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LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE - May 2021 AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING - TRAFFIC ...
May 2021
AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES
AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING

LIONS IN TANZANIA
AND MOZAMBIQUE
Katrina Mole
David Newton

                                      LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 1
LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE - May 2021 AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING - TRAFFIC ...
TRAFFIC REPORT
ABOUT US
TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organisation
working globally on trade in wild animals and plants
in the context of both Biodiversity Conservation and
sustainable development.

Reprod­uction of material appearing in this report
requires written­permission from the publisher.

The designations of geographical entities in this
publication, and the presentation of the material,
do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of TRAFFIC or its supporting
organisations concerning the legal status of any
country, territory, or area, or of its authorities,
or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or

                                                                       ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
boundaries.

PROJECT SupervisorS
David Newton1,2
                                                                       The production of this publication was made possible with funding
Lead author                                                            provided by the Lion Recovery Fund. The authors thank the
Katrina Mole1                                                          Mozambiquan Administração Nacional das Áreas de Conservação
                                                                       (National Administration for Conservation Areas) (ANAC), specifically
Published by:                                                          Dr. Carlos Lopes Pereira for his continued support of this research.
TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, United Kingdom.                      Thanks also go to Marcelino Foloma from The World Wildlife Fund
                                                                       for Nature (WWF) who assisted in obtaining research permits for our
SUGGESTED CITATION                                                     work in Mozambique. The authors would also like to thank the Tanzania
Mole, K. H., Newton, D. TRAFFIC (2020). An                             Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) and the Ministry of Natural
assessment of trade, mortalities and anthropogenic
                                                                       Resources and Tourism (MNRT), specifically Elisante Leguma, Fredrick
threats facing lions in Tanzania and Mozambique.
                                                                       Ligate and Beatrice Mtui for their continued support and assistance
                                                                       in collecting essential data for this report. Thank you to the TRAFFIC
© TRAFFIC 2020. Copyright of material published in
this report is vested in TRAFFIC.
                                                                       East Africa office, specifically Shanny Pelle who provided logistical
                                                                       support to Katrina Mole whilst in Tanzania, Linah Clifford who assisted
UK Registered Charity No. 1076722                                      with letters, data collection and general support; and William Crosmary
                                                                       who also provided invaluable support and research contacts whilst in
Design                                                                 Tanzania. Thanks also to Esther Sang’udi who supported with data
Marcus Cornthwaite                                                     entry and collection.

                                                                       The authors would also like to thank Dr Colleen Begg (Niassa Carnivore
                                                                       Project (NCP), IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group) and Dennis Ikanda
                                                                       (TAWIRI) for peer reviewing the report, as well as providing guidance and
1
                                                                       input while the document was still in preparation. Thanks to consultants
  TRAFFIC, East/Southern Africa Regional Office, c/o IUCN ESARO,
1st Floor Block E, Hatfield Gardens, 333 Grosvenor Street, Hatfield,   Mourice Victor and Samuel Bilerio who assisted in collecting interview
Pretoria, 0083, South Africa                                           data in Tanzania and Mozambique respectively. Thank you to members
2
                                                                       of staff from KopeLion (Ingela Jansson), WCS (Franziska Steinbruch
   University of the Witwatersrand, School of Animal, Plant &
Environmental Sciences, 1 Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg, 2000            (now with ANAC)), Peace Parks-Limpopo National Park (Peter Leitner)
                                                                       and Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (Maige Deogratius)
                                                                       who provided assistance and valuable input into this research. Much
                                                                       gratitude to Michael Mole who assisted with the more complex ArcGIS
                                                                       figures and mapping. The authors also thank Prof Antoinette Kotze from
                                                                       the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) who provided
                                                                       weights for lion parts. The authors also thank Marcus Cornthwaite for
                                                                       the design and layout of the report.
LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE - May 2021 AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING - TRAFFIC ...
table of
contents
                    page 4

             INTRODUCTION
       Executive summary
       Recommendations
Acronyms and abbreviations
          Literature review
              Methodology

                   page 34

                  TANZANIA
                   Results
Conclusions and discussion
       Recoommendations

                   page 56

              MOZAMBIQUE
                   Results
Conclusions and discussion
       Recoommendations

                   page 74

                References
                  Endnotes
              Image credits
                 Appendix I
LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE - May 2021 AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING - TRAFFIC ...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
T H E U N R E G U L AT E D A N D I L L I C I T T R A D E O F W I L D L I F E P R O D U C T S
A N D D E R I VAT I V E S P O S E S A S I G N I F I C A N T T H R E AT T O T H E
L O N G - T E R M V I A B I L I T Y O F TA X A S U C H A S W H I T E R H I N O C E R O S
C E R AT O T H E R I U M S I M U M , A F R I C A N E L E P H A N T S L O X O D O N TA
A F R I C A N A , A N D T H E A F R I C A N L I O N PA N T H E R A L E O .

                           In recent years, several studies have               TRAFFIC’s Wildlife Trade and Information
                           highlighted concerns about an emerging              System (WiTIS); grey and published scientific
                           and increasing trade in African Lion parts          literature; interviews with wildlife authorities
                           and derivatives both domestically within            and organisations, professional hunters,
                           African countries, and internationally to Asian     local community members; and trade data
                           markets. However, the extent and impact of          collected from government institutions and
                           this trade on lion populations in Africa remains    customs authorities. Aspects of trade which
                           undocumented across most of their range.            were investigated and reported on include: the
                           African Lion numbers are in decline primarily       perceived trade of lion parts both domestically
                           due to anthropogenic influences such as             and internationally; the extent and scale of both
                           retaliatory killing by humans, depletion of their   domestic and international trade in lion parts
                           prey-base due to the bushmeat trade, habitat        and derivatives, either sourced from legally or
                           loss and conversion, and poorly regulated           illegally harvested lions; the geographic extent
                           trophy hunting. Understanding the additional        of the illegal trade; and the location of potential
                           impact of trade on wild lion populations is         poaching and trade “hotspots” within both
                           critical for current and future conservation of     countries (Tanzania and Mozambique). The
                           the species.                                        data gathered were then used to deduce the
                                                                               potential impacts of harvest and trade on the
      African              In this study, TRAFFIC aimed to provide a greater   current lion populations within each country.
         Lion              understanding of the impact of harvest and

     numbers               trade on wild lion populations in two countries
                           that have been identified as potential countries
                                                                               In Tanzania, the results illustrate that the majority
                                                                               of lion parts and derivatives are used and traded
       are in              of concern, Tanzania and Mozambique. The            locally and have, most likely, been acquired for
      decline              report followed a non-detriment finding outline     traditional use through historic and present-
   primarily due to        and utilised information on threats, biological     day retaliatory killings. Distinct within-country
    anthropogenic          characteristics, national status, management        regional differences existed with regards to
        influences         and monitoring, as well as data gathered from       lion product use. Skin, tail and fat were the

