Lions are protected throughout the country, and it is the policy of the Government to conserve them both inside and outside protected areas as part of the countries biological heritage (Wildlife Conservation Act, 1974);
Threats/Pressures impacting the conservation of the species
Threats to Lion in Tanzania are limited/reversible.
There are four types of non-natural mortality of lions in Tanzania on the based on research records, District Problem-Animal files and Wildlife Division Hunting records; Problem-animal control (PAC), ritual hunting, tourist hunting and road kills
Population Trend
Unknown/not recorded
Sub-national Level
Unknown/not recorded
Additional Details (if available)
The main threats to Lions are indiscriminate killing (primarily as a result of retaliatory or pre-emptive killing to protect human life and livestock) and prey base depletion. Habitat loss and conversion has led to a number of subpopulations becoming small and isolated (Bauer et al. 2008). Furthermore, trophy hunting has a net positive impact in a some areas, but may have at times contributed to population declines in Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe (Packer et al. 2009, 2011, 2013), Cameroon (Croes et al. 2011) and Zambia (Rosenblatt et al. 2014).
Name
Emma Hemmerlé
Scientific Name
Panthera leo
Common Name(s)
African Lion
Simba
Type of Use
Extractive (i.e., the entire organism or parts of the organism are removed from its environment)
If extractive, for the target species, is this use
Harvesting of lions in Tanzania is controlled through the Wildlife Conservation Act (1974) and Hunting Regulations (2002).
Provide Details of resource rights regime where relevant
Illegal harvest and trade in lion body parts are rare nationally (9 skins impounded between 2000-7), making it difficult to estimate through meaningful quantitative measures. These numbers are not considered when setting quotas, as numbers are regarded low and insignificant.
International external (individual, groups. e.g., hunters, anglers, photographers, tourists)
National / local private sector
If more than one box ticked, please provide more details
lions are harvested for trophy by foreign tourists hunters that must export them.
Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?
Unknown/not reported
Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species
Unknown/not recorded
Unknown/not recorded
Details of assessment carried out
The harvest management regime in place insures that no lions are hunted by resident hunters and that only tourist hunters are permit- ted and in designated areas. The regime also insures that the tourist hunter’s harvest is limited (in quantity and quality) by a quota system. Approximately 193 lions were harvested annually from a quota of 320 between 2000-7, meeting 63.3% of harvest requirement. Regression analyses for key lion populations have shown significantly, positive linear relationships between quotas and offtake/harvest. A visual presentation by graphs of relationships between quotas and harvest/off- take are given in ANNEX II to show current non-detriment effects in Tanzania. These findings suggest current harvest levels have had no- detriment effects to the lion population in Tanzania.
In conclusion, the requirements for a non-detriment finding are met with the management regime put in place by the Wildlife Division.
Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded
Ikanda, D.K. (n.d.) NDF Workshop Case Studies WG 5 – Mammals: Non-detriment Report Under Cites Regarding The Export Of African Lions Panthera Leo From The United Republic Of Tanzania.
Threats/pressures impacting the species at the scale of this record