RESULTS - Historical data from CITES regarding the export of leopard trophies
The export of leopard trophies from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe was part of the initial delegation that lobbied the Parties to CITES in 1983 to be allowed to hunt leopard as trophies animals, to offset the cost incurred by landowners from livestock depredation.
Unfortunately detailed data regarding how many leopards have
been exported from Zimbabwe as trophies under the CITES "tag" system is only
available from 1992, but the data shows an interesting trend. There appeared
to be a decline in the number of trophies exported until 2001 when the number
of export increased (Table 3; Figure 1). This increase coincides with the
introduction of the use of hunting leopards with dogs, which is known to enable
leopards to be hunted where densities are low, and where previous persecution
levels have resulted in "bait shy" leopards. Overall, there appears to be
a downward trend in the number of leopards exported, although this trend is
dominated by the very high export in 1993 (487 trophies). If this year is
removed, the trend is stable.
|
Year
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Export
|
379
|
487
|
342
|
309
|
318
|
296
|
280
|
289
|
|
Year
|
2000
|
2001*
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
|
|
Export
|
275
|
326
|
289
|
334
|
310
|
333
|
240
|
*The year that hunting with dogs was introduced
Table 3: Number of leopard trophies exported from Zimbabwe
under the CITES approved quota from 1992 to 2006 (Source: World Conservation
Monitoring Centre)
Figure 1: Changes in the number of leopard exported as trophies from Zimbabwe between 1992 and 2007 (Source: World Conservation Monitoring Centre)
In 1994, after almost the entire quota was exported, concern was raised within the PWMA that the killing of leopard was exceeding that which was sustainable, as it was recognised that leopard were still being killed by farmers but not exported, hence the overall offtake in 1993 could easily have exceeded the CITES recorded offtake. To try and reduce the number of leopard killed, the PWMA then banned the hunting of females on a trial basis, and over the next 5 years the hunting of females was gradually stopped, although it was never officially gazetted that females are not allowed to be shot. A moratorium was officially announced for private land in 1998, but by 2000 females were not allowed to be shot on Parks estate either.
At the same time, it was agreed that a minimum size of trophy be allowed to be exported, and 14 inch was set as the threshold. Again this does not appear to have been gazetted but the PWMA will not allow a trophy smaller than this to be exported.
What transpired as a result was a reduction in the number of leopard exported from, not necessarily killed in, Zimbabwe until 2001, when hunting with dogs was allowed on a trial basis. This method was allowed after a number of operators argued that it would increase the success rate of hunts. There is debate as to the impact of this method of hunting, with opponents arguing that the method allowed for hunting to continue on populations that had fallen below levels where bait and blind hunting was economic. One aspect of management that the PWMA/Zambezi Society leopard project will help to clarify is the use of this method when hunting leopards for trophies. It appears that there is general agreement that the method has merit when following a wounded leopard, or when trying to capture a particular "problem" leopard to reduce livestock depredation.
