The Yangtze giant softshell turtle Rafetus swinhoei is the rarest turtle species, with just two individuals known to be surviving, one male in a zoo in China and one individual recently identified as a female in the wild in Viet Nam. As the species is on the brink of extinction, it is an urgent priority to search for additional individuals in the wild, and for areas where it may still be present. Here, we analysed areas where the species may still occur, identified through interview surveys in Viet Nam. In addition, we introduced a novel system for evaluating the potential for occurrence of this rare and elusive freshwater turtle, using a conservation priority index. This index was based on three recorded variables: (1) probability of the species' presence based on interviews with local fishers, (2) degree of habitat alteration, and (3) fishing intensity, with the latter two based on experts’ evaluation of the sites where the species could potentially be present. There were at least 13 independent, reliable sightings in the 2010s, seven of which were in 2018–2019, indicating that R. swinhoei potentially persists in the wild. Although the species was confirmed at only one site, there are at least three more sites where it is likely to be present, and 13 sites of conservation interest. We provide a description of all sites where the species is potentially present, and a summary of relevant interviews. The Da River system has the highest number of recent sightings. We recommend that a research and conservation project be initiated urgently, and outline how such a project could be implemented.

There is an unprecedented demand for bushmeat in large cities in sub-Saharan Africa, and this is a major threat to many species. We conducted 2,040 interviews in six cities in four West African countries, in forest and savannah settings. We analysed age- and sex-related differences in the frequency of bushmeat consumption. Overall, we found similar patterns in all cities: 62.2% of men and 72.1% of women said they would never eat bushmeat, whereas 12.8% of men and 8.8% of women said they liked bushmeat and ate it regularly. Younger generations of both sexes tended not to eat bushmeat, regardless of their city of origin. This study of the effects of age, gender and geographical location on bushmeat consumption in African cities provides insights regarding which population groups to target in campaigns to change behaviours.

To explore the patterns of bushmeat trade in the Sahel we carried out a multidisciplinary study, focusing on Burkina Faso. We conducted baseline interview surveys to examine the variation in people's perceptions of bushmeat in relation to their place of residence (urban vs rural), sex and age. We also analysed the long-term (1985–2010) population dynamics of two ungulate species, the oribi Ourebia ourebi and the common duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, known to be among the main targets of the bushmeat trade locally. For the antelopes we chose as our study area a protected area (Nazinga Game Ranch) where poaching activities occur and are likely to represent a threat to the local wildlife. The results of the interviews underlined significant differences in bushmeat consumption between rural and urban areas. In particular, the probability of finding people who did not consume bushmeat increased in the urban area, where bushmeat is less available than in the rural areas. Sex and age did not have any effect on people's perceptions of bushmeat. In Burkina Faso bushmeat is still widely consumed, and this could be because the bushmeat trade is poorly controlled, with a lack of enforcement of the legislation. Long-term field surveys revealed that the oribi and the common duiker have declined significantly in Nazinga Game Ranch, suggesting that the bushmeat trade in Burkina Faso may have negative consequences in terms of the conservation outlook for these species.

The African spurred tortoise Centrochelys sulcata is the second largest terrestrial turtle, with a scattered distribution across the West African Sahel. This species is threatened and declining consistently throughout its range, but little is known about the causes of its decline. It has been hypothesized that the decline is attributable to (1) competition with domestic cattle, (2) wildfire, and (3) the international pet trade. We conducted a series of analyses to investigate these three causes. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were analysed using a spatially explicit approach, using a database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and logistic regression modelling; hypothesis 3 was tested by analysing the CITES trade database for 1990–2010. We found a significant negative correlation between intensity of grazing (expressed as density of cattle, km−2) and the presence of spurred tortoises, and this negative effect increased when coupled with high fire intensity, whereas wildfires alone did not have a significant influence on the species’ distribution at the global scale. There was a decrease in the annual export of wild individuals for the pet trade after the introduction of export quotas by country and by year, but trade data must be considered with caution.

Although not categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List, the African forest buffalo Syncerus caffer nanus is declining across its range. In Nigeria its distribution, abundance and status are virtually unknown. We conducted interviews with experienced hunters, and field surveys (linear and recce transects), to study the buffalo's distribution and ecology in the montane forests of Cross River State. General linear modelling indicated that the number of individuals varied significantly across survey areas and habitat types but not with the survey period, and there was no study area × study period interaction. Buffalo were found most commonly in mature and secondary forests. Given the species’ scattered distribution, fragmentation of its habitat, and the relatively low numbers observed, Nigerian populations require a separate, regional categorization on the IUCN Red List.

