Abstract
Hunting is a major threat to many species of wildlife. However, managing hunting systems to ensure their sustainability requires a thorough demographic knowledge about the impact of hunting. Here we develop a framework integrating ecological, modelling and sociological data to achieve a sustainability assessment of flying-fox hunting in New Caledonia and assess the relative merits of alternative management policies. Using age-specific stochastic population models, we found that the current annual hunting rate [5.5−8.5%] is likely to lead to a severe decline (− 79%) of Pteropus populations over the next 30 years. However, a majority of hunters surveyed (60%) were willing to soften their practices, offering an opportunity for adaptive management. Recurrent temporary hunting ban (at least 1 year out of 2) in combination with protected areas (≥ 25%) appears as the most effective and most accepted management option. Our integrative approach appears to be a promising method for ensuring that traditional hunting systems can remain sustainable in a rapidly changing world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aswani, S. 2011. Socioecological approaches for combining ecosystem-based and customary management in Oceania. Journal of Marine Biology 2011: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/845385.
Aubry, P., and M. Guillemain. 2019. Attenuating the nonresponse bias in hunting bag surveys: The multiphase sampling strategy. Edited by Mark S. Boyce. PLoS ONE 14: e0213670. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213670.
Benítez-López, A., R. Alkemade, A.M. Schipper, D.J. Ingram, P.A. Verweij, J.A.J. Eikelboom, and M.A.J. Huijbregts. 2017. The impact of hunting on tropical mammal and bird populations. Science 356: 180–183. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaj1891.
Berthinussen, A., O.C. Richardson, and J.D. Altringham. 2020. 2. Bat conservation. In What works in conservation, ed. W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan, and R.K. Smith, 65–136. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers.
Bouard, S., L. Apithy, and S. Guyard. 2019. Family farming in contemporary Kanak society. In Diversity of family farming around the world: Existence, transformations and possible futures of family farms. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1617-6_25.
Bowyer, R.T., M.S. Boyce, J.R. Goheen, and J.L. Rachlow. 2019. Conservation of the world’s mammals: Status, protected areas, community efforts, and hunting. Journal of Mammalogy 100: 923–941. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyy180.
Bräutigam, A., and T. Elmqvist. 1990. Conserving Pacific Island flying foxes. Oryx 24: 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300034724.
Brook, C.E., H.C. Ranaivoson, D. Andriafidison, M. Ralisata, J. Razafimanahaka, J.-M. Héraud, A.P. Dobson, and C.J. Metcalf. 2019. Population trends for two Malagasy fruit bats. Biological Conservation 234: 165–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.03.032.
Brooke, A.P. 2001. Population status and behaviours of the Samoan flying fox (Pteropus samoensis) on Tutuila Island, American Samoa. Journal of Zoology 254: 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952836901000814.
Brooke, A.P., and M. Tschapka. 2002. Threats from overhunting to the flying fox, Pteropus tonganus, (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) on Niue Island, South Pacific Ocean. Biological Conservation 103: 343–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(01)00145-8.
Ceballos, G., P.R. Ehrlich, and R. Dirzo. 2017. Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114: E6089–E6096. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1704949114.
Clausen, K.K., T.E. Holm, L. Haugaard, and J. Madsen. 2017a. Crippling ratio: A novel approach to assess hunting-induced wounding of wild animals. Ecological Indicators 80: 242–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.05.044.
Clausen, K.K., T.K. Christensen, O.M. Gundersen, and J. Madsen. 2017b. Impact of hunting along the migration corridor of pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus-implications for sustainable harvest management. Edited by Des Thompson. Journal of Applied Ecology 54: 1563–1570. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12850.
Coltman, D.W., P. O’Donoghue, J.T. Jorgenson, J.T. Hogg, C. Strobeck, and M. Festa-Bianchet. 2003. Undesirable evolutionary consequences of trophy hunting. Nature 426: 655–658. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02177.
Dorrestein, A., C.M. Todd, D.A. Westcott, J.M. Martin, and J.A. Welbergen. 2019. Impacts of an invasive ant species on roosting behavior of an island endemic flying-fox. Biotropica 51: 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12620.
Epstein, J.H., K.J. Olival, J.R.C. Pulliam, C. Smith, J. Westrum, T. Hughes, A.P. Dobson, A. Zubaid, et al. 2009. Pteropus vampyrus, a hunted migratory species with a multinational home-range and a need for regional management. Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 991–1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01699.x.
Fa, J.E., S.F. Ryan, and D.J. Bell. 2005. Hunting vulnerability, ecological characteristics and harvest rates of bushmeat species in afrotropical forests. Biological Conservation 121: 167–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.04.016.
Frick, W.F., T. Kingston, and J. Flanders. 2020. A review of the major threats and challenges to global bat conservation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1469: 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14045.
