Andy Lee

Large carnivore reintroduction is an increasingly popular conservation tool, and it is widely practiced in South Africa protected reserves. At the same time, it is coupled with other interests such as wildlife tourism and game ranching. While the ecological and technical aspects of reintroductions have been closely studied, the human factors that of reintroductions remain unclear. This study seeks to understand the different roles stakeholders within and between reserves play in carnivore reintroductions, and how they make various decisions in the process. During July 2018, 22 interviews were conducted with managers of municipal and private reserves, government representatives, NGOs and researchers, all of whom are involved in carnivore reintroductions and management in South Africa. Preliminary findings revealed that lions were reintroduced by reserves primarily for tourism, while cheetah reintroductions prioritized conservation and biodiversity considerations. Africa wild dogs were less commonly reintroduced because of ecological challenges and lower tourism interests. These reintroductions were often initiated by higher level management in individual reserves, whereas ecological tasks were considered on the operation level. Management structure and communication between management teams were significant in reconciling any competing tourism and ecological goals in the process. Decision-making of reintroductions also tied closely to other management issues such as landowners’ consensus, disease control, anti-poaching pressure, wild game trade, tourist expectations and ethical considerations. NGOs and forums provided the crucial link between reserves to source and coordinate individual translocations for meta-population conservation. These findings will complement existing ecological knowledge to strategize the long-term conservation of these large carnivores.