Legal subsistence hunting trends in the Ugalla ecosystem of western Tanzania

Sustainable legal subsistence hunting has a place in conservation. Nonetheless, the long-term success of such schemes depends on them being well managed. We assessed the effectiveness of legal subsistence hunting in the Ugalla ecosystem of western Tanzania using data from the local legal hunting scheme. The hunting in the ecosystem is conducted within the partially protected areas around Ugalla Game Reserve. The Wildlife Division of Tanzania supervises hunting activities in the area via local conservation authorities. We analysed hunting success (animals shot per quota per licence) across species in the period from 1997 to 2004. Our results revealed that 10,511 and 5,991 animals were licenced and shot, respectively. There were considerable variations in hunting success across wildlife species. With the exception of common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), hunting success trends for most of the species were declining. The documented decline in wildlife off-take should be further investigated to ensure the sustainable management of this area.