Graham, G. L. 1992. Conservation and subsistence harvesting of Pacific Island Flying Foxes. In Pacific island flying foxes: Proceedings of an International Conference Conference. US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report (Vol. 90), ed. D. Wilson and G. Graham, 90:46–49.
Greenstreet, S.P.R., H.M. Fraser, and G.J. Piet. 2009. Using MPAs to address regional-scale ecological objectives in the North Sea: Modelling the effects of fishing effort displacement. ICES Journal of Marine Science 66: 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsn214.
Guillemain, M., J.-M. Bertout, T.K. Christensen, H. Pöysa, V.-M. Väänänen, P. Triplet, V. Schricke, and A.D. Fox. 2010. How many juvenile Teal Anas crecca reach the wintering grounds? Flyway-scale survival rate inferred from wing age-ratios. Journal of Ornithology 151: 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0425-z.
Hand, S.J., and J.A. Grant-Mackie. 2012. Late-Holocene bats of Mé Auré Cave, New Caledonia: Evidence of human consumption and a new species record from the recent past. The Holocene 22: 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611409783.
Isee NC. 2020. Institut de la statistique et des études économiques de Nouvelle-Calédonie.
IUCN. 2020. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2020-2.
Johnson, F.A., M. Alhainen, A.D. Fox, J. Madsen, and M. Guillemain. 2018. Making do with less: Must sparse data preclude informed harvest strategies for European waterbirds? Ecological Applications 28: 427–441. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1659.
Lavery, T.H., and J. Fasi. 2019. Buying through your teeth: Traditional currency and conservation of flying foxes Pteropus spp. in Solomon Islands. Oryx 53: 505–512. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001004.
McIlwee, A.P., and L. Martin. 2002. On the intrinsic capacity for increase of Australian flying-foxes ( Pteropus spp., Megachiroptera ). Australian Zoologist 32: 76–100. https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2002.008.
Milner-Gulland, E.J., and E.L. Bennett. 2003. Wild meat: The bigger picture. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 18: 351–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00123-X.
Milner-Gulland, E.J., O.M. Bukreevea, T. Coulson, A.A. Lushchekina, M.V. Kholodova, A.B. Bekenov, and I.A. Grachev. 2003. Reproductive collapse in saiga antelope harems. Nature 422: 135–135.
Milner-Gulland, E. J., N. Bunnefeld, and G. Proaktor. 2008. The science of sustainable hunting. In Recreational hunting, conservation and rural livelihoods, pp 73–93. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444303179.ch5.
Mo, M., M. Roache, T. Reid, D.L. Oliver, L. Broome, A. Fawcett, K. Howard, P. Thomas, et al. 2020. Corporate support for threatened species recovery efforts: Three case studies from the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. Australian Zoologist. https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2020.031.
Monson, C.S., S.A. Banack, and P.A. Cox. 2003. Conservation Implications of chamorro consumption of flying foxes as a possible cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism dementia complex in guam. Conservation Biology 17: 678–686. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02049.x.
Myers, N., R.A. Mittermeier, C.G. Mittermeier, G.A.B. da Fonseca, and J. Kent. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858. https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501.
Nichols, J., and B. Williams. 2006. Monitoring for conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 21: 668–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2006.08.007.
Niel, C., and J.-D. Lebreton. 2005. Using demographic invariants to detect overharvested bird populations from incomplete data. Conservation Biology 19: 826–835. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00310.x.
Oedin, M., F. Brescia, M. Boissenin, E. Vidal, J.-J. Cassan, J.-C. Hurlin, and A. Millon. 2019. Monitoring hunted species of cultural significance: Estimates of trends, population sizes and harvesting rates of flying-fox (Pteropus sp.) in New Caledonia. Edited by Mathew S. Crowther. PLoS ONE 14: e0224466. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224466.
Oedin, M., F. Brescia, A. Millon, B.P. Murphy, P. Palmas, J.C.Z. Woinarski, and E. Vidal. 2021. Cats Felis catus as a threat to bats worldwide: A review of the evidence. Mammal Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12240.
Palmas, P., H. Jourdan, F. Rigault, L. Debar, H. De Meringo, E. Bourguet, M. Mathivet, M. Lee, et al. 2017. Feral cats threaten the outstanding endemic fauna of the New Caledonia biodiversity hotspot. Biological Conservation 214: 250–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.003.
Péron, G. 2013. Compensation and additivity of anthropogenic mortality: Life-history effects and review of methods. Edited by Tim Coulson. Journal of Animal Ecology 82: 408–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12014.
Peterson, M.J., and R.M. Perez. 2000. Is quail hunting self-regulatory? Northern bobwhite and scaled quail abundance and quail hunting in Texas. In National Quail Symposium Proceedings vol. 4: p. 19.
Pierson, E. D., and W. E. Rainey. 1992. The biology of flying-foxes of the genus Pteropus: A review. In Pacific island flying foxes: Proceedings of an International Conference Conference. US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report (Vol. 90), ed. D. Wilson and G. Graham, 1–17.
