(9920665) Wildlife - Conservation - in - Rural - Southeastern - China - Wildlife - Harvest - and - The - Ecology - of - Sympatric - Carnivores PDF

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WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN RURAL SOUTHEASTERN CHINA:
WILDLIFE HARVEST
AND THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC CARNIVORES
A Dissertation Presented
by
HAIBIN WANG
Submitted to the Graduate School of the

University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
February 1999
Department o f Forestry and Wildlife Management
UMI Number: 9920665
Copyright 1999 by
Wang, Haibin
All rights reserved.
UMI Microform 9920665

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WILDLIFE HARVEST
AND THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC CARNIVORES
A Dissertation Presented
by
HAIBIN WANG
Approved as to style and content by:
Todd. K. Fuller, Chair
William M. Healy, Membep-
Jin MengrMember
Robert M. Muth, Member
William C. McComb, Department Head

Department of Forestry & Wildlife Management
DEDICATION
I dedicated this dissertation to my wife, Ning Liu, for her sacrifice and selfless
support.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this dissertation was made possible by the support o f
many people. I would like to thank my committee chair. Dr. Todd K. Fuller, for his
firm support during my protracted years of graduate study at the University of
Massachusetts. He helped me overcome the obstacles inevitably confronting a
foreign student in a new environment, tailored my academic preparation, guided me
through the fieldwork with his rich experience, and paid painstaking attention to the
writing o f this dissertation. He was always there ready with a strong helping hand to
support me whenever I faltered and was in need o f help. He has been an excellent
academic advisor and much more.
I am deeply indebted to Master Tang Daxong and his family at Taohong
Village, Pengze County, Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China, for the
critical assistance they gave to me during the fieldwork. Master Tang provided me
with literally free lodging and board for more than two years, with no intention of
gaining anything in return. To be precise, he treated me like a family member. In
addition, his trapping and hunting experiences gained over more than fifty years
proved invaluable both in my ecological study and wildlife harvest interviews.
I am extremely grateful to my committee members for their understanding
and support. Dr. Robert Muth o f the Department o f Forestry and Wildlife
Management offered me invaluable guidance in the field o f social study that I have
little knowledge of. His constructive comments were most inspiring. Dr. William
Healy, U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, and Dr. Jin
Meng, Department of Biology provided penetrating comments on the contents o f this
dissertation.
It was with the active support from Chinese wildlife management authorities
at various levels that my study at Taohong was possible. Specifically, I would like to
thank Mr. Jianhua Qing, Mr. Sha Meng, and Mr. Wayne Wang o f the Department of
Wildlife Conservation, Ministry o f Forestry, Beijing; Mr. Baojin Wang, Director of
Wildlife and Natural Reserves Management Office, Jiangxi Forestiy Department,
Nanchang; Mr. Jishi Zhang and Mr. Guo'an Li o f the Taohongling Sika Deer
Reserve Management Bureau, Pengze County, Jiangxi Province for their ardent
assistance.
Many friends and associates provided important assistance. I am extremely
grateful for the intellectual and moral support provided by Mr. Wenjun Li, now
working at Harvard University, Dr. John J. Daigle, U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern
Forest Experiment Station, and Dr. Jose Fedriani, Department o f Forestry and
Wildlife Management. Dr. Kurt Johnson offered valuable financial assistance in time
o f need. Mr. Melvin Carlson, W.E.B. Dubois Library at University o f
Massachusetts, kindly volunteered to edit the draft of this dissertation.
Though it is far beyond the capacity o f words, I still want to express my
heartfelt appreciation of my wife’s sacrifice and devotion. Our son was only six
months old when I came to study here. For seven long years she has been carrying
the brunt o f the family burden on her not so strong shoulders, and in the meanwhile
has accomplished remarkable academic achievement in her own career. I dare say
that she has done what few women have done.
vi
ABSTRACT

WILDLIFE HARVEST AND THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC CARNIVORES
FEBRUARY 1999
HAIBIN WANG, B. S. BEIJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY
M. S., INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY, ACADEMIA SINICA
Ph.D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Professor Todd K. Fuller
The food habits, movement and activity patterns, and habitat use of
sympatric carnivores, and wildlife harvest and utilization, were studied at the
Taohong Village, Jiangxi Province, southeastern China during 1992-1996.
Food habits of four species o f sympatric carnivores were studied by scat
analysis. Crab-eating mongooses (Herpestes nrva) had the most diversified diet that
included many water-edge food items. Masked palm civets (Paguma tarvata)
consumed a large proportion o f fruits. Both small Indian civets ( Viverriciila indica)
and hog badgers {Arctonyx collaris) fed heavily on rodents. Though there was a
certain degree o f difference in habitat use among these species, the rather high diet
overlap suggested that the population densities o f these species were reduced to a
very low level by constant harvest pressure and secondary poisoning so that the diet
ceased to have relevant effect on the sympatry o f these species. The food habits
(based on scat analysis) o f the sympatric dhole (Cuon alpinus) and wolf (Ccmis
lupus) showed that their depredation on the endangered Sika deer (Cervus nippon
kopschi), domestic animals and small carnivores was negligible.
vii
Telemetry studies showed that small Indian civets, masked palm civets, and
crab-eating mongooses did not have permanent dens but moved among their
numerous daybeds. Small Indian civets used daybeds among the bushes and grass on
the ground while other species used underground dens exclusively. Small Indian
civets and crab-eating mongooses limited their activity to the foothills at low
altitude, while masked palm civets included habitat o f higher altitude in their home
ranges. Both small Indian civets and masked palm civets were nocturnal, but the
latter had a low activity level in the daytime. Crab-eating mongooses were active in
the daytime.
Ferret badgers (Melogale moschata) were strictly nocturnal. Their daybeds
included both natural and man-made sites. The lack of direct conflict o f interest with
humans allowed them to live in close proximity to human settlement.
Wildlife harvest during the 1992/96 harvest seasons was studied by the
method o f participant observation. Wildlife harvesters comprised 1.5% of the local
population, and a few professional harvesters accounted for a large proportion o f the
game yield. Shotguns and two kinds of traps were the most common harvest
methods used. Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and hares (Lepus sinensis and L.
capensis) were the most important game species. In spite of the steady increase in
the price o f wildlife parts, the game yields experienced a gradual decline due to
reduced harvest efforts. Wildlife harvest was market-oriented and played an
insignificant supplemental role in the local economy. Marketing channels for both
pelt and game meat have been well established and are spreading. Wildlife harvest
viii
remained largely unregulated. The prospect o f wildlife harvest at Taohong
discussed and recommendations to control harvest are proposed.
ix
PREFACE
The biggest problem facing wildlife researchers in developing countries is
that there are so few basic ecological data available. Without these critical data it is
very difficult to make a precise and practical conservation plan. Such data "holes"
arise because meticulously prepared research plans very often fall apart as a result of
poor logistical support, or pervasive human disturbance, as well as academic or
technical reasons. In addition, the working conditions affecting communication and
transportation often are harsh. These constraints force wildlife research in
developing countries to be more o f an exploratory nature. To be able to finish a
concrete project in a relatively short period of time, it is imperative that one has
"back-up" projects to fall back on. As a rule, back-up projects are necessary and
equally important as the principal one.
This is precisely the situation I encountered at Taohong Village. The only
scientific information of the local fauna and flora is a brief report from a 1-year
survey that was conducted about 10 years ago. In fact, it is no more than an
inventory o f the local species o f plants, mammals, and birds. Even worse, the
ubiquitous human disturbance effectively disrupted any attempts at an in-depth
study. Rather, I was forced to resort to comprehensively studying on several topics
simultaneously. Luckily, in an area where few studies were undertaken, the chances
of picking up improvised studies were plenty.
To a great extent, this situation has dictated the content and structure of this
dissertation, and is the reason why my dissertation covers two relatively independent
areas: ecological study of sympatric carnivores and wildlife harvest in a rural region.
Accordingly, my dissertation is being presented in the form o f a series o f several
papers to be published in relevant scientific journals. The first chapter deals with the
food habits o f four species o f sympatric small carnivores. The second chapter
concerns the food habits of two large canids. The third chapter reports on a radio
telemetry study of three species of sympatric small carnivores, and the fourth chapter
is a similar but more extensive study of the ferret badger. Finally, the fifth chapter
presents results concerning the wildlife harvest in Taohong Village, and it probes the
underlying connection between ecology and harvest from the perspective of wildlife
management.
Chapter 2, "Food habits of large canids in southeastern China", has been
published in The Journal o f Wildlife Research 1(2): 155-157(1996) with Dr. Todd
Fuller as co-author. As a result, the first person in plural is used here. The remaining
chapters will be submitted for publication in the near future. Though I use first
person single here, the names of those who contributed greatly to the analysis and
presentation of the data will be added as co-author(s) when they are submitted to the
respective scientific journals. They will also be tailored to the specifications of the
individual journal.
xi
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................v
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. vii
PREFACE........................................................................................................................ x
LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................xv
CHAPTER
1 FOOD HABITS OF SYMPATRIC SMALL CARNIVORES

IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA.......................................................................... 1
Abstract................................................................................................................. I
Introduction...........................................................................................................I
Study A rea........................................................................................................... 3
Methods................................................................................................................4
Results..................................................................................................................6
Identification of Scats.............................................................................6
Scat Analyses...........................................................................................8
Discussion...........................................................................................................10
Literature Cited.................................................................................................. 20
2. FOOD HABITS OF LARGE CANIDS IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA 22
Abstract...............................................................................................................22
Introduction........................................................................................................ 23
Study A rea......................................................................................................... 24
M ethods..............................................................................................................25
Results................................................................................................................26
Discussion.......................................................................................................... 27
Conclusion......................................................................................................... 28
Literature Cited................................................................................................. 30
3. NOTES ON THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC SMALL

CARNIVORES IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA.............................................32
Abstract...............................................................................................................32
Introduction........................................................................................................ 33
Study A rea......................................................................................................... 34
M ethods..............................................................................................................35
xii
Results.................................................................................................................36
Discussion........................................................................................................... 39
Literature Cited................................................................................................... 50
4. NOTES ON FERRET BADGER REPRODUCTION, MOVEMENTS,

AND HABITAT USE IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA.................................. 52
Abstract................................................................................................................52
Introduction......................................................................................................... 52
Study A rea.......................................................................................................... 53
M ethods.............................................................................................................. 54
Results.................................................................................................................56
Discussion........................................................................................................... 60
Literature Cited................................................................................................... 69
5. WILDLIFE HARVEST IN RURAL SOUTHEASTERN CHINA................ 71
Abstract................................................................................................................71
Introduction......................................................................................................... 72
Study A rea.......................................................................................................... 81
M ethods.............................................................................................................. 86
Results................................................................................................................ 94
Harvest Season...................................................................................... 94
Harvest Tools..........................................................................................95
Hunters and Trappers...........................................................................102
Harvest..................................................................................................106
Marketing Channel............................................................................... 108
Economic Revenue.............................................................................. 112
Wildlife Management..........................................................................115
Rudimentary Wildlife Management Concepts.................................117
Discussion........................................................................................................ 120
Transition to Market Hunting.............................................................. 120

Introduction of Shotgun.......................................................................121
Reduction in Harvest Pressure............................................................124
Economics............................................................................................ 127
Law Enforcement................................................................................ 130
Management Recommendations..........................................................133
Prospect of Wildlife Harvest at Taohong........................................... 134
The "Natural" Animal Community and Wildlife Harvest............................. 136

Literature Cited.................................................................................................164
APPENDICES
A. INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR WILDLIFE HARVEST AT TAOHONG

VILLAGE......................................................................................................... 170
B. THE ABBREVIATIONS FOR GAME SPECIES......................................... 171
BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................172
xiv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
I. I Food habits of small Indian civets as estimated from scat

analysis (n = 44)................................................................................................. 14
1 2 Food habits of the crab-eating mongooses as estimated from

scat analysis (n = 112)........................................................................................15
1. 3 Food habits o f the masked palm civets as estimated from

scat analysis (n = 37).........................................................................................16
1. 4 Food habits o f hog badgers as estimated from scats analysis (n=45)..............17
1. 5 Relative importance o f different food items in the diets of four

sympatric carnivores as estimated from scat analysis......................................18
1. 6 Diet overlap among four sympatric carnivore species.................................... 19
2. 1 Food habits of large canids (dholes and wolves) as determined by

analyses o f scats collected in mountain and foothill areas............................. 29
3. I The numbers o f active readings and activity levels o f the radio-marked

carnivores............................................................................................................43
3. 2 Altitudes (meters above sea level) of the daybeds used by radio-marked

sympatric small carnivores............................................................................... 44
3. 3 Daybed preference as determined by the accumulative number of days

radio-marked civet species spent at individual daybeds................................. 45
3. 4 The daily movement distances (m) of radio-marked civet species................. 46
3. 5 The distribution of daily movement distances (DMD, m) of

radio-marked civet species. Measurements from animals o f the
same species were pooled together.................................................................. 47
3. 6 Resting home ranges of radio-marked carnivores.............................................48
3. 7 Home range overlap among three sympatric small carnivore species............ 49
4. 1 Activity level o f radio-marked ferret badgers. Data from badgers

monitored during August-November 1994 (n = 7) and
May-July 1996 (n = 4) were pooled................................................................. 63
xv
4. 2 Resting home ranges o f the radio-monitored ferret badgers........................... 64
4. 3 Daily movement distances (DMD, m) o f radio-marked ferret badgers.65
4. 4 Distribution o f daily movement distances o f ferret badgers. All the

measures were pooled together..........................................................................66
4. 5 Daybed selection by radio-monitored ferret badgers....................................... 67
4. 6 Daybed preference as determined by the length of accumulative use in

term of days the radio-marked ferret badgers spent at individual daybeds... 68
5. I The general information of the wildlife harvesters....................................... 141
5. 2 Distribution o f harvesters among the hamlets at Taohong Village.............. 143
5. 3 Age distribution of the wildlife harvesters at Taohong Village................... 144
5. 4 Comparison o f career history between hunters and trappers at Taohong ... 145
5 5 The increase o f the number of the shotguns at Taohong Village................. 146
5. 6 The species and numbers of wildlife harvested in 1992/93 harvest

season............................................................................................................... 147

season............................................................................................................... 148

season............................................................................................................... 149

season............................................................................................................... 150
5. 10 Summary o f wildlife harvest in 1992/96 harvest seasons.......................... 151
5.11 Contribution o f harvesters to the game yields during 1992/96 harvest

seasons............................................................................................................. 153
5.12 Trade data of Mr. Sun, a pelt collector from a nearby village whose
business covered Taohong Village for the 1992/96 harvest seasons 154
5 13 The trade information of a traveling pelt collector from Dengzhi County

during 1992/93 harvest season and part of the following season............... 155
5.14 Game species for sale on the free markets at Pengze County s e a t.............. 156
xvi
5 .15 Trade data o f two game middlemen at the free market at Pengze
County seat during the 1992/94 harvest season. (Unit: kg).......................... 157
5 .16 The annual price o f the wildlife parts during the 1992/96 harvest
seasons. Unless specified, the price of the meat refers to the whole
animal carcass instead o f the unit weight price. (Unit: RMB yuan) 158
5.17 Price comparison between muntjac meat and pork at Taohong Village.
Unit: RMB yuan s/k g ....................................................................................... 159
5 .18 Comparison o f the pelt price between 1930s and 1992/6 harvesting
seasons. Unit: RMB yuans................................................................................ 160
5.19 Economic revenue from wildlife harvest during the 92/96 harvest
seasons. Unit: RMB yuan................................................................................. 161
5.20 Personal incomes from wildlife harvest during 1992/96 seasons................. 162
5.21 Comparison between the professional and amateur harvesters during

1992/96 harvest seasons.................................................................................. 163
xvii
CHAPTER 1
FOOD HABITS OF SYMPATRIC SMALL CARNIVORES
IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
Abstract
The food habits and diet overlap of four sympatric small carnivore species, small
Indian civet ( Viverriciila iruiica), crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva), masked
palm civet (Paguma larvata), and hog badger (Arctonyx collaris) were studied in
Taohong Village, southeast China during 1992-1994. Scats were identified by
considering size, shape, odor, constitution, deposition location, and corroboration
with local trappers. Small Indian civets ate mostly mammals, with moderate insect
and plant components. Crab-eating mongooses ate mammals, reptiles, insects, and
crustaceans. Masked palm civets ate some mammals and insects, but mostly plants
(fruits). Finally, hog badgers ate more mammals than the other carnivores, and
many more gastropods, as well. Though these species showed certain difference in
habitat use, the high diet overlap might be an indication o f the very low population
density caused by constant hunting and secondary poisoning. The values of diet
diversity and overlap were influenced by the way the data were manipulated.
Key words: food habits, Arctonyx collaris, badger, carnivores, China, civet,
Herpestes urva, mongoose, Paguma larvata, scats, Viverricula indica.
Introduction
Food habits of carnivores are central to the ecological niche they occupy and
play an important role in explaining their social system, behavior, and factors
affecting population density (Ewer 1973). Carnivore food habits may also have
important implications in the life histories of their prey (Mills 1992).
Among the carnivores, viverrids are an ideal group for the study of food
habit. They show a high degree o f sympatry, with up to eight species occurring in
tropical habitats in addition to other small carnivore species (Medway 1977, Gao
1987). They demonstrate more ecological diversification in trophic specialization
and substrate use than any other family o f carnivores (Eisenberg 1981). They also
are the least known group in the world (Wemmer and Watling 1986), and the
knowledge of the numerous Asian species is especially scarce (Rabinowitz 1991).
Most o f the previous dietary studies on viverrids were limited to qualitative
description of single species (Prater 1965, Wang et al. 1976, Lekagul and McNeely
1977, Medway 1977, Banks 1978, Wemmer and Watling 1986, Ayyadurai et al.
1987, Gao 1987, Chen 1989, Wang 1990). It was only recently that more attention
has been paid to the dietary relationship among the sympatric species. Rabinowitz
(1991) compared the food habits o f several civet species in Thailand. Chuang and
Lee (1997) studied the seasonal dietary change o f three small sympatric carnivores
in Taiwan. Joshi et al. (1995) showed that predation pressure from other carnivores,
together with the food dispersion pattern, help to form the social structure of
common palm civets (Paradoxiirus hermaphroditus). No studies o f sympatric
carnivores have been conducted on the mainland China.
During June 1992 to November 1994,1 conducted a preliminary study on the
diet of four sympatric small carnivores: the crab-eating mongoose, the small Indian
civet, the masked palm civet, and the hog badger, in northern Jiangxi Province,
southeastern China. My goal was to identify how food utilization might contribute to
the sympatry o f these species in that area.
Study Area
Taohong Village, the site of this investigation, is located in Pengze County,
northern Jiangxi Province, about 15 km south o f the Yangtze River. The village is in
a small V-shaped valley about 6 km long and covers an area of about 1,600 ha. The
valley is at the foot o f Mount Taohong and is surrounded by a stretch of low and
undulating hills. The elevation varies between 30-536 m above sea level. The
climate is moist monsoon type with typical temperate climate seasonal changes. The
average annual temperature is 16.3C°, and the annual precipitation is 1,326 mm, of
which over 40% falls as rain during May-July.
Taohong is a solely agricultural community. Ail the arable lands at the
bottom of the valley are under cultivation. Many gentle hills and slopes have been
turned into farmlands too. Above the farmland the major vegetation is a
combination o f tall grasses ( Themeda triandra, Imperata cylindirca, and
Arundinella spp.) and secondary growth o f shrub species (Lespecdeza bicolor, L.
form osa, Rhus chinensis, and Rhododendron simsii) that is maintained by annual
firewood collection and frequent fires. Only in some remote areas or regions posted
by the local forest farms do small patches of deciduous broadleaf and in rarer
frequency evergreen-deciduous broadleaf forest remain.
The northwest part of Taohong Village is included in the Taohongling Sika
Deer Reserve that was established to protect a remnant population o f the endangered
subspecies o f Sika deer (Cervus nippon kopschi) in 1981. A general survey in and
near the reserve was carried out during 1988-89, providing the only background
information on the local fauna and flora (Ding et al. 1990). According to the survey
report 17 carnivore species have been reported from and around the Reserve. In
addition to the four species I studied, other common carnivore species include
leopard cats {Felis bengalensis), yellow-throated marten (M ariesflavigula), ferret
badger (Melogale moschata), and Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica).
Methods
The diets o f sympatric small carnivore species were studied by the method o f
fecal analysis. In areas where more than one species of similar body size and diet are
present, an essential requirement for the use o f this method is to be able to
confidently identify scats to the particular species. Surprisingly, few previous
studies explored this subject. Avenant and Nel (1997) used the existence o f the
carnivore hairs in the scats to identify species in South Africa. In Thailand
Rabinowitz (1991) managed to separate the scats of civets from other smaller
carnivores but was unable to attribute scats to specific civet species. Wemmer and
Watling (1986) admitted that there was no single criterion for the identification of
the scats o f Sulawesi palm civet (Macrogalidia musschenbroekii) and Malay civet
( Viverra tangalunga). Instead, they used the contents of the scats, habitat where the
scats were found, the existence o f latrines, and associated evidence such as
recognizable tracks nearby to identify the scats.
In this study several criteria were used to identify scats. First were the
characteristics of the scats, such as the color, shape, size, texture, smell, and
formation. Scats retrieved from the body o f dead animals produced the most reliable
examples. Second was the deposition site o f the scats, whether they were deposited
along the trail, on top of prominent rocks, or in latrines nearby the den. Third was
the evidence associated with scats such as tracks, feeding signs, active dens or
daybeds. Radio monitoring of some species proved to be a valuable tool in relating
such evidence to the scats of a particular species. Finally the expertise o f the local
trappers was consulted. Their understanding o f the local species proved to be highly
useful in scat identification.
The scats of small carnivores were picked up whenever they were found and
were kept in paper bags upon which the date o f collection and location were noted.
When analyzed, scats were broken apart by hand and put into a shallow container
filled with water. When saturated, the scat fragments were kneaded thoroughly and
the murky solution was decanted. More water was added and the washing process
was repeated until the solution became clear. Then the dregs left in the bottom of
the container were examined macroscopically for the remains o f hair, feather, scales,
bone, leathery shell of beetles, and splinter of shells, etc. to identify the prey species
(Kruuk 1989, Rabinowitz 1991).
Contents were sorted by species or to the lowest taxonomic level that could
be reliably identified. Frequency o f occurrence (FO) of one food type was the
percentage of scats that contained that food type. In calculating the relative
importance (RI) each food type in a scat was given equal value in term o f percentage
if more than one food item was found in a scat. The relative importance o f a food
type was calculated by summing up its values in all the scats and then dividing the
summary by the total number of the scats examined.
The diet diversity o f each species was calculated as B = 1 / £ p , 2, where p,
was the relative importance of food item / in the diet of the species. The diet
overlap between species j and k was computed a s ff;* = E E /V E A*')* 2-