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LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE - May 2021 AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING - TRAFFIC ...
preferred products used in northern Tanzania,         events continue on the current trajectory,
whilst central Tanzania had a preference for          Mozambique’s wild lion populations will become
fat followed by claws and skin. In southern           increasingly threatened.
Tanzania fat was used widely. Poaching data
for Tanzania were severely deficient and likely       Teeth and claws were the most common,
grossly underestimated. While the figures on          internationally traded lion commodity from both     teeth and
domestic, regional, and international trade           Tanzania and Mozambique. The most common            claws
recorded in this study only represent a portion       destinations for these lion parts were Asian        are the most
of the documented lion mortalities, a disparity       countries, specifically Viet Nam. It is plausible   commonly traded
exists between the declines predicted by the          that the ease with which lion teeth and claws       lion products
International Union for Conservation of Nature        can be collected and concealed makes the            internationally
(IUCN) and the Tanzania Wildlife Research             trade of these products less risky to move and
Institute (TAWIRI). These findings suggest            transport regionally and internationally. This
that either the full extent of trade is not being     finding suggests a new modus operandi for lion      asian
detected or anthropogenic lion mortalities (i.e.      poaching.                                           countries
poaching, retaliatory killings) are not being                                                             are the most
adequately reported.                                  Levels of poaching and trade differ between         common
                                                      Tanzania and Mozambique. In Mozambique              international
In Mozambique, the data indicate that targeted        targeted poaching for parts is substantial,         destination for
poaching and suspected poaching incidences            involving mainly claws, teeth and skin              lion parts sourced
are high (74% and 48% of anthropogenic lion           with evidence of trading towns in northern          in both countries
mortalities in Niassa and Limpopo National            Mozambique. Products used domestically and
Park respectively) with evidence of domestic,         internationally correspond with parts that are
regional, and international trade of lion parts and   targeted during poaching events, indicating a
derivatives. Slight regional differences existed      potential international demand driving illegal
within-country with regards to lion product           local harvesting. These targeted poaching
use. Claws, teeth and skin were the preferred         incidences are a threat to Mozambique’s lion
products used in northern Mozambique, whilst          population. Results suggest that Tanzania’s lion
communities in southern Mozambique showed             trade is predominantly domestic and regional.
a preference for fat followed by skin and claws.      Lion product use for traditional purposes is
Considering the local decline in lion populations     widespread and interviews suggest that the
(Niassa and Limpopo National Park), their             source of products is from current and historic
relatively low abundance in the country, and          retaliatory killings. Retaliatory killings make
the significant number of targeted poaching           up the vast majority of anthropogenic lion
events within core lion ranges, the current           mortalities and are having a marked negative
impact of both domestic and international             impact on population numbers. There is also
trade in lion parts and derivatives on wild           qualitative evidence for targeted poaching
populations in Mozambique was found to be             incidences which may be occurring in the
high and detrimental to Mozambique’s lion             Ruaha-Rungwa region, however empirical data
populations and species persistence. If these         are lacking.

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RECOMMENDATIONS:
                                                                       B A S E D O N T H E F I N D I N G S O F T H I S S T U D Y, T H E
                                                                       C R I T I C A L R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S F O R
                                                                       TA N Z A N I A A R E :

                                                                       To address the substantial numbers of                   The Tanzania Government should amend the
                                                                       retaliatory killings that are likely to be occurring    current hunting regulations to prohibit any lion
                                                                       across Tanzania, more monitoring agencies               hunts where lions are younger than the six-year
GENERAL

                                                                       are needed in key lion areas such as the Selous         minimum age restriction.

                                                                                                                                                                                    TANZANIA GOVERNMENT
                                                                       region. These agencies could include NGOs,
                                                                       tourism companies or government staff to                The Tanzania Government should adjust trophy
                                                                       assist with monitoring of lions and collaborate         hunting fees to charge hunting operators per
                                                                       and support communities to reduce human-lion            lion hunt and refrain from charging a yearly fee
                                                                       conflict.                                               regardless of offtake.

                                                                       TAWIRI needs to develop an updated                      The Tanzania Government should strengthen
TA N Z A N I A W I L D L I F E R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U T E

                                                                       Conservation Action Plan specific to the African        management of protected areas (PAs) with
                                                                       Lion in Tanzania. The updated Action Plan               specific emphasis on vacant hunting blocks
                                                                       should have a specific focus on updating current        where management is compromised and
                                                                       lion population estimates to ensure that regular        consider pursuing Public-Private Partnerships
                                                                       lion surveys and monitoring programmes are              for PA management in areas where no support
                                                                       implemented across the country.                         or management exists.

                                                                       The activities that have been achieved in the
                                                                       current Carnivore Action Plan (TAWIRI, 2009)
                                                                       need to be consolidated by TAWIRI and the               Border control and customs officers at all ports
                                                                       existing activities updated, paying attention to        (i.e. sea, land, air) need to improve detection
                                                                       ensure that all activities are accountable, timely,     measures to ensure that all illegal trade is         CUSTOMS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
                                                                       and conducted regularly.                                uncovered and information is gathered on
                                                                                                                               trafficking routes and commodities in demand.
                                                                       TAWA should facilitate workshops and                    The relevant agencies (TAWA and the Tanzania
                                                                       meetings within wildlife authorities, relevant          Customs Authority) need to allocate additional
                                                                       conservation organisations and communities to           resources towards staff training in detection
TA N Z A N I A W I L D L I F E M A N A G E M E N T A U T H O R I T Y

                                                                       boost awareness of the threat of lion poaching          and screening techniques and technologies,
                                                                       and trade.                                              while institutional collaboration needs to be
                                                                                                                               improved to ensure that seizure data are
                                                                       TAWA should develop a country-wide database             accurately stored and accessible to those
                                                                       for compiling and storing data on lion poaching         needing to access them.
                                                                       incidents.
                                                                                                                               Law enforcement agencies should collaborate
                                                                       TAWA should identify key wildlife authorities in        with wildlife authorities and make full use
                                                                       areas recognised as potential trade/poaching            of wildlife legislation to prosecute criminals.
                                                                       “hotspots” such as the Ruaha-Rungwa region              Tanzania should rate its success in countering
                                                                       and the Ruvuma landscape and assist law                 illegal wildlife trade by the number of successful
                                                                       enforcement and anti-poaching efforts in these          prosecutions, in addition to the detection of lion
                                                                       areas to ensure that lion mortalities are reduced.      parts and derivatives at ports of entry and exit.

                                                                       Relevant enforcement agencies such as TAWA
                                                                       need to strengthen work on anti-trafficking and
                                                                       investigations related to the illegal wildlife trade.

