Conservation strategies to protect biodiversity and support household livelihoods face numerous challenges. Across the tropics, efforts focus on balancing trade-offs in local communities near the borders of protected areas. Devolving rights and control over certain resources to communities is increasingly considered necessary, but decades of attempts have yielded limited success and few lessons on how such interventions could be successful in improving livelihoods. We investigated a key feature of household well-being, the experience of food insecurity, in villages across Tanzania's northern wildlife tourist circuit. Using a sample of 2,499 primarily livestock-keeping households we compared food insecurity in villages participating in the country's principal community-based conservation strategy with nearby control areas. We tested whether community-based projects could offset the central costs experienced by households near strictly protected areas (i.e. frequent human–wildlife conflict and restricted access to resources). We found substantial heterogeneity in outcomes associated with the presence of community-based conservation projects across multiple project sites. Although households in project villages experienced more frequent conflict with wildlife and received few provisioned benefits, there is evidence that these households may have been buffered to some degree against negative effects of wildlife conflict. We interpret our results in light of qualitative institutional factors that may explain various project outcomes. Tanzania, like many areas of conservation importance, contains threatened biodiversity alongside areas of extreme poverty. Our analyses highlight the need to examine more precisely the complex and locally specific mechanisms by which interventions do or do not benefit wildlife and local communities.

We used capture-recapture analyses to estimate the density of a tiger Panthera tigris population in the tropical forests of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, from photographic capture histories of 15 distinct individuals. The closure test results (z = 0.39, P = 0.65) provided some evidence in support of the demographic closure assumption. Fit of eight plausible closed models to the data indicated more support for model Mh, which incorporates individual heterogeneity in capture probabilities. This model generated an average capture probability = 0.42 and an abundance estimate of = 19 (9.65) tigers. The sampled area of = 477.2 (58.24) km2 yielded a density estimate of = 3.98 (0.51) tigers per 100 km2. Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary could therefore hold 113 tigers and the entire Western Forest Complex c. 720 tigers. Although based on field protocols that constrained us to use sub-optimal analyses, this estimated tiger density is comparable to tiger densities in Indian reserves that support moderate prey abundances. However, tiger densities in well-protected Indian reserves with high prey abundances are three times higher. If given adequate protection we believe that the Western Forest Complex of Thailand could potentially harbour >2,000 wild tigers, highlighting its importance for global tiger conservation. The monitoring approaches we recommend here would be useful for managing this tiger population.

The establishment of protected areas for wildlife conservation in Africa was motivated by a number of different reasons (including hunting, recreation and wildlife conservation). The current reserve network provides good coverage of the distributions of the 194 species of larger mammals (>3 kg) and 51 species of threatened larger mammals. However, it is less effective in covering the distribution of all 197 of Africa's threatened mammal species, which includes >140 smaller bodied species (<3 kg) often restricted to habitat patches. A fully comprehensive network of areas for the conservation of African mammals, especially those facing extinction, is not yet in place, and further reserves may be needed in the Horn of Africa (Somalia in particular), the Cameroon Highlands, parts of the eastern African coastal forests and Eastern Arc Mountains, and parts of the Albertine Rift Mountains. More and larger reserve areas are also required to adequately cover all the species of South Africa. Parts of these gaps are already covered by government forest reserves, and the importance of this reserve category for the conservation of African mammals, especially threatened species, needs to be better recognized. As many of the gaps in reserve coverage are in areas of high human population and good agricultural potential, conservation goals may be difficult to achieve unless we supplement traditional reserves with novel approaches to maintain natural habitats and wildlife outside reserves.