Purvis, A. 2001. Mammalian life histories and responses of populations to exploitation. In Conservation of exploited species, ed. J.D. Reynolds, G.M. Mace, K.H. Redford, and J.G. Robinson, 169–181. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
R Core Team. 2019. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
Ripple, W.J., K. Abernethy, M.G. Betts, G. Chapron, R. Dirzo, M. Galetti, T. Levi, P.A. Lindsey, et al. 2016. Bushmeat hunting and extinction risk to the world’s mammals. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160498. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160498.
Ripple, W.J., C. Wolf, T.M. Newsome, M.G. Betts, G. Ceballos, F. Courchamp, M.W. Hayward, B. Valkenburgh, et al. 2019. Are we eating the world’s megafauna to extinction? Conservation Letters 12: e12627. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12627.
Rohe, J.R., S. Aswani, A. Schlüter, and S.C.A. Ferse. 2017. Multiple drivers of local (Non-) compliance in community-based marine resource management: Case studies from the South Pacific. Frontiers in Marine Science 4: 172. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00172.
Rowcliffe, J.M., E. de Merode, and G. Cowlishaw. 2004. Do wildlife laws work? Species protection and the application of a prey choice model to poaching decisions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 271: 2631–2636. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2915.
Sandercock, B.K., E.B. Nilsen, H. Brøseth, and H.C. Pedersen. 2011. Is hunting mortality additive or compensatory to natural mortality? Effects of experimental harvest on the survival and cause-specific mortality of willow ptarmigan. Journal of Animal Ecology 80: 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01769.x.
Schroeder, S.A., D.C. Fulton, J.S. Lawrence, and S.D. Cordts. 2014. Legitimization of regulatory norms: waterfowl hunter acceptance of changing duck bag limits. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 19: 234–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2014.883557.
SPREP. 2020. State of environment and conservation in the Pacific Islands: 2020 regional report. Apia, Samoa.
Sutherland, W.J. 2001. Sustainable exploitation: A review of principles and methods. Wildlife Biology 7: 131–140. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.2001.017.
Udevitz, M.S., and P.J.P. Gogan. 2012. Estimating survival rates with time series of standing age-structure data. Ecology 93: 726–732. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-1766.1.
Vincenot, C.E., F.B.V. Florens, and T. Kingston. 2017. Can we protect island flying foxes? Science 355: 1368–1370. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam7582.
Watkins, C., N.C. Poudyal, C. Caplenor, D. Buehler, and R. Applegate. 2018. Motivations and support for regulations: A typology of eastern wild turkey hunters. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 23: 433–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2018.1466010.
Weinbaum, K.Z., J.S. Brashares, C.D. Golden, and W.M. Getz. 2013. Searching for sustainability: Are assessments of wildlife harvests behind the times? Edited by Boris Worm. Ecology Letters 16: 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12008.
Welbergen, J.A., S.M. Klose, N. Markus, and P. Eby. 2008. Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 275: 419–425. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1385.
Welbergen, J.A., J. Meade, H.E. Field, D. Edson, L. McMichael, L.P. Shoo, J. Praszczalek, C. Smith, et al. 2020. Extreme mobility of the world’s largest flying mammals creates key challenges for management and conservation. BMC Biology 18: 101. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-020-00829-w.
Westcott, D.A., P. Caley, D.K. Heersink, and A. McKeown. 2018. A state-space modelling approach to wildlife monitoring with application to flying-fox abundance. Scientific Reports 8: 4038. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22294-w.
Wiles, G.J. 1992. Recent trends in the fruit bat trade on Guam. Biological Report US Fish & Wildlife Service 90: 53–60.
Acknowledgements
This study has benefited from the dedication of S. Ighiouer, R. Guiglion, C. Colin, M. Boissenin, and J.-C. Hurlin from IAC. We thank the agents of environmental services from Northern and Southern provinces and the partners for monitoring of flying foxes and the diffusion of the questionnaires, particularly tribal observerstribal observers, students from the University of New Caledonia (UNC), the Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels (CEN), the Agence Rurale (Government of New Caledonia) and hunters’ associations. MO received a PhD fellowship from the Southern Province of New Caledonia, with additional support from IAC and the Northern Province. The IUCN, DAVAR and Agence Rurale provided various kinds of useful data. The study was partly funded by the Fondation François Sommer. Finally, we thank N. Lieury, S. Devillard & L. Bacon for their contribution to draft versions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
MO, AM and FB designed the study. MO and FB coordinated data collection. MO and AM performed the modelling. MO, AM and FB wrote the manuscript and EV reviewed the final version.
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oedin, M., Brescia, F., Vidal, E. et al. Make flying-fox hunting sustainable again: Comparing expected demographic effectiveness and hunters’ acceptance of more restrictive regulations. Ambio 51, 1078–1089 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01630-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01630-x