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C R I T I C A L R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S F O R
                                                                                  MOZAMBIQUE ARE:

                                                                                  It is a necessity that Administração Nacional das     Border control and customs officers at all ports
                                                                                  Áreas de Conservação “National Administration         (i.e. sea, land, air) need to improve detection
                                                                                  for Conservation Areas” (ANAC) improves               measures to ensure that all illegal trade is being
                                                                                  regional lion management by providing support         uncovered and information is gathered on

                                                                                                                                                                                              CUSTOMS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
                                                                                  for research and programmes which promote             trafficking routes and commodities in demand.
                                                                                  lion conservation, reduce human-lion conflict,        The national government should allocate
                                                                                  conserve lion habitats and prey base, increase        additional resources to training staff in detection
                                                                                  law enforcement and reduce illegal trade and          and screening techniques and technologies.
                                                                                  strengthen community programmes.                      Increased institutional collaboration between
                                                                                                                                        the Mozambique Customs Authority and
                                                                                  ANAC should provide a progress report on              ANAC is needed to ensure that seizure data
                                                                                  activities (and their implementation) listed in the   are accurately stored and accessible to those
                                                                                  2016 Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for        needing to access them.
                                                                                  the African Lion. Subsequent to this progress
                                                                                  report, activities in the Action Plan should be       Law enforcement agencies should collaborate
N AT I O N A L A D M I N I S T R AT I O N F O R C O N S E R VAT I O N A R E A S

                                                                                  consolidated and realistic and achievable goals       with wildlife authorities and make full use
                                                                                  set for lion conservation and management.             of wildlife legislation to prosecute criminals.
                                                                                                                                        Mozambique should rate its success in
                                                                                  Although ANAC has a formal national                   countering illegal wildlife trade by the number
                                                                                  trophy hunting regulation, we encourage               of successful prosecutions, in addition to the
                                                                                  the Mozambique government to increase                 detection of lion parts and derivatives at ports
                                                                                  monitoring of legal hunting to ensure that            of entry and exit.
                                                                                  legal lion harvest is sustainable throughout the
                                                                                  country.

                                                                                                                                                                                              ILLEGAL TRADE AND PROTECTED AREAS
                                                                                  ANAC should facilitate workshops and                  Increased support and resources are needed
                                                                                  meetings to increase collaboration between            for tackling illegal wildlife trade in Mozambique.
                                                                                  different conservation organisations and              ANAC should co-ordinate with organisations
                                                                                  wildlife authorities. These workshops could be        such as the PAMS foundation and Wildlife Crime
                                                                                  used as a platform to strategise and devise           Prevention (WCP) to support investigations and
                                                                                  methods and steps to reduce and mitigate lion         anti-trafficking measures.
                                                                                  poaching and trade.
                                                                                                                                        The management of protected areas (PAs)
                                                                                  Areas which have been identified as potential         should be strengthened by ANAC, with specific
                                                                                  trade/poaching “hotspots” require further             emphasis on vacant hunting blocks where
                                                                                  investigation and immediate action. ANAC              management is compromised. ANAC should
                                                                                  needs to identify and provide support to key          consider pursuing Public-Private Partnerships
                                                                                  wildlife authorities in areas such as the Ruvuma      for PA management in areas where no support
                                                                                  landscape, Limpopo National Park and Niassa           or management exists.
                                                                                  Special Reserve to help increase levels of law
                                                                                  enforcement and anti-poaching to ensure that
                                                                                  lion trade is reduced. Covert investigations
                                                                                  should be undertaken to examine and
                                                                                  understand the extent of trade in lion parts and
                                                                                  derivatives, trade routes, and the actors involved
                                                                                  in these areas.

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INTRODUCTION
   T H E A F R I C A N L I O N PA N T H E R A L E O
   W A S O N C E W I D E LY D I S T R I B U T E D
   ACROSS THE AFRICAN
   C O N T I N E N T W I T H A N E S T I M AT E D
   P O P U L AT I O N O F 4 5 0 , 0 0 0 I N T H E
   1 9 4 0 S . T O D AY T H E T OTA L L I O N
   P O P U L AT I O N , A P P R O X I M AT E LY
   20,000 INDIVIDUALS, OCCUPIES A
   FRACTION OF ITS FORMER RANGE
   A N D P O P U L AT I O N S O N LY P E R S I S T
   I N A R E A S T H AT A R E I N T E N S E LY
   M A N A G E D ( B A U E R E T A L ., 2 0 1 5 ;
   B A U E R E T A L ., 2 0 1 6 ).
   The species is listed as Vulnerable on the Red List of the International
   Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and in Appendix II of the
   Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
   and Flora (CITES).

8 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
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LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE - May 2021 AN ASSESSMENT OF TRADE, MORTALITIES AND ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS FACING - TRAFFIC ...
Lions are apex predators and play a central role      substitutes in tiger wine or “bone strengthening
in maintaining a functioning ecosystem at all         wine”; a knock-on effect seemingly related to the
trophic levels. The removal of lions or declines      heightened protection of tigers in the early to mid-
in population numbers in an ecosystem often           2000s (Williams et al., 2015).
results in “predator-mediated trophic cascades”,
where other wildlife is negatively affected by the    While the impact of this trade in lion parts and
absence of large carnivores (Green et al., 2018;      derivatives is negligible for South African wild
Everatt et al., 2019a). Their occupancy at the        lion populations, the impact on other populations
highest trophic levels, large spatial requirements,   outside of South Africa is largely undocumented
and their relatively low numbers compared to prey     and unknown (Williams et al., 2015). Numerous
species also makes lions excellent ecological         seizures of illegal lion body parts across various
indicators of disturbances and ecosystem              African countries where wild populations exist,
functionality for large protected area networks       along with increased reports of lion poaching
(PANS) (Ripple et al., 2014; Watson et al., 2014).    incidences, suggest that these trades may pose
                                                      a significant threat to several populations across
African Lion numbers are in decline across most       Africa (2004–2014 data from UNEP-WCMC in
of their range except in a few southern Africa        Funston et al., 2016). Those populations thought
countries, namely Botswana, Namibia, South            to be most at risk are in East Africa, where lion
Africa, and Zimbabwe (Bauer et al., 2015). These      populations have decreased by almost 60% in the
declines are primarily due to anthropogenic           past two decades (Bauer et al., 2016).
influences such as retaliatory killing by humans
in response to livestock or human deaths (Ikanda      In 2015, Williams et al., (2017) undertook a pan-
and Packer, 2008), depletion of their prey base       African questionnaire and literature survey to
due to the bushmeat trade (Lindsey et al., 2013b),    investigate the domestic and international trade
habitat loss and conversion (Riggio et al., 2013),    and consumption of lion body parts across
and poorly regulated trophy hunting (Packer et al.,   current and former African Lion range states.
2009; Packer et al., 2011). In recent years, a new    During this study, lion experts were consulted to
threat has also emerged: the trade in lion parts      assess traditional medicinal practices (in Africa
and derivatives (IUCN 2006a,b, Bauer et al., 2016).   and Asia), as well as perceived international
                                                      and domestic trade and use of lion parts and
Several studies have highlighted concerns about       derivatives. Findings from the surveys suggested
the emerging and increasing trade in African          that while the impact of international trade on
Lion bones and derivatives both domestically          wild populations may be high, it remained mostly
within African countries, and internationally to      undocumented. As a result, the domestic trade
Asian markets (Williams et al., 2015; Williams        of lion parts was perceived to pose a more
et al., 2017). The African Lion bone trade has        significant impact on wild lion populations than
complex drivers, spanning multiple countries          the international trade. To monitor the potential
with a diverse array of cultures. Much of this        impacts further, 17 countries of concern were
trade has been attributed to traditional medicine     identified. These countries included Mozambique
practices in Africa and Asia (Bauer et al., 2016).    and Tanzania. Tanzania is a lion stronghold,
Across the African continent, lion parts such as      containing more than 40% of the African Lion
claws, skin, bones, teeth and fat are often used      population (Riggio et al., 2013). Historically, lions
in traditional ceremonies and rituals, medicines,     were widespread in Tanzania (Mesochina et al.,
and decorations (Williams et al., 2017), spurring     2010). Today they are still widely distributed in
a now illegal domestic trade. South Africa (as a      relatively large numbers, but some populations
major legal exporter of lion bones) had seen an       are decreasing and becoming increasingly
increase in the international legal export of lion    fragmented. Some 37% of Tanzania’s surface
bones and skeletons to East and Southeast Asia        area is designated for protection of biodiversity
(2017: 800 skeletons; 2018: 1,500 skeletons),         in mostly unfenced reserves; however, trophy
although the trade was ruled unlawful and             hunting occurs in 86% of this entire protected
frozen by a court order in 2019 (Venter, 2019).       area network (Brink et al., 2016).
These lion bones were reportedly being used as