Asia’s rangelands and mountains are strongholds for several endemic ungulate species. Little is known about the ecology of these species because of the region’s remoteness and the lack of robust scientific studies. Hunting, habitat modification, increased livestock grazing, disease and development are the major threats to the species. There is an urgent need for better monitoring to identify the size, distribution and dynamics of the populations of these species, and the threats to them, for effective conservation. The feasibility of standard scientific monitoring is greatly influenced by the remoteness of the region, the pre-existing scientific ideology, lack of expertise in the latest monitoring methods and awareness of biases and errors, and low capacity and logistical and financial constraints. We review the existing methods used for monitoring ungulates, identify the practical and institutional challenges to effective monitoring in Central Asia and categorize the methods based on various criteria so that researchers can plan better monitoring studies suited to particular species. We illustrate these issues using examples from several contrasting ungulate species. We recommend that scientific surveys should be complemented by increases in participatory monitoring, involving local people. The future of ungulate monitoring in Central Asia lies in a better recognition of the existing errors and biases in monitoring programmes and methods, allocation of more monitoring effort in terms of manpower, finances and logistics, understanding of robust scientific methods and sampling theory, and changing the scientific culture, as well as a commitment to ensuring that we monitor the things that matter.

Seahorses and their syngnathid relatives have provided a focus for efforts to ensure sustainable use of marine resources, with new international trade controls (CITES Appendix II) implemented in May 2004. We demonstrate how a study of international trade can be used to assess relative levels of threat and set domestic research and conservation priorities. Australia has remarkably high syngnathid biodiversity with at least 14 seahorse species, two endemic sea dragon species, and 90 species of pipefishes and pipehorses found in its territorial waters. Our objectives were to quantify species, trade routes, volumes, values and temporal trends in syngnathid trade to and from Australia. We found that Australia is probably the major global supplier of dried pipehorses Solegnathus spp.. These fishes, including at least one endemic species, are sourced from trawl bycatch and comprise Australia's largest syngnathid export, by both volume and value. Research is urgently needed to evaluate the impacts and sustainability of trawling on pipehorse populations. Australia is also the sole supplier of two sea dragon species, Phycodurus eques and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, for the live aquarium trade. Although lucrative, the number of wild-caught individuals involved in this trade was relatively low and probably of low conservation risk relative to habitat loss. Exports of seahorses and other pipefish species, and imports of all syngnathid species, are minor on a global scale, although the burgeoning aquaculture industry for seahorses requires careful evaluation for its potential impacts on wild populations.

The Tibetan antelope or chiru Pantholops hodgsonii is endemic to the Tibetan plateau and was once abundant over vast areas of high elevation grassland habitat. During the 20th century, however, the population declined greatly in numbers. Hunting used to be the main threat to this species but recent actions by the government and wildlife protection organizations have brought this under control. With the development of north-west China, conflicts between development of transportation facilities and conservation have become more acute, and heavy traffic on the Golmud-Lhasa highway and the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway across key migration corridors have disturbed the migration of Tibetan antelopes. During June to August 2003 and 2004 we monitored the movement of Tibetan antelopes across the railway and highway and recorded their passes at wildlife crossing structures, which was the first use of such structures in China. Our results show that the efficiency of passages greatly improved between 2003 and 2004, and that use of wildlife corridors was affected by the structure of the passage, presence of wolves, recovery of vegetation following damage during construction, and other factors. The disturbance to migration of Tibetan antelopes included infrastructure, human activities, road traffic, construction of the railway and so on. The impact of infrastructure, especially transportation development, on the habitat and migration of Tibetan antelopes are the main factors that threaten this species now and in the future.

Little is known about the mandrill Mandrillus sphinx in the wild. It is an elusive primate and thus difficult to study in its rain-forest habitat in equatorial Africa. As human pressure on its habitat grows it has become increasingly urgent to discover more about the species so that appropriate conservation measures can be planned. The author made a 15-month study of the mandrill in Gabon and discovered that it was not as widely distributed as had been believed. Although it is threatened by hunting pressure and habitat disruption, populations still remain and five reserves protect some of these.