where p t] and p are the relative importance o f food item / in the diet of those two
species (Pianka 1973). Diet diversity and diet overlap also were calculated for
pooled food types (i.e., major taxonomic groupings), similar to analyses of Chuang
and Lee (1997).
Results
Identification o f Scats
The scats o f crab-eating mongooses were the easiest to identify. They had a
loose texture due to the presence of snake scales and bits of crab shell. There was a
dark (almost sooty) mucous on the scat surface and a strong smell. Some scats were
convoluted into a cone shape. They were found singly on conspicuous spots on the
trail used by people, in small and medium groups (mostly under ten scats) on
exposed spots along the edge of water, or strewn densely around the den, a general
phenomenon for mongooses (Cavallini and Nel 1995).
The scats o f small Indian civets were the most difficult to identify. It was
only by tracking o f a radio-collared individual that their scats were identified with
certainty. Their scats were found on the surface o f the bare, prominent spots or
rocks, with usually two to three pieces o f scats at one location. The biggest
concentration I found was five scats lain out almost evenly along a small bare ridge
five meters long and two meters wide. The scats had a twisted, choppy, and wispy
look due to the existence of high contents o f rodent hairs. They were light in weight,
usually without strong odor. No scats were found at the rest places of the small
Indian civet.
The scats of masked palm civets were easily distinguished from others due to
the high percentage of plant food contents, mainly fruit seeds. Their scats were
loose in structure and were prone to disintegrate after deposition. They were often
found in big piles near the dens. In areas where there was little human activity their
scats could be found on large rocks along the human trails.
Nearly all the scats o f hog badgers were retrieved from a den under a rock
crevice well concealed by dense brushes. Most of them were within 20m o f the den.
Scats occurred more frequently closer to the den and literally formed clusters near
the den entrance. The scats were identified as those o f the hog badger by a local
trapper. They were of dense texture, finely masticated, heavy in weight, dark in
color, straight and smooth in shape but with a rough surface.
A few scats of other carnivores collected were generally recognizable. The
scats o f ferret badgers were small and heavy, probably owing to the high content of
earthworms in the diet. They actually rather resembled silt in density and color. As a
rule they occurred in piles at latrines by the entrances o f their burrows, but a few
scats were also found in fields. The scats o f Siberian weasel were very small and
always on top o f rocks along the human trails. I had no information on the
characteristics o f the scats of yellow-throated marten and the only definite scat was
retrieved from the rectum of a dead animal. It contained kiwi fruit (Actinidia
chinensis) and Cherokee rose (Cherokee rose) fruit seeds. Judging from its contents
and size there was a possibility that its scats might be mistaken for those o f masked
palm civets, But yellow-throated martens were much more rare and usually were
found at higher altitudes where tall trees grew. The scats of leopard cats were found
on human trails. They were o f smooth surface, yellowish color, dense, straight, and
strong smell. Unlike those of the small Indian civet, leopard cat scats were not wispy
despite the high content of rodent hair. However, the density o f leopard cats in the
study area was extremely low, judging from the frequency of their tracks.
Given those precautions, not all scats could be attributed with 100%
accuracy. In my study only those scats whose origins I was most certain o f were
included. Thus, the diets reported here might be more conservative than actual
occurrence as some scats with aberrant food items might have been discarded.
Scat Analyses
The diet diversity of small Indian civets was relatively narrow (B = 2.58) as
only 9 food types were found in 44 scats (Table 1.1). Rodent remains were most
frequent (in 89% of scats) and were most important (RI = 59). Insect and bird
remains were also relatively important.
Crab-eating mongooses consumed a large variety of food items (B = 6.08),
and 22 types were identified in 112 scats (Table 1.2). Rodents occurred frequently
(in 65% o f scats), as did beetles (48%), snakes (45%), and crabs (44%). In terms of
relative importance, these four food types constituted 3/4 of the diet, and no other
food type had a relative importance >5.
The most conspicuous characteristic of masked palm civet scats was the high
proportion o f plant food items (Table 1.3), and consequently the highest diversity
index of the four carnivore species (B = 7.56). Out of the 17 food items identified
from the 37 scats, 13 were fruit seeds, and their relative importance totaled 74. The
seeds o f the Chinese abelia (Abelia chim m is) occurred most frequently (in 38% of
scats), but one unidentified fruit (24%), Kiwi fruit (22%), and persimmon
{Diospyros spp.) fruit (19%) were found in many scats. Remains of rodents (27%)
and beetles (22%) were the most commonly identified animal food.
In contrast, animal food types dominated the diet o f hog badgers (Table 1.4).
Of the 10 food types identified in 45 scats, 9 were remains o f animals, and thus hog
badgers had the lowest diet diversity (B = 2.11) o f the four carnivore species.
Rodent remains occurred in nearly all (96%) scats, and snails occurred in 38% of
scats. I also noted that five scats contained roundworm parasites (Ascaris spp.).
Analyses and comparisons of the diets of the four carnivores based on pooled
taxonomic groups highlighted dominant food types (Table 1.5). Small Indian civets
ate mostly mammals, with moderate consumption of insects and plants. Crab-eating
mongooses ate mammals, reptiles, insects, and crustaceans. Masked palm civets ate
some mammals and insects, but mostly plants (fruits). Finally, hog badgers ate more
mammals than the other carnivores, and many more gastropods, as well.
Diet diversity remained low for small Indian civets and hog badgers, and
high for crab-eating mongooses. However, the index for masked palm civets
dropped from the highest to the lowest because the source o f its diet diversity (fruit
species) were, in these analyses, pooled into just one category (plant).
The highest diet overlap, whether based on lowest possible or pooled
taxonomic grouping, occurred between small Indian civets and hog badgers (Table
1.6). The lowest overlap was between crab-eating mongooses and hog badgers, and
masked palm civets and hog badgers.
Discussion
For small Indian civets, my results paralleled those of Wang et al. (1976)
who reported that rodents (FQ = 80%) and insects (FQ = 23%) were the most
common prey, and earthworms were not recorded as prey. However, Chuang and
Lee (1997) found that mammals (rodents and shrews) occurred in only 40% o f scats
whereas insects occurred in 95% and earthworms in 67%. Owing to the high
number of non-mammals identified by Chuang and Lee, the diet breadth (diversity)
value they reported (4.46) was higher than in my study (2.58). I agree with Chuang
and Lee (1997) that this difference was probably caused by the difference in food
availability. In their study area the vegetation was mainly subtropical moist
hardwood forest where the availability o f rodents was low. On mainland China the
small Indian civets were most closely associated with secondary habitat, cultivated
land, and the outskirts of villages where rodents were abundant (Wang et al. 1990).
Chuang and Lee (1997) also attributed the lack of earthworms in the diet of
small Indian civets reported by Wang et al. (1976) to the difficulty in detecting the
small chaetae o f earthworms. Nevertheless, earthworms were identified as an
important food item in the winter diet o f ferret badgers in another paper in which
Wang was a co-author (Qian et al. 1976); thus it was unlikely that the absence of
earthworm remains in the diet of civets was caused by technical reason. I was
unable to detect the small chaetae in scats but did not notice any dirt precipitation
when washing the scats, an inevitable product in a diet that contains earthworms.
10
Based on this evidence, I feel certain that earthworms were not a common prey o f
small Indian civets in my study area.
A characteristic o f the diet o f crab-eating mongooses in my study was the
frequent occurrence o f snakes. Chuang and Lee (1997) did not record snakes in the
diet o f such mongooses in Taiwan, but did record crabs, frogs, and snails, as I did,
the species that live near water. I also noted hairs of the crab-eating mongoose in one
o f their scats. In contrast, Chuang and Lee (1997) reported that such hair occurred in
75% o f mongoose scats and they believed that those hairs were the result of the
grooming. As the hairs of crab-eating mongoose were long and thick, it was
unlikely that they would be overlooked in the analysis. My information was simply
too scanty to explain this obvious discrepancy.
The previous quantitative data on the diet of fruit-loving civet species were
similar to my findings. Rabinowitz (1991) found that the frequency of occurrence of
fruits seeds for a guild o f five civet species, including masked palm civets, was 76%.
At least 18 tree species o f fruits were registered in the 71 scats examined. Among
them, four species of fruits accounted for 66% o f the fruit seeds identified in feces.
Joshi et al. (1995) found out that the frequency o f occurrence o f fruit seeds in the
more arboreal common palm civet was 85%. They also concluded that during the
fruiting season, 100% o f the scats showed only fruits; however, when fruits become
less available, common palm civets foraged on insects, mollusks, reptiles, birds and
small mammals.
Hog badgers have been reported to be “true omnivores” (Neal 1986). In my
study they had the narrowest diet diversity among the four carnivore species. Except
11
for one occurrence of cotton ball, they fed exclusively on animal foods, especially
rodents.
Although vertebrate animals led in terms of the relative importance in the
diet o f the other three carnivore species, masked palm civets were essentially
ffugivorous. Three of the four most common fruit seeds in their diet are tree species
and the remaining one (Kiwi fruit) is a woody vine species that grows high above the
ground. On the other hand, small Indian civets and crab-eating mongooses took
moderate amounts of Cherokee rose, a low thorny bush that occurs mostly in
disturbed habitats at low altitude. The occurrence of fruit of Cherokee rose in the
diet o f masked palm civet was very low.
The scats of both small Indian civets and crab-eating mongooses that I
examined contained grass and/or leaves, a phenomenon reported by others (Gao
1987, Wemmer and Watling 1986, Chuang and Lee 1997). Chuang and Lee (1997)
pointed out that the grass was low in nutrition, and often poorly digested; therefore,
it was unlikely to be an important food source for energy or nutrition. Some
researchers have suggested that grass and leaves were taken as an intestinal scourer
of endoparasites, or to cure certain diseases (Wemmer and Watling 1986, Newton
1991).
Current resource partitioning theory predicts that co-existing species
segregate more often by habitat difference than by food preference (Schoener, 1974).
My study showed that there was certain degree o f differences in habitat use among
these species. The dominant volume of rodents in the diet of hog badgers and small
Indian civets suggested that they heavily used the agricultural areas where rodents
12
were most abundant. Masked palm civets consumed large amount of fruits in their
diet so they seemed to frequent higher altitudes where the remaining forest provided
fruits they fed on. Crab-eating mongooses had a more diversified diet and but fed
more often near water.
However, the diet overlap was probably too high to be explained by the
limited differentiation in habitat use. The radio telemetry data on these sympatric
species (Chapter 3) showed that in some cases their home ranges almost entirely
overlapped. Although diet overlap dropped substantially among masked palm civets
and other three species when food types were pooled taxonomically (e.g. Tables 1.5
and 1.6), this was a result of pooling all fruits into one category o f plant, a general
methodological misstep that Chuang and Lee (1997) have recognized. High diet
overlap, however, does not necessarily suggest that there is serious food competition
among sympatric species. It might be an indication that there is no actually
competition for resources because their populations are held down by other factors
like predators (Colwell and Futuyama 1971, Vandermeer 1972). Although I did not
collect data on prey availability and the density o f carnivores, the qualitative proofs
indicated that this was the situation in my study area. The populations of thee
sympatric carnivore were probably held at a very low level, judging from the
frequency o f foot prints, as a result of constant hunting pressure and secondary
poisoning (Chapter 5). From the other aspect, agricultural practices likely increased
the food supply for these carnivore species, particularly the rodents, considerably. As
a result, food had ceased to be a limiting factor in the sympatry of these species.
13
Table 1. 1 Food habits o f small Indian civets as estimated from scat analysis (n =
44).
Prey type Number, of Frequency of Relative
occurrences occurrence importance
Rodent 39 89 59
Shrew 2 5 3
Bird 9 21 8
Crab I 2 <1
Insect 17 39 17
Leaves 4 9 5
Acorn (Oiiercus spp.) 2 5 2
Paddy rice 1 2 1
Cherokee rose 6 14 4
14
Table 1. 2 Food habits o f the crab-eating mongooses as estimated from scat analysis
(n = 112).
Prey type Number, of Frequency o f Relative
occurrences occurrences importance
Rodent 73 65 29
Hare 2 2 1
Ferret Badger I I <1
Crab-eating mongoose 1 I 1
Pangolin 1 1 1
Shrew 1 1 <1
Bird 9 8 3
Snake 50 45 15
Frog 1 I <1
Fish 1 1 <1
Crab 49 45 15
Beetles 54 48 17
Locust 6 5 3
Clam 11 10 5
Snail 5 4 2
Pupae 2 2 <1
Centipede 1 1 <1
*■>
Grass 9 8 J
Cherokee rose 8 7 ->

J
Watermelon 1 I 1
Chinaroot greenbrier 1 1 <1
Chinese berry I I <1
15
Table 1. 3 Food habits o f the masked palm civets as estimated from scat analysis (n
= 37).
Prey type Number, of Frequency of Relative
occurrences occurrence importance
Rodent 10 27 12
Beetles 8 22 9
Bird 1 3 <1
Grass 1 3 <1
Cherokee rose “%
8 3
Water melon 2 5 5
Chinaroot greenbrier I 3 <1
Chinese abelia 14 38 25
Kiwi fruit 8 22 10
Persimmon 7 19 14
Peach 1 3 1
Hawthorn 1 3 1
Unidentified fruit 1 1 3 <1
Unidentified fruit 2 1 3 1
Unidentified fruit 3 9 24 11
Unidentified fruit 4 I 3 3
Unidentified fruit 5 I 3 <1
16
Table 1. 4 Food habits o f hog badgers as estimated from scats analysis (n=45).
Prey type Number of Frequency o f Relative

occurrence occurrences importance
Rodent 43 96 66
Hare 2 4 2
Ferret badger I 2 1
Hedgehog 3 7 4
Bird 2 4 1
Snake 2 4 2
Beetle 3 7 3
Locust I 2 <1
Snail 17 38 19
Cotton ball 1 2 1
17
Table 1. 5 Relative importance of different food items in the diets of four sympatric
carnivores as estimated from scat analysis.
Food type Small Indian Crab-eating Masked palm Hog badger
civet mongoose civet
Animal 88 93 21 99
Vertebrate 71 51 12 77
Mammal 62 32 12 74
Bird 8 ->
<1 1
Reptile - 15 - 2
Amphibian - <1 - -
Fish - <1 - -
Invertebrate 17 42 9 22
Crustacean <1 15 - -
Insect 17 20 9 3
Bivalve - 5 - -
Gastropod <1 2 - 19
Chilopod - <1 - -
Plant 12 7 79 1
Diet diversity1 2.28 (2.58) 5.00 (6.08) 1.55 (7.56) 1.73 (2.11)
Note: aThe diet diversity is calculated from data pooled into major taxonomic groups
(Chuang and Lee 1997). Diet diversity (as in Pianka 1973) is indicated in
parentheses.
18
Table I. 6 Diet overlap among four sympatric carnivore species.
Crab-eating mongoose Masked palm civet Hog badger
Small Indian civet 0.88 (0.91)a 0.93 (0.35) 0.97 (0.93)
Crab-eating mongoose 0.93 (0.35) 0.79 (0.79)
Masked palm civet 0.83 (0.17)
Note: a The value o f diet overlap is calculated according to Pianka (1973). Overlap
values based on pooled taxonomic categories (Chuang and Lee 1997) are
given in parentheses.
19
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and predation pressure in spacing behavior in palm civets. J. Mammal., 76:
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Kruuk, H. 1989. The social badger. Oxford University Press, 155pp.
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Bangkok, Ii + 758 pp.
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21
CHAPTER 2
FOOD HABITS OF LARGE CANIDS IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
Abstract
During September 1992-December 1993, we investigated food habits of
dholes (Cuon alpinus) and wolves (Canis lupus) in and near the Taohongling
Nature Reserve in northern Jiangxi Province, People's Republic o f China, to
identify frequency o f predation on endangered Sika deer (Cervus nippori). Scats o f
both dholes and wolves, relatively common species in the area, were collected (but
could not be distinguished from one another) and analyzed for prey remains. In the
mountainous portions o f the Reserve (n = 65 scats), remains o f muntjac (Muntiacus
reevesi) occurred most frequently (in 48% of scats), and remains o f hares (Lepus
spp.) were nearly as common (46%). Although the Reserve contains one o f the few
remaining wild herds o f Sika deer in China, they occurred in only 3% of remains in
these canid scats. In the agricultural foothills area adjacent to human settlements (n
= 48 scats), remains o f hares were most common (83%), followed by muntjac
(13%). Other prey remains occurring in <6% of canid scats included wild boar (Sus
scrofa), rodents, poultry, serow (Capricomis sumatraensis), ferret badger
(Melogale moschata), fish, birds, and grass. Interviews with local residents
indicated that dholes rarely attack domestic livestock, but wolves may capture
domestic pigs on occasion. Dholes sometimes steal prey from snares set by local
people, but in turn, prey killed by dholes may also be taken by people.
Key words: canids, Canis lupus, China, Cuon alpinus, dholes, food habits, predation,
scats, wolf.
22
Introduction
Sika deer (Cerviis nippori) once were distributed widely throughout eastern
China (Sowerby 1918, Allen 1938, Shou 1962, Feldhamer 1980), but due to
economic development and their high value in traditional Chinese medicine, have
been extirpated from most of their native habitat. As a result, they have been under
strict protection in China since 1962 (Hua 1990), and currently are classified
internationally as an endangered species (Nowak and Paradiso 1983).
Large captive populations o f Sika deer exist in China and elsewhere, but at
present there are only four isolated populations left in the wild in China (Sheng
1992). The largest group (about 100 deer) of one endangered subspecies (C. n.
kopschi Swinhoe; Ailen 1938:1188) is found in Taohongling Nature Reserve in
Jiangxi Province (Yan 1983), a reserve established in 1981 specifically for their
preservation. Since then, a few deer (mostly fawns, old deer, or pregnant females)
have been killed by wolves and/or dholes known to be present in the area (Ding et
al. 1990). As a result, some of these large canids have been killed in the Reserve by
government officials to reduce their impact on the deer population.
However, the dhole is the ecologically least known large canid in the world,
and also is listed as protected in China and threatened or endangered internationally
(Gao 1987, Ginsberg and Macdonald 1990). Its range includes a variety o f
forested habitats in southern and eastern Asia (Cohen 1978), and although
numerous anecdotes have been published concerning dholes, only a handful o f
23
limited scientific studies o f the species have been conducted, all in India (e.g.,
Johnsingh 1982, Cohen et al. 1978). Wolves are common throughout areas o f
China with low human populations, but only recently have ecological studies of
wolves in China been initiated (Gao 1994) and no information is available
anywhere concerning dhole and w olf ecology where they are sympatric.
We collected scats in and near the Reserve during September 1992-December 1993
to obtain a more quantitative estimate of the food habits of these two large canids,
and thus identify the frequency o f predation on endangered Sika deer. In addition,
we interviewed local people to obtain anecdotal information on dhole and wolf
predation on livestock.
This work was supported by National Geographic Society Grant No. 4909-
92, and a University of Massachusetts-Amherst Faculty Research Grant. We are
grateful to J. Zhang of the Taohongling Sika Deer Nature Reserve, Pengze County,
Jiangxi; Director B. Wang of the Jiangxi Nature Reserve Management Office,
Nanchang; and the Tang family o f Taohong Village for their assistance. M. Ross
reviewed the manuscript and made helpful suggestions for improvement.
Study Area
The 45-km2 Taohongling Nature Reserve in Pengze County, Jiangxi
Province (116°, 4CE; 29°,48rN) is located in modulating tablelands abruptly rising
from the southern bank of the Yangtze River; elevations range from 30-536 m
above sea level, but most of the Reserve is mountainous. The Reserve is in the
subtropical life zone, and climate is moist monsoon type with average annual
precipitation o f 130 cm; almost half falls during April to June. Vegetation is mostly
24
tall grass ( Themeda tricmdra, Imperata cylindrica, and Arundinella spp.) and
secondary growth o f shrub species {Lespecdeza bicolor, L. formosa, Rhus chinensis,
and Rhododendron simsii) that are maintained by firewood collection and frequent
fires.
In addition to Sika deer, other potential ungulate prey o f dholes and wolves
in and near the Reserve include water deer (Hydropotes inermis), Reeves's muntjac,
wild pig, and serow; the only other large predators occurring in and near the reserve
are leopards {Panthera pardus) (Shou 1962, Gao 1987, Ding et al. 1990).
Paddy rice and cotton fields surround the reserve in a semicircle on the west,
north, and east where a human population o f about 20,000 resides in ten villages and
two farms. Numerous small patches o f level land in the foothill areas adjacent to
human settlements are utilized for agriculture as well. Over 90% o f the local income
comes from agriculture, subsidized by herb- and firewood-collecting. Traditionally,
Taohongling has been an important herb-collecting ground. Mountainous areas
covered with shrub and secondary forest adjoin the Reserve in the south, and the
human population is much lower there.
Methods
Carnivore scats >2 cm in diameter were collected while hiking on the
numerous trails throughout the reserve and adjacent areas; a few scats were
provided by local hunters. Scats of leopards were distinguished by their association
with appropriate tracks and/or scrapes, and by their form, texture, and/or color as
identified by experienced local trappers. No such characteristics were known to
distinguish between dhole and wolf scats; also, no "latrines" typical o f dholes in
25
India (Cohen et al. 1978) were found or reported. Thus, the remaining scats were
simply considered to be those o f large canids. We did separate scats collected in
higher, mountainous areas from those collected in lower foothill areas that were in
closer proximity to human-populated areas. No seasonal comparisons were
attempted because of small sample sizes, irregular collection dates, and unknown
weathering characteristics o f canid scats. Prey remains in scats were identified by
comparison with known material obtained from the Reserve museum, or from fresh
specimens possessed by local hunters and trappers. These same hunters and
trappers, as well as fur buyers visiting the study area and other local people, were
interviewed >1 time to obtain anecdotal information on dhole and wolf behavior
and food habits.
Results
O f 119 large carnivore scats collected, only 6 were classified as those of
leopards. These scats contained remains o f muntjac (n = 4), serow (n = I), hare (n
= 1), rodents (n = 1), and poultry (n = I).
In total, most canid scats contained remains of hares and muntjac, and
remains o f Sika deer were rare (Table 2.1). Other prey remains occurring in <6% of
canid scats included wild boar, rodents, domestic poultry, serow, ferret badger, fish,
birds, and grass. On average, each scat contained only 1.12 prey items (127
occurrences in 113 scats).
The occurrence of remains o f hares, muntjac, and other species differed
significantly (chi2 = 16.61, 2 df, PO.OOl) between mountainous and foothill areas
(Table 2.1). In the mountainous areas, remains o f muntjac occurred most frequently
26
(in 48% of 65 scats), and remains o f hares were nearly as common (46%). Nearly
all Sika deer occur in the mountainous areas o f the Reserve, but their remains
occurred in only 3% o f canid scats collected there. In the adjacent agricultural
foothills area, remains o f hares were most common (83% of 48 scats), followed by
muntjac (13%). Remains of serow, rodents, and birds occurred only in scats from
mountainous areas, and those o f ferret badgers, poultry, and fish occurred only in
scats from the foothills adjacent to agricultural land (Table 2.1).
Interviews with local hunters, trappers, and other residents indicated that
packs o f dholes hunt wild boar and muntjac in the area, but rarely attack domestic
livestock or poultry. Dholes sometimes steal prey, mainly muntjac, from snares set
by local people, but in turn, muntjac and wild boar killed by dholes may also be
taken by people when they hear dholes, locate their kills, and chase them away. At
least one dhole died as a result o f injuries received from a wild boar.
Wolves commonly travel in pairs or by themselves, and though known to
prey on wild ungulates, also capture domestic pigs on occasion. Local people
dislike wolves more than dholes mainly because o f this difference in predation
behavior. We neither observed nor obtained reports of interactions between dholes
and wolves.
Discussion
In terms o f biomass (cf, Floyd et al. 1978), muntjac (~11 kg) are probably
significantly more important in the diet of canids in the mountains than are hares
(1.5 kg), despite equal occurrence of their remains in scats collected there. In this
regard, hares are probably still the most important prey item in the foothills.
27
The geographic distribution o f remains of species occurring infrequently in
canid scats in our study area seem to reflect what would be expected. In the
agricultural foothills, domestic poultry, stream and pond fishes, and ferret badgers
are more common (pers. observ), and this geographic distribution was reflected in
their occurrence in canid scats. Similarly, Sika deer and serow are found almost
exclusively in the mountains, as were their remains in scats.
Food habits o f dholes and wolves reported elsewhere in China are similar to
those we describe. Dholes have been reported to hunt wild boar and muntjac, but
also to have attacked a domestic water buffalo (Allen 1938:360). They also capture
other ungulates such as tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus; Zhao et al. 1989:71)
and takin (Budorcas taxicolor), and may eat some plant foods (Wang 1987:50).
Wolves have long been feared by keepers of domestic livestock such as sheep,
goats, and poultry (Allen 1938:345, Wang 1987:50), but also kill large ungulates
such as saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica, Gao 1994), moose {AIces alces) and roe deer
(Capreolus capreolus\ Wang 1987:50).
Conclusion
According to our data, neither dholes nor wolves, both of which likely
encounter Sika deer, appear to prey on them to any extent. Our limited sample of
scats indicated that the seemingly most common potential prey species in both
mountainous and foothill areas are eaten most frequently by the large canids. As
long as moderate populations o f these alternate prey remain available, the relative
impact o f predation on a population of >100 Sika deer likely will be not be
excessive.
28
Table 2. 1 Food habits o f large canids (dholes and wolves) as determined by
analyses o f scats collected in mountain and foothill areas.
Prey species Frequency o f occurrence__________
Mountains Foothills Total
Hare 46 83 62
Muntjac 48 13 32
Sika deer 3 — 2
Wild boar 6 2 4
Serow 2 — 1
Ferret badger — 2 1
Rodent 6 — 4
Bird 2 — I
Poultry 4 2
Fish — 2 1
Grass 2 8 I
29
Literature Cited
Allen, G. M. 1938. The mammals o f China and Mongolia. The Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., New York. 2 Vol., 1350pp
Cohen, J. A. 1978. Cuon alpinus. Mammalian Species. 100:1-3.
Cohen, J. A., M. W. Fox, A. J. T. Johnsingh, and B. D. Barnett. 1978. Food habits

o f the dhole in south India. J. Wildl. Manage. 42: 933-936.
Ding, T , et al. 1990. Jiangxi Taohongling Sika Deer Reserve faunal and floral
Feldhamer, G. A. 1980. Cervus nippon. Mammalian Species. 128: 1-7.
Floyd, T. J., L. D. Mech, and P. A. Jordan. 1978. Relating wolf scat content to prey
consumed. J. Wildl. Manage. 42: 528-532.
373pp. (In Chinese)
Gao, Z. 1994. The present status o f the wolf in China. International W olf 4(2): 15-
16.
Ginsburg, J. R. and D. M. Macdonald. 1990. Foxes, wolves, and jackals: an action

plan for the conservation o f canids. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Hua, Y. 1990. The relict wild Sika deer are under protection. Chinese Wildl. 3: 40.
(In Chinese)
Johnsingh, A. J. T. 1982. Reproductive and social behaviour of the dhole, Cuon

alpinus (Canidae). J. Zool., London. 198:443-463.
Nowak, R. M., and J. L. Paradi so. 1983. Walker's mammals of the world. The
Johns Hopkins University Press. 2 vol., 1362pp.
Sheng, H. 1992. Deer in China. East China Normal University Press, Shanghai.
(In Chinese)
Shou, Z. 1962. Mammals of economic significance in China. Science Press,

Beijing, 3 15pp. (In Chinese)
Sowerby, A. de C. 1918. Notes upon the Sika deer of North China. Ann. Mag. Nat.
Hist. 2: 119-122.
30
Wang, Q. 1990. The mammals of Anhui. Anhui Publishing House of Science and
Technology, Hefei, 3 15pp. (In Chinese)
Wang, S. 1987. Canidae. In Y. Gao, ed. Fauna Sinica Mammalia Vol. 8: Carnivora.
Science Press, Beijing, 373 pp. (In Chinese)
Yan, L. 1983. The discovery o f Sika deer in Pengze, Jiangxi Province. Chinese
Wildl. 3: 40. (In Chinese)
Zhao, J„ G. Zheng, H. Wang, and J. Xu . 1989. The natural history of China.

McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York, 224pp
31
CHAPTER 3
NOTES ON THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC SMALL CARNIVORES IN
SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
Abstract
To understand more about the small carnivore community in Asia, five
masked palm civets (Paguma larvata), two small Indian civets ( Viverricula indica)
and one crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva) were radio-tracked in northern
Jiangxi Province, southeastern China during April 1993-November 1994. Both
small Indian civets and masked palm civets showed nocturnal activity patterns with
low levels o f activity through the daytime, but the crab-eating mongoose was active
during the daytime. These species did not occupy permanent dwellings but switched
between numerous daybeds. All daybeds o f the small Indian civet were under
bushes or in grass on the ground, but the masked palm civets and crab-eating
mongoose tended to use underground dens. Small Indian civets concentrated along
the bush and grass bordering the farmland at low altitude while masked palm civets
included in their home range woods at higher altitude. The average daytime home
range o f five masked palm civets varied from 182-410 ha, while the home range of
one small Indian civet was 227 ha.
Key words, activity, carnivores, China, civets, Herpestes urva, home range,
mongoose, Paguma larvata, radio telemetry, sympatry, Viverricula indica.
32
Introduction
The civets are diverse and prominent elements o f tropical communities,
demonstrating more ecological diversification in trophic specialization and substrate
use than any other family of carnivores (Eisenberg 1981). They are also the least
known carnivore group in the world (Wemmer and Watling 1986), and the
knowledge o f the numerous Asian species is relatively scanty (Rabinowitz 1991).
In addition to the general descriptions (Lekagul and McNeely 1977,
Ayyadurai et al. 1987, Gao 1987, Chen 1989, Jin et al. 1989), a few limited
ecological or behavioral studies have been carried out on civets in Asia. Wang et al.
(1976) made some observation on the winter diet of small Indian civet at Shanghai,
eastern China, and Wemmer and Watling (1986) reported on the food diet and
behavior o f two species of civets in Malaysia. Wang (1990) made a comparative
study between the large Indian civet ( Viverra zibetha) and small Indian civet in
Yunnan, southwestern China, and Zhang et al. (1991) made some observations on
the activity and reproduction of masked palm civet under captivity at Shaanxi,
northern China. Chuang and Lee (1997) compared the diet of sympatric small Indian
civets, crab-eating mongooses, and ferret badgers (Melogale moschata) in Taiwan.
Significant telemetry studies were conducted by Rabinowitz (1991), who compared
the movement, habitat use, activity, and food habits of six civet species in Thailand.
Joshi et al. (1995) probed the relationship between predation pressure, food
dispersion pattern and the social structure o f common palm civets (Paradoxurus
hermaphroditus) in Nepal. Up to now. the only telemetry study o f civet species on
33
mainland China was the three-month tracking of a relocated female small Indian
civet at Zhoushan Islands (Sheng and Xu 1990).
Civets show a high degree of sympatry, with up to eight species occurring in
tropical habitats along with other small carnivore species (Medway 1977, Gao
1987). They are relatively abundant where they occur, thus offering ideal subjects
for better understanding the formation and function of the animal community
structure. Many species have economic significance and have long been harvested
for their pelts, meat, and musk. However, the paucity o f quantitative ecological
information on those species makes it impossible to formulate adequate management
policies. Between December 1992 and November 1994,1 conducted a comparative
telemetry study in southeastern China to collect the basic information on several
small carnivores occurring sympatrically there.
Study Area
northern Jiangxi Province about fifteen kilometers south of the Yangtze River. The
village is in a small V-shaped valley about six kilometers long and covers an area of
about sixteen square kilometers. The valley is at the foot of Mount Taohong and is
surrounded by a stretch of low and undulating hills. The elevation varies between
30-536 m above sea level. The climate is moist monsoon type with typical temperate
climate seasonal changes. The average annual temperature is 16.3C°, and the annual
precipitation is 1,326 mm, o f which over 40% falls as rain during May-July.
Taohong is a solely agricultural community. All the arable lands at the
bottom of the valley are under cultivation. Many gentle hills and slopes are turned
34
into farmland too. Above the farmland the major vegetation is a combination of tall
grasses ( Themeda triandra, Imperata cylindirca, and Arundinella spp.) and
secondary growth of shrub species {Lespecdeza bicolor, Lform osa, Rhus chinensis,
and Rhododendron simsii) that is maintained by annual firewood collection and
frequent fires. Only in some remote areas or regions posted by the local forest
farms, do small patches of deciduous broadleaf and in rarer frequency evergreen-
deciduous broadleaf forest remain.
The northwest part o f Taohong Village is included in the Taohongling Sika
Deer Reserve that was established to protect a remnant population of the endangered
subspecies of Sika deer (Cervus nippon kopschi) in 1981. A general survey on the
fauna and flora o f the reserve was carried out in and near the reserve during 1988-89,
providing the only source of background information for that area (Ding et al. 1990).
According to the survey report, seventeen carnivore species have been reported from
and around the Reserve. In addition to the four small carnivores I studied, leopard
cats (Felis bengalensis), yellow-throated martens (M artes flavigula), ferret badgers,
and Siberian weasels (Mastela sibirica) also are common. An additional four canid
species, one other mustelid species, one other viverrid species, and three other felid
species occur there at a much lower density.
Methods
Most o f the study animals were caught by the local trappers with traditional
bamboo foothold traps (Han I960); only one masked palm civet was captured in a
cage-type live trap. Captured animals were weighed, then immobilized with Telezol
(Tiletamine HCL and Zolazepam HCL) or Ketaset (Ketamine HCL) at a dosage of
35
lOmg/kg body weight. After sex was determined and body measurements recorded,
each animal was fitted with radio collar (with 15-cm whip antennas) weighing <5%
o f their body weight. All immobilized animals were held in cages then released after
full recovery from the drugs’ effects.
Activity o f marked animals was determined by listening for changes in radio
signal strength during a 60-second period. Consecutive readings were taken with an
interval o f at least thirty minutes. The activity level was the percentage o f active
readings o f the total number of readings. Collared animals were generally located a
minimum o f three times a week by walking in on the animal's resting site during
periods o f inactivity. The term "daybed" was used to designate those resting sites
(Rabinowitz 1991). The general external characteristics o f daybeds were recorded to
categorize them. Daily movements were calculated as the linear distances between
two consecutive daybeds. Re-use rates of daybeds were calculated as the total
number o f locations divided by the number o f different daybeds (Palomares and
Delibes 1993, 1994). The resting home ranges o f the marked animals were
calculated as minimum convex polygons (Mohr 1947) with the RANGES V program
(Kenward and Hoddder 1996), based on the locations of day beds and capture sites
(Palomares and Delibes 1994).
Results
Telemetry data were collected from five masked palm civets, two small
Indian civets, and one crab-eating mongoose. Masked palm civets were active in
over 50% o f the time between 1800 and 0500 hours (Table 3.1). Their activity level
declined throughout the morning, with a nadir at 1200 hour, then remained
36
moderately low until 1800 hour. Limited data for small Indian civets seemed to
mirror that o f masked palm civets, but the crab-eating mongoose was clearly very
active (56% o f 25 readings) when monitored between 1000 and 1800 hours (Table
3.1).
All the daybeds of the masked palm civets were underground burrows,
mainly the abandoned dens of porcupines (Hystrix hodgsoni). In contrast, all the
daybeds o f the small Indian civets I examined were on the ground, usually under
dense bushes or among tall grass. Their structure was very simple, consisting only of
a thin layer o f bedding material o f grass and leaves on a flat spot. In some cases
adjacent daybeds were located close to each other (e.g., four daybeds within an area
o f two square meters) as to practically form daybed groups. The few daybeds used
by the crab-eating mongoose were underground dens.
All three species did not use permanent dens but moved among numerous
daybeds. The average daybed reuse rate was 2.53 for the five masked palm civets,
varying between 4.16 and 1.18 (Table 3.2). The reuse rate increased with the total
number o f locations obtained (r2 = 0.86, 4 d.f., P = 0.005), as might be expected.
The reuse rate was 3.13 for the two small Indian civets. However, the animals did
not use their daybeds randomly but showed strong preferences. Most of their
daybeds were only used only once or twice, but some daybeds were frequently used.
(Table 3 .3). A few daybeds of masked palm civets were used as many as 17 times,
and one daybed of small Indian civet was used 10 times.
The daybeds of the small Indian civet and crab-eating mongoose were
located solely in the foothill region adjacent to the farmland. Some daybeds of
37
masked palm civets were located in the low bushes and tall grass that covered the
hilly region bordering farmland, but many were also farther above in the woods.
This difference in habitat use was showed clearly by the altitudes o f the locations of
the tracked animals (Table 3.2). Although many daybeds o f these three species
occurred in close proximity to farmland and trails used by humans, most marked
carnivores that were resting were not disturbed by nearby human activity.
The average daily movement distances varied between 177 - 681 m for the
masked palm civets, with a maximum distance o f 1,960 m. The average daily
movement distance for one small Indian civet was 613 m and the maximum distance
was 2,395 m (Table 3 .4). When daily movement distances of small Indian civet and
masked palm civets were grouped in the increment o f 500 m (Table 3.5), masked
palm civets returned to their previous daybeds one third of the times vs 38% for
small Indian civets. Also, masked palm civets had a shorter daily movement
distance than the small Indian civets (A* = 27.63, 5 d.f., PO.Ol).
The resting home ranges of the five masked palm civets located 20-104 times
ranged from 182-410 ha (Table 3.6) and did not vary with the number of locations (P
> 0.56). The resting home range of the small Indian civet located forty-seven times
was similar in size (227 ha). The monthly home range for the small Indian civet was
158 ha (n=24) in April and 156 ha (n=20) in May. Although the crab-eating
mongoose was only located seven times, its home range was at least 100 ha.
Little data were collected on the social behavior of these sympatric species.
The home ranges o f the two small Indian civets overlapped. They and four other
individuals were caught from the same area. Local hunters told me that both masked
38
palm civets and crab-eating mongoose were seen in packs o f three to four
individuals. Two marked masked palm civets were found sharing the same daybeds
more than twenty times. In addition, footprints showed that small Indian civets were
usually solitary while crab-eating mongooses often moved in small packs.
In spite o f their dietary similarity (Chapter 1), the resting home ranges of
these three species overlapped extensively (e.g. Table 3 .7). However, these three
species used different daybeds at any one time.
Discussion
Zhang et al. (1991) suggested that the activity of masked palm civets was
influenced by many factors, such as the season, temperature, light intensity, and
ambient noises. They avoided bright-lit nights and reduced activity or stopped
completely when there was strong wind, rain, or disturbing noises. They also
reported that the masked palm civet had two peaks of activity at 2030 - 2130 hours
and 0430 - 0630 hours from December to January; and at 2000 - 2200 hours and
0450 - 0630 hours in February. During the rest of the year, the peaks were 1830 -
2400, 0200 - 0300, and 0330 - 0630 hours. I rather doubt the feasibility of
identifying three peaks of activity per night with a one-hour interval between them.
Although my readings in late night and early morning were not many, the data
suggested that the masked palm civets did not have particular peak o f activity but
were active all night.
It is generally agreed that the small Indian civet is a nocturnal animal, though
the exact timing o f activities changes according to the weather condition, season, and
human disturbance (Wang 1976, Wang et al 1990). However, there is disagreement
39
on the number of activity peaks they might have each night. Wang (1976) proposed
that small Indian civet displayed one activity peak between 1730 and 2200 hours at
Shanghai in winter. Rabinowitz (1991) slightly shifted the single peak to between
1930 and 0130 hours. Sheng and Xu (1990) reported that small Indian civet had two
peaks o f activity, one at 1900 - 2030 hours and the second but smaller one at 0400 -
0500 hours before dawn. My data were not sufficient to support these earlier
findings and further work is needed to settle this issue.
Gao (1987) suggested that the crab-eating mongoose was a diurnal animal. It
had two peaks of activity at dawn and dusk but was seldom out foraging around
noon. However, he did not mention its activity at night. My data showed that activity
level o f this species was more than 50% in the daytime. Furthermore, its activity was
almost evenly spanned out throughout the whole day. Unfortunately, I did not have
any reading of their activity at night. Much more study is needed to give us a whole
picture o f the activity pattern o f the crab-eating mongoose.
Rabinowitz (1991) showed that masked palm civet preferred densely forested
areas, but 62% of the home range o f the small Indian civet was dry deciduous
dipterocarp forest maintained by annual fires. Wemmer and Watling (1986) reported
that small Indian civet preferred disturbed habitat, and Sheng and Xu (1990) saw a
small Indian civet enter a village, probably in search o f food. Wang (1990)
concluded that small Indian civet averted the primary dense forest and open
farmlands, and preferred foothill regions where the forest edge met farmlands. My
results corroborated these reports in that I found that all the daybeds of this species
were located in the bushes and tall grasses not far from the farmlands. This is easy
40
to understand for the most important food item o f the small Indian civet were rodents
that thrived in the agricultural areas (Wang et al. 1976). The fact that my results
indicated that masked palm civets uses areas higher and in woody habitat, in
comparison with the habitat used by small Indian civet, suggests an important
difference in overall habitat use between those two species.
Rabinowitz (1991) reported that the small civets (including small Indian civet
and masked palm civet in his study) were located in tree beds 86% of the time,
though he did not give out the specific percentage for each individual species. I
found that all the daybeds o f the small Indian civet were on the ground, either under
bushes or in tall grass, though there were no big trees within the ranges of the small
Indian civets I monitored. I did not find any tree beds used by masked palm civets
though there were enough big trees within their habitat. Gao (1987) observed that
masked palm civets commonly rest in dens in winter and spring and often use the
dense bush in the hot summer. Thus, factors other than the availability o f proper
sized trees would seem to affect civet daybed selection.
In the only other telemetry study of masked palm civets, Rabinowitz (1991)
radio-tracked one adult female for twelve months. Its total home range was 370 ha,
the average daily movement distance was 620 m, and the longest daily movement
was 1,800 m, figures rather close to those I recorded. Rabinowitz (1991) also
reported that an adult male small Indian civet followed for six months had an overall
home range of 310 ha, an average daily movement of 500 m, and the longest
distance o f 2,400 m, findings that were, again, similar to mine. The home ranges I
calculated, however, were certainly minimums because it was calculated solely from
41
daybed locations and capture sites, while Rabinowitz (1991) used both the daybeds
and locations obtained by triangulation at night.
Calculated by the minimum area method, the monthly home ranges of one
adult female small Indian civet were reported as 3.4 ha in June and 5.1 ha between
July and September (Sheng and Xu 1990). They were much smaller than my
findings of 158 ha in April and 156 ha in May, and the average monthly home range
of 83 ha reported by Rabinowitz (1991). The reason Sheng and Xu (1990) gave for
this exceptionally tiny home range was that the abundant food supply in the summer
effectively reduced the size o f the home range. However, this does not seem
reasonable, given the following. First, habitat conditions in their study area seem
similar to mine. Second, the actual distances of movements they provided predicted
a larger home range. The civet traveled at least 300 m on the day o f release, and then
moved 350 m and 280 m in the following two days, heading in one direction. They
also mentioned that the home ranges of June and July-September was more than 800
m apart. Given these movement distances, one would expect a larger monthly home
range. These facts let me to believe that there was certainly a mistake in the
calculation of their home range. Unfortunately it was impossible to delve further into
the calculation method since the authors did not specify it. The authors did
acknowledge that the animal was not released at where it was caught. They also
observed unmarked small Indian civet in the release region. Therefore, the small
Indian civet they followed was an animal that was exploring an unfamiliar area with
incumbent individual. In summary the home range size they presented should not be
given serious consideration.
42
Table 3 .1 The numbers of active readings and activity levels o f the radio-marked
carnivores.
Hour Masked palm civet Small Indian civet Crab-eating mongoose
Number % Number % Number %
0100 1 100 2 100 — —
0200 7 57 — — — —
0300 8 100 2 100 — —
0400 19 53 — — — —
0500 40 68 1 100 — —
0600 94 45 3 33 — —
0700 101 39 2 0 — —
0800 104 21 — — [ 0
0900 135 15 1 0 — —
1000 144 22 — — 4 25
1100 112 9 — — 4 25
1200 90 3 — — 3 100
1300 48 14 2 0 3 67
1400 51 14 2 0 — —
1500 66 17 2 0 3 67
1600 137 14 6 17 4 100
1700 178 33 12 42 2 100
1800 167 74 20 85 2 50
1900 60 88 6 too — —
2000 45 89 4 100 — —
2100 42 93 — — — —
2200 27 89 4 100 — —
2300 13 93 1 100 — —
2400 6 83 — — — —
43
Table 3.2 Altitudes (meters above sea level) o f the daybeds used by radio-marked
sympatric small carnivores.
Species Sex No. of No. of Altitude
locations daybeds X ± SD Min. Max.
Masked palm civets F 104 25 92±23 45 145
F 89 31 85±17 46 126
M 21 17 151±91 53 363
M 39 23 122±3 1 65 170
M 64 28 97±66 30 363
Small Indian civets M 47 13 86±18 40 108
M 3 3 59±I4 43 70
Crab-eating mongoose F 7 6 78±33 30 105
44
Table 3.3 Daybed preference as determined by the accumulative number of days
radio-marked civet species spent at individual daybeds.
Length of use Masked palm civet__________ Small Indian civet

No. of daybeds % No. of daybeds %
1 73 59 6 43
2 17 14 4 29
3 13 11 0 0
4 4 3 0 0
5 5 4 0 0
6-10 7 6 4 29
10+ 5 4 0 0
Total 124 101 14 101
45
Table 3.4 The daily movement distances (m) o f radio-marked civet species.
Species____________ Sex No._______ X ±_SD______Maximum
Masked palm civets F 83 560±448 1,960
F 67 248±313 1,155
M 17 6 8 I±414 1,450
M 36 177±223 805
Small Indian civet M 39 613±686 2,395
46
Table 3 .5 The distribution of daily movement distances (DMD, m) o f radio-marked
civet species. Measurements from animals o f the same species were pooled together.
DMD range _____________Percentage o f occurrence_________________

Masked palm civet (n = 203) Small Indian civet (n = 37)
0 32 38
1-500 32 8
501-1,000 28 27
1,001-1,500 6 11
1,501-2,000 2 11
>2,000 0 5
47
Table 3 .6 Resting home ranges of radio-marked carnivores.
Species Sex Tracking No. of No. of Home range

period locations daybeds (ha)
Masked palm civets F 04/93-11/93 104 25 288
F 06/93-12/93 89 31 190
M 12/93-07/94 20 17 410
M 03/94-11/94 39 23 182
M 10/93-07/94 64 28 346
Small Indian civets M 03/94-06/94 47 14 227
M 06/94-07/94 •>
3 7
Crab-eating mongoose F 02/94-03/94 7 6 100
48
Table 3. 7 Home range overlap among three sympatric small carnivore species.
Crab-eating Small Indian Masked palm
mongoose civet civet
Crab-eating mongoose 100 82.4 99.7
Small Indian civet 36.4 100 76.0
Masked palm civet 34.9 60.3 100
49
Literature Cited
Ayyadurai, M„ V. Natarajan, P. Baiasubramanian, and S. A. Rajan. 1987. A note

on the food of the small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) at points Calimere
Wildlife Sanctuary. Tami Nadu. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 84:203.
Chen, S. 1989. A preliminary study of the behavior and ecology o f the crab-eating
mongoose (Herpestes urva). Master thesis. National Taiwan Normal
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Ding, T., et al. 1990. Jiangxi Taohongling Sika Deer Reserve faunal and floral
(In Chinese)
Eisenberg, J. F. 1981. The mammalian radiations, an analysis o f trends in

evolution, adaptation, and behavior. The University o f Chicago Press,
Chicago, 610 pp.
Gao, Y. 1987. Fauna Sinica Mammalia Vol. 8. Carnivora. Science Press, Beijing,
Han, Z. 1960. The behavior o f and the capture methods for leopards in southern
Anhui Province. Chinese J. Zool., 4(6): 274-277. (In Chinese)
Jin, B., C. Chen, Z. Huang, and L. Luo. 1989. The morphological features and
habits o f the small Indian civet. Chinese Wildl. (1): 24-26. (In Chinese)
Joshi, A. R., J. D. Smith, and F. J. Cuthbert. 1995. Influence of food distribution

and predation pressure in spacing behavior in palm civet. J. Mammal. 76:
1205-1212.
Kenward, R. E., and K. H. Hodder. 1990. RANGES V: An analysis system for

biological location data. Ed. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Dorset.
Lekagul B., and J. A. McNeely. 1977. Mammals of Thailand. Sahakambhat,

Bangkok, ii + 758pp.
Medway, Lord. 1977. The mammals o f Borneo. Monograph of the Malaysian

Branch o f the Royal Asiatic Society. 7: 1-172.
Mohr, C. O. 1947. Table o f equivalent populations o f North American small

mammals. Am. Midi. Nat. 37: 223-249.
50
Palomares, L., and M. Delibes. 1993. Resting ecology and behavior o f Egyptian
mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon) in southwestern Spain. J. Zool., Lond.
230: 557-566.
Palomares, L., and M. Delibes. 1994. Spatio-temporal ecology and behavior of

European genets in southwestern Spain. J. Mammal. 75(3): 714-24.

Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. J. Zool., 23(2): 281-298.
Sheng, H., and H. Xu. 1990. Range size and activity pattern o f small Indian civet in
Zhoushan Islands, Zhejiang Province by radio-telemetry. J. East China
Normal Univ. (Mammalian Ecology Supplement), Pages 110-112. (In
Chinese)
Wang, P. H. Sheng, and H. Lu. 1976. The analysis on the food habits o f the small
(In Chinese)
Wang, Y. 1990. The Viverra zibetha in captivity. China Forestry Press, Beijing.
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Wemmer, C M., and D. Watling. 1986. Ecology and status of the Sulawasi palm
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Zhang, B., X. Su, C. Gao, and W. Zhang. 1991. Note on the activity and winter
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51
CHAPTER 4
NOTES ON FERRET BADGER REPRODUCTION, MOVEMENTS, AND
HABITAT USE IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
Abstract
Field studies of ferret badgers (Melogale moschata) conducted during
March-November 1994 and May-July 1996 at Taohong Village in southeastern
China indicated that they gave birth in May and were strictly nocturnal animals. The
average resting home ranges (daybed locations only) o f 11 individuals were only 8
ha (range = 0.6-25.3 ha) and no sex-specific differences in size were detected.
Distances between daily resting sites averaged 109 m but ferret badgers often (51%
o f occasions) returned to sites used the previous day. Ferret badgers readily used all
kinds o f shelters as daybeds, including rodent dens (47%), firewood stacks (20%),
open fields (17%), and rock piles (5%) around houses. Ferret badgers likely benefit
from agricultural activities and their close association with humans.
Key words: China, ferret badger, home range, Melogale moschata, movement
patterns.
Introduction
The ferret badger, a small mustelid occurring mainly in southern China (Neal
1986), is one of the most important fiirbearers there and has been subject to heavy
harvest pressure (Shou 1962, Huang et al. 1990, Sheng 1993) It is a poorly
understood species, despite the fact that it seems quite common. Aside from brief
descriptions o f its taxonomy and general biology (Jones 1982, Lekagul and McNeely
52
1977, Long 1978, Neal 1986, Nowak 1991, Prater 1965, Zheng 1981, 1987), field
studies only have identified earthworms and insects as important food items for this
species (Qian et al. 1976, Chuang and Lee 1997). Other than these data, there is
essentially no information on ferret badger ecology. Therefore, during March-
November 1994 and May-July 1996, a live-capture and radio-telemetry study was
carried out in Jiangxi Province of southeastern China to describe movements and
habitat use o f this little-known carnivore; I also gathered some information on their
reproduction.
Study Area
northern Jiangxi Province about 15 km south o f the Yangtze River. The village is in
a small V-shaped valley about six kilometers long and covers an area o f about
sixteen square kilometers. The valley is at the foot of Mount Taohong and is
surrounded by low and undulating hills. The elevation varies between 30-536 m
above sea level. The climate is moist monsoon type with typical temperate climate
seasonal changes. The average annual temperature is 16.3C°, and the annual
precipitation is 1,326 mm, of which over 40% falls as rain during May-July.
Taohong is a solely agricultural community. All the arable lands at the
bottom o f the valley are under cultivation. Many gentle hills and slopes are turned
into farmland too. Above the farmland the major vegetation is a combination of tall
grasses ( Themeda triandra, Imperata cylindirca, and Arundinella spp.) and
secondary growth of shrub species (.Lespecdeza bicolor, L form osa, Rhus chinensis,
and Rhododendron simsii) that is maintained by annual firewood collection and
53
frequent fires. Only in some remote areas or regions posted by the local forest farms
do small patches o f deciduous broadleaf and in rarer frequency evergreen-
deciduous broadleaf forest remain.
Deer Reserve that was established to protect a remnant population of the endangered
subspecies o f Sika deer (Cervus nippon kopschi) in 1981. A general survey was
carried out in and near the reserve during 1988-89, providing the only background
information on the local fauna and flora (Ding et al. 1990). According to the survey
report, 17 carnivore species have been reported in and around the Reserve.
Methods
Ferret badgers were captured with No. 1 padded steel soft-catch foothold
traps. Local trappers also were hired to capture animals using traditional bamboo
foothold traps (Han 1960). Traps were set where fresh tracks or digging signs
characteristic o f ferret badgers were found, or at the entrance to the burrows where a
fresh latrine indicated the current usage (Zheng 1987). A few animals were caught
manually by the local villagers. Captured animals were weighed and immobilized
with Telezol (Tiletamine HCL and Zolazepam HCL) or Ketaset (Ketamine HC1) at a
dosage o f 10 mg/kg body weight. Badgers were then sexed, females were examined
for reproductive status, and then each animal was measured to estimate, with weight,
their general age. Because ferret badgers apparently reach sexual maturity in one
year, no distinction was made among subadults and younger individuals. Finally, ten
adults and one large young animal were fitted with either 75-g (first seven animals)
54
or 35-g (last four animals) radio-collars with 15-cm whip antennas. All immobilized
animals were held in cages then released after full recovery from the drugs’ effects.
Collared animals were generally located a minimum of three times a week by
walking in on the animals' resting site during periods o f inactivity. The term
"daybed" was used to designate these sites (Rabinowitz 1991). The general external
characteristics o f the day beds were recorded to categorize them. Daily movements
were calculated as the linear distances between two consecutive daybeds. Re-use
rates o f daybeds (total number of locations divided by the number of daybeds ) were
estimated according to Palomares and Delibes (1993, 1994).
Activity o f the marked animal was determined by listening for changes in
radio signal strength during a 60-second period. Consecutive readings were taken
with an interval o f at least 30 minutes. The activity level was the percentage of
active readings in the total number o f readings. When it soon became evident that
ferret badgers were inactive during the daylight hours, efforts were made to record
only the times when the ferret badgers started or ceased to be active at dawn (0500 -
0700 hours) and dusk (1700 - 1900 hours). In Taohong, the sun rises on the summer
solstice at about 0500 hour and sets about 1900 hour. During the autumn equinox,
the sun rises at about 0600 hour and sets about 1800 hour.
Resting home range sizes based on daybed and capture locations (Palomares
and Delibes 1994) were calculated as minimum convex polygons (Mohr 1947).
Owing to the small size of home ranges, the daybed locations were plotted on a grid
paper using measured distances between, and/or compass bearings from, daybeds
and one or more known sites that could be pinpointed on a map.
55
Results
The altogether 27 ferret badgers were captured, among them were 15
females, 11 males, and one young animal whose gender was not identified. In terms
o f age there were 14 adult females, 9 adult males, and 4 young. The average weight
o f adult females (mean = I, I46g, n=I2, SD =207, range = 800-1450g), did not differ
(P>0.35) from that o f adults males (mean = l,422g, n = 8, SD = 180, range = 1150-
I675g). Most females (7 of 12) weighed equal to or more than the lightest male, and
only 3 out o f 8 males weighed more than the heaviest female. The body weights o f
young animals varied considerably with the season. A young female weighed I I5g
when it was caught on 30 May, a male weighed 3 13g on 3 June, and a young ferret
badger of undetermined sex weighed 460g on 8 June. One young male weighed 775g
when it was first captured on 21 August; the same animal had grown to l,450g when
it was recaptured on 29 November. Three adult females captured in May and early
June were lactating.
Altogether, 11 ferret badgers (5 adult males, 5 adult females, I large young
male) were radio-collared and monitored for 8-100 days each. Ferret badgers were
exclusively nocturnal, usually starting and ending activity after sunset and before
sunrise (Table 4.1). Sometimes ferret badgers were seen resting by the den entrance
in the daytime and would return to the den when alarmed. Otherwise, they were
never recorded to be active in the daytime.
Resting home range sizes of ferret badgers were rather small, averaging only
8.0 hectares for animals that were located more than 10 times (Table 4.2). Range
sizes of 6 males varied from 0.6-11.8 ha, whereas those o f 2 females varied between
56
7.2-25.3 ha. Three females located only 3-6 times each had home ranges larger than
2 o f the males located 13 and 23 times. There was no strong correlation between the
number o f locations and the size o f home range (F=l.78, P=0.2151), suggesting that
size o f home range was affected by other factors.
Home ranges o f ferret badgers overlapped extensively, both between and
among sexes. The home range of one female overlapped with another breeding
female. One male and lactating female sometimes shared the same daybed together,
but stayed separate on other occasions, even though they were sometimes in close
proximity. Also, different males were found using the same daybeds at different
times. Finally, one adult male and one adult female were caught from one daybed
twice in a two-week interval.
Given the small size of home ranges, it was not surprising that ferret badgers
did not move very far from one daybed to the next (Table 4.3). The average daily
movement distance for 6 males (mean = 78m, SD - 27m) was significantly shorter
(F=7.6, P=0.0236) than that o f 5 females (mean = 129m, SD = 74m). The female
ferret badger that had the biggest home range (25 ha) also had the longest daily
movement distance (945m). There was no strong relationship between the numbers
o f measurements and the length of the average daily movement distance o f the
individual animal (DF = 10, F = 0.54, P = 0.4801). Grouping of distances by
increments o f 100 m indicated that a little over half o f the time ferret badgers
returned to the previous day bed (0-m category). Almost all the daily movements
(95%) were < 300 m and there was only on one occasion that a marked badger
moved > 600 m (Table 4.4).
57
Ferret badgers did not have permanent residences but moved among different
daybeds. Compared with other sympatric small carnivores, their selection or rather
lack o f selection o f daybeds by ferret badgers was most impressive. O f the daybeds
located by following marked ferret badgers, 72% were of natural origin. Most
natural daybeds were dens of Rattus falvipectus, a species o f rodent that weighs only
about 90g, but ferret badgers actually could use any natural shelters such as crevice
or underground cavity (Table 4.5). On two occasions ferret badgers rushed into dens
of Rattusfalvipectus without ostensible difficulty when released in the field.
However, rat dens did not seem to be very spacious for ferret badgers; two slipped
collars were found stuck in such dens, and in another den a collared animal
apparently got stuck trying to turn around and was found dead. Another 17% of
natural daybeds were surface ones. These daybeds were no more than a flat or recess
spot on the bare ground with no or little bedding material in the open field of paddy
rice, soybean, cotton, or among grass where dense vegetation covered the ground
completely. They were makeshift in nature and usually abandoned after being used
once or twice.
Though only 28% of daybeds were found in sites created by human
activities, they showed that ferret badgers could use shelters in close proximity of
human buildings (Table 4.5). The majority o f artificial daybeds (20%) were
firewood stacks that were always piled close by the house or even in the backyards.
Other types o f daybeds were more unusual. In one case, a badger chose to rest in a
culvert underneath the main road within the village. The ferret badger returned there
for several days, seemingly immune to the vehicles constantly rolling along the road.
58
In another case, a ferret badger hid in a hole in the yard wall o f a villager. Piles of
rocks that were building material for future house construction and as a rule located
closely to established houses also served as daybeds.
Ferret badgers spent 63% o f the time tracked on the natural daybeds that
accounted for 72% in the total number o f daybeds, and spent 37% of the time on the
artificial daybeds that accounted for 28% of the total daybeds. Though in general
there was no preference in the use these two kinds o f daybeds (P = 0.454), ferret
badgers exhibited a preference to the piles of rocks. Altogether only four piles of
rocks were used as daybeds (4% of all daybeds), but marked badgers were located
there on 15% o f all days they were tracked. On one occasion, a ferret badger was
found raising young in a pile of rocks.
The overall reuse rate of daybeds by ferret badgers was 3.64. For these
animals that were located > 10 times, the reuse rates varied from 2.60 to 5.75. There
was significant correlation between the number of locations and the number o f
daybeds (DF = 10, F = 127, P < 0.001).
The daybeds of ferret badgers could be divided into temporary and frequent
ones Table 4.6). The majority of the daybeds were of temporary nature; 36.9% of the
daybeds were abandoned after being used once only, 19% were abandoned after
being used twice. However, there were also a few daybeds ferret badgers occupied
for a longer period o f time. There were 4 daybeds in which ferret badgers spent 10
days each and one daybed that a ferret badger stayed as many as 2 1 days.
59
Discussion
Zheng (1987) reported that ferret badgers mated in March and gave birth to
2-4 young weighing about 50g each in late May. In my study 3 females captured in
May and June were lactating. One juvenile caught on 30 May weighed 115g and two
in June weighed 300g and 460g respectively. These facts seem to confirm this
reproductive pattern. Another young animal weighed 775 g when it was caught in
late August, and had grown to l,450g when it was recaptured three months later. By
then it was impossible to tell it apart from other adults by external appearance, so it
is possible that my captures included other unidentified subadults. This observation
also supports the idea that ferret badgers could breed at ten months of age and give
birth at age one.
Sheng (1982) indicated that ferret badgers were mostly nocturnal. Because
ferret badgers I monitored lived in close proximity to human settlement or
frequented where there were human activities, their activity pattern likely was
heavily influenced by people. In general, I found that ferret badgers ceased to be
active when the farmers started working in the field in the morning and became
active after the farmers left the field or ceased movement around their yards. As a
result, some ferret badgers became active, judging from the changes in the signal
strength, but remained inside the daybed for some time before emerging for the
night's activity.
Wang (1990) suggested that the ferret badgers had small but stable home
ranges. I found that the average resting home range was only 8 hectares. It was true
that the actual size o f the total home range certainly should be larger than what I
60
measured because only the daybed locations were used in my calculation (Palomares
and Delibes 1994). Still there are good reasons to believe that ferret badgers have
small home ranges. Though the omnivorous ferret badgers fed on a variety o f food
items of invertebrates, vertebrate, and plant foods, their most important food item
was earthworms (Qian et al. 1976, Chuang and Lee 1997), which were most
abundant in the fertile vegetable gardens and farmland soils ferret badgers
frequented. Even a small home range encompassing such resources could likely meet
their dietary requirements. Additionally, daybeds of both natural and man-made
origins were most numerous in the farmland and around human settlements so ferret
badgers could easily find a place nearby to settle down for the day.
Zheng (1987) mentioned that mating occurred among ferret badgers from the
same group, there was no fighting for the right to mate, and individuals remained in
the group after mating. Wang (1990) added that ferret badgers were active in pairs at
night. Our data supported the idea that ferret badgers were not solitary and
territorial, but further study is needed to draw a complete picture of their social life.
Zheng (1987) suggested that ferret badgers were good at digging dens. In my
study, ferret badgers probably seldom dug their dens but made use of the numerous
furrows o f Rattus falvipectus with slight modification, or used man-made sites, such
as of rock piles and fire-wood stacks.
Among the general decline of carnivores around the human settlements, the
ferret badgers seem to be exceptional. In addition to the availability o f abundant food
and numerous daybed sites, another very important factor contributing to their
successful adaptation to human environments was the lack o f direct conflict o f
61
interests with human. Ferret badgers apparently did not prey on poultry or livestock,
nor cause any damage to property or farm facilities. They did not produce an
offending smell such as the Siberian weasel {Mustela sibirica) does. Even though
ferret badgers are one o f the most important furbearers in southern China (Shou
1962, Sheng 1993, Huang et al. 1990), the value of an individual pelt is low and the
meat is barely edible. As a result, local hunters normally regarded the ferret badger
as an optional game species and did not purposefully hunt them (Chapter 5). Finally
ferret badgers could live nearby human settlements without the threat o f domestic
predators. There has been such a constant demand for dog meat that almost all the
dogs in the village have been illicitly killed. Most cats have died as a result of
secondary poisoning from repeated rat control efforts, and the few survivors were
kept indoors or on a leash all the time.
When all factors are considered, ferret badgers seemed to enjoy benefits from
their relation with humans. Although there are no hard scientific data on the
population dynamics o f ferret badgers, their fur trade data indicate that ferret badgers
have somehow managed to maintain relatively stable numbers (Sheng 1993). This
stands in contrast with the general decline o f other carnivore species in China.
Although much remains to be learned about ferret badgers, their conservation status
seems to be stable in the face of widespread human activities in China.
62
Table 4. 1 Activity level of radio-marked ferret badgers. Data from badgers
monitored during August-November 1994 (n = 7) and May-July 1996 (n = 4) were
pooled.
Hour Number of readings Activity level
0500 39 100
0530 47 68
0600 63 6
0630 63 0
0700 66 0
0730 65 0
1700 65 0
1730 67 9
1800 64 47
1830 63 71
1900 59 95
63
Table 4. 2 Resting home ranges of the radio-monitored ferret badgers.
Sex Season Number o f locations Number of daybeds Home range (ha)
M Fall 10 3 7.4
13 5 0.7
23 4 0.6
59 18 3.5
78 19 11.8
Spring 44 9 7.7
F Fall 3 2 1.4
2 1.5
6 3 5.6
Spring 31 8 7.2
36 11 25.3
64
Table 4. 3 Daily movement distances (DMD, m) o f radio-marked ferret badgers.
Sex Season No. o f measurement DMD X ± SD Maximum DMD
M Fall 9 91 ± 153 435
13 68 ± 9 9 225
23 58 ± 6 0 174
59 126 ± 148 545
78 54 ± 78 244
Spring 32 69 ± 88 384
F Fall 3 155 ± 162 323
3 205 ± 53 266
7 45 ± 7 9 191
Spring 26 55 ± 7 9 298
32 184 ± 252 982
65
Table 4. 4 Distribution o f daily movement distances o f ferret badgers. All the
measures were pooled together.
Distance range No. o f measurements Cumulative percentage
0 146 51
1 - 100 49 68
101 -200 50 85
201 -300 25 94
301-400 9 97
401-500 98
501-600 4 99
>601 1 100
66
Table 4. 5 Daybed selection by radio-monitored ferret badgers.
Daybed type Number Percentage Days used Percentage
Natural Rat den 40 47 135 44
Open field 15 17 37 12
Porcupine den 4 5 13 4
Underground cavity 2 2 6 2
Rock crevice I 1 2 <1
Subtotal 62 72 193 63
Man- Firewood stack 17 20 57 19
made Rock pile 4 5 46 15
Culvert 1 I 4 I
Wall cavity 1 1 4 I
Grave I 1 4 I
Subtotal 24 28 115 37
Total 86 100 308 100
67
Table 4. 6 Daybed preference as determined by the length of accumulative use in
term o f days the radio-marked ferret badgers spent at individual daybeds.
No. o f days used No. of daybeds Percentage

I 31 36.9
2 16 19.0
j 12 14.3
4 7 8.3
5 7 8.3
6-10 10 11.9
21 I 1.2
68
Literature Cited
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Han, Z. 1960. The behavior of and capture methods for leopards in southern Anhui.
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Huang, S. et al. 1990. A survey on the Wengang fur and writing-brush market.
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Jones, M. L. 1982. Longevity o f captive mammals. Zool. Garden, 52: 113-28.
Long, C. A. 1978. A listing o f recent badger o f the world, with remarks on

taxonomic problems in Mydaus and Melogale. Rept. Fauna and Flora
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Lekagul, B., and J. A. McNeely. 1977. Mammals o f Thailand. Sahakambhat,

Bangkok li + 758 pp.
Mohr, CO. 1947. Table o f equivalent populations of North American small

Neal, R. 1986. The natural history of badgers. Croom Helm, London & Sydney,
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Nowak, R.M. 1991. Walker's mammals o f the world (5th ed.). The Johns Hopkins
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European genets in southwestern Spain. J. Mammalogy, 75: 714-24.
Prater, S.H. 1965. The book o f Indian animals. Bombay Natural History Society,
Qian, G., H. Sheng, and P. Wang. 1976. The winter diet of ferret badger. Chinese
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Rabinowitz, A. R. 1991. Behavior and movement of sympatric civet species in
Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. J. Zool. Lond., 223: 281-
298.
Sheng, H. 1982. Daily rhythmic behavior o f the ferret badger. Acta Theriol. Sinica,
28(2): 132. (In Chinese)
Sheng, H. 1993. Human impact on carnivore populations. Pages 32-39 in W. P.