                                                                           LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 9
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Mozambique is a country with a complicated          recovery. Mozambique’s National Parks and
history, ravaged by civil war spanning many         protected areas are unfenced and often have
decades (1977–1992). During these times             communities living within the parks’ boundaries
as well as post-war, poverty was high,              where large areas are used to cultivate crops,
wildlife poaching was rife, and many wildlife       graze cattle, and gather food (Everatt et al.,
populations were decimated (Bouley et al.,          2019a). Bushmeat poaching of ungulates is
2018). Since then, conservation efforts have        also widespread across these protected areas,
increased, and many organisations are working       and in some areas of Mozambique, lions are
to restore conservation areas with species that     targeted for their body parts (Everatt et al., 2015;
were once omnipresent (Bouley et al., 2018).        Everatt et al., 2019b), or persecuted for livestock
Due to this complex history, lions are facing       depredation.
both direct and indirect pressures during their

OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY:
In this report, TRAFFIC investigated the extent     1. The perceived trade of lion
of trade and harvest of lions in Tanzania and
                                                       parts, both domestically and
Mozambique. Interviews and consultations
were conducted to investigate the presence,            internationally.
extent, and scale of domestic and international     2. The extent and scale of the
trade and harvest in both countries, specific
considerations are listed to the right.                domestic trade in lion parts and
                                                       derivatives.
The report has been structured to provide
a multi-factorial analysis based on the non-        3. The extent and scale of the
detriment finding (NDF) format of Rosser and           international trade of lion parts and
Haywood (2002). As reliable data are patchy,
TRAFFIC’s aim was to use information on                derivatives, either sourced from
threats, biological characteristics, national          legally or illegally harvested lions.
status, management, monitoring, and the
                                                    4. The geographic extent of the illegal
impact of legal, illegal, and unregulated harvest
and trade to produce an assessment of the              trade and harvest of lions within
impact of these activities and associated              Tanzania and Mozambique and the
parameters on the wild lion populations of
Tanzania and Mozambique.
                                                       location of potential poaching and
                                                       trade “hotspots”.

10 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ANAC     Administração Nacional das Áreas de Conservação “National Administration for Conservation Areas” (Mozambique)

CDV      Canine Distemper Virus

CITES    Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

HLC      Human-lion conflict

IUCN     International Union for Conservation of Nature

NCP      Niassa Carnivore Project

NDF      Non-Detriment Finding

NGO      Non-Governmental Organisation

PAC      Problem Animal Control

PANS     Protected Area Networks

SANBI    South African National Biodiversity Institute

SSC      Species Survival Commission

TANAPA   Tanzania National Parks Authority

TAWA     Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority

TAWIRI   Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute

WCS      Wildlife Conservation Society

WD       Wildlife Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism

WiTIS    Wildlife Trade and Information System

WMA      Wildlife Management Area

UNCAC    United Nations Convention against Corruption

UNODC    United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

                                                                                           LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 11
LITERATURE
    REVIEW

12 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
GENERAL
BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LIONS
Habitat and Ecological adaptability
Lions commonly inhabit savannah habitats              lions can be considered as generalists as they
across the African continent (Riggio et al., 2013);   are not restricted to one habitat or prey species
however, lions are not limited to a particular        (Government Gazette No. 41393, 2018). While
habitat and can adapt to survive in a variety of      hunting success is dependent on habitat
different landscapes and ecosystems, including        types, for example, longer grass (Funston et
semi-arid to arid environments (Bauer et al.,         al., 2001) or increased cover (Hopcroft et al.,
2016). Some lion populations have also been           2005), lions do have the ability to adjust their
known to occur in the savanna-forest biomes of        hunting strategies to hunt in new habitats. Lions
Gabon and Congo (Henschel, 2009). Ecological          can readily adapt and recover from various
adaptability refers to the degree to which a          disturbances (Trinkle et al., 2017), for example,
species can adapt (i.e. habitat, diet, etc.). When    population bottlenecks and disease (Packer et
compared to other mammalian carnivores,               al., 1991).

Dispersal efficiency
Lions are the most social species of the Felidae      To maintain dispersal pathways, it is essential
family, living in fission-fusion family groups        to maintain habitat connectivity through
called prides (Kotze et al., 2018). Related           protected areas and corridors (Cushman et
females tend to stay in their prides for their        al., 2015). Many factors will influence the
entire life, while male offspring will leave their    dispersal efficiency of lion populations; these
natal prides and go in search of their own            include protected area size, the availability of
prides when they are about four years old             wildlife corridors, as well as human-wildlife
(Trinkle et al., 2017). As such, lions have large     conflict (Cushman et al., 2018). Space is a rare
spatial requirements with vast home ranges            commodity in most African countries, with
and territories spanning hundreds of square           wildlife and humans often competing for space       lions are
kilometres (Macdonald and Sillero-Zubiri,
2002; Stolton and Dudley, 2019). Overall, lions
                                                      and resources. What space is available is often
                                                      fragmented and transformed (Macdonald and
                                                                                                          long-lived
                                                                                                          often living longer
are not considered good dispersers. In many           Sillero-Zubiri, 2002). Cushman et al. (2018),
                                                                                                          than 12 years in
cases, these dispersal events result in male          suggest that “many existing protected areas
                                                                                                          the wild
lions entering high-risk environments outside of      are too small to support large populations and
protected areas (Trinkle et al., 2017).               are therefore unlikely to be viable in the long     social cats
                                                      term.” These small, protected areas promote         they live in fission-
From a genetic viewpoint, the ability to disperse     isolated populations that have no means of          fusion family
between populations is a crucial factor in            dispersal and may ultimately cause reduced          groups, females
retaining the genetic viability of populations at a   reproductive rates (due to inbreeding), and         tend to stick with
landscape level by decreasing the likelihood of       increased vulnerability to disease (Kissui and      one pride for a
inbreeding and disease (Cushman et al., 2018).        Packer, 2004).                                      lifetime

                                                                                               LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 13
Life history
                            Lions are long-lived, with males and females             after 6–8 months (Packer and Pusey, 1983).
                            often living longer than 12 years of age in the wild     Conception can take place from two years of
                            (Packer et al., 1988). Generally, lionesses give         age (Rudnai, 1973) with intervals between litters
                            birth to between 1–4 cubs (Packer and Pusey,             averaging two to three years. As a result, lions
                            1995) with a gestation period of approximately           are considered to have a low reproductive rate
                            110 days (Rudnai, 1973). Cubs are weaned                 and are sensitive to over-utilisation.

