A tale of three villages: choosing an effective method for assessing poaching levels in western Serengeti, Tanzania

Poaching for bushmeat poses a significant threat to wildlife conservation, particularly in the Serengeti ecosystem. A study comparing three methods—self-reported poaching activities, dietary recall of bushmeat consumption, and arrest records from anti-poaching patrols—revealed that dietary recall and arrest records provided consistent estimates of poaching levels across three villages bordering Serengeti National Park, unlike self-reporting, which yielded significantly different results. This suggests that combining dietary recall data with arrest records offers a more reliable approach to assessing poaching activity when anti-poaching unit data is unreliable or unavailable.

Knapp, E. J., Rentsch, D., Schmitt, J., Lewis, C., & Polasky, S. (2010). A tale of three villages: choosing an effective method for assessing poaching levels in western Serengeti, Tanzania. Oryx, 44(2), 178–184. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605309990895