The elephant population of South Africa's Addo Elephant National Park increased in number from 11 elephants when the park was created in 1931, to 284 elephants in 1998. We studied management records throughout this period in conjunction with demographic data, enabling retrospective assessment of the long-term impacts of management actions. Problem animal control during the 1930s left no sexually mature bulls in the population for a period of 9 years, hindering the population's initial recovery. Population growth prior to 1954 was also limited by high mortality: between 1931 and 1954 inadequate fencing allowed elephants to stray outside their protected area resulting in elephants being shot by farmers or dying from collisions with trains. Secure elephant-proof fencing was constructed in 1954. Subsequently, there was a significant decrease in mortality (from 5.0% to 1.2%) and an increase in population growth (from 3.2% to 6.1%). However, evidence suggests that confinement might have had a negative impact on survival and social behaviour of adult males. We suggest that the concepts of social carrying capacities and behavioural conservation of populations need to be incorporated into management. The case studies described here highlight the importance of treating conservation management and research as necessary partners, and monitoring should be an integral part of any management plan.

The masked titi Callicebus personatus melanochir is a threatened primate, endemic to the Atlantic rainforest of eastern Brazil. The Atlantic rainforest has been reduced to only 5% of its former extent, and only 2% consists of undisturbed forest. The survival of the masked titi monkey is therefore dependent on its ability to utilise disturbed forest habitat. A group of four masked titi monkeys was observed for one year in a plot that contained both disturbed and undisturbed forest. The group used a home range of 22 ha, which comprised 58% undisturbed forest, 31% selectively logged forest and 11% forest that was regrowing after a clear-cut. The titi monkeys did not use the different forest types in proportion to the availability of each within their home range: undisturbed forest was used more than expected from its proportional availability, and disturbed forest was used less than expected. Use of forest types appeared to be determined by the availability of food resources. Undisturbed forest had the most food per unit area and regrowing forest had the least. This study shows that masked titi monkeys may be able to survive in disturbed forest habitats if these areas are of high enough quality to contain sufficient food and other resources.

This paper provides a review of data on the effects of the civil war on forest areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only a few of these effects were beneficial, the most important being the collapse of the wood industry. However, the war has increased the number of people that rely on wood for fuel and bushmeat for protein. The presence of soldiers and refugees aggravates this pressure. When people hide they do not necessarily refrain from hunting, because goods, including ivory, can be stocked to be traded when the situation improves. War seems beneficial to the environment only if it keeps people out of large areas. It could be useful to extend the concept of peace parks to war zones. The idea of an international ‘green force’ to protect biodiversity hotspots should be given serious consideration. Awareness is growing that political instability should not preclude conservation efforts from being continued.

Forest elephants Loxodonta africana cyclotis in Ghana and eastern Côte d'Ivoire live in small isolated populations and number fewer than 1,000 individuals in total. To ensure the long-term survival of these elephants the present forest reserves need to be linked into a network by forest corridors. The potential of such corridors is demonstrated by the active use by elephants in Ghana of forest ‘shelterbelts’, created in the 1930s. Using information from recent surveys of elephants and vegetation status, and from published information, we propose three possible wildlife corridors in the border region between Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, establishment of which would lead to a transnational forest network area in the Bia and Bossematié areas. Establishing a forest network for forest elephants would require political will, transnational cooperation among forest and wildlife managers, and participation of the local people.

The Uluguru Mountains in eastern Tanzania contain at least 16 endemic vertebrate and 135 endemic plant taxa, with hundreds of more taxa shared only with forests in eastern Tanzania and Kenya. This degree of endemism is exceptional in tropical Africa, and the Uluguru Mountains are one of the 10 most important tropical forest sites for conservation on the continent. Surveys carried out during 1999–2001 updated information on the status of forests and biodiversity across the Uluguru Mountains. Forest area has declined from c. 300 km2 in 1955 to 230 km2 in 2001. Forest loss has been greatest over altitudes of 600–1,600 m, and concentrated in submontane forest. During the recent surveys most of the endemic and near-endemic vertebrate species known from the Uluguru Mountains were re-recorded, but three endemic snake species and two near-endemic bird species were not found. These species were previously known from the elevations where deforestation has been greatest. More than 50 plant species are also known only from the altitude range that has been heavily deforested. The primary cause of forest loss has been clearance for new farmland. The forest that does remain is largely confined to Catchment Forest Reserves managed for water by the Tanzanian Government. Without these reserves the loss of forest, and hence the loss of biodiversity, in the Uluguru Mountains would most likely have been much greater.