Assessing and updating the extinction risk and conservation status of species and populations is paramount to guide management strategies. Maintaining up-to-date and realistic geographical distribution maps of individual species is one aspect of this. We report an updated distribution for an Italian island endemic amphibian, the Sardinian newt Euproctus platycephalus, categorized as Endangered on the IUCN global and national Red Lists. The distribution of E. platycephalus was reassessed by means of visual surveys, questionnaires, interviews and scientific literature. The species was found over a geographical range comparable to that used for the IUCN assessment but we recorded a significantly larger number of populations (57 vs 14). There was no appreciable difference in the species’ Extent of Occurrence between 1972–1974 and 2010–2015. Area of Occupancy increased between past (1972–1974 and 1999–2000) and present (2010–2015) distribution records. Based on this updated distribution and considering that several new populations have been found, the distribution of the species may still be underestimated. Given the novel distribution data provided here and the need for new long-term demographic data, we recommend that the conservation status of E. platycephalus be reassessed. In the Italian national Red List a potential overstatement of extinction risk is evident for other amphibian species, possibly because the information used in their assessment is deficient. Considering that monitoring rare and elusive species is costly and time consuming we recommend more extensive use of multiple sources of information for Red List assessments.

Based on long-term fieldwork, we report a descriptive SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis performed by a public agency that manages a protected area (PA) system in a densely populated area (Rome, central Italy) to highlight the core limits in this PA's management effectiveness. The key result of the analysis is that the limits of the management effectiveness and the obstacle in setting improvement strategies can be basically derived from the hierarchical command-and-control government approach and from the adopted management model. The main hindrance to the implementation of a multilevel collaborative management appears to be the “institutional stickiness” of the managing public agency in shifting from its hierarchical government approach to a governance one. Having observed the presence of operational gaps among the best solutions in the scholarly mainstream, the governing capability of the managing authority, and what happens in the field, we suggest that an answer to aligning these factors could be the creation of more fluid conditions for bottom–up initiatives—for instance, by monitoring the multibenefits of PAs for local communities or by making available to the public the economic evaluation of public goods.

Environmental Practice 15:401–408 (2013)

To trace the local extinction of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra in Latium, central Italy, and examine the causes of the species’ disappearance, we reviewed and classified information from both the scientific and grey literature according to the reliability and geographical accuracy of the records. The temporal and spatial patterns of 160 records from 23 geographical subunits from 1832 to 2006 suggest that the species collapsed between 1960 and 1975; two different extinction patterns were revealed by a set of multivariate analyses. In northern Latium the species collapsed because of several independent local threats. In central and southern Latium the species collapsed because of catastrophic habitat alteration (land reclamation during the 1930s) that negatively affected the source population. After this event the species went extinct in hilly and mountainous areas, where several population sinks occurred. We presume that this latter process drove the remnant otter subpopulations to extinction in central Italy, emphasizing the role of an extinction vortex in causing the collapse of this metapopulation rather than the classical threats recognized for this species. The value of the grey literature for a posteriori historical analysis of local extinction dynamics is highlighted by this research.

Comparisons of sympatric reptile species were used to assess the variation in niche overlap for food between potential competitors at different trophic levels. Omnivorous tortoises and carnivorous vipers inhabiting the rain-forest region of West Africa were used as study models. Food niche overlap between species increased with habitat alteration in both the independent study systems: tortoises (Kinixys homeana and Kinixys erosa) and vipers (Bitis gabonica and Bitis nasicornis) showed lower values of Pianka's niche overlap index in the pristine habitat than in the altered habitat, and these differences in overlap values did not depend on chance after Monte Carlo simulations. There were higher inter-habitat food niche overlaps within-species than between-species. Permutation tests (assessed after 5000 iterations) revealed that, for both study systems, the P-values became significantly smaller with fewer resource states, thus showing the niche overlap between species really increases after habitat alteration. The observed increases in food niche overlap between species accomplished with rain-forest habitat degradation in turn may be predicted to have cumulative effects on reducing the level of forest biodiversity.

The presence and density of two sympatric, large-sized vipers (the Gaboon viper, Bitis gabonica and the nose-horned viper, Bitis nasicornis) were studied along several transects, during both dry and wet seasons, and at different times of day, in southern Nigeria (West Africa). Three habitat types were found along the various transects (mature rain forest (MF), secondary rain forest (SF), swamp forest (SW)). The detection probabilities for these vipers were modelled with a set of competing models, and the various models were ordered by Akaike Information Criterion procedures. Two classes of models were used: the single-season model, and the multi-species model. The best models (single-season model) suggested that: for the Gaboon viper, habitat types SF and SW were particularly important in detecting this species, especially during the rainy season at 08h00–16h00. For nose-horned vipers, the best models had SW and MF as site-covariates. Application of the multi-species model revealed that there were different detection functions if both species are present at a site, with a ‘negative’ interaction of occupancy between the species. Females and males were similarly detectable in a logistic regression model, but feeding status and pregnancy slightly increased detection probability in a logistic regression model. Viper density was modelled by a DISTANCE sampling procedure. The density of one species tended to be inversely correlated to the density of the other, suggesting that (1) the rain-forest environment does not support abundant populations of both vipers when sympatric, and (2) the two Bitis species subtly partition the habitat resources.