The conflict between predators and livestock farmers is a threat to carnivore conservation. Livestock guarding dogs are promoted as a non-lethal, environmentally friendly method to mitigate this conflict. As part of a farmer–carnivore conflict mitigation programme, the Cheetah Conservation Fund breeds Anatolian shepherd (also known as Kangal) dogs to protect livestock from predators. During 2009–2010 we interviewed 53 commercial and 20 subsistence Namibian farmers that are using 83 such dogs. Fewer commercial and subsistence farmers reported livestock losses to predators during the most recent year of guarding-dog use compared to the year before dogs were introduced. All subsistence farmers, but not all commercial farmers, ceased killing predators during the most recent year of guarding-dog use. All farmers ceased killing cheetah Acinonyx jubatus and leopard Panthera pardus during this year, and one dog killed a single cheetah. Conversely, dogs and farmers killed more black-backed jackals Canis mesomelas between them in the survey year than the farmers reported killing in the year before acquiring dogs. Two of the dogs reportedly killed non-target carnivore species, and 15 killed prey species. Thus our results challenge the categorization of livestock guarding dogs as a non-lethal conflict mitigation method. We suggest that the conservation status and body size of wild carnivores relative to the size of the guarding dogs be considered before introducing dogs to protect livestock. Additionally, corrective training for dogs that chase or kill non-target species should be implemented, especially where farmers value these species or where non-target species are threatened.

There is evidence from the development and humanitarian sectors that purposeful engagement of women can increase the impact of development. We conducted a literature review to examine whether this is also evident in conservation and natural resource management. The following themes emerged from our review: existing societal and cultural norms affect and generally limit how women can engage in conservation and natural resource management; women interact differently with the environment than men, so if they are excluded, their knowledge and perspectives on particular resources may not be considered in conservation actions; and there is often a lack of resources or dedicated effort by conservation or natural resource management programmes to understand and address the barriers that prevent women's engagement. Although there was evidence of a positive relationship between the engagement of women and environmental outcomes, some studies showed that positive conservation outcomes do not necessarily benefit women, and when women are not considered, conservation activities can perpetuate existing inequities. We conclude that although the importance of integrating gender into conservation is acknowledged in the literature, there is a need to examine how women can be meaningfully engaged in conservation. This must go beyond treating women as a homogenous group, to consider intersectionality including race, ethnicity, age, religion, poverty and disability. In addition, conservation and natural resource management institutions need to address the inclusion of women in their own staff and programmes.

In this account of a safari to look for Arabian oryx in Oman—home of probably the last survivors in the wild—the author found remains of three dead animals and evidence for the chasing and capture alive of four more. These, he believes, were the last wild Arabian oryx. Other observers think that it is too soon to say, and emphasise the vastness of the area, but certainly, in the interval since this safari in October 1972, no reports of wild Arabian oryx have been received by the FPS.

Population units that merit separate management and are of conservation concern have been called evolutionary significant units. Two divergent lineages of the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus occur naturally in Spain, with a well-marked geographical distribution. We analysed the frequency and importance of rabbit translocations in central-southern Spain and whether this practice, carried out by hunters and conservationists, could cause the mixture of two clearly different evolutionary significant units. We carried out interviews in 1993 and 2002 at 60 locations to determine the presence and intensity of translocations during both decades. The distribution of the lineages was obtained using mtDNA analysis of hunted rabbits in 2003-2005. We demonstrate that rabbit translocation was used frequently in the 1980s and increased in the 1990s. Up to 43% of the studied areas translocated rabbits in the latter decade, whereas only 25% did so in the 1980s. Our results show that neither the origin of the introduced rabbits nor their genetic lineage were taken into account in most of the translocations. We found rabbits of lineage A in several localities within the distribution area of lineage B, and vice versa, probably as a consequence of translocations. The distribution of both lineages is likely to have been altered by human activity and this could represent the loss of the results of 2 million years of genetic differentiation with possible attendent ecological consequences. Consequently, authorities should more closely regulate rabbit translocations and convey to both hunters and conservationists the importance of not mixing the lineages by translocations.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are affecting populations of forest dwelling mammalian carnivores worldwide. In southern Chile, a biodiversity hotspot, anthropogenic activities have resulted in high loss of native forest cover. The guiña, or kodkod cat, Leopardus guigna is a small forest-dwelling felid with a narrow range in the temperate forest of southern Chile. The few existing studies of the species have suggested that it is almost exclusively restricted to large tracts of native forest. This paper reports a study in the temperate forest within a fragmented Andean piedmont landscape which demonstrates that smaller forest fragments in the farmland matrix are playing a key role in the persistence of the guiña. We estimated occupancy in both continuous native forest and remnant forest fragments and, with single-species/single-season models, evaluated the extent to which forest cover, habitat type and proximity to protected areas have a modulating effect on occupancy. A continuous survey during 2008–2009, in three seasons of 90–100 days each, accumulated 6,200 camera trap days and returned 47 photographs of guiña. Total detection in fragments was higher than in continuous forests, with detection confirmed in almost 70% of studied fragments. We found that probability of a site being occupied significantly increased with forest cover (adult/secondary forest, scrubland) and probability was low (< 0.2) in sites with < 50% of surrounding forest cover. Our study highlights the importance of remnant forest fragments in the mosaic of extensive agriculture for the spatial dynamics of a guiña population and hence for the future conservation of the species.

