title: Effective enforcement in a conservation area.
abstract: Wildlife within protected areas is under increasing threat from bushmeat and illegal trophy trades, and many argue that enforcement within protected areas is not sufficient to protect wildlife. We examined 50 years of records from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and calculated the history of illegal harvest and enforcement by park authorities. We show that a precipitous decline in enforcement in 1977 resulted in a large increase in poaching and decline of many species. Conversely, expanded budgets and antipoaching patrols since the mid-1980s have greatly reduced poaching and allowed populations of buffalo, elephants, and rhinoceros to rebuild.
authors.affiliation: School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Box 355020, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. rayh@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hilborn
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arcese
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borner
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hando
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hopcraft
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loibooki
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mduma
authors.forename: Anthony R E
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sinclair
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002020:Buffaloes; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004606:Elephants; D035846:Law Enforcement; D010527:Perissodactyla; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013636:Tanzania