They are both members of the "Scientific Authority". The guys that drive the draft and funny enough, quote their own research in said draft. Not quite an independent body. (Hard to get away from it really)
This is the list of researchers and Institutions and contact details for lead researchers in the cited articles in the draft proposal.
The left Column is the count of the number of times the named researcher's research was cited in the draft.
A distribution of content of the citations in the draft.
When you really start to read it there are a few concerns ............
The biggest one I would have is the Age requirement. Not that we should not be targeting older Males, but that a very specific age is set. ie. Copying Tanzanian Lion criteria.
This is a defacto reduction in Quota based on unproven hypotheses. Namely that a Leopard population will be affected in the same manner as a Lion population by hunting. (Large Carnivore lumping)
There are quantifiable differences between the two "felids" beyond that absence of spots. Gregarious social animals or reclusive loners that raise young within those differing structures. Suggesting this restrictive structure without the science to back it up!
AGE
Large felids are especially susceptible to overhunting due to their complex social systems which
depend on the stability of long -term relationships (Caro et al. 2009).
An artificial increase in turnover and immigration rates can increase contact between unfamiliar individuals and promote intraspecific strife. Unnaturally high turnover among adult males may also increase infanticide, potentially to unsustainable levels (Whitman et al. 2007, Balme et al. 2009). Solitary species such as leopards appear particularly sensitive to infanticide as females cannot rely on cooperative defence against incoming males (Balme & Hunter 2013).
LION VS LEOPARD
Packer et al. (2009) showed that harvesting male leopards >_7 years old had little impact on population
persistence, regardless of the extent of offtake. By this age, males have held tenure for long enough to
allow at least one litter to reach independence, which is sufficient to maintain population stability.
Implementing a strict seven -year age minimum for trophy leopards would dramatically reduce the risk of
overharvesting despite uncertainties in population sizes. it would also ease pressure from the
inequitable distribution of hunting effort as local population recruitment will improve (Balme et al. 2009).
HUNTING EFFORT DISTRIBUTION
Use of Leopard Hunting Zones (LHZ )
ZONES EFFORT
catch -per -unit- effort (CPUE)
An increase in the effort required to secure a trophy infers a proportional decrease in population size, and vice versa. CPUE is most commonly applied in fisheries management, but it has also been used in terrestrial hunting systems (Bunnefeld et al. 2014, Edwards et al. 2014).
However, the success of leopard hunts is also dependent on the number of baits deployed by hunters, the frequency that baits are replaced, and whether an area was pre- baited (Edwards et al. 2014).
This list was "cherry picked". There is plenty of other research out there to draw from. Some from the same lead authors:
Published February 8, 2017 for comment. Literature cited:
1. Anderson CR, Lindzey FG (2005) Experimental evaluation of population trend and harvest composition
in a Wyoming cougar population. Wildlife Soc B 33: 179 -188.
2. Balme GA, Hunter LTB, Slotow R (2009) Impact of conservation interventions on the dynamics and
persistence of a persecuted leopard population. Biol Cons 142: 2681 -2690.
3. Balme GA, Hunter LTB, Goodman P, Ferguson H, Craigie J, et al. (2010) An adaptive management
approach to trophy hunting of leopards: A case study from KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa. In:
4. Macdonald DW, Loveridge A, editors. Biology and conservation of wild felids. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. pp. 341 -352.
5. Balme GA, Chapman S, Kelly C, Morgan S, Hue C, et al (2013) KwaZulu -Natal Leopard Monitoring
Project 2013 Annual Report. Report for Ezemvelo KwaZulu -Natal Wildlife. Cape Town: Panthera.
6. Balme GA, Hunter LTB (2013) Why leopards commit infanticide. Anim Behav 86: 791 -799.
7. Braczkowski A, Balme GA, Dickman, Macdonald DW, Fattebert J, Dickerson T, Johnson P, Hunter
TB (2015) Who bites the bullet first? The use of harvest composition as a metric of leopard
population trend. PLoS One: in press.
8. Bunnefeld N, Edwards CT, Atickem A ,Hailu F, Milner -Gulland (2013) incentivizing monitoring and
compliance in trophy hunting. Cons Biol 27: 1344-1354.
9. Cooley HS, Wielgus RB, Koehler GB, Robinson HS, Maletzke BT (2009) Does hunting regulate cougar
populations? A test of the compensatory mortality hypothesis. Ecol 90: 2913 -2921.
10. Edwards CTT, Bunnefeld N, Balme GA, Milner -Gulland EJ (2014) Data -poor management of African
Lion hunting: How to set quotas when population size is unknown. P National Acad Sci: in press.
11. Lindsey PA, Romanach SS, Davies-Mostert HT (2009) The importance of conservancies for enhancing the value of game ranch land for large mammal conservation in southern Africa J Zool 277: 99-105
12. Lindsey PA, Marnewick, K, Balme GA, Swanepoel LH (2011) Non detriment finding assessment for the
trophy hunting of leopards in South Africa. Report for the South African National Biodiversity
Institute. Johannesburg: Endangered Wildlife Trust.
13. Loveridge AJ, Searle AW, Murindagomo F, Macdonald DW (2007) The impact of sport- hunting on the
population dynamics of an African lion population in a protected area. Biol Cons 134: 548 -558.