Xia and J. Zhang, eds. The successional changes of mammals in China under
the influence of human activities. China Science and Technology Press,
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Zheng, Y. 1981. Note on the ecology o f the ferret badgers and their pelt quality.
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Mammalia Vol. 8: Carnivora. Science Press, Beijing, 377pp. (In Chinese)
70
CHAPTER 5
WILDLIFE HARVEST IN RURAL SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
Abstract
A longitudinal study o f wildlife harvest was conducted at Taohong Village
by participant observation during 1992-96. Less than 2% o f the local population
practiced wildlife harvesting. During the past ten years trapping with traditional tools
continued while hunting with shotguns became popular. Hunters and trappers went
after different game species. Trappers are older, use more kinds of harvest tools,
have a longer career, and take a larger share in the harvest than the hunters. Muntjac
(Mantiacns reveesi) and hares (Lepiis sinensis and L. capensis) were the most
important game species. A few professional harvesters took the major part of
harvest. The price o f wildlife parts rose steadily but the game yields experienced a
gradual decline due to reduced harvest efforts. Overall, wildlife density was reduced
to such a low level that the return rate from harvest was not economically appealing.
Wildlife harvest is market-oriented and plays a supplemental role in the local
economy. Marketing channels for both pelt and game meat have been well
established and are spreading. Wildlife harvest remained largely unregulated. The
prospect of wildlife harvest at Taohong is discussed.
Keywords: China, marketing, participant observation, Taohong, utilization, wildlife
harvest.
71
Introduction
As humans successfully and irreversibly take over the role o f the keystone
species in the “natural world” and exert increasing pressure on faunal composition,
ecosystems, and the behavior of the large carnivores, there are few wild places on
the habitable earth and almost no species of animal or plant that have not been
influenced by human activity (Clutton-Brock 1996). Widespread wildlife harvest is
an especially serious problem, and overexploitation has been identified as one of the
two main challenges to conservationists worldwide (Primack 1995).
People have been using wildlife since the time immemorial. As long as
human populations were low and the methods o f exploitation were unsophisticated,
people could often use the plants and animals o f their environment without driving
species to extinction. However, as human populations increased, their use of the
environment escalated concomitantly. Methods o f harvesting also became
dramatically more efficient (Yost and Kelley 1983, Redford 1992). As a result,
overexploitation by humans threatens 37% o f all endangered, vulnerable, and rare
species o f vertebrates (Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen 1978).
Overexploitation of resources often occurs rapidly when a commercial
market develops for a previously unexploited or locally used species. As developing
countries strive in their economic development efforts, transition from traditional
subsistence to commercial hunting has accelerated considerably. Ways to manage
the wildlife harvest in changing society pose another urgent demand to today’s
wildlife conservationists. Indeed, governments in many tropical nations seem to
72
view wildlife management primarily as a matter o f protecting animals from direct
harvest (Dasmann 1987).
Wildlife has been, is, and will always be used by people. For now the
question is not whether to use wild species, but rather how to move from a system of
use that is clearly not sustainable toward one that is better. The "use it or lose i t "
advocates believe that conservation of wildlands and biodiversity will be best
achieved by making use of the living resources in those wildlands that are not strictly
protected. A major part of such use had traditionally been consumptive use, wherein
the organism or any o f its parts are harvested. The logic behind this proposition is
that revenues generated by the commercial, consumptive use of wildlife species will
provide economic incentives to local people for sound management o f the harvested
populations. This in turn implies that the target population's habitat will be protected,
thereby benefiting the broader goals o f biodiversity conservation (McNeely 1988,
Benson 1992, WWF 1993). Those o f us who advocate the conservation o f wildlife
species and biological communities should strive to incorporate these principles into
our conservation strategies (Redford and Robinson 1991).
Programs of sustainable wildlife use have, until recently, largely fallen
outside the interest of national and international natural resource conservation
institutions, which had focused on more traditional endangered species conservation
and national park development work. As Gardner (1991) warns, neglect, status quo
attitudes, and continued ignorance o f the dependence of local people on wildlife and
other forest and river resources have contributed to the loss of biological diversity.
73
China has a long history of wildlife utilization, and wildlife parts are highly
regarded and are generally considered as luxuries above the reach o f common people
(Shou 1962, Zhou et al. 1984). Many species of wildlife are believed to possess
medicinal and body-building properties and are widely used in traditional Chinese
medicine (Reed 1931, Jiang et al. 1983). Wildlife harvest has been practiced in
China for thousands o f years (Luo 1960, Zhou et al. 1984).
China is also the most populated country in the world. By 2 AD its
population had reached about sixty million people. Then it stabilized at between fifty
and sixty million in the following sixteen centuries and only started to increase at an
accelerating pace in the 17th century. It exceeded one hundred million in 1684, two
hundred million in 1762, three hundred million in 1789, and four hundred million in
1835. Then the growth rate slowed down noticeably and the population reached five
hundred and forty million in 1949. However, in the next forty-one years the
population doubled to 1.16 billion (Zhao and Chen 1993). This huge number of
people is imposing serious demands on China's natural resources. The widespread,
unchecked harvest has driven many species to or near the brink of extinction (He
1993, Li and Li 1993).
Wildlife management in the modem sense has had a short history in China.
The need to regulate rampant wildlife harvest was recognized in the early part of this
century. The first law regulating hunting was passed in 1914, three years after the
Republic of China was established (Yuan 1924). The word "hunting" was used
broadly to mean both hunting and trapping. The law, though very brief, contained
most of the basics affecting the hunting activities. A permit system for hunting was
74
adopted. All hunters were required to obtain a permit before proceeding to hunt.
Permissible hunting equipment were to be certified by the local police authority. Use
of explosives, poison, and pitfall traps was banned. The concept of protected species,
though not specified, was introduced. Certain areas were closed to hunting. The
hunting season was limited to the period of October 1 to March 3 1 (Yuan 1924).
The second hunting law was passed in 1932 (Wang 1934). It was more
specific than its predecessor and imposed more restrictions on hunting. It classified
the wildlife (birds and mammals only) into four groups: dangerous to human life;
harmful to livestock, poultry, agriculture and forestry; beneficial to agriculture and
forestry; and food and commodity. The first group could be hunted anytime, and one
did not need a permit. The third group was not open to hunting. A permit was
required to hunt the second and fourth groups. The hunting permit specified the
species and number of game, hunting facility to be used, location o f hunting, and
period for which the permit was valid. Hunting with motor vehicles or at night was
forbidden. The hunting season was shortened to from November 1 to February 30.
The county or municipal governments were required to publish the list of non-game
species prior to the hunting season. Endless civil wars and political turmoil,
however, successfully kept those regulations from being enforced.
The People's Republic o f China, founded in 1949, is the first strong central
government to be able to effectively exercise authority across the country in more
than a century. From its earliest days hunting was encouraged as a means to reduce
the wildlife damage to agriculture and increase local people's income. Wildlife parts,
mainly fur and medicinal products, were designated as commodities under state
75
control in 1956. In the same way that industry, commerce, and agriculture were
collectivized and incorporated into the national planning economy regime by 1956,
so was the private section of the wildlife trade. One franchised state-owned company
through its nation-wide branches monopolized the wildlife trade down to village
level. It tried to systematically enhance commercial hunting and generated benefits
for the hunters in its endeavor. Hunters were encouraged to sell their products to the
company, which paid a fair price. In return, the company supplied the hunters with
firearms, gunpowder, shots, cartridge, traps, drugs and other equipment used in
hunting. It taught them how to better prepare the pelts and other wildlife parts. In
addition it explored new wildlife resources that had not been tapped before. There
was a standard price for wildlife parts across the nation, and the hunters as a rule
sold their harvest at the local store. The wildlife parts were fimneied up to the
provincial level and then were assigned to the users. Trade o f wildlife parts among
different regions below the provincial level was forbidden. Therefore the wildlife
trade data were often used, improperly, as an index of the local wildlife resources,
for not all wildlife parts harvested enter into trade. Besides, trade data were also
heavily affected by the harvest efforts. In the void of national wildlife surveys these
data were the only source of information on the population status available for many
wildlife species in the past (Sheng 1993).
In 1958 the Ministry o f Forestry was designated as the wildlife management
authority across the nation. Regulations were drafted concerning wildlife protection,
ranching, and hunting (Anonymous 1994). National surveys on the important game
species were initiated. Training courses for wildlife harvest managers were held.
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From 1959 to 1961 widespread famine struck China hard and millions of people
starved. As a remedy large-scale hunting activities were organized to supply the
market with much needed protein. In some areas even the military units were
mobilized. There was a slaughter of the wildlife of unprecedented magnitude in
many regions, but the efficiency of organized hunting was demonstrated.
All these efforts culminated in an executive decree issued by the State
Council in 1962 (Anonymous 1994). It was generally regarded as a milestone in
wildlife management in China and served the role o f a wildlife protection act until
1989. The decree outlined the fundamental framework of wildlife management in
China. Its major objective was to promote rational utilization of wildlife resources
through organized harvesting activities. Wildlife management in general benefited
to some extent from the adoption of the national wildlife management policy of
"vigorous protection, active ranching, and rational utilization". It was in this decree
that the first protected species list was published.
The decree ushered in a dramatic increase in wildlife harvest across the
nation. In Shaanxi Province, more than ten thousand hunting teams were organized
as a consequence and wildlife pelt production increased by 40% in 1962 (Wang and
He 1993). Zhu (1964) reported that the wildlife pelt production exceeded twenty
million skins a year and in some areas the game meat amounted to one third of the
livestock output.
The first national hunting conference was held in 1967, and the second one
five years later (Fang et al. 1991). Both conferences aimed to promote commercial
hunting across the nation, coordinate the wildlife harvest among different regions,
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exchange harvest experience, and introduce new hunting methods and equipment.
All the efforts were directed to promote the production of wildlife parts through
organized hunting activities. They succeeded in enhancing the output of wildlife
parts but failed in organizing the harvesters as a means to expedite law enforcement.
As hunting in China was an individual activity occurring in separate and remote
rural areas, there was no incentive for the harvesters to form an organization. Harvest
levels increased without the check of effective management measures. Then came
the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966 and all management endeavors, no matter how
superficial, came to a sudden halt. Rampant hunting went on unchecked.
When the Cultural Revolution came to a close in 1976, wildlife management
was put back on the national agenda. The decade-long negligence had taken a heavy
toll. Wildlife resources were dramatically decimated (c.fi, Xia and Zhang 1993).
Furthermore, the economic reforms started in the late 1970s imposed new challenges
to wildlife management. Steady economic growth dramatically raised the living
standard of the general public. The demand for wildlife parts increased. The
widespread use of the breech-loading shotguns raised the hunting efficiency
considerably. Millions o f surplus laborers released from the dissolution of
collectivization in the early 1980s provided eager recruits to fill the ranks o f hunters.
Improvement in transportation, communication, and food storage linked the
producing countryside to the consuming towns and cities closer than ever before.
The wildlife parts, though still luxurious, were becoming affordable and available to
an increasing portion o f the society. The last obstacle was removed when the
government monopoly on wildlife trade was lifted in early 1980s. Private
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entrepreneurs rushed in and pushed the recalcitrant state-owned company out of
business. Free markets previously closed to pelt and product markets were
reopened. Wildlife parts went to where the price was highest. The conditions
favoring the formation o f a national wildlife market were at last ripe (Li and Wang
1998).
It is the transition from subsistence to market hunting that is regarded as most
dangerous to the survival o f wildlife (Hart 1978, Wilkie et al. 1992, Ludwig et al.
1993). Unfortunately, there were scarcely any data to assess the progress o f the
looming national wildlife market and its impact on wildlife harvest in China. The
sporadic trade data available give an incomplete but foreboding picture. Huang et al
(1990) conducted a short survey on Wengang Fur Market in Jiangxi and found that
the free market had taken over the role o f the franchised company in all aspects of
wildlife trade. In Shaanxi Province, the average annual pelt production from 1953 to
1989 was 304,000 skins. The production began to rise toward the end of 1970s,
reaching 461,600 in 1979, 644,779 in 1980, 963,763 in 1981, and climbed to a
record high of 1,020,539 skins in 1982. After that, pelt production plummeted to
577,804 in 1983, 238,201 in 1984, 53,692 in 1986, and hit the bottom o f4,006 in
1989 (Wang and He 1993). Was this boom-and-bust pattern a sign o f a resource
crash, a shift of harvesting effort, or the fact that trade data no longer reflected the
real situation of wildlife harvest?
The current wildlife management regime failed miserably to deal with these
new challenges. With the lifting o f its monopoly on wildlife parts, the government
had completely lost its control over the wildlife trade (Sheng 1993, Wang and He
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1993). The long expected China Wild Animal Protection Law was enacted in 1989
and was quickly followed by its bylaws. It was the most comprehensive wildlife
management legislation that China had put forth. Its meticulous articles concerning
hunting equipment, wildlife harvest, shipment, and marketing o f wildlife parts,
however, were largely ignored because they were impractical.
Chinese wildlife biologists did little to tackle this management problem. It
must be admitted that the social aspect o f wildlife research was a weak point. In the
past there were only a few reports on the traditional hunting methods (Gao and Ye
1959, Han 1960, Luo 1960, Chen 1966, Li 1989). Zhu (1964) briefly summarized
the development of wildlife harvest, ranching and nature conservation in China since
1949. There were some reports on the regional wildlife utilization but they were,
without exception, based on the wildlife trade data (e.g., Xia and Zhang 1993, Li et
al. 1996). Thus, there has never been a study on the hunting "production process"
from the grassroots level up to the market, and how harvest levels and wildlife use
are affected by the formation of the national wildlife market. Without this
information, it is almost impossible to fully understand the issue of wildlife harvest
and trade, and to formulate adequate wildlife management programs.
To begin to correct this inadequacy, I conducted a longitudinal study on the
wildlife harvest and utilization at Taohong Village, Jiangxi Province, China,
between 1992-1996 by personal observation and interviewing the local hunters and
trappers. My purpose was to estimate current wildlife harvest in a rural region, and
to identify the impact o f the economic reform toward market economy on the
wildlife production process.
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Study Area
The study was conducted in Taohong Village, Dongsheng Commune, Pengze
County, Jiangxi Province, in the southeastern part o f the People's Republic o f China.
There is very little information on Pengze in general and Taohong in particular. The
following description is largely gleaned from a book titled The Gazetteer o f Pengze
County (Anonymous 1984) and a survey report of the neighboring Taohongling Sika
Deer Reserve (Ding et al. 1990)
Taohong covers an area o f 1600 ha. It consists of 13 small hamlets of varying
size. The population as of 1996 was 1855. Agriculture produced over 90% of its
economic revenue. The annual per capita income was around RMB¥l,000 (IUS$ =
¥8 .3 as o f July 1998). Geographically, Taohong Village is located in a V- shaped
small valley about 6 kilometers long, with an area of about 20 km2, at the foothill of
Mount Taohong on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. It is a low and
undulating hilly region with elevations between 30-536 m above sea level. The
climate is moist monsoon type with clear seasonal change during the year. The
average annual temperature is 16.3C°. The annual precipitation is 1,326 mm and
over 40% of it falls during May-July.
As is typical o f all rural Chinese villages, all the households are situated
close together. A high percentage of the families in a hamlet are connected through
family relationships. There are intensive daily interactions among the inhabitants in a
hamlet. Everyone sees and knows what others are doing; there are no secrets among
the villagers themselves. None o f the houses is numbered. There is no post office in
Taohong, though a designated general store serves that role. The mailman leaves the
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mail at that general store and picks up the outgoing mail three times a week. People
go to the store to pick up their own mail. The nearest telephone is 7 km away.
Transportation is very limited. There is no regular bus service at Taohong. A
crude dirt road leads to a whistle bus stop 2 km away. The only motor vehicles in the
village are a few motorcycles with attached trailer for carrying passenger and cargo
alike. The motorcycles shuttle among the village, commune, and the county seat
irregularly, or upon request.
Taohong has a short history of development. According to the written
record, human settlement first appeared in the middle o f Qing Dynasty (1644-1911
AD). Since then the local people lived off the land in a self-sustainable style almost
unaltered until the early part in this century. They grew paddy rice for food,
rapeseed for cooking oil, cotton for clothes, and raised poultry and livestock for
protein supplemented with fish and shrimp from streams and game meat from the
mountains. Agricultural activities only occupied them for half a year. During the
rest of the time, they usually resorted to charcoal making and hunting to supplement
their meager income. Trapping was quite popular because price of the pelts was
high.
Although no accurate population census data are available, the local
population remained low owing to the harsh living conditions. Only at the beginning
of this century did a steady flow of immigrants from northern China boost the local
population to 200-300 inhabitants. During the Sino-Japanese war in early 1940s
Taohong was the skirmishing ground among Communist, Nationalist, and Japanese
troops. Many inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes and moved away. The
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local population was dramatically reduced and only reached its former level in the
early 1950s.
Organized immigration started in 1956 when a group of farmers from the
poorer neighboring Anhui Province across the Yangtze River moved in to reclaim
the land. The collectivization of agriculture was achieved by 1958. In the same year
Dengsheng commune was connected to Pengze county seat by a dirt road that was
only 2 km away from Taohong. Before that rice, the chief local commodity, had to
be carried to Pengze on human shoulder over a distance o f fifteen kilometers. When
the most catastrophic famine hit across China during 1959-1961, starving
immigrants poured into Taohong from Anhui, using the predecessors as the step-
stone. The local population soared to over 900 in 1964, 1,500-1,600 in 1974-1975.
Free immigration was closed in 1972 and the pace o f population growth slowed
noticeably. The population grew to 1,618 in 1984 and about 1,800 in 1994. Strict
birth control has successfully stabilized the population at its current level in the past
few years.
This huge population surge benefited greatly from a large-scale campaign to
eradicate the pervasive shistosomiasis, which was launched in 1953 and lasted well
into the 1970s. Before the Liberation (1949), 15,173 persons died from that disease,
4,249 families died out, and 316 villages were abandoned. Since the population in
Pengze was only 278,541 in 1983, the threat o f that disease was dire. As a result of
the campaign, this prevalent disease was held in check, making Taohong a suitable
place to live for the first time in history.
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Increased population made intensive agriculture necessary and possible.
Cotton growing spread rapidly after 1958 and became the dominant cash crop in the
late 1970s. Double cropping of paddy rice was also introduced after the
collectivization in 1958. But it was the introduction o f hybrid rice strain in the early
1970s that caused a dramatic increase in the yield of paddy rice. Now the farm works
could keep the farmers fully occupied year around.
In a short period of forty years, the habitat in Taohong was dramatically
changed. The riverbed, once covered with reed and tall grass, was turned into fertile
farmland. The dense broadleaf forest that welcomed the newcomers disappeared and
was replaced by a combination of tall grasses and low shrub species maintained by
annual firewood collection and frequent fires. Only in some remote areas or regions
posted by the local forest farms do small patches o f deciduous broadleaf and in rarer
frequency evergreen-deciduous broadleaf forest remain.
Eking out a living from agriculture in the days o f collectivization was not
easy. In the 1970s, the cash income of a strong laborer was only ¥150-200 each year
and almost all the households operated in the red. The abolition of collectivization
in 1982 brought about profound social and economic changes to Taohong. Villagers
finally had a piece of land of their own. They could decide what kind of crops to
grow and dispose the harvest freely after paying the farmland rent. The long pent-up
energy of the farmers gushed out. The existing lands were taken good care of and
new farmland was reclaimed. By 1994 the official figure o f farmland was 128 ha
(official means taxable) while as many as 167 ha were tilled by the villagers as part
of the underground economy. Personal incomes increased rapidly.
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Decollectivization also gave the villagers more personal freedom to practice
alternative employment options as long as they could pay the farmland rent.
Alternative forms o f employment were eagerly tried out. Traditional occupations,
including hunting and trapping, were practiced again. More and more people
traveled outside and brought back new ideas and values. Since the early 1990s,
around 100 young people left Taohong to seek seasonal employment in the cities and
more prosperous coastal region each year and some stayed out there.
Taohong is not far away from the economic reform that is reshaping China.
It is only 22 km to the Yangtze River, the most important water transportation course
in the country, and 73 km to Jiujiang, the first special economic zone in Jiangxi
Province and an important city on the junction of the Yangtze River and the recently
completed Beijing-Hong Kong railway. In addition, a proposal to build a nuclear
power plant less than 20 km from Taohong has been under consideration. A tar-
surfaced road that passes within 2 km of Taohong was under construction and
telephone service would be soon available depending on enough funding.
Taohong presented a dynamic picture of a rural village that was undertaking
a profound transformation. This was occurring in the wake o f sweeping economic
reform from a planned economy to a more open market economy. It was a
microcosm o f the panorama o f what was happening throughout rural China.
Deer Reserve that was established to protect a remnant population o f the endangered
Sika deer (Cervus nippon kopschi) in 1981. A general survey was carried out in and
near the reserve during 1988-89, providing the only background information on the
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local fauna and flora (Ding et al. 1990). According to the survey report, 26 species o f
wildlife (1 1 birds and 15 mammals) that are regarded as economically important and
are commonly harvested for meat, fur, and feather, or used in traditional Chinese
medicine.
Methods
Wildlife harvest surveys in a remote rural region like Taohong presented
formidable difficulties. There is no sampling frame available. Wildlife management
hardly exists at the grassroots level. There was no record of hunting or trapping
permits to identify those who were the harvesters, where they lived, or what kinds of
harvest methods they used. Harvesters did not turn in their game for marking and
inspection so there was no way to know how many animals they actually caught. As
the wildlife harvesters sold their catches freely on the market and no record o f these
transactions was required, it was very difficult to estimate the economic returns from
the wildlife harvest.
Secondly, the basic infrastructure needed for a quick survey was not
available. The lack o f telephone service ruled out the possibility o f a convenient
telephone survey. The mail survey was next to impossible. Mail was not delivered to
the houses, but left at a designated general store for the receivers to pick up by
themselves. The rate of illiteracy among the adult population was high. Writing and
receiving a letter was rare. The only option left was the face-to-face interview.
Face-to-face interview is costly and time-consuming enough, but the
primitive nature o f communication and transportation in Taohong made the situation
even worse. Without telephone and prompt mail service it was impossible to arrange
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an appointment in advance, thus the availability o f the intended interviewees was
always a big problem. Several visits might be needed to secure a meeting. A meeting
did not necessarily lead to an interview for even when the potential interviewee was
at home. The interviewee might be busy with other activities and was not keen to
spend time on something that he did not understand or perceive as having immediate
or visible benefit.
Inaccessibility was another serious problem. Not all villages could be
reached by motor vehicle. Even in these villages that had a passable road,
interviewees could only be reached on foot or by bicycle, for the appearance o f any
kind o f vehicle, a rare event, was often connected with some governmental functions
and would attract a big crowd.
This further limited the area and numbers o f interviews that I could conduct.
Therefore the study was limited to the Taohong Village only.
To conduct an interview in the rural region like Taohong one encountered
numerous difficulties that might seriously threaten the reliability of the information
obtained. A basic difficulty facing social researchers in developing countries is that
the activity o f social research and the role o f social researcher or interviewer are not
widely recognized (Bulmer 1983). As a result, confusion is likely to occur between
research organizations and the administrative functions of government (Pausewang
1973, Turan 1975). This is particularly true in China where the existence o f the
government is ubiquitous and all-powerful. All the institutions are indeed run by the
government. The emergence of private organization has occurred only in the past
decade. Although there are some differences between research and governmental
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institutions, the fine difference is usually too subtle for the common villagers to
detect. In addition, researchers often purposely emphasize their connection with the
government in order to receive the perks reserved for the governmental officials.
When approached with a request for an interview, the interviewers are quite
likely to be mistaken for government employee or someone with government
background. As the previous contacts with the government have bad connotations,
e.g., collection o f new or extra taxes, land taken for some government scheme,
personal possessions or crops confiscated, or enforcement of the unpopular birth
control policy, local people regarded anything they thought may be connected with
government with an appreciable degree o f reserve and suspicion (Hershfield 1983).
The information on wildlife harvest was a taboo in particular, for inquiry into that
field had always connected with investigations into poaching cases. Because literally
the current wildlife harvest was an illegal practice, the local wildlife harvesters were
naturally reluctant to disclose that kind o f information to a stranger.
There was a promising aspect, however. Wuelker (1983) believes that in
many of developing countries human relationships have remained more natural and
unspoiled than in the West. Mutual trust still plays a bigger part than amid the rush
and agitation of the industrialized countries. If the interviewer manages to inspire
confidence, all classes of the community will answer his questions with alacrity.
Luckily the ecological study required me to live at Taohong for a fairly long
period of time, so I had the chance to gain familiarity with local conditions and to
develop rapport with local peoples especially the wildlife harvesters, which would
make a resident interview possible. Some social researchers claim that resident
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interview is the only technique that can assure complete and unbiased information in
southeast Asia (Mitchell 1983).
Considering all the factors mentioned above, participant observation was
chosen to collect information on wildlife harvest at Taohong. It included personal
observations, informal and natural interviews, and informants' descriptions
(Jorgensen 1989). It is a proper approach for problems when little is known about
the phenomenon, where there are important differences between the views of
insiders as opposed to outsiders, and, the phenomenon is somehow obscured from
the view of outsiders and from public view (Jorgensen 1989).
For participant observation, the first, and also the most critical, step in
participant observation is the entry stage. It is the time when the observer is getting
used to the new setting, and the people in that setting are getting used to the
observer. As Johnson (1975) emphasizes, the achievement of successful entry is not
only a precondition for doing the research, but also concerns the validity of the data
that is subsequently collected.
The entry was achieved by the cultivation of key informants. With the help
from an employee of the neighboring Taohongling Sika Deer Reserve who was also
a native of Taohong, I hired the leading local trapper to capture animals for my
ecological study. After that initial introduction any further connection with the
government was carefully avoided. The trapper hired was famous for his trapping
skills and was well known among local wildlife harvesters and common villagers
alike. As the headmaster o f the local primary school, his son had full connection
with the local leaders. After we came to know each other better, he offered me
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lodging and board at his house and treated me as a family member after I moved in.
From him I learned about his trapping and hunting career, the background
information o f the local community, the history o f local wildlife harvest and trade,
wildlife harvest tools, economic returns, useful terms in local dialect, and
information on social customs and proper manners.
The key informant was extremely helpful in my acceptance by the local
community. It was inconceivable for the local wildlife harvesters to comprehend
why someone in my capacity would take all the troubles and hardships to come to
their small village to ask trivial questions of how many animals they took in the
previous season, leaving the easy life in the United States and Beijing behind. It
would be impossible to expect them to tell me their true story if they thought I was
lying to them and had something up my sleeve. The appearance of a stranger
naturally raised the curiosity o f the local villagers. As my landlord, the key
informant was the source of all the news around me, ideal to advertise the image I
wanted to present. In answering the questions of his relatives, friends, and neighbors,
he convinced them that my story was true. I was indeed a wildlife graduate student
studying abroad and came to Taohong for the fieldwork for my dissertation. His
words were much more convincing than all my efforts combined. As it turned out, I
was generally referred to as the man who lived at his house. The mere mentioning o f
his name was the best introduction when I ran into some trappers and hunters alone.
All the other trappers and hunters were reached through the “known-sponsor
approach” (Patton 1990). Utilizing the Asian system o f personal introductions for
any and all relationships, the key informant played an irreplaceable role in
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introducing the local wildlife harvester circle to me. He escorted me to their houses,
made the necessary introductions, explain my study to them, and stayed through the
meeting. He also helped me to interpret the data I obtained from the interviews. His
company was the best proof that I was a trustworthy person, and the information I
required would bring no harm to them.
The bulk o f the harvest data were obtained by a conversational and guided
interviews administered to all the harvesters (Patton 1990). The interview guide was
a list o f questions or issues that were to be explored in the course of an interview. It
was prepared with the help o f the key informant before starting the interviews in
order to make sure that basically the same information was obtained from the
interviewees by covering the same material. As no previous study of similar nature
had ever been conducted that could be used as guidance, my work was o f testing
nature. Considering the education level of the local community the questions were
made short, straight, and open-ended, directed to collecting factual rather than
attitudinal information. The open questions permitted the subjects to respond to a
greater extent in terms familiar to them and in categories of their own conception.
They were suitable to be easily administered in a casual chatty style in comparison
with the fine-scaled, elaborately prepared questionnaire. An interview guide is
attached (Appendix A).
Asians are known to be too polite and frequently underestimate themselves
and their achievements and personal merit (Jones 1963). Another source o f possible
bias is the so-called courtesy bias, which seems to be especially common in Asia
(Mitchel 1983). This means that the respondent would provide the information that
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he feels will please the interviewer. Where high social value is placed upon courtesy,
avoiding open disagreement and maintaining a pleasant and agreeable atmosphere in
the interview, the interviewee is likely to answer in ways that do not disturb this
atmosphere in the interview situation.
To correct these biases, every effort was taken to make the interview an
informal and casual one. Ideally interview should be carried out without the
harvesters realizing that there was an interview going on. The first several visits
were often used to establish rapport with the interviewee before serious interview
could proceed (Hershfield et al. 1983). Any suggestion o f a formal interview was
carefully avoided. No lengthy description on the study and its background,
objectives, procedures and possible benefits to the village proceeded the interview.
No tape recorders or printed questionnaire were used. Data were memorized or jotted
down in a notebook with the consent of the interviewees. When an interview was
finally underway, the one-way, matter-of-fact style of questioning was avoided. I did
not come down to the topic directly but always started with a casual chat on subjects
o f common interest, for instance, crops, their children’s education, and the local
news. When the interviewee showed interest in me and asked questions during the
interview, I always spent some time to satisfy their curiosity, but managed to
navigate the conversation naturally back to the preset guide for the interview.
Private interviews were relatively rare; almost all interviews were conducted
in the presence of other people. In perspective this might be beneficial for Mitchell
(1983) believes that studies seeking information rather than attitudes, the presence of
the third parties may help keep the respondent honest and assist him in remembering
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the requested information. If it were not possible to conduct the interview in privacy,
as it was often the case, I would wait until the interviewee felt comfortable with the
people present. It was often necessary to conduct an interview in an intermittent way
or break it down to several sessions. In that case I would ask questions that
overlapped with the previous ones so the reliability o f the interview results could be
checked. As a rule I went over to the harvesters’ houses for the interview. As far as
possible the interviews were carried out along with other activities, such as festivals,
game play, or an accidental encounter at the department store. Interviewing
respondents where they worked was tried but stopped except for inadvertent
encounter in the field. For it was impractical to expect the interviewee to stop for an
interview in the middle of his work. Such an approach made it seem a formal and
urgent occasion.
Finally all data obtained were checked using the data triangulation method,
i.e. the use o f variety of other data sources (Denzin 1978). The data collected from
the interviewees and the key informant were double-checked with administrative
records, local chronicles, interviews with local leaders and other villagers,
harvesters, and fur collectors, to eliminate the possible intrusion of errors. The key
informant was also crucial to this process.
I must admit that my study is seriously handicapped by the lack of previous
planning and the small sampling size. All the data came from a single sampling
point. This study may serves more like an anthropological approach to detect the
priorities for future comprehensive studies.
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Results
All the 27 active wildlife harvesters at Taohong Village were interviewed as