Young Maasai men and boys are often responsible for protecting cattle from predators and herding their cattle to appropriate food and water sources

                            Interaction with humans
                            Lions thrive within protected area networks              “distinct populations within a wider landscape
                            where human interactions are limited.                    with limited migration between them.” Thus, in
                            However, threats such as habitat loss,                   addition to trade impacts, lions are susceptible
                            disturbances, and conversion of wilderness               to these fragmentation disturbances. Reduced
                            areas are all having a negative effect on lion           or fragmented habitat often results in increases
   Ala-mayo                 ranges across Africa (Riggio et al., 2013).              in human-lion interactions and livestock
       a traditional        These culminating threats often lead to                  encounters. In these complex landscapes of
    Maasai culture          lion populations becoming susceptible to                 coexistence, humans are having a detrimental
that included a rite        fragmentation across their landscapes which              effect on lion population numbers and are
 of passage where           in turn means that populations often display             contributing towards their decline both directly
 young men would            a metapopulation structure. Dolrenry et al.              and indirectly (Oriol-Cotterilletal et al., 2015;
 hunt and kill a lion       (2014) state that these metapopulations are              Suraci et al., 2019).

14 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
MAJOR THREATS
DIRECT THREATS FACED BY LIONS
EXCLUDING REGULATED HARVEST

Targeted poaching                                     Retaliatory killing
Traditional medicine and commercial use of lion       In areas where humans and wildlife co-exist,
parts are driving an unsustainable trade in lion      carnivores such as the African Lion are often
parts and derivatives across Africa (Williams et      killed in retaliation for predation on domestic
al., 2015). In some areas, lions are falling victim   livestock (Kissui, 2008). In East Africa, for
to targeted poaching for parts (Mesochina et al.,     example, in the Maasai culture, family wealth
2010; Everatt et al., 2019b) and this, along with     is measured in cattle numbers, and thus
other significant threats facing lion populations,    depredation is often a cause of conflict (Ikanda
is adding to population declines in most African      and Packer, 2008).
countries.
                                                      In most cases retaliatory killings will happen in

Ritual/ cultural killing                              areas adjacent to protected areas where lions
                                                      occur in large numbers (Bauer et al., 2016;
In Africa, several cultures have strong traditional   Eustace et al., 2019). With human population
links with the lion. In the Maasai culture, for       numbers on the rise, it is easy to see why there is
example, it is a tradition for young men to hunt      an increase in human-wildlife conflict as humans
and kill a lion as a rite of passage to adulthood     and wildlife compete for space and resources.
(Ikanda and Packer, 2008; Mesochina et al.,
2010). These hunts are traditionally referred
to as “Ala-mayo.” This form of lion hunting
                                                      ROADKILL
was banned in the 1970s (Ikanda and Packer,           In some areas, national highways cut through
2008); however, many people believe it still          National Parks and reserves. On these national
occurs in secret. According to the literature
and also reported during interviews carried out
                                                      roads, people are negligent and do not obey the
                                                      speed limits.
                                                                                                            retaliatory
for this study, lion products collected are the                                                             killings
tail, paws, and mane (Mesochina et al., 2010).        This leads to numerous unnecessary deaths             for predation on
These products are used in the celebrations,          due to animals being hit by vehicles. In countries    dometic livestock
following which the tail and paws are discarded       where protected areas are often unfenced and          are common in
(Mesochina et al., 2010). Traditional lion hunting    major roads intercept protected areas, incidents      areas where lions
also occurs in other local pastoral tribal groups,    of roadkill are a common occurrence (Kioko et         and humans
but it is not well documented.                        al., 2015).                                           co-exist

                                                                                                 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 15
Unregulated trophy hunting
                            Sport hunting is a multifaceted practice in            for sport, it is the mature males that are targeted
commercial                  those African countries that still allow it. On        (six years and older). In social cats such as
      use                   the one hand, hunting blocks conserve vast             lions, this can create a situation of abnormal
     and traditional        amounts of land for wildlife, which under              male replacement that can lead to high levels
        medicine are        different circumstances may have been used             of infanticide (Packer et al., 2009; Lindsey et
           driving an       for agriculture and grazing (Brink et al., 2016).      al., 2012). Unmanaged or unregulated trophy
unsustainable trade         The hunting blocks may also provide economic           hunting can lead to unsustainable offtake which
   in lion parts and        benefits to neighbouring communities (Brink et         can have a negative impact on lion densities
 derivatives across         al., 2016). However, there are also many negative      (Lindsey et al., 2012; Brink et al., 2016).
               Africa       facets of trophy hunting. When lions are hunted

                            Problem Animal Control (PAC)
                            Lions are prone to conflict with humans,               et al., 2010). In many cases, only the livestock
                            whether it be killing livestock or in some             carcasses are discovered and reported, or in
                            cases, people. Problem Animal Control (PAC)            other cases, if lions are encountered, they are
                            is a measure used to mitigate this conflict            chased away. In many incidences where villages
                            (Mesochina et al., 2010). When human-lion              are isolated, and wildlife authorities lack the
                            conflicts (HLC) occur, wildlife authorities, village   human resources to send a representative out
                            game scouts, or game officers are called out to        to assess the situation, these “problem” lions
                            assess the damage caused by the lions and if           face persecution and are often killed or injured
                            deemed necessary, remove the individual. PAC           by villagers themselves (retaliatory/revenge
                            can be challenging to implement as the lions           killings). According to Mesochina et al. (2010),
                            may have already moved out of the area by the          PAC is a viable option if it is implemented
                            time the wildlife authorities arrive (Mesochina        correctly.

                            Diseases
                            Diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and               small population does not fare as well with
                            canine distemper are a threat to lion populations      disease outbreaks when compared to larger,
                            (Mesochina et al., 2010). Canine distemper virus       less isolated populations like the Serengeti
                            (CDV) is a severe and often fatal disease (Myers       lions (Kissui and Packer, 2004; Mesochina et al.,
                            et al., 1997). Outbreaks have been recorded            2010).
                            in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania as well as in
                            the Serengeti ecosystem (Kissui and Packer             Lions are also susceptible to bovine tuberculosis,
                            2004). The Ngorongoro Crater lion population           a disease which is closely linked to bovine
                            is isolated due to geographic barriers making          species such as cattle and buffalo (Michel
                            this population more susceptible to inbreeding         et al., 2006). Buffalo is one of the top prey for
                            and diseases such as CDV (Kissui and Packer,           lions and therefore this disease can spread to
                            2004; Mesochina et al., 2010). Increasing              lion prides after lions consume infected buffalo
                            human populations, and thus domestic dogs              meat from herds which have a prevalence of
                            (the supposed reservoir for CDV in northern            bovine tuberculosis (Michel et al., 2006). When
                            Tanzania), around the crater are creating the          bovine tuberculosis is present in a pride it can
                            perfect environment for CDV to be transferred          have many adverse effects, one of which is
                            to the isolated crater lions (Kissui and Packer,       reduced breeding success (Michel et al., 2006).
                            2004; Mesochina et al., 2010). This relatively

