Data from: Human–wildlife conflict, benefit sharing and the survival of lions in pastoralist community-based conservancies

Like many wildlife populations across Africa, recent analyses indicate that African lions are declining rapidly outside of small fenced areas. Community conservancies – privately protected areas that engage community members in conservation – may potentially maintain wildlife populations in unfenced pastoralist regions, but their effectiveness in conserving large carnivores has been largely unknown until now. We identify drivers of lion survival in community conservancies within the Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya, applying mark–recapture analyses to continuous sight–resight surveys. We use the number of livestock and human settlements as proxies for potential human–lion conflict whilst controlling for environmental variables and lion socioecology. Average lion densities within the Mara conservancies between 2008 and 2013 (11·87 lions 100 km−2) were 2·6 times higher than those previously reported in 2003. Survival rates varied amongst prides and were highest for lions utilizing central regions of conservancies. The number of livestock settlements (bomas [corrals] and manyattas) that were not members of a conservancy, and that fell within a pride home-range, had a large negative effect on female survival and was the most influential external predictor in models. These non-conservancy settlements accounted for 37·2% of total observed variation in survival, whereas conservancy settlements, which benefit financially from wildlife through their membership, had no effect on lion survival. Internal drivers of survival agreed with known ecology and social behaviour including age plus a negative effect of male takeovers on cub survival <6 months. Vegetation cover, prey availability and the density of grazing livestock within a pride's range did not explain patterns in lion survival. Synthesis and applications. We show that lion densities have increased substantially within the Mara conservancies over the last decade and suggest that the creation of community conservancies has benefitted their survival. This suggests that lions can survive outside of fenced areas within pastoral regions if communities gain benefits from wildlife. We highlight the importance of expanding existing conservancies beyond their current geographical and political scope and forming buffer zones if wildlife ranges outside them. We suggest that changing attitudes to predators should be a key goal of community-based conservancies. Further work is recommended to identify what specific aspects of conservancy membership promote lion survival.

与非洲多数野生动物种群类似，近期分析结果显示，非洲狮在小型围栏保护区域外的种群正快速衰减。社区保护地（Community conservancies）——即吸纳社区成员参与保护工作的私人保护区域——或可在未围栏化的畜牧区域维持野生动物种群，但截至目前，其对大型食肉动物的保护成效尚未明确。本研究以肯尼亚马赛马拉（Masai Mara）生态系统内的社区保护地为研究对象，通过对连续目击-重访调查应用标记重捕分析（mark–recapture analyses），识别影响非洲狮存活的驱动因素。研究以家畜数量与人类定居点数量作为人狮冲突的替代指标，同时控制环境变量与狮子社会生态学（lion socioecology）相关因素。2008年至2013年间，马赛马拉社区保护地内的平均狮子密度为11.87头/100km²，较2003年的已有报道高出2.6倍。不同狮群的存活率存在显著差异，利用保护地核心区域的狮子存活率最高。未加入社区保护地、且处于某狮群家域范围内的家畜定居点（即牛栏[bomas，牲畜围栏]与马赛传统村落[manyattas]）数量，对雌性狮子的存活率产生了显著负向影响，是模型中影响力最强的外部预测因子。这类非保护地定居点解释了37.2%的存活率观测总变异；而通过加入保护地、从野生动物保护中获取经济收益的保护地定居点，则对狮子存活率无显著影响。影响存活的内部驱动因素与已知的狮子生态学及社会行为特征相符，包括年龄因素，以及雄性更替对6月龄以下幼狮存活率的负向作用。植被覆盖度、猎物可获得性以及狮群活动范围内的放牧家畜密度，均未能解释狮子存活率的变化模式。总结与应用：本研究证实，近十年来马赛马拉社区保护地内的狮子密度已大幅提升，表明社区保护地的建设对非洲狮的存活具有积极效益。这一结果意味着，若社区能够从野生动物保护中获得经济收益，非洲狮即可在畜牧区域的非围栏区域存活。我们强调，需扩大现有保护地的当前地理与政策覆盖范围，并在保护地外围设置缓冲区，以覆盖野生动物的活动范围。同时，提出转变社区对捕食者的态度应成为基于社区的保护地的核心目标。后续仍需开展相关研究，明确社区保护地成员资格的哪些具体维度能够提升狮子存活率。