This paper addresses the conservation status of the spectacled bear Tremarctos ornatus in the northern Andes (Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador) by analysing the degree of range fragmentation and estimating habitat availability. From satellite images we constructed maps of remnant habitat blocks, consisting of Andean forest and páramo (high elevation shrublands and grassland) ecosystems. This information was overlain with a road map to determine potential isolation of populations, and a human accessibility model was used to estimate the core area of each block. This analysis revealed that the species' range is fragmented by landscape transformation and roads into 113 blocks >100 km2, representing 42% of the original extent of the bear's distribution. Forty percent of the blocks are <500 km2, and only nine are >5,000 km2. However, taking into account only core area, 56% of the blocks are <500 km2 and only six are >5,000 km2. In addition, many blocks have internal patches of colonization, further reducing habitat quality. This effect is more severe in smaller fragments, where internal disturbances constitute a high proportion of the block area. We used a high population density estimate of 0.25, a medium density of 0.11 and a low density of 0.04 bears per km2 to estimate population sizes. Twenty-nine populations are likely to have >500 individuals with the high estimate, but only nine with the medium and one with the low estimate (largest estimated population was 9,048 bears). These estimates are much lower if only the core area of blocks is used. Hunting has been identified as a major threat for many bear populations. Our analyses indicate that a regional conservation strategy for spectacled bear should focus on maintaining or increasing habitat availability in larger blocks, and reducing human-induced mortality across the region.

Given the important contribution of urban consumption in bushmeat trade, information on bushmeat sales in urban markets can provide valuable insights for understanding the dynamics of this trade and its implications for conservation and food security. We monitored bushmeat traded in the market of Kisangani (the provincial capital of the Province Orientale in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and compared data collected in surveys in 2002 and 2008–2009. In both periods more than two-thirds of the carcasses sold were of rodents and ungulates. From 2002 to 2008–2009 the number of carcasses increased by 44% but the equivalent biomass by only 16% because of a significant decrease in medium-sized species (10–50 kg) and an increase in small species (<10 kg). The number of carcasses of large species increased between the two periods and those of diurnal monkeys increased fourfold. In both periods smoked bushmeat was one of the cheapest sources of protein available year-round, together with caterpillars, which were only available during the rainy season, and pork. Prices of other domestic meat were significantly higher. This study identified an increase in the market of highly threatened species such as okapi Okapia johnstoni and small diurnal monkeys and the continued presence of protected species, and also highlights the food security role that bushmeat plays for poor urban people who cannot afford alternative sources of protein.

The Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis is endemic to the Afroalpine highlands of Ethiopia. Half of the world population, estimated at c. 500 individuals, lives in the Bale Mountains of southern Ethiopia. Little is known, however, about the presence of wolves and suitable habitat in other Afroalpine ranges. Assessing the distribution, abundance and threats to all extant populations is a conservation priority for this Critically Endangered canid. With these objectives in mind, surveys were conducted between 1997 and 2000 in the little known regions of Arsi, Wollo, Gondar and Shoa. Suitable habitat and resident wolves were found in all regions. Outside Bale the existence of six other isolated populations, including two previously undescribed, was confirmed. All were small, estimated at no more than 50 individuals, and some with <25 individuals. Two population extinctions were documented, and habitat loss to agriculture largely explained local extinctions in small habitat patches. While Bale remains crucial for the long-term persistence of this species, the finding of several small and threatened populations highlights the need for in situ conservation actions to be expanded to other regions of the Ethiopian highlands.