 16 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
Part of a team conducting the lion census in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya

                                                                               LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 17
A vet tries to save young male lion, poisoned after eating a poisoned carcass poisoned by local cattle herders

INDIRECT THREATS FACED BY LIONS
EXCLUDING REGULATED HARVEST

                             Prey-base depletion
                             The illegal bushmeat trade occurs in many                 trade is considered a significant factor which
                             countries across Africa (Lindsey et al.,                  adversely affects this predator-prey interaction
                             2013b). Bushmeat has become an essential                  due to excessive hunting of certain ungulate
                             source of protein and income generation for               species (Lindsey et al., 2013b). This can, in
                             countless people living in rural areas (Lindsey           turn, have drastic consequences for predator
                             et al., 2013b). Wildlife was first targeted               species that also rely on these prey populations
                             in areas where there was little protection.               (Macdonald and Sillero-Zubiri, 2002). In
                             However, as areas surrounding protected areas             Mozambique, human population numbers are
                             become over-utilised, protected areas are                 high, thus causing competition for the same
                             becoming negatively affected by unsustainable             “prey” resource. In future, over-utilisation of prey
                             bushmeat poaching (Lindsey et al., 2013b).                species will reduce their abundance and, in turn,
                             There is a delicate balance in the predator-prey          lion numbers if this relationship is not managed
                             ecosystem relationship. The illegal bushmeat              (Bauer et al., 2015).

                             Habitat loss due to human encroachment
                             One of the main threats to lion conservation              an intensification of the resources needed to
                             is the issue of habitat loss and conversion of            sustain more people. These resources could
   bushmeat                  natural habitats to support growing human                 be in the form of grazing land for cattle or
     depletes prey           populations (Ripple et al., 2014; Watson et al.,          fields for cultivation, both of which transform
    for lions but is         2014).                                                    and fragment natural habitats (Ripple et al.,
      an essential                                                                     2014). For protected areas that are unfenced,
source of protein/           Lions do not cope well in human-modified                  encroachment into these natural areas is a
  income for rural           landscapes or areas with high human density.              common occurrence. Packer et al. (2011)
     communities             With an increasing human population comes                 found high human populations around wildlife

18 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
areas in Tanzania and concurrent declines in          extremely susceptible to persecution due to
prey species (herbivores). Thus, people and           increased contact and possible conflict with
carnivores are competing for the same limited         livestock (Ripple et al., 2014).
space and resources, which makes lions

Indiscriminate killing (snaring/gin traps)
Lions are often the indirect casualty of              break free, the snare often remains attached
poaching traps used to capture or kill wildlife for   to its victim and can cause fatal injuries if
bushmeat.                                             left untreated. Gin traps are still the preferred   gin traps
                                                      method of poaching in many areas in                 are the preferred
In particular, wire snares and gin traps pose         Mozambique. Lions caught in gin traps often         method of
a significant threat to lions (Mesochina et al.,      lose their paws but have been known to recover      poaching lions
2010, Figure 1). This method of poaching is           and live on three legs.                             in many areas of
indiscriminate, and even if a lion manages to                                                             Mozambique

FIGURE 1
A lion that lost its paw and died due to a gin trap

                                                                                               LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 19
NATIONAL STATUS OF LION POPULATIONS
                            TANZANIA: Abundance, distribution, and population Trends
                            Tanzania is a lion stronghold, containing more            Population strongholds with estimates greater
                            than 40% of the African Lion population (Riggio           than 1,000 include Selous, Ruaha-Moyowosi-
                            et al., 2013). Using population data provided             Ugalla-Rukwa-Katavi, and the Maasailand
                            by TAWIRI, seven broad lion ranges were                   populations, the Selous population being
                            identified across Tanzania (Table 1; Figure 2).           the largest (Figure 2). The latest population
                            The majority of their distributions occur within          estimates place the current national population
                            Tanzania’s protected area network, which covers           at approximately 13,818 lions (Table 1).
                            approximately 37% of the landscape (Figure 2).

                            FIGURE 2
                            African Lion Panthera leo distribution across the United Republic of Tanzania. Lion population data provided by
                            the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) and the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, 2018. Lion population
                            distributions (brown, labelled 1–7) and population estimates (1–7) are summarised in Table 1. Data source for
                            lion distribution: Panthera and WCS 2016.

                                                                                                             Total population estimate
                                                                                                                      ~13,818

                                                                                                            7000
                                                                                                            6000
                                                                                                            5000
                                                                                                 Estimate

                                                                                                            4000
                                                                                                            3000
                                                                                                            2000
                                                                                                            1000
                                                                                                              0
                                                                                                                   1   2     3    4    5   6     7
                                                                                                                           Population ID

table 1
Tanzania African Lion Panthera leo population estimates

 ID        Lion Area                                      Population size    Status             Year of Survey                Source/Reference
 1         North-western Tanzania                         520                unknown            2010                          TAWIRI, 2016b

 2         Ruaha, Moyowosi, Ugalla, Rukwa-Katavi,         2,300              unknown            2010                          TAWIRI, 2016b

 3         Maasailand                                     3,700              declining          2015                          TAWIRI, 2016b

                                                                                                                              D. Guthrie pers.
 4         Saadani                                        40                 unknown            unknown
                                                                                                                              comm.
                                                                                                                              Mésochina et al.,
 5         Swaga Swaga                                    33                 unknown            2010
                                                                                                                              2010
                                                                                                                              Mésochina et al.,
 6         Udzungu                                        25                 unknown            2010
                                                                                                                              2010

 7         Selous Ecosystem                               7,200              stable             2015                          TAWIRI, 2016b

 Total                                                    13,818

20 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
MOZAMBIQUE: Abundance, distribution, and population Trends
According to the IUCN Species Survival                   population of lions (~ 34 individuals) which
Commission (SSC) Cat Specialist Group, (2018),           occur within Limpopo National Park (Everatt
there are five lion populations distributed              et al., 2014). Limpopo National Park forms
across Mozambique (Table 2; Figure 3).                   part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park
These populations are clustered in southern              (GLTP); a more extensive ecosystem which
Mozambique (Limpopo National Park/Banhine                also includes Kruger National Park, Banhine,
National Park), central Mozambique (Gorongosa,           Zinave, and Gonarezhou National Parks. As a
surrounding Coutadas and Tete province) as               result, population numbers will likely fluctuate
well as northern Mozambique (Niassa and                  over seasons and years as lions move between
surrounding Hunting Blocks). Niassa Special              these protected areas. Niassa Special Reserve
Reserve has the highest population of lions              is considered a stronghold for lions, with several
with between 800–1,000 individuals (Niassa               older reports estimating stable or increasing
Carnivore Project, 2018), followed by central            populations (Lindsay et al., 2012; Riggio et al.,
Mozambique (including Tete province) ~290                2013). However, recent annual report results
individuals (Jacobson et al., 2013; Bouley et al.,       show a declining lion population (Niassa
2018). Southern Mozambique has the smallest              Carnivore Project, 2018).

