TITLE:
Population Dynamics of Large Herbivores and the Framing of Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe
AUTHORS:
Edson Gandiwa
KEYWORDS:
Bottom-Up Control, Illegal Hunting, Law Enforcement, Media Framing, Top-Down Control
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.4 No.7,
May
27,
2014
ABSTRACT: This article
reviews: 1) The role of natural and human-induced controls in influencing large
herbivore populations; 2) how human controls (i.e., policy instruments, incentives and provisions) influence
human activities and wildlife conservation; and 3) media framing of wildlife conservation
using Zimbabwe as a case study, in particular Gonarezhou National Park and
adjacent areas. The review shows that droughts are important in influencing
large herbivore populations in semi-arid ecosystems; political instability and
economic collapse does not necessarily lead to increased illegal hunting in
situations where policy instruments, such as laws, are enforced. A higher perceived
effectiveness of Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources
was partly associated with a decline in human-wildlife conflicts and there was
a spill-over effect of frames from the political domain into wildlife
conservation following Zimbabwe’s land reforms in 2000. It is concluded that
natural bottom-up processes (e.g., droughts) influence large herbivore
population dynamics whereas policy instruments, incentives, provisions and
societal frames mainly have a top-down effect on wild large herbivore
populations in savanna ecosystems.