Make flying-fox hunting sustainable again: Comparing expected demographic effectiveness and hunters’ acceptance of more restrictive regulations

Malik Oedin (1) , Fabrice Brescia (2) , Eric Vidal (3) , Alexandre Millon (1)

1 IMBE - Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale
2 IAC - Institut Agronomique Néo-Calédonien
3 ENTROPIE [Nouvelle-Calédonie] - Ecologie marine tropicale des océans Pacifique et Indien

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.

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Malik Oedin, Fabrice Brescia, Eric Vidal, Alexandre Millon. Make flying-fox hunting sustainable again: Comparing expected demographic effectiveness and hunters’ acceptance of more restrictive regulations. AMBIO: A Journal of Environment and Society, 2022, 51, pp.1078-1089. ⟨10.1007/s13280-021-01630-x⟩. ⟨hal-03453773⟩