In the course of the 20th century the un-sustainability of international wildlife trade became apparent. European countries play a major role in wildlife trade. One third of total wildlife imports is destined to the EU which makes EU responsible for the protection of world wildlife and should motivate the EU to be a model in biodiversity protection. Regulation of wildlife trade in the EU is discussed in chapter 1. Trade in wildlife and its derivatives is among the most profitable branches of the international trade. Animals are traded in different forms. Birds are usually traded live (for the pet trade), mammals are traded for their fur, butterflies for their bodies, reptiles for their skins, the highest value is attained by trade in fish. In some categories (live birds, caviar) EU imports more than the rest of the world combined. The EU plays a major role as an importer in other categories as well. The magnitude, value and trends of international wildlife trade are discussed in chapter 2. Profitability of the wildlife trade, strong demand for some products and imperfect implementation of CITES result in the development of illegal trade. Illegal wildlife trade is dominated by organized criminal groups that also deal in drugs and human trafficking. Illegal wildlife trade is linked to severe risks and dangers to both the source country and the recipient. More on illegal wildlife trade in chapter 3. EU imports one third of all legally exported wildlife products. It is also the importer of a majority of illegal wildlife products. Having one of the highest standards of living and seeing that the care of environment cannot be limited by political borders, the author of this thesis concludes that it is logical and imperative that the EU engages in improvement of wildlife protection in less developed countries of the world. The last chapter deals with conservation of Cameroonian Dja Biosphere Reserve and with the attempt of large EU's environmental programs to improve conservation in Cameroon.

Thesis (LLM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Rhinoceros (Rhinos) are poached at an alarming high rate in South Africa. The 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), prohibited the trade of rhino horns amongst its member states. Even though there are existing pieces of legislation in South Africa to curb the killing and illegal trade of rhino horns, compliance authorities rarely impose stringent sentences on culprits caught poaching rhinos. There should be stringent enforcement of laws on poachers and if caught, perpetrators should be brought to justice in order to deter aspiring or ambitious would-be perpetrators. Amendment of legislation currently used in South Africa on rhino poaching cases, if applied vigorously, would be more developmental in curbing the scourge. The syndicate are highly skilled and well equipped for the execution of illicit poaching. It is in few instances that perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted. Even if arrested and prosecuted, lenient sentences are imposed upon conviction. The most noticeable lacuna in South African Criminal Justice System, is the lack of capacity and skills in investigations and successful prosecutions of rhino poachers. Worst still, despite frequent media reports on the alarming rate of rhino poaching cases, few arrests and convictions are reported. This mini dissertation looks at rhino poaching as an organised crime, and focuses on literature review, legal framework and regulations, as well as comparative study on legislation which can be used to prosecute the perpetrators of this organised crime. The discourse recommends amendment of legislation presently used to prosecute rhino poaching offenders, and advocates that they should be stringently applied in order to curb the scourge.

In the management of threatened and endangered species, informed population estimates are essential to gage whether or not recovery goals are being met. In the case of Pacific salmonids, this evaluation often involves sampling a small subset of the population and scaling up to estimate larger distinct populations segments. This is made complicated by the fact that fish populations are not evenly distributed along riverscapes but respond to physical and biological stream properties at varying spatial extents. We used rapid assessment survey methods and the River Styles classification to explore fish-habitat relationships at a continuous network scale. Semi-continuous surveys were conducted across nine streams in the upper Middle Fork John Day River watershed and increased the number of sites surveyed eight-fold over other monitoring methods within the watershed. Using this increased sample size and continuous habitat metrics we improved watershed-wide steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) abundance models. We first validated the distinctions among River Styles through a classification analysis using physical metrics measured at the rapid assessment sites. Overall classification accuracy, using a combination of reach and landscape scale metrics, was 88.3% and suggested that River Style classification was identifying variations in physical morphology within the watershed that was quantifiable at the reach scale. Leveraging the continuous River Styles classification of physical habitat and a continuous model of primary production improved the prediction of steelhead abundance across the network. Using random forest regressions, a model that included only habitat metrics resulted in R2 = 0.34, while using the continuous variables improved the model accuracy greatly to R2 = 0.65. Random forest allowed for further investigation into the predictor variables through the analysis of the partial dependence plots and identified a gross primary production threshold, below which production might be limiting steelhead populations. This method also identified the rarest River Style surveyed within the watershed, Confined-Valley Step Cascade, as the morphology that had the largest marginal effect on steelhead. The inherent physical properties and boundary conditions unique to each River Style has the potential to inform fish-habitat relationships across riverscapes and improve abundance estimates on a continuous spatial scale.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The West Indian iguanas of the genus Cyclura are the most endangered group of lizards in the world (Burton & Bloxam, 2002). The Ricord’s iguana, Cyclura ricordii, is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Ramer, 2004). This species is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (Figure 1), and can only be found in limited geographic areas (Burton & Bloxam, 2002). The range of this species is estimated to be only 60% of historical levels, with most areas being affected by some level of disturbance (Ottenwalder, 1996). The most recent population estimation is between 2,000 and 4,000 individuals (Burton & Bloxam, 2002). Information on potentially suitable habitat can help the conservation efforts for Ricord’s iguana. However, intensive ground surveys are not always feasible or cost effective, and cannot easily provide continuous coverage over a large area. This paper presents results from a pilot study that evaluated variables extracted from satellite imagery and digitally mapped data layers to map the probability of suitable Ricord’s iguana habitat. Bayesian methods were used to determine the probability that each pixel in the study areas is suitable habitat for Ricord’s iguanas by evaluating relevant environmental attributes. This model predicts the probability that an area is suitable habitat based on the values of the environmental attributes including landscape biophysical characteristics, terrain data, and bioclimatic variables.