The conservation status of Cycas seemannii, native to Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga, is assessed based on isozyme analysis, abundance estimates and factors affecting the survival of the species. Genetic variation in the species is low and genetic differentiation between populations is high, as compared to plants in general and to other cycads. Lower genetic variation was detected in a fragmented population as compared to less disturbed populations. Low gene flow was also detected, implying little contact between the various populations. A conservative estimate of 17,000 individuals remaining in the wild was obtained, with more than half of these located on the islands of Vanuatu. Accounts of past abundance suggest declining population sizes, most likely the result of repeated burning. Other factors that may be contributing to the decline are decreasing importance to and protection by humans, habitat alteration for agricultural and developmental purposes, and poor dispersal and recolonisation potential. An assessment based on the present estimated abundance and what is known of recent declines in numbers, indicates that the species should be categorised as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. On some of the densely populated islands, such as Viti Levu in Fiji and Nukualofa in Tonga, the species is locally Endangered or Critically Endangered. Possible conservation measures are suggested, and it is emphasised that populations on different islands must be considered separately because of their genetic differentiation.

All six great apes, gorillas Gorilla gorilla and G. beringei, chimpanzees Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus, and orang-utans Pongo pygmaeus and P. abelii, are categorized as Endangered on the 2000 IUCN Red List and face many threats to their continued existence in the wild. These threats include loss of habitat to settlement, logging and agriculture, illegal hunting for bushmeat and traditional medicine, the live ape trade, civil unrest and infectious diseases. The great apes are highly susceptible to many human diseases, some of which can be fatal while others can cause marked morbidity. There is increasing evidence that diseases can be transmitted from humans to free-living habituated apes, sometimes with serious consequences. If protective measures are not improved, ape populations that are frequently in close contact with people will eventually be affected by the inadvertent transmission of human diseases. This paper describes the risks, sources and circumstances of infectious disease transmission from humans to great apes during and consequent upon habituation for tourism and research. A major problem is that the regulations that protect habituated apes from the transmission of disease from people are often poorly enforced. Suggestions are made for improving the enforcement of existing regulations governing ape-based tourism, and for minimizing the risk of disease transmission between humans, both local people and international visitors, and the great apes.

The distribution of the Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx had declined markedly by the time European explorers documented distributions, and the species became extinct in the wild by the mid 1970s. Consequently, historical distribution records may be unreliable indicators of current habitat suitability for reintroductions. In this study diurnal behaviour of Arabian oryx was recorded within a central Saudi Arabian reintroduction site. Oryx were less active on warmer days due to an increase in shading (resting in shade) at the expense of feeding time; there was an inverse relationship between temperature and feeding. During hot conditions (maximum ambient temperature >40°C) some individuals spent <2 hours feeding during the day, compared with an average of 4.8 hours during cooler weather. This suggests the importance of shade trees to permit year-round occupancy in reintroduction sites. Selection of sites according to documented historical distribution may focus on tree-less areas, probably formerly part of the winter range. Absence of shade could result in migration out of the reserve, into areas where oryx risk being shot.

The diurnal primate community of the Korup area of south-west Cameroon is rich in species and high in endemism. Two years monitoring in the Support Zone around Korup National Park have shown that, although all species of the original community are still present, Preuss' red colobus and drill, which were considered to be threatened in the early 1990s, have declined further and are probably facing local extinction. Densities of the crowned monkey also seem to have declined. Only mona and putty-nosed monkeys have an expanded distribution, and densities that are within the range of those reported from previous studies in the region. Although hunting is the most important cause of these declines, logging also appears to be having a detrimental effect. In logged forest group densities of chimpanzee, red-capped mangabey, mona monkey and red-eared monkey decreased between the two survey years, whilst remaining constant or increasing in unlogged forest. The frequency of associations of guenon species did not differ between logged and unlogged study sites, but encounters of associations of all four guenon species were only found in unlogged forest. We strongly recommend enforcement of anti-poaching activities inside the Korup National Park, and establishment of wildlife management in the Support Zone, as only a combined strategy can successfully guarantee the persistence of the wildlife of the region.

