By Emma Muench, 2nd October 2019
Our October 2019 issue features an Editorial on conservation and human rights, a Briefly spotlight on the climate crisis and three special sections on carnivore conservation, hunting and conservation, and the golden-brown mouse lemur.
Carnivore conservation
- Does the Vulnerable sun bear Helarctos malayanus damage crops and threaten people in oil palm plantations? – Guharajan et al. (our cover story)
- Assessing changes in distribution of the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia and its wild prey over 2 decades in the Indian Himalaya through interview-based occupancy surveys – Ghoshal et al.
- Visitors’ willingness to pay for snow leopard Panthera uncia conservation in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal – Schutgens et al.
- Responses of Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi population density to anthropogenic disturbance: refining estimates of its conservation status in Sabah – Hearn et al.
- Population density estimates and conservation concern for clouded leopards Neofelis nebulosa, marbled cats Pardofelis marmorata and tigers Panthera tigris in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing, Myanmar – Naing et al.
- Conservation implications for the Himalayan wolf Canis (lupus) himalayensis based on observations of packs and home sites in Nepal – Werhahn et al.
Behind the cover There is concern about how forest-dependent species such as the Vulnerable sun bear can persist in the fragmented landscape of Borneo, where much forest has been converted to oil palm plantations. Evidence suggests that sun bears are rarely encountered in these plantations and do not damage the oil palm crop, although they are generally feared. Plantations do not provide the diversity of food and cover available in a natural forest. For further details, see the article here. (Photograph ©Viktor Cap/Alamy).
Hunting and conservation
- What do we know about the life-history traits of widely hunted tropical mammals? – van Vliet & Nasi
- Does forest management and researchers’ presence reduce hunting and forest exploitation by local communities in Tsitongambarika, south-east Madagascar? – Campera et al.
- Hunting of mammal species in protected areas of the southern Bahian Atlantic Forest, Brazil – Castilho et al.
- The killing of Cecil the Lion as an impetus for policy change – Carpenter & Konisky
- Who benefits from ecosystem services? Analysing recreational moose hunting in Vermont, USA – Grima et al.
Golden-brown mouse lemur
- Molecular edge effects in the Endangered golden-brown mouse lemur Microcebus ravelobensis – Radespiel et al.
- The effects of a national highway on the Endangered golden-brown mouse lemur Microcebus ravelobensis in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar – Ramsay et al.
Editorial What do you know about conservation and human rights? By Helen Newing and Anouska Perram
‘Under what circumstances do you think it is morally acceptable to stop local communities from hunting for food inside a protected area? Or from gathering honey and wild herbs? Or practising traditional shifting agriculture? Is it acceptable to create a protected area on community lands without consultation or consent? What about forced displacement of local communities? Shoot-to-kill policies? All of these actions are reported to have been carried out in the name of conservation in recent years. But how much is this simply a matter of moral discretion and how much is it governed by international human rights obligations?’ Learn more.
Editor’s picks
- The conservation costs and economic benefits of using bio-diversity offsets to meet international targets for protected area expansion – Buschke et al.
- IUCN’s encounter with 007: safeguarding consensus for conservation – Stuart et al.
- New populations of pampas deer Ozotoceros bezoarticus discovered in threatened Amazonian savannah enclaves – Rocha et al. (for more information, read Rocha’s blog post)
- Status of terrestrial mammals at the Kafue–Zambezi interface: implications for transboundary connectivity – Lines et al.
Pampas deer in an Amazonian savannah patch. Photo: Daniel Rocha
Briefly Our Briefly section shines a spotlight on the climate crisis, with a global overview of some of the latest news on climate change, from heatwaves and glacier melt, to causes for hope and potential solutions. Discover them here.
Conservation News
- UK’s first Hope Spot declared – Whiteside et al.
- Endangered crowned solitary eagle in the threatened Amazonian – Rocha et al.
- The ecosystems of large unregulated rivers of Central Europe are under pressure – Grzywaczewski & Kitowski
- Conserving African biosphere reserves: a workshop on the valuation of ecosystem services in Man and the Biosphere Reserves – Bisthoven et al.
- Accelerating threats to Cambodia’s wildlife – Gray & Gauntlett
Publications
- Wildlife Crime: from Theory to Practice
- The Ethnobotany of Eden: Rethinking the Jungle Medicine Narrative
- The Anthropology of Conservation NGOs: Rethinking the Boundaries
Acknowledgements The Oryx Editorial Office would like to thank everyone who has offered their invaluable help and advice in the review of manuscripts between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019. See the full list here.