FIGURE 3
African Lion Panthera leo distribution across Mozambique. Lion population data are taken from IUCN SSC Cat
Specialist Group, 2018. Lion population distributions (brown, labelled 8–12) and population estimates (8–12)
are summarised in Table 2. Data source for lion distribution: Panthera and WCS 2016.

                                                                           TOTAL POPULATION ESTIMATE
                                                                                    ~1,295

table 2
Mozambique African Lion Panthera leo population estimates (IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group 2018).

 ID        Lion Area                      2005 Population NUMBERS         2018 Population NUMBERS          Source/Reference
 8         Gile                           30                              0                                    Lindsey et al., 2017

 9         Tchuma Tchato                  no data                         185                                  Jacobson et al., 2013

 10        Gorongosa/Marromeu             174                             104                                  Bouley et al., 2018

 11        Limpopo National Park          no data                         34                                   Everatt et al., 2014

 12        Niassa Special Reserve         1,025                           972                                  Begg et al., 2017

 TOTAL                                    1,229                           1,295

                                                                                                      LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 21
Searching for lions as part of a national census in Kenya

MANAGEMENT PLANS
TANZANIA
L I O N S A R E R E P O RT E D LY A C T I V E LY M A N A G E D I N M O S T A R E A S
O F TA N Z A N I A . I N 2 0 0 9 , A C A R N I V O R E A C T I O N P L A N , W H I C H
W A S A C O M B I N E D P L A N F O R L E O PA R D S A N D L I O N S , W A S
D E V E L O P E D B Y TA W I R I ( TA W I R I , 2 0 0 9 ) .
                             TAWIRI has implemented this Action Plan and         communities, and hunting companies and
                             over the years has undertaken monitoring and        photographic tourism are also supporting
                             surveys across Tanzania. TAWIRI (2016a)             rural communities.
                             outlined five implementation activities for
                                                                               4. Policy  and land-use: the ongoing
                             lions which the Management Authority are
                                                                                 establishment of Wildlife Management Areas
                             undertaking:
                                                                                 (WMAs).
                          1. Management: a status assessment was               5. Trade: Hunting Regulations have been
                             conducted (Mesochina et al., 2010); population      amended and updated (newest version
                             monitoring of “key” lion populations (Selous,       2015) to promote a sustainable harvest. The
                             Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire); and           Wildlife Division has developed a monitoring
                             surveys of lion “hotspots” (Selous, Rungwa and      programme and harvest rate for lion hunting
                             Maasai Steppe and West Kilimanjaro).
                                                                               Additionally, the Wildlife Division worked
                          2. Mitigation: identify research priorities and      with the International Foundation for Wildlife
                             projects in conjunction with non-governmental     Management (IGF Foundation) and this
                             organisations (NGOs) to address the central       collaboration resulted in the Conservation Lion
                             issue of human-lion conflict in pastoralist       Status report which was published in 2010 by
                             communities to equip communities with             Pascal Mesochina et al., as well as a monitoring
                             new techniques to protect their livestock and     system for lion hunting and an ageing system
                             improve husbandry practices.                      and restrictions for these hunts from 2011–
                          3. Socio-economics: many communities are             2018. The programme is overseen by TAWA.
                             living close to wildlife, especially those near   Currently, the Carnivore Action Plan (TAWIRI,
                             National Parks. Some 25% of fees received         2009) is the only plan in use; however, the
                             from professional hunting goes back to            Wildlife Division (funding dependent) would like
                             the District Councils. Tanzania National          to update the Carnivore Action Plan and develop
                             Parks Authority (TANAPA) has implemented          a plan specific to Panthera leo.
                             community programmes that uplift local

22 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
MOZAMBIQUE
I N 2 0 0 9 A C O N S E R VAT I O N L I O N S TAT U S R E P O RT F O R
M OZ A M B I Q U E WA S P U B L I S H E D (C H A R D O N N E T E T A L.,
2 0 0 9 ) . T H I S R E P O RT I S A G U I D I N G D O C U M E N T F O R T H E
C O N S E R VAT I O N S TAT U S O F L I O N S I N M O Z A M B I Q U E A N D
OUTLINES LION RANGES, HISTORICAL AND CURRENT
A B U N D A N C E , T H R E AT S , H U M A N - L I O N C O N F L I C T A N D L I O N
HUNTING IN MOZAMBIQUE.

This document is not an Action Plan, and as          facing lion management and conservation.
such, it has no implementation or actionable         The 2016 revised Action Plan contains specific,
activities for lion conservation, monitoring and     actionable activities for lion management
research in Mozambique.                              within Mozambique. These activities fall under
                                                     six broad objectives namely, 1) Management;
In 2010, the first Conservation Strategy and         2) Mitigation; 3) Socio-economics; 4) Policy
Action Plan for the African Lion (Panthera l. leo)   and land-use; 5) Politics, and 6) Trade. Each
were published for Mozambique (Fusari et al.,        of these objectives has specific targets and
2010). In 2016, the Administração Nacional das       activities associated with it, as well as timelines
Áreas de Conservação (“National Administration       for completion/implementation of each activity.
for Conservation Areas”) (ANAC) developed
a revised document, the National Action Plan         However, the Action Plan also notes several
for Conservation of the African Lion (Panthera       knowledge gaps for each of the six objectives
leo leo) in Mozambique (ANAC, 2016). These           listed above. The most important of these from
Action Plans are comprehensive documents             the 2010 and 2016 Action Plans and relevant
which outline the status of lions in Mozambique      to this report are summarised below:
as well as the threats, gaps and constraints

1. Lack of regular monitoring of lion status and threats.
2. Unknown levels of retaliatory killing (especially in the south of Mozambique).
3. Lack of understanding of cultural and anthropological matters related to lions.
4. Weak law enforcement when violating the use of natural resources.
5. Indiscriminate killing of lions for PAC.
6. Lack of appropriate knowledge and awareness of the existing legal framework.
7. Lack of recognition of the conservation value and importance of lions.
8. Local communities are often not aware of the full economic value of natural resources.
9. Lack of incentives for lion conservation.
10. There is a general shortage of both human and financial resources for the management of
    wildlife, including lions.

                                                                                               LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 23
TROPHY HUNTING HARVEST
THE AFRICAN LION IS LISTED AS VULNERABLE ON THE IUCN
R E D L I S T TM A N D I N A P P E N D I X I I O F C I T E S . A C C O R D I N G T O
C I T E S , I N T E R N AT I O N A L T R A D E I N S P E C I M E N S O F A P P E N D I X
I I S P E C I E S M AY B E A U T H O R I S E D B Y T H E G R A N T I N G O F A N
E X P O RT P E R M I T O R R E - E X P O RT C E RT I F I C AT E .