14. Packer C, Kosmala M, Cooley H, Brink H, Pintea L, et al. (2009) Sport hunting predator control and
conservation of large carnivores. PLoS One 4: e5941.
15. Peebles KA, Wielgus RB, Maletzke BT, Swanson ME (2013) Effects of remedial sport hunting on
cougar complaints and livestock depredations. PIoS One 8: e79713.
16. Pitman RT, Swanepoel LH, Hunter LTB, Slotow R, Balme GA (2015) The importance of refugia,
ecological traps, and scale for leopard population management. Biodivers. Cons. 24: 1975 -1987.
The importance of refugia, ecological traps and scale for large carnivore management
Ross T. Pitman, Lourens H. Swanepoel, Luke Hunter, Rob Slotow, Guy A. Balme Biodivers Conserv (2015) 24: 1975.
17. Robinson HS, Wielgus RB, Cooley HS, Cooley SW (2008) Sink populations in carnivore management:
cougar demography and immigration in a hunted population. Ecol Appl 18: 1028-1037.
18. Stander PE (1997) Field age determination of leopards by tooth wear. Afr J Ecol 35: 156 -161.
19. Swanepoel LH, Lindsey P, Somers MJ, Hoven WV, Dalerum F (2013) Extent and fragmentation of
suitable leopard habitat in South Africa. Anim Cons 16: 41 -50.
20. Swanepoel LH, Lindsey P, Somers MJ., Van Hoven W, Dalerum F (2014) The relative importance of
trophy harvest and retaliatory killing of large carnivores: South African leopards as a case study.
S Afr J Wild! Res 44:115 -134.
SOME OF THE ISSUES:
Cited without being included in the Literature listing:
21. Caro TM, Young CR, Cauldwell AE, Brown DDE. Animal breeding systems and big game hunting: Models and application. Biol Conserv. 2009;142(4):909–929.
(You try and find an article with "(Caro et al. 2009)" as a start point.
Cited but unavailable to the public for review:
Balme GA, Chapman S, Kelly C, Morgan S, Hue C, et al (2013) KwaZulu -Natal Leopard Monitoring
Project 2013 Annual Report. Report for Ezemvelo KwaZulu -Natal Wildlife. Cape Town: Panthera.
Braczkowski A, Balme GA, Dickman, Macdonald DW, Fattebert J, Dickerson T, Johnson P, Hunter TB (2015) Who bites the bullet first? The use of harvest composition as a metric of leopard population trend. PLoS One: in press.
Cited and misquoted the title emphasizing Leopard focus that is not correct:
Pitman RT, Swanepoel LH, Hunter LTB, Slotow R, Balme GA (2015) The importance of refugia,
ecological traps, and scale for leopard population management. Biodivers. Cons. 24: 1975 -1987.
The proper title does not specify Leopard:
The importance of refugia, ecological traps and scale for large carnivore management
Ross T. Pitman, Lourens H. Swanepoel, Luke Hunter, Rob Slotow, Guy A. Balme Biodivers Conserv (2015) 24: 1975.
Cited with a focus on LION:
Swanepoel LH, Lindsey P, Somers MJ., Van Hoven W, Dalerum F (2014) The relative importance of
trophy harvest and retaliatory killing of large carnivores: South African leopards as a case study.
S Afr J Wild! Res 44:115 -134
Loveridge AJ, Searle AW, Murindagomo F, Macdonald DW (2007) The impact of sport- hunting on the
population dynamics of an African lion population in a protected area. Biol Cons 134: 548 -558.
Packer C, Kosmala M, Cooley H, Brink H, Pintea L, et al. (2009) Sport hunting predator control and
conservation of large carnivores. PLoS One 4: e5941.
Edwards CTT, Bunnefeld N, Balme GA, Milner -Gulland EJ (2014) Data -poor management of African
Lion hunting: How to set quotas when population size is unknown. P National Acad Sci: in press.
Cited with a focus on COUGAR:
Robinson HS, Wielgus RB, Cooley HS, Cooley SW (2008) Sink populations in carnivore management:
cougar demography and immigration in a hunted population. Ecol Appl 18: 1028-1037.
Cooley HS, Wielgus RB, Koehler GB, Robinson HS, Maletzke BT (2009) Does hunting regulate cougar
populations? A test of the compensatory mortality hypothesis. Ecol 90: 2913 -2921.
Anderson CR, Lindzey FG (2005) Experimental evaluation of population trend and harvest composition
in a Wyoming cougar population. Wildlife Soc B 33: 179 -188.
Countries where research was conducted in the cited research:
Ethiopia
Tanzania
Zimbabwe
USA
South Africa
The draft is a great place to start.
The thought and direction for having science drive the process is nothing short of commendable. If you are impacted by this draft I would suggest you get commenting to your minister.
Anyone interested in copies of the entire citation list just PM me you email and I'll send them off to you.
by the way you can thank @SS Pro Safaris for asking for this. I will be sending him an invoice for the 12 hours I have spent digging all this up. It is going to cost you a lot of rum Scott!
I am going to open up a paypal account for donations to BRICKBURN RESEARCH!
Last edited by a moderator:
