Disentangling the Effects of Human Pressures and Available Resources on Critically Endangered Lion Space use in a Protected Area Complex of West Africa

Abstract

African lions reside primarily in protected areas, both of which are increasingly threatened by human pressures and subsequent depletion of natural resources and suitable habitat. Management of protected areas as hunting concessions often results in higher revenues and smaller areas compared to national parks, allowing for high quality habitat and stronger regulation of illegal activity. The successful conservation of lions in protected areas where both management types are implemented could depend on the extent to which lions avoid the risks associated with human encounters, which likely depends on distribution of high-quality habitat, water availability and prey resources. We conducted the first camera survey of lions in the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) protected area in West Africa, a 26,620-km2 complex which has two primary management types: national parks (NPs) and hunting concessions (HCs). We combined occupancy modeling, which accounts for imperfect detection of lions, and structural equation modeling to disentangle the relative effect sizes (ES) of environmental, ecological, and anthropogenic variables expected to influence lion space use. Lion occupancy (𝜓) did not show a response to management type (𝜓NP = 0.56; 𝜓HC = 0.58), exhibiting no spatial avoidance of hunting concessions. Water availability was higher and habitats were more diverse in hunting concessions, which may negate mortality risks from trophy hunting and higher human occupancy (𝜓NP = 0.49; 𝜓HC = 0.61). Lion occupancy was strongly driven by prey availability (ES = 0.219), which was influenced by edge effects and water availability. Cues of highquality habitat combined with increased human pressures may indicate hunting concessions functioning as ecological traps for lions in WAP. We recommend management interventions (e.g., increasing water availability and patrols near park edges) to provide refuge for lions in national parks by reducing the intersection of lion space use and the risk of human encounters.