In this paper we describe the outcomes of a 10-year project that provided an alternative source of material for the international trade in bulbous plants from Turkey. In the mid 1980s the export of wild bulbs was extensive and was considered to be unsustainable. Building on the opportunities for propagation of snowdrops (Galanthus spp.), this project produced bulbs for trade, taking into account provision of local livelihoods and income generation, utilization of existing trade structures, regulation through national legislation, monitoring of overseas suppliers, and customer sensitization. Three villages and over 250 villagers were ultimately involved in bulb propagation. The project demonstrated that bulbs for an international market can be produced within a village environment to meet CITES criteria for artificial propagation. Through the application of rural development, local horticultural training, international legislation, fair-trade, and environmental consumer issues the project also illustrates the complexities of integrated approaches to trade issues. This paper presents in detail the methods used in developing this model for local plant propagation, and highlights the lessons learnt from the project.

Abstract The conservation status of the five genera and 11 species of palm endemic to the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, La Réunion and Rodriques) are reviewed. All species are threatened with extinction; nine taxa are classified as Critically Endangered and four as Endangered on the 2000 IUCN Red List. Two taxa survive as single wild specimens (Hyophorbe amaricaulis and Dictyosperma album var. conjugatum); an additional seven taxa have wild populations of 100 or fewer. Although the historical phase of large-scale forest clearance has passed, the remaining palm populations in the Mascarenes are under threat from the effects of population fragmentation, invasive plants and animals, and high levels of seed predation that prevent natural regeneration. The advantages of in situ management for the recovery of these palm populations are discussed. Without a long-term conservation programme, utilising both in situ and ex situ management, extinction of wild populations will occur.

High cattle densities, expanding human settlements and the conversion of miombo woodland into farms and teak plantations are threatening wildlife populations in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, and conservation research on this internationally important wetland is required as part of an integrated approach to its future management. The effect of land-use change on antelopes (family Bovidae) was investigated by surveying tracks and dung during three seasons over 1999–2000 in an area of mixed land-use. Use of miombo woodland, grassland and farmland habitats by antelopes was highest during the wet season (April–May), probably representing the movements of animals away from the floodplain. Duiker, puku Kobus vardoni and reedbuck Redunca spp. predominantly used the farmland during the wet season, at which time buffalo Syncerus caffer were more common in the miombo woodland. The findings of this study have three main implications for the conservation of the valley. Firstly, the inadvertent provision of suitable wet season habitats for puku and other small-medium antelopes by rice farmers could lead to higher levels of illegal hunting, and may increase the potential for conflict between agriculture and wildlife. Secondly, the loss of miombo vegetation will most strongly affect the larger species of antelope (sable Hippotragus niger and waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus), which favour open-woodland habitats; future work should therefore determine levels of habitat use by antelopes in and around maturing teak plantations. Thirdly, any management prescriptions to conserve the Kilombero Valley should include the land on the edge of the floodplain.

We studied changes in germination rates and dispersal distance of seeds of Ficus perforata and F. lundelli dispersed by howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana), in a small (40 ha) ‘disturbed’ and a larger (>600 ha) ‘preserved’ tropical rainforest in southern Veracruz, Mexico. The interaction between A. p. mexicana and Ficus (Urostigma) spp. is beneficial for the interacting species and has important implications for their conservation. Howler monkeys gain from the ingestion of an important food source, germination rates of Ficus seeds are improved by passage through the monkeys' digestive tract, and the seeds are more likely to be deposited in a site suitable for germination and development. Seed dispersal distances are relatively larger in the preserved site, with both the size of the forest area and the spatial pattern of Ficus affecting the dispersal process. In a large forest fragment with ‘regularly’ distributed Ficus individuals the howler monkeys move away from the seed source, increasing the probability that the seeds are desposited on a tree other than Ficus, which is important for the germination and future development of a hemiepiphytic species. In a small forest fragment with trees distributed in clumps howlers repeatedly use the same individual trees, and faeces containing seeds may be dropped on unsuitable trees more often. These are key issues when addressing conservation policies for fragmented forests.

