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 06 July 2008 15:41 BST

Patrols 'boosting' Serengeti wildlife

Friday, 24 Nov 2006 09:31
Elephant numbers are improving in Tanzania thanks to patrols, study finds

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A technique used to estimate fish abundance and to set fishing limits has found for the first time that enforcement patrols have been successful in reducing poaching of animals in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, including elephants, buffalo and black rhinos.

Attempts to estimate the number of poached animals are inaccurate as poaching is illegal and most animals are ensnared by local villagers for their own use or sale, Ray Hilborn, University of Washington professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, argues in the journal Science.

Hilborn's study used a 'catch-per-unit-of-effort' technique which has been employed in estimating fish stock since the 1930s, where estimates are based on a ratio comparing the number of fish caught in an area with the total number of hours of fishing – the unit-of-effort – by all the vessels in that area.

Applying it to the animals of the Serengeti, the scientists divided the number of poachers arrested by the number of patrols a day to estimate the amount of poaching.

"We show that a precipitous decline in enforcement in 1977 resulted in a large increase in poaching and decline of many species," Hilborn and his co-authors write.

"Conversely, expanded budgets and anti-poaching patrols since the mid-1980s have significantly reduced poaching and allowed populations of buffalo, elephants and rhinoceros to rebuild."

Commenting on their findings, Tom Hobbs, professor of ecology at Colorado State University, said: "The Hilborn team has shown that protection of wildlife by active enforcement of laws and regulations remains an essential tool for conserving biological diversity.

"This sounds so simple, but it has been controversial."

Covering 5,700 square miles, the Serengeti National Park is one of Africa's most pristine reserves and $2 million (£1.03 million) is spent each year on patrolling it.End of story


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