Recent improvements in genetic analyses have paved the way in using molecular data to answer questions regarding evolutionary history, genetic structure, and demography. Key deer are a federally endangered subspecies assumed to be genetically unique (based on one allozyme study), homogeneous, and have a female-biased population of approximately 900 deer. I used 985bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and 12 microsatellite loci to test two hypotheses: 1) if the Moser Channel is a barrier to gene flow, I should expect that Key deer are differentiated and have reduced diversity compared to mainland deer and (2) if isolation on islands leads to a higher probability of extinction, I should expect that Key deer exhibit a small population size and a high risk of extinction. My results indicate that Key deer are genetically isolated from mainland white-tailed deer and that there is a lack of genetic substructure between islands. While Key deer exhibit reduced levels of genetic diversity compared to their mainland counterparts, they contain enough diversity of which to uniquely identify individual deer. Based on genetic identification, I estimated a census size of around 1,000 individuals with a heavily skewed female-biased adult sex ratio. Furthermore, I combined genetic and contemporary demographic data to generate a species persistence model of the Key deer. Sensitivity tests within the population viability analysis brought to light the importance of fetal sex ratio and female survival as the primary factors at risk of driving the subspecies to extinction.

I determined abundance, movement and activity patterns of the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis jamaicensis, RTHA) in Río Abajo Forest, Puerto Rico and surrounding lands during 2003-2004. Captive-reared Puerto Rican Parrots (Amazona vittata, PRPA) are scheduled for release in Rio Abajo Forest in 2006. Annual density of RTHAs (0.90 RTHAs/km2) was similar to the Caribbean National Forest (CNF; 1.29 RTHAs/ km2). RTHAs annual survival was high (0.89), and birds maintained compressed territories around the Rio Abajo Forest. Home ranges were 91% smaller than estimates reported for CNF, yet similar to those in North America. Approximately 98.3% of RTHA locations occurred outside the Río Abajo Forest boundaries. RTHAs exhibited random macrohabitat use patterns in north-central Puerto Rico. However, within their home ranges, RTHAs selected fragmented habitats with high patch and edge density, and avoided large tracts of dense closed canopy forest. Encounters between RTHAs and PRPAs may increase as parrots venture beyond the boundaries of Rio Abajo Forest.

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Stream fishes are highly diverse, yet highly imperiled by human alterations of stream environments. Many species are poorly characterized with regard to the size and structure of populations and patterns of dispersal between populations, which complicates assessment of how human activities, both harmful and beneficial, will affect persistence. I used genetic tools to further this understanding in three case-study fish species of the southeastern United States: Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) of the greater Roanoke River basin and redline (Etheostoma rufilineatum) and greenside darters (E. blennioides) of the upper Tennessee River basin. I found that endangered P. rex persists in seven isolated populations. Within populations, individuals exhibit extensive dispersal and gene flow, which maintains connectivity throughout entire watersheds. Most populations exhibit small contemporary effective population sizes and occupy few stream channels, and thereby face an elevated risk of extinction. Genetic estimates of divergence indicate that fragmentation was recent, coincident with the construction of major dams throughout the species' range. Close evolutionary relationships between most populations suggest that a translocation strategy could decrease extinction risks. I developed a framework to help guide the process of balancing small-population versus translocation risks when formulating conservation strategies. When the framework was applied to populations of P. rex, straightforward management prescriptions emerged. The framework also may prove useful for other fragmented species. Unlike P. rex, E. rufilineatum and E. blennioides are relatively abundant where they occur. However, both species were strongly affected by fragmentation due to hydroelectric dams and reservoirs. Populations in small streams flowing directly into a reservoir had lower genetic diversity than populations in larger, more fluvially connected streams. Furthermore, indices of watershed urbanization (e.g., percent impervious surface, road density) were negatively correlated with genetic diversity and with a genetic index of population stability. This suggests that darters occupying isolated streams and/or urbanizing watersheds experience smaller, more variable population sizes than darters elsewhere. Monitoring of such genetic responses could provide a useful early indicator of ecosystem stress and a useful complement to other biomonitoring techniques. / Ph. D.

This research sought to explain the emergence of the Wyoming Core Area Strategy (WCAS), a state-based Greater Sage Grouse conservation plan. It presents a theoretical framework that is based on and adds nuance to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). The hypothesis this study explored was: if a subsystem's jurisdiction is threatened by a hierarchically superior subsystem's policy outputs and this jurisdiction is necessary to meet the threatened subsystem's goals, then policy change may occur as a result of a strategy by the agents in the threatened subsystem. The data used to examine the hypothesis included expert interviews, historical documents, and interviews from media sources (secondary source interviews). The hypothesis was supported; the WCAS emerged because the Endangered Species Act listing outputs within the Species Conservation Policy Subsystem threatened the Wyoming Land Use Policy (WLUP) Subsystem's jurisdiction, which was necessary to meet the WLUP Subsystem's economic and lifestyle goals; the Governor of Wyoming drove the development and enactment of the WCAS as a strategy to retain jurisdiction. The research demonstrated that in order to fully account for the WCAS's emergence, a less mechanistic view of the framework, one that accounts for the ability of agents in a subsystem to act strategically, was needed. The research also demonstrated that the Greater Sage Grouse conservation benefited from the ESA listing process despite its warranted but precluded listing status. The time frame the research explored was 2002 through March 2012. / Master of Arts