In the early 1990s the Sardinian warbler began nesting in Cyprus, and now has two breeding populations, in the west and north of the island. Observations of the western population show that its range is still expanding and that the endemic Cyprus warbler has declined in the areas colonized by the Sardinian warbler. However, the Cyprus warbler is still present in most of these areas, and hence, although the Cyprus warbler is a species of European Conservation Concern, the current situation requires further study rather than alarm. The Sardinian warbler is the more numerous species at lower altitudes, whilst the Cyprus warbler is more common at higher altitudes, especially above 500 m. Within their areas of overlap, both Cyprus and Sardinian warbler populations occur throughout almost all habitats; natural, semi-natural and agroecosystems. We recommend that monitoring should continue, with more detailed ecological studies.

Jerdon's courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus is a nocturnal cursorial bird that is now only known from a small area of scrub jungle in Andhra Pradesh, India. Its population size, distribution and habitat requirements are poorly known because of its elusive habits. We conducted a trial of a survey method that involved deploying an array of 5 m long tracking strips consisting of smoothed fine soil, and checking them for footprints at regular intervals. We developed diagnostic methods for distinguishing the footprints of Jerdon's courser from those of other species. Tracks of Jerdon's courser were obtained on about one strip-night in 30 from areas where the species was known to be present. We suggest a procedure for using tracking strips to survey areas where Jerdon's courser has not yet been detected. The use of tracking strips carries a small risk of misidentification of footprints of other species, especially yellow-wattled lapwing Vanellus malarbaricus, as those of Jerdon's courser, but has the advantage that large areas can be surveyed without the use of expensive equipment or night-time fieldwork. We recommend the use of automatic camera traps to obtain confirmation of records of probable Jerdon's courser footprints.

Investigations carried out in the Aeolian Islands (off north-east Sicily) during 1989–99 gathered evidence strongly indicating that the endemic Aeolian wall lizard Podarcis raffonei is close to extinction. Competitive exclusion by the lizard Podarcis sicula, which has been introduced by man, habitat degradation, and possibly reduced genetic variability and inbreeding, were the main causes for the decline of the species. For the Aeolian wall lizard to recover from its threatened status and to prevent further decimation of populations, collection and trade in the species should be prohibited, and an education programme for local people should be promoted. An integrated project involving habitat protection and captive breeding is needed to secure the species in the wild for the future.

Bonelli's eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus is a threatened cliff-nesting raptor mainly distributed in the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. The European population has declined and the species is considered Vulnerable in Spain. Before effective conservation programmes can be proposed the causes of this decline need to be considered. In a monitoring programme of the population of Bonelli's eagle in Murcia carried out since 1983 we observed a marked decline, followed by a period of stability that began in 1990. Using demographic data (territorial bird survival, non-territorial bird survival, and fecundity) for 1990–1998 we applied a territorial occupancy model to evaluate management alternatives for the species. The model, which assumes demographic stability, estimates an equilibrium proportion of habitat occupancy as a function of life history parameters, dispersal behaviour and habitat suitability. In spite of some limitations the model identified the most important conservation measures required for an increase in the proportion of territories occupied: the improvement of the survival of both territorial and non-territorial birds, and an increase in the proportion of suitable habitat.

This study provides an overview of the conservation status of the West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus in Nicaragua, including data on habitat availability, manatee distribution and relative abundance, and current threats. The data is based on surveys from boats and extensive interviews with local people. Nicaragua harbors one of the largest areas of habitat suitable for manatees in Central America. The species has an almost continuous distribution along the country's eastern, Caribbean coast and inland in some watercourses. There are larger groups of manatees in brackish lagoons than in freshwater rivers. Seasonal migrations and lengthy daily travels influenced by tides have been reported. The main threats to these manatees include poaching and incidental drowning in fishing nets, while boat traffic, pollution and habitat loss presently seem to be negligible factors in Nicaragua. Poaching is widespread along the coast and it is estimated that c. 40 manatees are killed annually throughout the country. Enforcement of hunting laws and protected areas is almost non-existent, with the exception of the Southeastern Nicaragua Biosphere Reserve. This may explain why manatees have disappeared from a few areas and become rare in others. Unless restrictions are imposed on poaching and on the use of gill nets within inland wetlands, the West Indian manatee may become rare throughout Nicaragua in the near future.