least once. The word "active" means they operated at sometimes in the past four
seasons. Three inactive harvesters who operated in the past but discontinued in the
past four seasons were also interviewed. In addition, 18 hunters and trappers from
nearby villages were interviewed, though these data were not used in this paper.
The wildlife traders that I interviewed included 4 fur buyers and 6 game meat
middlemen. A trip to the Wengang Fur and Writing-brush market was arranged. I
also visited the provincial branch o f the state-owned company that was franchised to
conduct wildlife trade to collect the data on wildlife trade across the province.
Interviews with the employees o f the adjoining Taohongling Sika Deer
Reserve, and the wildlife managers at commune, county, prefecture, provincial, and
central (same as Federal) level were undertaken. Interviewees also included the local
leaders at the village and commune levels. In fact, every encounter with the local
villagers was used to collect information on wildlife harvest either by the harvesters
or the ordinary villagers. Local chronicles, government documents, and other media
also were used.
Harvest Season
Legally there has been no designation o f official harvest season.
Traditionally the completion of agricultural activity in the late fall signaled the
beginning o f wildlife harvest season each year. It usually started at the end o f
September, and lasted till January o f the Chinese lunar calendar, which is
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approximately one month behind the Gregorian calendar; the exact date shifted a
little from year to year. It was only in those relatively work-free months that the
farmers could spare some time to engage in wildlife harvest and other supplemental
jobs to subsidize their meager income from farming. The weather was also a factor.
It would be cold enough that the animals would remain fresh in the trap for a few
days, or until enough animals could be accumulated to justify a trip to the market.
The winter coats of the furbearers should have fully developed by then, and the taste
o f the game meat was regarded prime in those cold months.
Since trapping was mainly for the furbearers, its season was strictly dictated
by the weather. For hunting the picture was different because its main target was
game meat, thus its duration was heavily influenced by the market demand and food
preservation techniques. As a last resort, a meal of game meat by the family would
always be a welcome change to the routine diet. With the steady increase in the
demand for game meat and the improvement in preservation facilities (i.e., the
availability o f electrical refrigerator), the hunting season was becoming longer and
longer. For some ardent hunters, it already extended to the entire year, except from
May to July when the farming activities were most demanding.
Harvest Tools
Altogether nine kinds of harvest tools were recorded at Taohong (Table 5 .1).
As there has been very little information on those harvest methods, I hereby describe
them in more detail as follows;
1) Ground bow (bamboo-powered foothold trap) —This is one o f the most
common traps used in southern China. Almost all the trappers started their career
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with this particular trap. Its basic structure is a piece o f hollowed-out bamboo tube
with a bundle of long, slim bamboo pieces attached to it perpendicularly. The free
end o f the bundle has a noose attached to it. The bundle produces the power when
bent. With one foot pulled into the bamboo tube, the animal caught is not able to
chew on the noose (Han I960). Ground bow is sensitive and reliable. Its strength can
be tailored by adding or reducing the number o f bamboo pieces in the bundle. The
trapped animal is able to drag the bow around so as to reduce the possible injury
incurred. The dense grasses and shrubs prevent it from moving very far. It leaves a
conspicuous trail to be easily tracked. The major target species of ground bow are
small and middle-size furbearers, though animals as large as the common leopard
(Pcmthera pardiis) or wolf (Canis lupus) can be caught when the ground bow is
scaled up. The ground bow is generally set up at the edge o f bushes near the foothill.
The only shortcoming of the ground bow is that it loses its power when the bamboo
pieces dry up. A newly set ground bow can remain functional for about a week in the
hot weather without rain.
2) Hanging bow (spring-up foothold trap) —Hanging bow is basically an
elastic stick about one and half meters long. One end o f the stick is anchored in the
ground. The free end has a noose attached to it. In setting up, the free end is bent to
the ground and locked there by a trigger system buried underground. When the
animal steps on the treadle, the stick snaps up, tightens the noose around the foot,
and pulls the leg off the ground (Chen 1966). The sole target o f hanging bow is
muntjac. They are always set up in the woods at high altitude where muntjac lives.
Because the stick, freshly gathered on the spot, can maintain its elasticity by
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absorbing water from the soil, the hanging bow can remain functional for several
months after set.
In terms o f economy, the hanging bow is unsurpassable in capturing muntjac
Except for the tools (a wooden hammer, a small hacksaw, and a curved knife), a
hanging bow costs no more than a nylon noose and two small wood chips as the
treadle, for the stick and trigger are made from tree branches on the spot. With a
small cloth bag weighing five pounds, slung across his back, a trapper has all he
needs to set up more than one hundred traps. The capture rate was about one animal
per 40 traps. A trapper often ends up with so many traps set that he can only check
them about once a week. For this reason as many as 25% o f the muntjac caught in
hanging bows were lost to either other animals or humans.
3) Firearms —The only firearm available to hunters in China are shotguns.
All rifled firearms are classified as military weapons and are banned in hunting.
Generally speaking, shooting was never popular because o f the government's tacit
policy o f disarming the general public. In the past the hunters used muzzle loading
percussion musket. Since the 1950s military rifles issued to the local militia were
often used in hunting. That was the reason some harvesters could practice hunting
without owning a firearm. All the militia rifles were recalled in the end of the 1970s.
At the same time the breech-loading shotgun became gradually more affordable to
the public. Currently muzzle-loaders are still used.
Previously hunting required great skill. It was often required shooting in
pitch dark, locating the position o f the animal by the sounds it made. The advent of
the jacklighting made the hunting much more simple, efficient, and entertaining for
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the hunter. Hunters usually go out at night, often in pairs, with the help o f torchlight
mounted on a helmet and powered by a portable battery. The main targets o f hunting
are species o f game meat, especially wild pig, porcupine, hare, and pheasants.
Nevertheless, hunters would shoot any animal they encounter rather than going
home empty-handed. Dogs were rarely used either as pointers or retrievers, though a
hunter from a neighboring village obtained a pointer and often went out in the
twilight to shoot pheasants.
The biggest drawback for hunting is the high price of the firearms. In 1996
the black market price was ¥1,600 for a single breech-loading shotgun and ¥2,200
for a double one. It is a huge sum o f money if we consider the fact that the annual
cash income at Taohong was only about ¥1,000 in 1996. A good muzzleloader
would cost ¥300-400.
All the shotguns and the necessary supplies such as lead shots, gunpowder, and
primes were bought at the black market up the Yangtze River in Hubei Province. To
cut cost, the hunters without exception reload shell themselves.
4) Poison bait —The drug used is cyanide. It is available at the state owned
general store or rat-bane peddler’s stands. When it was first introduced in the 1950s,
it gained instant popularity for its sweeping effect on a spectrum o f species and its
easy application. Not only were the pelts intact, even the meat was still edible when
cooked properly. It was so effective that the pelt production of ferret badgers in
Jiangxi Province almost doubled (Sheng and Lu 1975). The most common victims
are small and medium sized furbearers. It is always applied along the edge o f the
farmland where the fallen animals could easily be spotted. The high demand for the
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cyanide has resulted in bogus products in the market, which eroded the confidence of
potential buyers. The use of poison bait is also seriously hindered by the human
disturbance for it is used where human activities are frequent. The user has to beat
other villagers to be the first one there in the early morning to collect the results.
That seriously limits the amount of baits each user could apply.
5) Baited bomb ~ The bomb is a lump of gunpowder mixed with fine
porcelain splinters, and wrapped in brown paper, plastic membrane, wax and bait (Li
1989). The friction between gun powder and porcelain splinters under the pressure
o f biting ignites the explosion that usually kills the animal on the spot. Its main
targets are wild pig and leopard. Smaller bombs are also available for small
carnivores. The baited bombs are usually hung down from a branch or placed
prominently on the trail.
The success rate of baited bomb is very low. In the local people’s mind the
bomb is a very dangerous weapon. Many of them use or claim to use it in their
orchard or watermelon field to deter stealing. That is the reason that villagers would
always steal the bombs when they find them. Small mammals also account for some
losses. They would drag the bombs off the trail and nibble away the bait without
setting it off. The local hunters and trappers can easily make the bombs at home if
they can obtain the raw materials or buy them at the black market. Because o f the
raw materials are also used in making gunpowder, they are under strict government
control. So the supply of bombs is very limited and the price is high. Its high price
and low success rate make it economically not sound to use it separately. They are
always used along the trap line or hunting route.
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6) String crossbow —The string crossbow is a common crossbow mounted
on two stumps thirty to forty centimeters above the ground. It would automatically
fire an arrow when an animal touch a string that stretches across the trail (Han 1960).
It is specifically directed at large carnivores like common leopard (Pcmthera pardtus)
and clouded leopard (Felis nebtilosa) that have a regular trail. The arrowheads are
treated with poison so even a small scratch will kill the animal promptly. The
trappers concoct the poison by themselves and kept the recipe secret. The major
ingredient is common monkshood (Aconitum carmichaeli). It takes a long time to
gather all the ingredients needed.
Owing to its high risk to human and livestock, it is only used in remote areas.
Furthermore, whenever it is used, a safety device, called breast lines, is always
installed. They are two lines that run across the trail on each side o f the crossbow at
breast height and are connected with the trigger system o f the crossbow. When
people or large livestock approach the crossbow, they will touch one o f the breast
lines first so as to set off the crossbow before reaching the passage of the arrow. The
target animals are not high enough to reach the breast line. In spite of these
precautions, it is still the most dangerous of all harvest tools used in Taohong. There
have been accidents fatal to humans in the past.
7) String gun — The string gun is similar to the string crossbow, except a
muzzleloader replaces the crossbow (Gao and Ye 1959, Li 1989). It is only used in
the extremely remote regions, and it also requires breast lines.
8) Wooden walk-in cage trap —This trap is used specifically to capture
Siberian weasels (M ustela sibirica) that have a proclivity o f exploring furrows. It is
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clumsy and heavy and is only used around the village. Its high visibility renders it
vulnerable to human disturbance.
9) Deadfall —The major part of a deadfall is a wooden frame loaded with
rocks and soil (Li 1989). It is used to catch small furbearers near the village. It shares
the same fate with the cage trap.
O f these harvest methods, four of them, the poison bait, baited bombs, string
crossbow, and string gun, have been legally banned since the 1960s.
The most striking feature o f these traditional harvest tools is their low cost,
which makes them practically expendable. This is a valuable adaptation to the
frequent sabotage resulting from the ubiquitous human disturbance in that area.
Except for shotguns, all the other harvest tools were made from the local materials
such as wood, bamboo, and hemp rope. The only recent change is the replacement of
hemp rope by nylon, though many experienced trappers still prefer hemp rope for it
does not become slippery when wet.
A low price does not necessary mean inferior quality. The local trapping
tools are quite effective against their specific targets, under the local weather
conditions. In fact, they have been perfected by generations over generations of
trappers such that there is really little room for further improvement. I have
compared the ground bows with the state-of-the- art steel foothold trap manufactured
in the United States. I must admit that ground bows are more sensitive and reliable
than the steel traps. As for the price, there is absolutely no comparison.
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Hunters and Trappers
There are no Chinese words corresponding to "hunter" and "trapper". Instead,
a general term "Lie Ren" is used referring to the people who either trap or hunt, as
the delineation between hunters and trappers is not precise. In fact, many o f them
practice both trapping and hunting activities at the same time. In this study those
who used firearm in the past four seasons were regarded as hunters and those who
used either ground bow or hanging bow were classified as trappers. This definition is
applicable except for one harvester. He started as a trapper and continued trapping
after he later bought a shotgun.
There is also the need to define the wildlife harvester. As the wildlife harvest
activities remain largely unmanaged, every villager is a potential wildlife harvester
as no permit is required. Most villagers will use any tool handy to kill an animal
when given the chance. There were cases when villagers killed small Indian civets
with stones and caught muntjac by hand. In this study, only those who used at least
one kind o f harvest tools were considered harvesters.
Altogether 27 wildlife harvesters were identified at Taohong Village. Out of
a population of 1,855, that resulted in a density of about 1.5 residential harvesters
per 100 inhabitants. The general information of these harvesters is listed in Table
5 1. All o f them are male, a common phenomenon in the area, and all are active
harvesters who operated in the past four seasons. Others who harvested previously
but had stopped in the past four seasons were not counted here.
The distribution of the harvesters among the hamlets in Taohong is listed in
Table 5.2. The number o f harvesters in each hamlet is not in proportion to the
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population size o f that hamlet. Based on my observation at Taohong and other
villages nearby, I come to the conclusion that it is a cluster distribution. That is, there
are more harvesters in the village where there is an experienced harvester. The
reason is simple. Unlike the shooting that is more straightforward, a novice needs the
instructions of a master trapper and years of practice to become a qualified trapper.
Old masters guard their skill closely to reduce potential competition and are only
willing to share their skills with their family members, relatives, and close friends
who often live in the same village. Even for those who do not have the necessary
connection, it is easier to learn surreptitiously from a trapper who lives nearby.
Most o f the harvesters over fifty years old are illiterate. In the past only the
boys from the poor families took up trapping. Because they could not afford to
attend school, and because they often worked as buffalo herders, they often has
sufficient free time to learn and practice trapping. Out of the 14 harvesters with
formal education, the average education level was 8.2 years. Because there are no
data on the general education status of the local community and also due to my small
sample size, it is impossible to conclude whether the education of the harvesters is
representative of the community. My impression is that it is a good representation of
the education condition of the local community.
The average age of the 27 harvesters was 41.7 years. Table 5.3 shows that
there were no teenage recruits in the harvester group. Most of the hunters were under
forty years old while the trappers were more advanced in age. The average ages for
the trappers and hunters were 48.6 and 33 years old, respectively. There is
significant difference between them (F=3.31, P=0.0222).
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Trappers also had a longer career history than the hunters (Table 5.4). The
average length of career for the trappers and hunters was 26.3 years and 7.6 years,
respectively. There is significant difference between them (F=7.55, P<0.01). Most of
the hunters (10 out of 13) had practiced less than ten years. 8 of the 15 trappers had a
career o f more than thirty years; another cohort of 6 trappers had a history o f three to
five years. This may indicate that somewhere between the middle 1960s and to the
end of the 1980s there was hardly any recruitment into the ranks o f harvesters. Most
hunters started in the past ten years. There were some fresh trappers in the past five
years. As a result the age structure of the harvesters group is not a pyramid shape.
Among the 9 kinds of harvest tools used, the most common ones were
shotgun, ground bow and hanging bow. In aggregate each harvester used 2.3 kinds
o f tools. On average, a trapper used 3.3 kinds of tools while a hunter used only 1.5
(F=2.98, P=0.0327). In the past four seasons, the most commonly used tools
remained the same. However, the number of methods used was reduced to five, and
the ratio dropped to 1.5 methods/harvester. This demonstrates that overall the older
harvesters were more versatile in harvest methods, while the younger generation is
using fewer kinds of harvest methods. As the older generation gradually ceases
harvest activities, some of the traditional harvest methods may disappear.
O f the 16 harvesters who had used firearms in their careers, 13 hunted in the
past four seasons. As mentioned above, hunters usually did not own firearms but
made use o f the militia rifles. When the militia rifles were called back, the activity of
the few harvesters who had such access ceased. Hunting activities revived in the
1980s when more villagers began to purchase shotguns. The numbers o f firearms
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jumped from one in the 1970s to eight in the 1980s. All o f them were muzzleloaders.
Four breechloading shotguns were purchased in the 93/94 and 94/95 harvest seasons,
while the numbers o f muzzleloaders remained stable (Table 5 .5). The number of
hunters was always larger than the actual number of the firearms for many family
members shared one shotgun among them.
The harvesters could be classified into professionals and amateurs. The
formers are these who are active in most o f the harvest season and are proficient in at
least one kind of harvest tool. By comparison, the amateurs are often the beginners,
or those who operate on an opportunistic basis. Without proper instructions from the
professional harvesters it is very difficult for amateurs to graduate to the professional
level. As a result, this group is relatively volatile. Their number fluctuates
considerably from year to year in response to the price of the wildlife parts, and their
own economic activity. Seven harvesters (six trappers and one hunter) were
identified as professionals.
Three young harvesters excelled among the amateurs and were nearly as
efficient as professional harvesters. One o f them was a hunter who worked his own
way up. The second was a trapper who learned the skills from a senior professional
trapper with my help, and the third one was the son o f a professional trapper. Their
incomes ranked the third, the fourth and the sixth among all the harvesters in the
third season. They are likely to soon become professional harvesters.
It is worth mentioning the ages o f the seven professional harvesters. The
average age is 58 years and it does not differ significant from the amateurs (36 years,
F=l. 17, P=0.3608). The youngest professional harvester was a 34-years old hunter.
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If he is excluded the average age of the remaining six trappers is raised to 62 years.
They would very soon cease to be active.
Most of the harvesting activities were carried out on daily basis and were
limited to the close proximity o f their residence. Trappers typically operated in the
daytime while the hunters went out at dusk and returned in the morning.
Occasionally a few of them would venture a little further and went out to other
communes, counties, or even provinces. Out o f the 27 harvesters, only 8 had gone to
other communes to harvest, and 4 trappers had gone to other provinces (all to the
Anhui Province across the Yangtze River). These trapping expeditions were always
motivated by the higher density o f muntjac in other regions where the harvest
pressure was relatively low.
Harvest
The villagers at Taohong used a wide spectrum of wildlife in their daily life.
They used snails and clams to feed poultry, collected shrimp, fish, frogs, and turtles
for food, and used snakes for medicinal purpose. However, the most common
species used were various birds and mammals. Except for a few species of pet birds,
such as Huamei (G am ilax c. ccmorus) and Leiothrix I. lutea, all the other birds were
harvested for meat. Mammals were used mainly for their pelts and meat. In this
dissertation the term of "wildlife" refers specifically to species of birds and
mammals.
It is a challenging, if not totally impossible, task to obtain an accurate
inventory o f the species and amount o f animals harvested in each season. The local
harvesters did not keep a record of their harvest. The figures they offered were
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usually a rough estimate from their memory. More often than not the number was an
underestimate, for it was improper in Chinese culture to show off by citing your
achievement. Thus, it would be appropriate to regard the numbers here as the
minimum amount of harvest.
The game yields (mammals and birds only) in the past four seasons are listed
in Table 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9, respectively, breaking down for each harvester, and
are summarized in Table 5.10. Altogether 1,427 animals (1,316 mammals and 111
birds) belonging to twenty species were harvested. The game yields in the first two
seasons were almost the same, with 434 and 429 animals each. It dropped slightly in
the third season to 381 and plummeted to 183 in the fourth season (Table 5.10).
Table 5.11 summarizes the percentage of the harvest taken by the hunters,
trappers, and other villagers. It was not surprising that hunters and trappers obtained
the largest share of the harvest, contributing 56.6% and 39.3% of the total yield. The
harvest by all other villagers only accounted for 4.1%. Further result presentation
will concentrate on the activities o f hunters and trappers, only.
The most numerous species were hares, accounting for 57 .7% of the total
harvest. The local harvesters did not separate these two species. It was distantly
followed by muntjac (14.2%), ferret badger (Melogale moschata) (10.8%), and three
species o f pheasants (ring-necked pheasant Phasianus colchicus; silver pheasant
Lophtira nycthemera\ and Elliot's pheasant Syrmaticus ellioti){6.3%). All the other
species account for less than 2.5% each.
Trappers and hunters targeted different game species. Trappers took 96.1 %
o f the muntjac and 75% of the ferret badger of which were trapped, while hunters
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harvested 76 .9% of the hares, 81.8% o f the porcupine (Hystrix hodgsoni), and 87 .4%
o f the pheasants.
Marketing Channel
Pelts. Pelt collectors from near and far called on the trappers and hunters at
their houses to buy the pelts that they then shipped to specialized pelt market. The
veteran pelt collectors learned by experience where the hunters and trappers lived,
and from them learned the whereabouts o f sporadic killings.
There was no residential pelt collector in Taohong. Nearby there was only
one collector, a Mr. Sun, who lives 2 km away. Mr. Sun by profession is a peddler
who travels from village to village to buy live poultry, feathers, and down. In 1990
he began pelt collection as a sideline and bought them when there was a bargain.
From the next year on, he engaged in fiir trading intentionally, and went out to
collect pelts regularly. His pelt collection covered four to five communes (including
Dengsheng commune in which Taohong is located) around his home. He went out
about once a week, for the volume of the business was not heavy enough to justify
more frequent visits. He learnt the trade from his father who used to be a traveling
junkman plying from village to village and later added pelt collection in 1978. He
stayed in the business for several years, stopped, and picked up again in early 1990s.
I met another fur collector at Taohong. He came from neighboring Dengzhi
County, Anhui province, about 80 km away. He entered this business upon leaving
middle school in 1985. He was a full time collector and covered a much bigger area.
Several more collectors visited Taohong in my absence. Collectors need to visit the
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trappers and hunters several times during a harvest season, for the competition
between collectors was rather high.
The trade data o f those two pelt collectors are listed in Table 5.12, and 5.13,
respectively. Muntjac and ferret badgers were the most common species in trade. In
fact, they are also the two most abundant fixrbearers in Jiangxi or southern China
(Sheng and Lu 1975, Lin 1986, Huang et al. 1990). They ranked second and third in
harvest at Taohong. The pelt of the hare, the most numerous species harvested, was
usually discarded for its low individual value.
All the pelts gathered were sent to Wengang Fur and Writing Brush Market,
about 300 km away from Taohong. It is the biggest fur market in southern China,
and the second largest fur market nationally (Huang et al 1990). All collectors have
connections in Wengang and go there to be briefed before starting of the annual
collection.
The pelts could be roughly divided into two groups. One is valued for the
guard hairs for making brushes. This group includes the European badger {Meles
meles), crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes nrva) and the hares. The other group is for
fur and leather product purposes, which includes most o f the remaining species. The
pelts produced in southern China, though less dense than the pelts from colder North
China, are praised for their attractive color pattern. The Siberian weasel (M ustela
sibirica) is an exception, for the guard hairs from its tail are used to make high
quality writing brush. Its pelt is a superb material to make long fur coats. The most
valuable pelts are those of the European badger and the leopard cat (Felis
bengalensis). The highest prices have reached ¥100 and ¥50 each.
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Game meat. The important species o f game meat are muntjac, wild pig,
hares, porcupines, pheasants, ducks and geese. Harvesters would inevitably intend to
sell the game meat at the market if it is economically feasible. In the past, trappers
and hunters used to sell their catches at the market by themselves, or called on
restaurants, the major consumer of game meat, from door to door. That took time
and money, and it was not always possible to find a generous buyer. Naturally game
middlemen emerged. They are peddlers who have regular stands of, say, poultry,
pork, or fish at the free market. Wildlife trade is only part-time job for them for the
harvest season only lasts about four months. They gathered the game meat from the
harvesters and sold them for a profit. As the business scale expanded gradually, the
middlemen began to build their own network to collect game from the grassroots
level for themselves. During my study at Taohong, it has gradually become a seller's
market for the game meats. It even occurred that the desperate buyer placed an order
and waited at the harvester's house on the agreed date to pick up the goods.
As the demand for and price of game meat steadily increased, the structure of
the wildlife trade network sprawled accordingly. It was only an easy leap from
providing the local market to supplying the big cities further away where the demand
for and therefore price of game meat is much higher. Some middlemen did send the
pheasants they gathered locally to Nanjing and Shanghai, two big cities about 400
and 600 km down the Yangtze River. In 1995/96-harvest season, the highest price
of the ring-necked pheasant at Pengze was ¥15 /kg, but the whole sale price was
¥36/kg at Nanjing and over ¥40/kg at Shanghai. In fact, similar networks for
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antiques and turtles already existed in Pengze. The addition o f game meat would be
a natural development.
Then the restaurant owners entered into the scene. As the supply of game
meat dwindled, they managed to secure the supply by buying the game middlemen
out. The role o f the middlemen has been changed from a supplier to a representative
o f the restaurant owner. The game meat (or the message o f it) gathered through the
network went to the restaurants first and then went to market if there was a surplus.
This signaled an important change in the wildlife trade. The wildlife products now
went directly from producer to the consumer, skipping the traditional link of market.
The availability of the telephone, big refrigerator, and fast transportation made this
possible. This made the wildlife trade extremely difficult to control. A similar trend
was noticed in other parts of China (Li and Wang 1998).
Table 5.14 contains the game species for sale at the two free markets at
Pengze County seat during August 1992- November 1994 based on separate visits on
fourteen days. It shows that almost any wildlife species would end up in the market.
However, the number given is beguiling. As a common ruse against market
inspectors, the middlemen would usually display a few samples of the game species
available, but keep the bulk o f the goods somewhere nearby. This is especially true
for the protected species and these species that have high value. Table 5.15
contained the trade data of two wildlife middlemen who had regular stands at the
free markets at Pengze County seat.
Ill
Economic Revenue
The most difficult problem in calculating economic revenues is to determine
the price o f the wildlife parts, especially the game meat. Unlike the pork that is a
daily commodity and has a relatively stable price, the price o f wildlife parts,
especially the game meat, fluctuates all the time. Since game meat is ordinarily used
for important social functions, such as formal banquets, wedding receptions, or gifts
(often bribe in disguise), its price is solely dependent on the synchrony o f supply and
demand. Generally speaking, the price of the game meat increases gradually and
reaches the peak preceding the Spring Festival, the Chinese equivalent to Christmas,
then drops dramatically after the Spring Festival and remained low through the rest
o f the harvest season. The price of the pelts did not change much during the harvest
season for the harvesters could wait for the proper price.
In this study I used a reasonable highest price to calculate the economic value
o f the game meat. That was the price the harvesters generally stick to before the
Spring Festival. The price for the pelts used was the highest price paid during the
whole harvest season. The economic revenue was calculated by multiplying the price
by the game yield, not the actual payment the harvesters might receive. I admit that
my calculation might overestimate the economic revenue of the harvest activities, for
not all wildlife parts reached the market or garnered the reasonable highest price.
Nevertheless, this bias was balanced, to some extent, by the fact that I very likely fail
to register all the harvest and the harvesters tended to underestimate their catches.
The annual price of the game meat and pelt in the past four seasons is listed
in Table 5.16. It shows that there has been a steady increase in the price of the
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wildlife parts, though the climb was much faster for the game meat. To give a
historical perspective o f the price change over the time the comparison of the price
o f pork and muntjac meat from the 1930s to now is summarized in Table 5 .17. At
the beginning, there was no market for muntjac meat locally. It was then as cheap as
the fish. Its price, if there was a demand, was lower than the pork for the local people
preferred the fatty pork for the heavy physical work. Then its price rose gradually till
muntjac tied with the pork in 1990. Since then the price o f muntjac meat increased at
a much faster pace than pork and finally became about twice the price of pork.
In contrast, the price o f the pelts was much higher in the past. Table 5 .18
compared the price o f the pelts between the 1930s and 1992/96 harvest seasons. The
price of 1930s was in silver dollar, and its buying capacity was converted to current
level using the price of rice, the common means o f payment in the past. Though I
chose the highest price of the corresponding pelts during the 1992/96 harvest
seasons, the old price o f pelts in 1930s was still staggeringly high. The former price
was at least 5 times higher than the present price. For Siberian weasel pelts the
difference was 80 times! It is understandable why trapping was very popular. We did
not register any record o f squirrel () harvest at Taohong. The price of squirrel was
taken from Huang et al (1990).
The economic revenues for the wildlife harvested in the four seasons is listed
in Table 5.19. Wildlife harvest generated ¥34,542 in the past four seasons, with the
annual income o f¥ 6,531, ¥10,091, ¥11,885, and ¥6,035 respectively. The muntjac
was the most valuable game species. It contributed more than half (57.4%) to the
economic incomes. The muntjac was followed by hares (22.1%), then distantly wild
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pig (Sus scrofa) (6.1%), ferret badger (4.2%), porcupine (3.2%) and pheasants
(2.4%). All the other species contributed less than 1.5%.
The economic value of the game species resulted from both pelt and meat.
For the six most numerous game species harvested, four o f them (hares, wild pig,
porcupine and pheasants) were harvested for meat. Muntjac was valued for both pelt
and meat, though its meat was much more valuable than the pelt. It was natural that
game meat contributed a large proportion in the total economic incomes. In the past
four seasons, the percentages o f the game meat in the total economic incomes were
84.8%, 88.4%, 83.4%, and 82.4%, with an overall percentage of 84.7%.
Trappers contributed 68.7% to the total incomes, and hunters accounted for
27.4%, while all the other villagers only took 3 .9%. The shares of the trappers
increased steadily from 65%, 66.9%, and 69.6% to 74.1% in the past four seasons. In
contrast, the shares of the hunters shrank from 31.3% down to 27.6%, 27.9%, and
21.5%.
The personal income for the individual harvesters was summed up in Table
5.20. Average income for all harvesters was ¥393. ¥415, ¥552, and ¥321 in the past
four seasons. The highest personal income was ¥5,948 for a trapper and the seasonal
average was ¥1,487. The highest income for a hunter was ¥3,537 and the seasonal
average was ¥1,179. The average incomes for the trappers were ¥530, ¥520, ¥590,
and ¥438, somewhat larger than the corresponding incomes for the hunters, ¥273,
¥278, ¥474, and ¥186. The overall average income o f the trappers (¥1,583) was
significantly greater than that of hunters (¥727) in the four seasons (F=3.05, P=0.03).
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One could not help noticing the huge disparity in the personal incomes
among the harvesters. It seems that a few experienced harvesters played a prominent
role in wildlife harvest. The top five harvesters constituted more than half (57%) of
the total income (including the part of other villagers), and the top ten 82.7%. To
prove that point, I made a general comparison between the professional and amateur
harvesters (Table 5.21). Average income for seven professional harvesters was
¥3,252, which was six times that of the average income o f the amateur harvesters
(¥532). There is significant difference among them (P = 0.0032).
Wildlife Management
In spite o f the numerous central and local statutes affecting wildlife harvest,
their enforcement at the grassroots level such as Taohong hardly exists. Pengze
County Forestry Bureau, the designated wildlife management authority across the
county, did not have a single employee engaged in wildlife management for there
were no appropriations for that purpose. The only relevant efforts they made were a
few cases o f poaching investigations concerning important national protected species
that might attract publicity. They simply did not have the human and financial
resources required to perform routine management practice.
Pengze County is officially closed to wildlife harvest, so there is no official
channel to apply for legal permits. With official acquiescence, the trappers and
hunters simply take the matter into their own hands. They make their own traps, buy
shotguns and supplies from black market, and sell the pelts and game meat freely.
They use whatever harvest methods they like, with or more likely without the
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knowledge o f their illegal status. They trap and hunt anywhere, any time of the year,
for any species, and take any amount they want.
Recently there have been new attempts to strengthen the law enforcement.
Wildlife parts, especially those of the protected species, for sale at the free market
are subject to confiscation by the market inspectors. But it is dubious whether their
motivation is to enforce the regulations or just use it as an excuse to procure free
game meat for themselves, as the harvesters often accuse them. Other efforts only
concerned the poaching within the Taohongling Reserve. At the beginning of the
1995/96 harvest season, two trappers were questioned by the Reserve staff for their
alleged trapping activity within the Reserve. Their trapping equipment was
confiscated and one was fined ¥500. Effort was also made to confiscate the shotguns
of another hunter of the neighboring village for allegedly hunting in the Reserve.
These measures had repercussion over the whole area. Many o f the local harvesters
reduced or even stopped their harvest activity in that season as a consequence.
But the hands o f the Reserve managers were tied. For their authority is
confined to within the boundary o f the Reserve and can not be administered over the
general harvest activities outside. Even in the Reserve their authority is seriously
compromised. Since the local villagers still collectively own the lands and forest in
the Reserve, they have full access to the Reserve for farming, firewood collecting,
grass cutting and other activities unless there is a ostensible conflict with the
protection o f the Sika deer. Poaching is unlikely to be eliminated under such
circumstance.
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Another incident, though not directly aimed at wildlife harvest, might have
profound impact on hunting. Vigorous efforts were made to enforce the Firearms
Control Act that was enacted in 1996. The act requires that owners register their
firearms at the local police station by a certain deadline. The legal firearms, those
firearms with permits, should be handed over to the police for custody. And the
illegal firearms, far outnumbering the legal ones, are subject to confiscation. The net
outcome is to strip all the firearms away from the general public. Similar actions