                           No import permit is necessary under CITES             harvest (for instance, Problem Animal Control)
                           (although a permit is needed in some                  do take place in Tanzania and Mozambique,
                           countries that have taken stricter measures           especially if lions have killed humans. However,
                           than CITES requires). Permits or certificates         this type of harvest is conducted by the relevant
                           should only be granted if the relevant authorities    wildlife authorities in each country (i.e. ANAC in
                           are satisfied that certain conditions are met;        Mozambique and Wildlife Department/TAWA in
                           above all, that trade will not be detrimental to      Tanzania) and not by professional sport hunters
                           the survival of the species in the wild. Note         (Mesochina et al., 2010). PAC is not used as a
                           that, aside from trophy hunting, other types of       method of population control.

                           TANZANIA
                           Tanzania has extensive landscapes that have           areas (Game Reserves, Game Controlled Areas,
                           been set aside for wildlife and Biodiversity          Open Areas, Wildlife Management Areas),
       hunting             Conservation (~37%), including National Parks,        except National Parks and the Ngorongoro
        blocks             Game Reserves, Game Control Areas, Wildlife           Conservation Area. Hunting companies are
 are allocated via         Management Areas, or Open Areas (Mesochina            leased land (hunting blocks) by the government,
  a closed tender          et al., 2010; Brink et al., 2016). Tanzania also      with a lease length of five years and are each
     process, and          has the largest population of lions when              issued with a species-specific quota per hunting
     according to          compared to other African countries (Packer et        block and season (Lindsey et al., 2013a; Brink et
regulations, sport         al., 2011; Riggio et al., 2013). Hunting blocks are   al., 2016). Lion hunts are only issued to clients
hunting is allowed         allocated via a closed tender process (Lindsey        who purchase a 21-day safari (Packer et al.,
    in designated          et al., 2013a), and according to regulations,         2011).
     wildlife areas        sport hunting is allowed in designated wildlife

24 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
Only wild lions are harvested in Tanzania. In
terms of sport hunting, Tanzania is at the
                                                    gross income received from trophy hunting (per
                                                    km2) was highest in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and
                                                                                                           40% of the
top of the list of trophy hunting destinations,     Namibia. The ability to harvest lions is financially   quota fees
especially for species such as lion and leopard     significant, and lion quotas are available in most     are paid by
(Packer et al., 2011; Brink et al., 2016). Trophy   hunting areas in Tanzania. According to Lindsey        hunting operators
hunting brings in a substantial (~USD424/km2)2      et al., (2013a), an amount equal to 40% of the         in Tanzania to the
amount of revenue for the country (Lindsey          total quota fees are paid by hunting operators         government
et al., 2012). Lindsey et al., (2012) conducted     to government, regardless of whether lion hunts
a study to assess the financial impact which        are successful. Thus, the practice of sport/
lion trophy hunting had across five countries       trophy hunting in Tanzania is beneficial to the
(Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and         economy in terms of annual income.
Zimbabwe). The authors concluded that the

HUNTING QUOTAS
Sport hunting was previously managed by             based on surveys and reports (where available),
the Wildlife Division of the Ministry of Natural    as well as recommendations from hunting
Resources and Tourism (Wildlife Division).          operators and staff from the Wildlife Division
Currently, the newly formed Tanzanian Wildlife      (Lindsey et al., 2013a). According to TAWIRI,
Management Authority (TAWA) manages                 (2016a), population estimates, research work
permitting, and quota numbers. TAWA issues          and field personnel are also consulted when
species-specific quotas per hunting company         setting the annual quota number. This quota
per annum (Brink et al., 2016). The hunting         system is in place so that TAWA can monitor
companies can then choose how many of these         the harvests for each hunting operator. Hunting
quotas they would like to sell to clients in the    operators are required to notify TAWA of the
form of specific hunting packages.                  number of lions harvested per hunting season,
                                                    which is verified by local wildlife officials who
Annual quotas are set by the Quota Allocation       are present on hunts. The government imposes
Advisory Committee, which consists of selected      a harvest threshold of approximately 200 lions
experts from TAWIRI, the University of Dar          annually. This is based on the best available
es Salaam, Sokoine University of Agriculture,       scientific advice which underpins a harvest
University of Dodoma, the College of African        of 1 lion/1000 km2 for the Selous-Nyerere
Wildlife Management, and the Wildlife Division      ecosystem and 0.5 lions/1000 km2 for other
(TAWIRI, 2016a). These quota numbers are            ecosystems (Packer et al., 2011).

MONITORING AND REPORTING
Tanzania has strict hunting regulations which       offences and penalties (Wildlife Conservation
were last updated in 2015 (Wildlife Conservation    (Tourist Hunting) Regulation, 2015; TAWIRI,
(Tourist Hunting) Regulation, 2015). Guidelines     2016a). No opportunistic lion harvests are
and reporting measures are in place to ensure       permitted in Tanzania. According to The Wildlife
that harvests are sustainable (Benyr et al.,        Conservation Tourist Hunting Regulations
2017). According to the NDF published by            (2015), a Wildlife Officer or certified village
TAWIRI, (2016a), Tanzania follows an adaptive       Game Scout is required to be present during
management strategy for trophy hunting so new       every hunt, provided the hunting block is under
issues can be addressed and regulations can be      the management of an Authorised Association.
revised continuously. Strict hunting regulations    After a hunt is completed, whether successful
are followed (Wildlife Conservation (Tourist        or unsuccessful, a Safari return form must be
Hunting) Regulation, 2015; TAWIRI, 2016a),          completed and pictures, measurements and
which include application procedures, hunting       samples for DNA analysis must be collected and
restrictions (e.g. age restrictions), management    these, along with the skull, must be delivered
and supervision of hunters, and outlines            to the management department (Benyr et al.,

                                                                                               LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE 25
2017). The skulls are then aged by the TAWA as        Further verification of these “blind” skulls is
                           well as experts from TAWIRI and the results are       carried out by lion experts (Benyr et al., 2017).
                           stored in a database (Benyr et al., 2017). These      The relevant CITES export permits will only be
                           skulls are then catalogued and stored as “blind”      issued if the age of the skulls has been verified,
                           samples with no details of hunting company or         and the correct paperwork has been submitted
                           client attached to each skull (Benyr et al., 2017).   (Benyr et al., 2017).

                           Ageing protocols
                           Hunting operators and clients may only hunt           of trophies in some cases. Hunting operators
                           male lions that are six years or older; this is       who hunt lions in the 4–5 age class may still
                           the minimum age for Tanzania (Lindsey et al.,         export these trophies; however, operators
                           2013a; Wildlife Conservation (Tourist Hunting)        will incur fines (Benyr et al., 2017). Any males
                           Regulation, 2015). The use of age-based               hunted which are below four years of age may
                           hunting systems is required to ensure the             result in the professional hunter’s licence being
                           sustainable harvest of lions (Miller et al., 2016;    cancelled and no export of these trophies
                           Begg et al., 2017). Section 27 (1) of the Wildlife    is allowed (Benyr et al., 2017). To age lions
                           Conservation (Tourist Hunting) Regulations,           correctly, professional hunters use indices such
                           (2015) states that if hunting operators are           as mane development, the colouration of the
                           found to be contravening these regulations,           nose and assessment of the lion’s teeth (White
                           fines are prescribed, as well as confiscations        and Belant, 2016; Benyr et al., 2017).

26 LIONS IN TANZANIA AND MOZAMBIQUE
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