Correlates of wildlife snaring patterns in Tsavo West National Park, Kenya

Habitat loss and hunting are currently the twin threats to wildlife across the world. Hunting is such a threat across the tropics that some recent studies have estimated wildlife extraction at six times the sustainable rate in parts of Africa. The traditional methods of wildlife hunting, like setting traps and snares are no longer sustainable as the reasons for hunting are largely moving from subsistence to commercial. We assessed the spatial patterns of snaring activities against target species distribution, habitat types, distance from park border and security patrol efforts using a stratified random sampling design in Tsavo West National Park. Tsavo is not only the largest park in Kenya, but also one that faces an enormous threat from poachers. The finding indicated that the seven strata surveyed had different wildlife density and snaring intensity. Areas of the park adjacent to highways, trans-national borders, ranches and town strata had high wildlife snaring pressure. There was a significant difference between snare size and habitat type but total numbers of snares across habitats were not significantly different. The total wildlife species encountered were influenced by habitat types. Regression analysis between snare density and security patrol effort did not show any trend. There was no significant difference in snare density as the distance increased from the park border. Conservation agencies and volunteer patrol teams specialising in snare collection should intensify their patrol efforts in areas of the park around highways, trans-national borders, ranches and town.