were called for several times in the past without noticeable result. It seems that the
authority intends to do a little more than lip service this time. It is not easy to
confiscate over ten million shotguns from their owners without any compensation.
The original intention was to combat the soaring crime rate. Undoubtedly, this effort,
if carried out to the full extent, would put an end to hunting completely. The Village
leaders had received the notice to tally the firearms in Taohong. One hunter sold his
breechloading shotgun in anticipation of the impending crackdown.
Rudimentary Wildlife Management Concepts
It would be hard to contend that the wildlife harvesters at Taohong
understand the basic principles of wildlife management as we know them. However,
their actual harvest practice did reflect their understanding of the essence of
sustainability.
Unlike hunting that requires less training, trapping requires years of training
to perfect. Without proper instructions from an experienced trapper a novice cannot
go very far by himself. The experienced masters have been very conservative about
sharing their skills and guard them closely and stubbornly. They were only willing to
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share their knowledge with their family members, relatives or close friends, for more
harvesters mean more competitors for the gradually diminishing wildlife resources.
So the harvester group was and still is a small and esoteric body with strong family
ties. This is demonstrated by the fact that out o f the 27 harvesters, two were brothers,
two were relatives, two learned from relatives in other villages, two cases of father
and one son, once case of father and three sons. Though the harvesters o f the older
generation are stepping down rapidly they feel no urgency or incentive to pass down
their skills to unrelated persons. At my request, Master Tang, the most experienced
trapper and one o f the key informants in my study, accepted an apprentice, who soon
excelled himself among the trappers. He was the only new qualified trapper during
1992-96. Fewer harvesters mean less harvest, so this system in practice helps to ease
the overexploitation.
The land tenure system helps to spread the harvesting pressure evenly across
the region to avoid overharvest locally. Though there is no official allocation of trap
lines as in Canada (Shaw 1991), the harvesters at Taohong have worked out a similar
way to divide the harvesting ground among themselves. In general, each trapper
operated in the area around his home. If there were more than one trapper in a
hamlet, the senior trapper was given the region closest to his home as a token of
respect. The young trappers, who were often the apprentices of the former, trapped at
more distant areas. There is a mutual understanding among the trappers that one
must not touch traps set up by others and should not trap in a region if someone else
is operating there. As the trappers are usually closely related and on very friendly
terms with each other that system worked smoothly.
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Another striking aspect is the rational utilization of wildlife resources.
Different methods are used to catch different animals so as to reduce the wasteful
killing o f nontarget species. All parts o f the game harvested are fully used. When
the game density became too low, trappers moved to trapping in other regions,
giving the local wildlife population a respite to recover.
Traditionally the harvest season was from late fall through the winter. That
actually imposed a closed season of about eight months long in which the wildlife
could breed unfettered. Although hunting season is becoming longer, almost all the
hunting activities were limited to the foothills. The mountains, the stronghold o f the
wildlife, were largely reserved for the trappers who still followed the traditional
harvest season.
Harvest was carried on a daily basis. That meant that all the harvest pressure
was limited to within a radius of half a day's travel on foot. There would be some
marginal regions along the edges of the villages where little or no harvesting was
exercised. These regions served as "source" to replete the loss to harvest in the areas
adjacent to human settlements.
Religious belief also helped keep the harvesters group small in the past.
Buddhism was the popular religion at Taohong. According to the Buddhist teaching,
it is a sin to kill life, man and animal alike. So some believers refused to engage in
wildlife harvest. Even some harvesters were reluctant to let their children enter the
career in fear o f retribution in the next world. But the influence o f religion is
becoming negligible among the younger generation.
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Discussion
Transition to Market Hunting
Nearly three thousand years ago, fur and game meat had already become
luxurious goods reserved for the privileged class and above the reach o f the ordinary
people (Zhou et al. 1984). Since then wildlife harvest was never out o f basic
necessity but was always market-oriented.
In the past the major marketable wildlife parts were furs for they were of
high value and easy to store and ship. The game meat, on the other hand, seldom
entered market for the obvious reason that it was difficult to preserve and ship the
game meat to the cities and towns where the demand existed.
Things began to change with the economic reforms in the late 1970s as
Taohong gradually opened up to the outer world. Wildlife furs remained as luxury
and almost all the furs entered market for export. As the international furs market
diminished, its price dropped considerably in comparison with the 1930s. The fur
price remained relatively stable in the recent years. With the rapid improvement in
transportation, food storage, and communications, it became easier to ship the game
meat to the market. Unlike the fixr, game meat is appreciated as food often with tonic
and medicinal properties, so it commands a much larger market. With the demand
for game meat on the rise and as game was shot out, the price went up rapidly. The
game meat has materialized its potential economic value and replaced the fur as the
most valuable wildlife parts. It contributed nearly 85% o f the economic revenues
from wildlife harvest in the past four seasons. With the market network well
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established and spreading, the transition from subsistence to market harvesting has
been largely completed.
As a food game meat enjoys an insatiable market. For a commodity that is
believed to have tonic and medicinal properties, it commands a rather high price. As
its value continues to increase these restaurants specialized in game meats gradually
increasingly depend on the patronage of the small privileged class of the rich and
government officials, whose patronage itself provides the necessary protection for
this often illegal business (Li and Wang 1998)
Introduction of Shotgun
Market harvesting calls for more efficient harvest equipment so the transition
from subsistence to commercial harvesting is usually accompanied by the
introduction o f modem shotguns and rifles. It was the widespread use of highly
efficient firearms that is regarded particularly dangerous to animal survival (Hames
1979, Yost and Kelley 1983, Redford and Robinson 1985)
This did not appear to be the case at Taohong. Although hunting became
more and more popular in the past ten years, it failed to displace the trapping
activities using traditional tools. Trappers contributed 68.7% of the total income
from wildlife harvest and their annual share increased steadily in the past four
harvest seasons. Several reasons for this phenomenon are noted.
The topography imposed serious limitations on hunting. Taohong is a rugged
hilly region covered with dense vegetation, which made stalk hunting —the only
form of hunting practiced locally —very difficult. The advent of jacklighting
alleviated the problem to some extent and opened hunting to more inexperienced
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young recruits, but also confined the hunting to the narrow fringe o f relatively open
farmland at the foothill. In fact, hunting did replaced trapping in that specific zone.
But only the trappers could penetrate into the mountains where muntjac, the most
important game species, live.
Trappers and hunters aimed at different kinds o f game species. For example,
in spite o f its high economic value, 96.1 % o f the muntjac were trapped. The
difference in preference was not caused by self-restraint but rather dictated by the
characteristics o f the harvest tools they used. Since muntjac lives in the mountains
and seldom come down to the foothill they are out of the reach o f the hunters.
Furbearers such as ferret badgers frequent the foothill but are usually neglected by
the hunters for shot holes would make their fur almost worthless. As traditional traps
were almost useless against porcupine, wild pigs, and pheasants, hunters took the
majority of these species.
The price of the harvest equipment is also an important consideration. The
high price of shotguns seriously crippled their popularity. In addition, the necessary
supplies were only available at the black market some distance away from the
village. It was not always convenient to visit the market. In comparison, the
traditional traps practically cost no more than the time to make them and are equally
efficient. The high price of the shotgun might be justified if the hunter is going to
use it often so as to earn the investment back quickly. For the occasional harvesters
traditional traps were certainly more feasible.
Finally firearm controls, though largely on paper still, play a certain role in
discouraging the widespread use of shotguns. In a populous and undemocratic
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country, it has been the priority o f the government to disarm the public whenever it
was convenient to do so. Almost in every past dynasty there existed laws banning
the private possession o f weapons. Although the local hunters could buy shotguns
easily at the black market, they could not help having a sense o f insecurity. In the
past twenty years there have been repeated efforts from the government to control all
kinds o f weapons and especially the firearms. Since the economic reform and
decollectivization in early 1980s, there has been a huge influx o f migrant labors from
the countryside to the towns and cities in search of jobs. They turned out to be a
serious security problem especially when they are unable to find a job. More
stringent restrictions on firearms were imposed to combat the soaring crime rate. The
latest Firearm Control Act, enacted in 1996, would completely take the firearms
from the (law-abiding) citizen if it could be enforced to the letter. With such a dire
future, it is no wonder people would think twice before investing a large sum of
money to buy a shotgun.
Currently hunting is still the most commonly used harvest method in
Taohong. It is especially popular among the young harvesters with little training
and skill. It could produce instant results and is immune to human disturbance. The
expansion of farmland opens up more areas for hunting. But hunting will never
replace trapping as the dominant harvesting facility under the present conditions.
The future of hunting is, to say the least, uncertain. The possible government
crackdown on firearms casts a dark shadow over the future of the hunting.
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Reduction in Harvest Pressure
A major concern is whether human use of wildlife resource is sustainable.
Eltringham (1984) defined sustainable yields as those that do not exceed the capacity
o f the population to replace themselves. A more useful concept is that o f depletion.
If an animal population is depleted, one expects that its harvest will not be
sustainable. Depletion is said to occur when the population o f a species is so reduced
that it no longer constitutes a significant resource for human.
A general decline o f the game yields was observed during the 1992-96
harvest seasons. The game yields in the first two seasons were almost the same, with
434 and 429 animals each. The game yield of the first season was somewhat
underestimated, for no data were available for some o f the amateur harvesters. The
game yield dropped slightly in the third season to 381 and plummeted to 183 in the
fourth season. Did the resource depletion or some other reason cause this?
To explain the significant decrease in game yield in a small village in
southern Amazonia, Ayres et al. (1991) proposed several hypotheses: (1) reduction
in densities of wildlife because of habitat disturbance by deforestation or human
hunting pressure: (2) change in human population structure leading to emigration of
more active and experienced hunters and migration o f inexperienced settlers from
other areas of Brazil; and (3) cultural and economic changes affecting food
preference or subsistence activities.
Vicker (1991) used the return of unit hunting effort to estimate the impact of
the wildlife harvest on the resources. When the kill rate of a preferred game animal
drops, he assumes that this reflects a decline in the availability o f that species.
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However, as a population begins to be harvested some decline in numbers (or kill
rates) is to be expected. If the observed kill rates show a steady decline through time,
one might expect that the capacity of the population to replace its losses has been
exceeded and that such kills are not sustainable. In the situation where there are no
data on the population, the kill rates would be very useful.
As the human population remained the same in the past few years and there
was no significant change in agricultural practice, climate, and general
socioeconomic environment, it could be assumed that their impact on game
conditions remained the same at Taohong. Two relevant factors that might affect the
reduction in the game yield were the possible wildlife resources depletion and
reduction in harvest effort (pressure).
There were no scientific data to determine whether the yield had exceeded
the capacity of the population to replace itself at Taohong. The general opinion was
that wildlife resources had been decimated in the past few decades. The pelt trade
data showed that the trade volume o f pelts generally dropped by half between 1950s
to 1980 in Jiangxi Province, some species such as the large Indian civet ( Viverra
zebetha) was reduced by over 90% (Lin 1986). The limitation o f trade data was that
they measured the availability o f the wildlife resource and the harvest efforts
simultaneously. After the early 1980s, even trade data were not available any more.
The stories of the local trappers were, if anything, supportive o f this view. In
the past it was not uncommon for a trapper to harvest more than 100 muntjac in one
season. Now they are content with 15-20 animals. In the past there were muntjac
around the village, and on some occasions trappers had to take several assistants to
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help carry back muntjac when they went out to check the trap-line. Those productive
days have ended.
It was true that the wildlife resources were seriously reduced in general and
the population density remained low. But that did not necessarily mean that it was
actually falling during the 1992/96 harvest seasons at Taohong. It was obvious that
the most of the common game species were very resilient and had the potential to
reproduce rapidly. I did find out that, against the general trend of reduction, the
harvest of the trappers actually increased in the first three seasons.
The harvest effort is determined jointly by the number of active harvesters
and the amount of time they commit in the harvest season. Fourteen active harvesters
were recorded in the first season though this number was probably underestimated.
The figures for the following three seasons were twenty-two, twenty-five, and
twenty-one. Though the harvesters' number did not change much, the time they
committed varied considerably.
Two brothers reduced their harvesting activity due to house construction in
the third season. Both were hunters and one of them was a professional one. They
took 61 animals in that season, much lower than their catch o f 219 animals in the
previous season. Their loss alone was enough to account for the drop of game yield
in that season. As a matter o f fact the game species that showed noticeable reduction
were the hares and pheasants, which were mainly harvested by hunters.
Disaster would be the proper word to describe what had happened in the
fourth season. Four harvesters reduced their harvesting activities or stopped
completely in pursuit o f other employment. One trapper dropped out as a result o f an
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injury to his foot. One hunter blew up his shotgun soon after the start of the season.
Increased law enforcement played a role. Two trappers ended their season much
early after they were questioned for allegedly illegal trapping activities within the
reserve, so did the son o f one o f these two trappers. Another hunter sold his shotgun
in anticipation o f the impending crackdown on illegal firearms. These harvesters
affected included four professional harvesters and two promising young harvesters.
As a few professional harvesters accounted for a large proportion of the harvest, it is
understandable that the game yield was cut dramatically.
Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that that the general decline in the game
yield observed in the past four seasons was caused by the reduction in harvest efforts
instead o f the resource depletion. This coincided with the conclusion by Ayres et al.
(1991) that cultural and economic factors, especially the arrival of the road and the
consequent integration o f the village into the national economy, played a more
important role in changing game yields than actual reduction of animal densities
Economics
The economic revenues from wildlife harvest w ere¥ 6,531, ¥10,091,
¥1 1,885, and ¥6,035 in the four harvest seasons. It is not adequate to compare these
figures directly for the price o f wildlife parts changed from year to year. To be
comparable the incomes in last three seasons were recalculated using the price of
wildlife parts in 1992/93 season. The adjusted incomes were ¥6,333, ¥5,942, and
¥2,349 respectively. Using the price in 1992/93 season as a baseline, the price of
wildlife parts actually increased by 59%, 100%, and 157%, roughly 50% each year.
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Such a hike in the price o f the wildlife parts, however, failed to stimulate the
harvesting efforts at Taohong. As the sole motivation behind wildlife harvest at
Taohong was economic consideration, it would be helpful to delve further into the
distribution of the economic revenues from the wildlife harvest.
Table 5.20 shows that the overall average income in the four seasons for a
harvester was ¥1,229, that came to a monthly income of ¥77 as there were roughly
four months and an annual income o f ¥922. The adjusted annual average income
was ¥1,185 for trappers and ¥546 for hunters. The average value did not tell the
whole story for we knew that a few experienced harvesters took the majority of the
harvest. As might be expected, professional harvesters fared better. Their adjusted
average annual income was ¥2,439, significantly higher than the amateurs (¥396).
As mentioned above, the annual per capita income was about ¥1,000 in 1996
at Taohong. However, official data only included the incomes from the cash crops
such as rapeseed and cotton that were required to sell to the government. It was
impossible to record the incomes from miscellaneous sidelines. Furthermore, cash
income only constituted a small portion of the actual income of the villager. In a
largely self-sustained economy, many incomes were in-kind. The villagers own their
own houses, grow their own food and vegetables, and raise pigs and poultry. Except
for the farmland rent to the government they were tax-free.
Even compared with this much-compromised annual per capita, it is clear
that the rate o f return from the wildlife harvest was below the general level. The rate
o f return for the trapper group (¥ 1,185) was slightly above the average. Only the
professional harvesters enjoyed a considerable marginal. As a result the wildlife
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harvest did not appeal economically to the local villagers because of its low rate of
return.
In the past, the only alternative employment for the local villagers in the free
winter months were charcoal making and hunting and trapping. Now their economic
activities were much diversified. There were several employment alternatives, such
as tall grass cutting, firewood collecting, business, cash crop or vegetable growing
that could produce higher income. For example, a strong laborer could easily earn
¥20 a day by cutting tall grass for the paper mill from October to May. The cost to
hire a temporary laborer was ¥8-l0/day. The wage of an experienced handcraft man
like a carpenter was even higher. The development of intensive agriculture was able
to keep the farmer busy all year around. Since 1990s, there has been an exodus of
young people from the village to the cities and the more economically developed
coastal region. Though the job they found was usually of seasonal or temporary
nature, the wages were satisfactory compared to what they got back at home. It was
not uncommon to earn ¥300 a month as a beginner and up to ¥600 after a time.
These alternatives were very competitive to the backbreaking hunting and
trapping which promised nothing but a risky and predictable future. Naturally there
were very few new recruits into the harvester ranks. Even the present harvesters
were ready to switch to other more lucrative opportunities when there was a chance.
The situation in Taohong demonstrated that the wildlife resources had been
reduced to such a low level that it was economically not feasible to expand the
harvest activity further under the current harvest regime (number of harvesters,
harvesting season, harvest tools, density o f game species, price o f wildlife parts,
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marketing network, and local economy). Wildlife harvest has ceased to be an
important component and only played a minor supplementary role in the local
economy. It probably never was a major sector o f the local economy and it is
unlikely to be one in the future.
Law Enforcement
The law enforcement at Taohong was very similar to the situation in the
Latin America (Ojasti 1984). Wildlife management hardly existed and hunting
regulations were largely ignored. A primary reason for this was the lack o f vigilance
and enforcement of the laws due to the lack o f necessary financial resources. Being a
developing country, China has traditionally lacked the financial resources necessary
to implement the broad-scale measures for wildlife research and management,
especially in the face o f the social, economic, and educational problems that face it.
To increase enforcement of the laws, national programs in environmental education
and improvements in rural standards of living are required. Educational programs
must encompass several levels, including training o f personnel in enforcement
agencies such as the National Guard, environmental awareness campaigns for rural
populations, and the education of the general public. These programs should
emphasize rational use of wildlife coupled with general information on management
and protection of key species and protected areas (Silve and Strahl 1991). However,
without necessary financial support, these goals are impossible to carry out.
Another reason was the form of government and the ways in which laws
were enforced. China has a long tradition o f government from the top down and this
form o f government presents practical problems for game management (Shaw 1991).
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Administration is often centralized and rigid. Enforcement o f the numerous laws can
be inconsistent, both in terms o f which laws are enforced and which groups of
people are involved. The general public has little participation in the passing new
laws or modifying the old ones. So the local people see the game laws as oppressive
that was forced upon them by outsiders and show little support or cooperation in its
enforcement.
Wildlife is regarded throughout most o f the world as public property, or
"commons". When commons are exploited for individual financial gain, they are
typically overexploited (Hardin 1968, 1985), particularly as market demand
accelerates, or when new harvest technologies become available or both.
The concept o f state ownership of the natural resources had been well
established as early as the West Zhou Dynasty ( 11th -5th century BC) (Zhou et al.
1984) and, according to the record, wildlife managers were appointed to supervise
the rational utilization o f the natural resources (Yuan 1992). However governments
had neither the will nor the means to put this concept into practice and natural
resource utilization went on generally unregulated. Later the principle underlining
the wildlife resources management was no longer based on the rational utilization,
but rather a philosophic approach to the harmony between man and the universe. The
responsibility of the said wildlife managers was gradually relegated to satisfy the
needs o f the royal family only (Yuan 1992). This titular ownership without land
stewardship and unregulated harvest activities created an open-access system in
wildlife harvest under which wildlife belongs to whoever can get it. This "finder-
keeper" concept has so permeated the Chinese society that it still defies all the
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wildlife statutes and regulations up to present. In a remote village that has hardly any
contact with the modem conservation education program, the "finder-keeper”
concept is extraordinarily strong.
For a long time, wildlife harvest exhibited the appearance o f subsistence
harvest. Because of its traditions and the fact that it is practiced in remote areas,
there is some question as to whether subsistence hunting can ever be adequately
regulated (Redford and Robinson 1985). Furthermore, although the wildlife harvest
at Taohong was market-oriented, the proceeds were used for the basic necessities in
daily life of the local villagers. As Bodmer et al. (1997) observed, poverty compels
people to overharvest today to meet current needs and thereby forgo future returns
from sound resource stewardship.
There is little hope that the law enforcement will be improved in the years to
come. As the repeated failures in China and other developing countries in the world
testified, sound wildlife management cannot be achieved without the support and
cooperation from the local people, no matter how perfect the legislation and law
enforcement mechanism seems to be. It is impractical to expect rural populations
living on a subsistence level to accept and abide by hunting regulations unless
alternate source o f work, food, and funds are provided (Silva and Strahl 1991). As
Shaw (1991) poignantly pointed out, commercial pressure on native wildlife could
only be reduced and eventually eliminated through broader social and economic
reforms. Difficult though they may be, such reforms may prove to be more effective
than direct attempts to regulate commercial hunting.
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Management Recommendations
Wildlife management measures will be of little value if they cannot be
enforced. For a country where there was hardly any previous experience with
wildlife management, it is not practical to put the wildlife harvest under strict control
in a short period of time, no matter how perfect the regulations might be. Any
practical harvest control measures should be based on the following considerations.
Unless radical actions are taken wildlife harvest will continue as long as there is a
demand. Imposing more restriction on wildlife markets will simply drive wildlife
trade underground. Second, wildlife has to pay its own way, as the financial resource
for wildlife management will remain limited. It is impractical to try to control
wildlife harvest by administrative means, as the previous failure testified.
Considering the current situation o f wildlife management in China, I believe
that the high priority in harvest control is to regulate wildlife trade as the first step.
Since the wildlife harvest is basically economically motivated and all the wildlife
parts will end up in the market, it is more feasible in practice to manipulate the
ultimate outlet of all wildlife parts, i.e., the market. This will not only reduce the
workload, but will also generate revenues to fund the wildlife management itself. In
specific, wildlife parts should be encouraged to openly enter the market that is
accessible to all legitimate wildlife traders. The major wildlife traders, especially the
ultimate consumers like fur companies and restaurants, must apply for a license to
engage in wildlife trade. The licensed traders are required to keep a record of
business transactions to screen out protected or non-game species from the market.
Violators o f this registry requirement are subject to heavy penalty. Unlike the
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previous government monopoly on the wildlife trade, wildlife traders will be sharing
responsibilities with wildlife managers. Once the monitoring system is well
established, further regulations will be considered as needed.
Prospect o f Wildlife Harvest at Taohong
Under the current conditions, wildlife harvest at Taohong will undoubtedly
continue if only on a smaller scale. As the demand for wildlife parts continues to
increase and their supply dwindles gradually, the price will continue to rise. A good
example is the masked palm civet, a much praised game meat in China (Shou 1962).
Its price at Taohong was about ¥10/kg, ¥!4-l6/kg at Pengze county seat, and ¥200-
240/kg at Beijing for the live animals. Song (1993) reported that the traditional belief
in the body-building effect of the Eld's deer antlers (Cervus eldi) has resulted in an
unprecedented high price at Hainan Island; a pair o f shed antlers sold for ¥1,000-
1,600, and 50 grams o f velvet antler sold for ¥1,000-1,200. The proceeds from
selling a deer were around ¥30,000, equivalent to more than ten year's income for an
ordinary local farmer. As a rule the harvesters only receive a small fraction o f the
profit compared to the intermediaries and retailers (Freese 1997), high prices will
surely attract the wildlife harvesters.
Wildlife harvest has and will continue to benefit from the increasing
expansion o f the existent wildlife market network. It is this network that connects the
producers at the grassroots level to the ultimate consumers, making the market
hunting possible. Almost any wildlife parts, no matter how small the volume, are
likely to enter the market and generate consequent economic income for the
harvester.
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Another important consideration is the "tragedy o f the common” (Hardin
1968). Though the wildlife resources are not enough for everyone to prosper, they
are still able to generate respectable income for a few expert harvesters if others are
forced out by low prices. So the harvesters continues with the hope that someone
else will eventually quit. In addition, harvesters will have to deal with competition
from nearby villages. Harvesters at Taohong went to hunt and trap in other
communes and vice versa. The only way to keep their ground is to continue trapping.
Except for a few professionals, most of the harvesters regard the wildlife
harvest as a supplemental part-time sideline. Harvesters usually practice at the close
proximity o f their residence so it can be conducted in a flexible and opportunistic
way without preplanning. The trapping equipment costs little so there is no problem
o f overcapitalization. There is always a ready market for any game they produce. In
short, the harvesters could take all the advantages of hunting and trapping without
making a firm commitment. If the conditions are favorable, the harvesters might put
more effort into the harvest. If not they could readily switch to other more lucrative
employment when the chance appears.
Some contend that exploitation pressure is self-controlling because as
acquisition costs approach or exceed the value o f a resource, interest diminishes and
efforts to acquire the resource drop. This might be true to some extent. But for
Taohong where the wildlife harvest was practiced on the supplemental and
opportunistic basis, the harvest pressure will be kept on the wildlife resources
constantly, ready to respond to any sign o f resource growth or price hike. It is
unrealistic to assume that the greater time and rising cost o f harvesting increasingly
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scarcer animals will reduce exploitation pressure to give the populations a respite to
recover to sustainable levels.
Nevertheless, the scale of wildlife harvest will very likely shrink for the lack
o f new recruits into the harvesters ranks. As the generation o f the old harvesters
gradually steps down, few qualified young ones fill their place. The low rate of
return o f the wildlife harvest resulted from diversified selection of alternative
employment and depletion o f wildlife resources is unable to attract the general
public and the young generation in particular.
The "Natural" Animal Community and Wildlife Harvest
In general, human activities have been so far-reaching and profound that it is
impossible to understand animal communities without knowing the history of human
activities. This is particularly true for wildlife harvests. The impacts of wildlife
harvest on animal communities are two-fold. Selective removal of certain
individuals not only changes the population dynamics, but more importantly,
influences intricate intra- and interspecific relationships.
Ecological studies (Chapter 2) show that there is little direct conflict of
interests among the two species of large canids and humans. The depredation of
these canids on livestock and endangered Sika deer seems negligible. Local
harvesters seldom hunted these canids because their pelts and meat were almost
useless. However, the staple foods of these canids were muntjac and hares, species
that were also the most heavily harvested game species at Taohong. If the harvest
pressure on these two species increases in the future, there might be the indirect
136
effect o f depleting the canid food resources and therefore forcing them into direct
competition with humans via increased depredation.
Although the ecological studies on the sympatric small carnivores (Chapter 3
and 4) were rather limited, they could, by coupling the results with the information
o f the wildlife harvest, still give meaningful insight into management. For example,
the resting home range of the small Indian civet was 227 ha, and it was certainly
smaller than the actual home range size because it was based solely on the locations
of daybeds. However, there is overlap among home ranges o f different individuals,
and not all areas o f Taohong Village are suitable habitats for small Indian civets. For
reasons of simplicity, let us assume that with an area of 1600 ha, Taohong Village
could only support 7-8 small Indian civets. During the 1992-93 harvest seasons, 14
small Indian civets were harvested in and near that area. Because small Indian civets
were still present in Taohong the following year, either the actual population were
higher than my estimate or the vacancies left by the removal o f resident animals
were filled up quickly by immigrants from neighboring regions. Unless there is little
or no harvest in adjacent areas, that harvest pressure of that intensity was obviously
above the sustainable level. In fact, only two more animals were caught the
following season, none was caught in the last two seasons, and hardly any footprints
of small Indian civets were seen in the last three harvest seasons.
The reason for the vulnerability o f small Indian civets to overharvest is
suggested by the ecological study. First, the telemetry data showed that small Indian
civets spent all their times in the habitat o f the foothills where most of the hunting
and trapping activities occur. Second, food habits data (Chapter 1) suggest that small
137
Indian civets maybe subject to secondary poisoning because their staple food item is
rodents occurring in the farmlands.
The wildlife harvest information also shows that harvest pressure could be
devastating when there are new incentives. Trappers usually set their sights on more
lucrative muntjac and neglected the small carnivores, including small Indian civets,
because the economic benefit was not high enough. However, during my studies I
hired one trapper to catch small Indian civets and paid him well for each animal
caught. As a result, he caught 6 in one season. Thus, it is not difficult for one or
more experienced trappers to trap out the local population o f the small Indian civets
in a short time. At present small Indian civets were only harvested for their pelts, but
their meats and bones were rumored to have medicinal value that could easily be
higher than for pelts. With increased demand chances would be high that harvest
efforts would increase significantly for this species.
However, not all species may be equally vulnerable. The resting home ranges
o f the five radio-tracked masked palm civets averaged 283 ha, close to that of the
small Indian civet. Since masked palm civets were more gregarious than the small
Indian civets, their population density might be relatively higher than the small
Indian civet, perhaps totaling 10-12 animals in Taohong. During the 4 seasons of
1992-93 to 1995-96, 4, 6, 2 and 1 animals respectively were caught. Their footprints
were quite common in all years and that harvest seems sustainable. With their home
ranges that covered both foothills and mountains, they should have more habitats to
live in than do the small Indian civets. In fact, masked palm civets spent a large part
o f the traditional harvesting season feeding on various kinds o f fruits in higher
138
mountains where trapping is difficult. Therefore, the harvest pressure on masked
palm civets would be lighter than the small Indian civets.
Ferret badgers are another story. The average resting home range for this
species is only 8 ha. In theory, Taohong could support a population o f maybe 200
individuals. The annual harvests in the past four seasons were 13, 34, 56, and 51
animals, respectively. If half of its population was females and half o f those females
could successfully raise 2 offspring each year, the consequent recruits would be
adequate to make up the attrition lost to harvest. In fact, the ferret badger population
was harvested at or below sustainable levels likely because the individual price for
ferret badgers is too low to attract the attention of the wildlife harvesters, and
because ferret badgers have a close relationship with humans. Because of the
frequent human disturbance in the farmlands and around the settlements, harvest
activities are greatly reduced near human settlements where ferret badgers easily find
shelters. The disadvantage of this close relation is that the chance of inadvertent
capture is high compared with other carnivore species. The harvest data show that 8
out o f the 56 animals harvested in 1994/95 were actually caught by villagers, usually
by hand. The number increased to 13. about a quarter o f the total harvest, in the
following season. Overall, however, they seem to enjoy a net benefit from their close
contact with humans.
It is obvious that the so-called "natural" animal communities have been and
are being profoundly modified by hunting activities, which in turn are dictated by a
wide spectrum o f cultural, social, and economic factors. To properly address the
challenging issue o f wildlife management and conservation in today's world,
139
especially in the developing countries, a limited approach from the viewpoint of
wildlife biology itself is dangerously insufficient. Without giving enough
considerations to the aspects of the historical, social, and economic perspectives o f
the regional animal communities, wildlife managers very often based their
management measures only on wildlife research and then tried to impose them on
the apathetic, or, even worse, hostile local communities. The limited financial
resources for wildlife often were squandered in such processes. Luckily, more and
more attention has been given to the importance o f active involvement of local
communities in wildlife management (Freese 1997). That is the one and the only
hope for the continued survival o f wildlife in the future.
140
Table 5. 1 The general information of the wildlife harvesters.
Nam e o f Age Education Career Category' Harvest tools Harvest areab