In this paper, the ecological relationships and the resource partitioning patterns in a two-species system of sympatric aquatic snakes (Grayia smythii and Afronatrix anoscopus) from a riverine forest area in southern Nigeria, West Africa, were tested. The monthly availability of their food resources in the field, and the monthly variation in the feeding relationships between these snakes and their preys, were also studied. Food items of 1245 snakes, i.e. 554 Grayia smythii, and 691 Afronatrix anoscopus, were examined. The mean body length of Grayia smythii was significantly larger than that of Afronatrix anoscopus in any interspecific comparison, i.e. males versus males, females versus females, and females versus males; however, in both species the females attained significantly larger body sizes than the males. 676 prey items were obtained from the stomachs of Afronatrix anoscopus, and 390 from those of Grayia smythii. Both species of snake exhibited an increased activity in the open during the wet months, and this increased activity was positively correlated to the higher abundance of prey during the wet season. In both species the diet consisted of a great variety of different amphibian and fish species. Direct interference competition was not observed. The month-by-month dietary patterns exhibited by the two snake species were similar. Mean prey size was significantly larger in the larger species, and the difference in prey size between the two snake species increased during the dry season, i.e. during the period of reduced prey availability. The monthly availability of the three main food types for these snakes varied, and were significantly more abundant during the wet season (April–September). A positive relationship between prey availability and prey use by snakes strongly suggests that the two snake species are predatory generalists, utilizing prey in relation to their abundance in the field.

The relationships between population abundance, body size, food habits and ecological guild (aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal, and fossorial) of snake communities are studied in three different habitats (swamp-rainforest, mangrove forest and derived savanna) of southern Nigeria, West Africa. There were slightly positive relationships between body size and population abundance of snakes in the three study habitats of tropical Nigeria, but statistical significance was reached only in the swamp-rainforest habitat. The population abundance of the various species was not related to either their food habits or their ecological guild in any of the three study areas. The possible reasons explaining these patterns are discussed. In general, there is little congruence between our data and the popular ‘energetic equivalence rule’ hypothesis.

The small mammal fauna of a forest area in southern Nigeria is studied in order to understand the general patterns regulating the community composition. A set of different methods of trapping was used in order to evaluate the composition of the species at the level of both the ground-dwelling and the arboreal guilds. For the Insectivora, six shrew species were trapped, but only two (Crocidura nigeriae and C. poensis) appeared abundant and widespread in the various habitat types. No arboreal species were found. For the rodents, 17 species were captured, which were arranged by a Principal Component Analysis into four groups: (1) Rattus rattus and Anomalurus derbianus; (2) Xerus erythropus and Grammomys rutilans; (3) Graphiurus cf. murinus and Hylomyscus stella; (4) the remaining, more generalist species. For the ground-dwelling rodents, 14 species were found, which were arranged in three groups: (1) Malacomys edwardsi and Grammomys sp.; (2) Mylomys dybowskii and Rattus norvegicus; (3) all the other species, with stronger similarities between Praomys tullbergi, Mus musculoides, Aethomys sp. (unknown), and Lemniscomys striatus. Although an approximately equal number of species constituted the arboreal and ground-dwelling rodent fauna, the number of trapped animals was much higher on the ground than at the level of the arboreal guild (ratio 8.7: 1; total n=2322). The general implications of the patterns observed are discussed.

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.

The current distribution of Lepus corsicanus (recently considered to be a distinct species from L. europaeus) in peninsular Italy and Sicily is presented in this paper. Our data suggest that L. corsicanus is declining markedly in mainland Italy, and perhaps also in Sicily, and that it should be categorised as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Conservation recommendations for this species are presented.

The food resource partitioning in a community of snakes from a moist rainforest of south-eastern Nigeria (Eket, Akwa-Ibom State) is studied in the present paper. The community consisted of 24 different species, belonging to different families and ecological guilds: some species were terrestrial, some were semi-aquatic, and others were arboreal. Six species were primarily mammal-eating, two were bird-eating, four were lizard-eating, three were frog-eating, one species fed on both mammals and birds, and one species fed on both fish and frogs. A UPGMA tree diagram showed that three clusters of snakes are formed on the basis of their diet composition: a cluster formed by the two large arboreal species (Dendroaspis jamesoni and Boiga blandingi), another formed by the group of the terrestrial mammal-eating Calabaria reinhardti, Bitis gabonica, and Bitis nasicornis, and the third cluster formed by the lizard-eating Psammophis phillipsi, Thelotornis kirtlandii, and Gastropyxis smaragdina. The relationships between these and the other taxa remain unclear. In terms of both frequency of occurrence of the various prey types and biomass contribution of each prey type, the semi-aquatic snakes showed the narrowest niche breadth values and the terrestrial snakes showed the widest niche breadth values. The overlap values were not significantly correlated with the rank of phylogenetic distance. The mean overlap values calculated between species belonging to a same guild were significantly higher than those calculated between species belonging to different guilds, but the mean overlap values between species belonging to a same guild did not differ significantly among guilds. Prey size and predator size (total length) were positively correlated. There was no statistically significant difference between snake guilds as far as mean prey size is concerned, but the various species within each guild differed significantly in terms of mean prey size.