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. 2020 Aug 21;15(8):e0227163.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227163. eCollection 2020.

Global extent and drivers of mammal population declines in protected areas under illegal hunting pressure

Alfan A Rija  1 , Rob Critchlow  2 , Chris D Thomas  2 , Colin M Beale  2
Affiliations

Global extent and drivers of mammal population declines in protected areas under illegal hunting pressure

Alfan A Rija et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Illegal hunting is a persistent problem in many protected areas, but an overview of the extent of this problem and its impact on wildlife is lacking. We reviewed 40 years (1980-2020) of global research to examine the spatial distribution of research and socio-ecological factors influencing population decline within protected areas under illegal hunting pressure. From 81 papers reporting 988 species/site combinations, 294 mammal species were reported to have been illegally hunted from 155 protected areas across 48 countries. Research in illegal hunting has increased substantially during the review period and showed biases towards strictly protected areas and the African continent. Population declines were most frequent in countries with a low human development index, particularly in strict protected areas and for species with a body mass over 100 kg. Our results provide evidence that illegal hunting is most likely to cause declines of large-bodied species in protected areas of resource-poor countries regardless of protected area conservation status. Given the growing pressures of illegal hunting, increased investments in people's development and additional conservation efforts such as improving anti-poaching strategies and conservation resources in terms of improving funding and personnel directed at this problem are a growing priority.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Spatial distribution of research on illegal hunting of mammals in 155 PAs from 48 countries over four decades as collated in the literature.
Black dots correspond to the centroid of a PA where research for the reviewed papers was conducted. [The map used in this figure was sourced from Natural Earth, which is an open access map source].
Fig 2
Fig 2. Number of studies per data collection method over 10-year periods.
Numbers at top of bars indicate the cumulative number of publications. The majority (81%) of PAs studied were in the strictest IUCN categories (I-II).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Effect of species body mass and PA strictness on the probability of decline of mammal species from global records.
Shaded area shows 95% confidence intervals. Circles represent raw data points.
Fig 4
Fig 4. The probability of decline of mammals in Africa’s PAs threatened by illegal hunting pressure showing population decline was strong in PAs located in countries with low human development index and in species with larger body mass.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Probability of population decline for Asia’s only PAs indicating strong influence of PA types.
Higher decline of mammals was more likely in stricter than less-strict PAs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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