Wildlife conservation efforts are increasingly faced with declining, overcrowded or fragmented populations, environmental contamination, and the introduction of new species of either competitors or pathogens. These efforts are coming under increased public scrutiny in their attempt to balance human social and economic needs with those of wildlife. The integration of veterinary medicine as part of a multidisciplinary approach to conservation can assist in the successful planning, implementation and evaluation of conservation projects. Beyond the role of immobilizing animals, veterinarians can contribute to assessing and monitoring the health of wild populations, and can train others in modern approaches to working with and caring for wildlife.

Sustaining the regular flow of water from mountain forests is important for downstream stakeholders in seasonally dry tropical countries, and a watershed payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme that links rural ecosystem service providers to urban water users through economic transfers may help to maintain water supply and forest habitat. A CARE/WWF project in the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania has established a pilot watershed PES scheme. We trace the development of this scheme and outline its initial impacts. Memoranda of Understanding between companies in Dar es Salaam (the downstream water users) and farmers in the mountains provide the framework to deliver tangible financial benefits to local people, help change patterns of land use and potentially improve water quality. A number of lessons learned from this project are relevant for similar schemes elsewhere in the region. Overcoming the various challenges is essential for expanding the current pilot project to a scale where it delivers measurable changes in water quality for downstream users.

In many countries law enforcement rangers are frontline guardians responsible for the management, monitoring and protection of protected areas and wildlife species. To date, little research has been conducted on law enforcement rangers and their perceptions of stress. This exploratory study contributes to both the criminological and conservation literature by exploring an important human dimension often neglected in conservation science research: law enforcement rangers. Similar to previous research on police occupational stress, it is expected that law enforcement rangers experience stressors unique to their profession. Utilizing an ethnographic case study approach based on interviews and participant observation, this research examines ranger perceptions of occupational stress in a protected area in Uganda. Findings indicate that law enforcement rangers are exposed to various occupational/task-related, external, internal, and occupation-related personal strains. Results from the study have implications in understanding, reducing and preventing occupational stress in rangers, as well as in capacity building for park management.

The current status and distribution of the red panda Ailurus fulgens in the wild is poorly known. The subspecies fulgens is found in the Himalaya in Nepal, India, Bhutan, northern Myanmar and southwest China, and the subspecies styani occurs further to the east in south-central China. The red panda is an animal of subtropical and temperate forests, with the exception of Meghalaya in India, where it is also found in tropical forests. In the wild, red pandas take a largely vegetarian diet consisting chiefly of bamboo. The extent of occurrence of the red panda in India is about 170,000 sq km, although its area of occupancy within this may only be about 25,000 sq km. An estimate based on the lowest recorded average density and the total area of potential habitat suggests that the global population of red pandas is about 16,000–20,000. Habitat loss and poaching, in that order, are the major threats. In this paper the distribution, status and conservation problems of the red panda, especially in India, are reviewed, and appropriate conservation measures recommended, including the protection of named areas and the extension of some existing protected areas.

An unusual combination of two major conservation threats, invasive species and bushmeat hunting, has had a positive outcome for wildlife conservation in the Brazilian Pantanal. The Pantanal is a wetland and one of the few non-protected areas in the Neotropics where people live but rarely hunt native wildlife. To understand why wildlife hunting is not a major conservation issue in the Pantanal an exploratory survey, semi-structured interviews, skull collection and tooth wear analysis of feral pig Sus scrofa, white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari and collared peccary Pecari tajacu were conducted, and hunting registers distributed, in the central region of the Pantanal. The results showed that feral pigs are the main hunting target. Feral pigs are effectively acting as a replacement species for hunting of native wildlife because the pigs provide a constant, culturally acceptable, readily available and free source of meat and oil to remote ranches. We cannot evaluate, however, if the buffer from hunting that feral pigs provide to native wildlife outweigh this species’ potential negative ecological impacts.