Harvesters history GB HB PB BB SG SC DF GS CT OM ON OP
CMJ 70 Literate 50’ Trapper * * + * + Yes
CSP 31 9 7 T/H * * * * Yes
DWZ 58 Illiterate 40 Trapper * + +
HLZ 52 9 32 Trapper * * Yes Yes
HTB 22 8 4 Trapper * *
HTL 32 6 6 Hunter * Yes

HTQ 34 6 11 Hunter + + * * Yes
JDS 45 6 8 Hunter *
LTY 45 Illiterate 3 Trapper * +

LZJ 66 Illiterate 50’ Trapper * * + + + +
LZQ 27 12 3 Trapper
TBS 30 9 6 Hunter ♦
TDX 72 Illiterate 50’ Trapper * * + * + + + + Yes Yes

TD X u 33 9 6 Hunter *
TQH 22 9 3 Hunter *
TQY 55 Illiterate 30 Hunter *
WDX 30 2 3 Trapper + ♦
WJF 52 Illiterate 37 Trapper + * + + Yes
WQM 24 8 1 Hunter ♦
(Continued Next Pg)

Table 5.1 (continued)

Name of Age Education Career Category Harvest tools Harvest area
Harvesters history
GB HB PB BB SG SC DF GS CT OM ON OP
WSY 59 Illiterate 45 Trapper * + + +
XJG 32 9 3 Hunter
XJGu 23 9 3 Hunter * Yes
XZW 38 12 14 Hunter *
YGJ 54 Illiterate 3 Trapper + + Yes Yes

ZJK 59 Illiterate 47 Trapper + * +
ZXM 30 6 1 Hunter *
ZYH 32 12 5 Trapper * *
N ote:8 The abbreviations for the harvest tools are: BB: baited bomb; CT: walk-in cage trap; DF: deadfall; GB:
ground bow; GS: gun shooting; HB: hanging bow; PB: poison bait; SC: string crossbow; SG: string
gun. The refers to those tools that were used in the past four seasons, and the “+” refers to those
that were used prior to the past four seasons.
b OM: other commune in the same county; ON: other county in the same province; and OP: other
province.
Table 5. 2 Distribution of harvesters among the hamlets at Taohong Village.
Hamlet Population No. o f Trappers No. of Hunters

Nianwan 178 1 I
Lianhuatang 131 2 I
Anle 198 0 0
Zhangwu 59 1 0
Baishu 88 1 4
Hewan 148 0 1
Yanshang 145 3 la
Wangbian 79 0 0
Zhoubian 103 2 0
Guloufan 203 2 0
Gaoge 192 1 1
Zengge 162 2 0
Chage 169 0 j
Total 1,855 15 13
Note:a indicates that this hunter is also a trapper.
143
Table 5. 3 Age distribution o f the wildlife harvesters at Taohong Village.
Age group No. of Trappers No. o f Hunters Total

20-29 2 3 5
30-39 3 8 10
40-49 1 1 2
50-59 6 I 7
>60 ■*>
0 3
Total 15 13 27
144
Table 5. 4 Comparison o f career history between hunters and trappers at Taohong.
Career history (years) No. o f Trappers No. o f Hunter Total
1-2 0 2 2
3-5 6 3 9
6-10 1 5 6
11-20 0 2 2
21-30 0 1 I
>31 8 0 8
Total 15 13 28
145
Table 5. 5 The increase o f the number of the shotguns at Taohong Village.
Shotgun Types 70s 80s 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96
Muzzleloading 1 8 6 7 6 7
Breechloading 0 0 0 2 4 4
Total 1 8 6 9 10 11
146
Table 5. 6 The species and numbers of wildlife harvested in 1992/93 harvest season.
Harves Game Specie?’ Total
ters LSP HHO MRE VIN PLA FBE MMO MSI MME SSC HUR MKA MFL EEU PCO LNY SEL BTH AFA SOR
CMJ“ 17 1 2 1 1 22
CSP 2 1 1 4
DWZ 0
HLZ" 10 10
HTB 0
HTL 50 5 55
HTQ" 150 3 1 4 2 1 5 1 15 10 2 1 195
JDS 15 1 6 22
LZJ" 3 3 1 1 1 9
TDX“ 24 16 6 2 7 2 2 6 2 1 1 69
TDXu 2 2 4
TQY
W JP 1 15 16
XZW 15 2 17
ZYH 1 1 1 1 4
Total 262 13 60 14 3 3 11 6 1 2 3 2 1 7 18 11 2 1 1 6 427
Note:8designates professional harvesters.

b Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B
Names Game species1' Total
LSP HHO MRE VIN PLA MMO MSI SSC HUR EEU PCO LNY BTH
CMJ8 15 1 16
CSP 2 3 1 1 7
DWZ 2 1 1 4
HLZ8 4 8 4 16
HTB 0
HTL 56 2 13 71
HTQ8 114 2 4 1 27 148
JDS 15 15
LZJ8 9 1 9 5 1 1 26
LZQ 5 1 6
TDX8 5 8 1 1 5 1 21
TDXuTQY 1 1 2
W JFtt 14 14
WSY 3 1 4
XJG 1 2 1 4
XJGu 10 1 11
YGJ 4 4
ZJK8 4 1 5
ZXM 1 1
ZYH 15 2 10 1 2 4 34
Total 243 6 58 1 6 33 6 3 5 2 2 40 4 409
Table 5. 8 The species and numbers of wildlife harvested in 1994/95 harvest season,
Names Game Speciesb Total
LSP HHO MRE PLA FBE MMO MSI SSC HUR PCO LNY GCU
CMJ" 15 15
CSP 55 2 1 5 1 64
DWZ 10 2 12
HLZ" 15 15
HTB 0
HTQa 50 1 10 61
LTY 0
LZJa 16 19 9 1 1 46
LZQ 0
TDH 2 2
TDX8 15 2 15 1 33
TQY TBS 2 2
TQH
WDX 1 1 2
WJFa 7 7
WSY 10 2 12
XJG 55 3 1 1 2 1 1 64
YGJ 5 5
ZJKa 5 5
ZYH 10 6 5 21
Total 222 9 57 2 1 48 9 4 1 11 1 1 366
Note: *designates professional harvesters.
Names Game speciesb Total
LSP HHO MRE MMO MSI MME AGO SSC HUR PCO BTH
CMJ8 9 9
CSP 25 2 27
DWZ 5 1 6
HLZ8 4 4
HTB 0
LTY 5 2 7
LZJ8 12 18 8 1 1 40
LZQ 2 2 4
TDH 20 1 1 5 27
TDX" 4 12 16
TQY TBS 15 15
TQH
XJG 2 1 3
WJF8 1 1
ZJK8 4 4
ZYH 4 4
Total 87 3 22 38 8 1 2 5 167
Table 5. 10 Summary of wildlife harvest in 1992/96 harvest seasons.

Game species8 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 Total
rjib T H
H 0 I T H O I T H O £ O I
LSP 30 232 1 263 45 198 7 250 62 160 222 28 60 1 89 824
MRE 59 1 1 61 58 4 62 56 1 57 21 1 22 202
MMO 10 1 2 13 26 7 1 34 43 5 8 56 36 2 13 51 154
LNY 1 10 11 40 1 41 1 2 3 55
HHO 1 12 13 2 4 6 9 3 12 3 3 34
PCO 3 15 18 1 1 2 1 10 11 1 1 2 33
MSI 1 5 6 6 6 9 1 10 8 8 30
VIN 9 5 14 1 1 2 16
PLA 3 1 4 6 6 2 2 1 1 13
BTH 1 1 4 2 6 5 5 12
SSC 2 1 3 2 1 3 1 3 4 10
HUR 3 3 4 1 5 1 1 1 1 10
EEU 7 7 2 1 3 10
SOR 6 6 6
FBE 1 2 3 1 1 4
MKA 2 2 1 1 3
SEL 2 2 2
MPE 1 1 1 1 2
MME 1 1 1
ACO 1 1 1
(Continued Next Pg)
Table 5.10 (continued)
Game species® ____ 92/93________ _ 93/94_________ 94/95 95/96_______ Total

T ~~H O I " T " H~ 0 " I T H O I " T H 0 z"
MFL 1 1 1
CSU 1 1 1
AFA 1 1 1
TCA 1 1 1
GCU 1 1 1
Total 134 293 7 434 157 252 20 429 173 193 15 381 95 72 16 183 1,427
Note: ®Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B.
_ b T: Trappers; H: Hunters; 0: Other villagers,
to
Table 5 . 11 Contribution of harvesters to the game yields during 1992/96 harvest
seasons.
Harvester 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 Total

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
Trappers 134 30.9 157 36.6 173 45.4 95 51.9 559 39.2
Hunters 293 67.5 252 58.7 193 50.7 72 39.3 810 56.8
Others 7 1.6 20 4.7 15 3.9 16 8.7 58 4.1
Total 434 100 429 100 381 100 183 99.9 1,427 100.
153
Table 5.12 Trade data o f Mr. Sun, a pelt collector from a nearby village whose
business covered Taohong Village for the 1992/96 harvest seasons.
Species3 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96b Total

MMO 110-120 80-90 60-70 30-40 280-320
MRE 100 70 20-30 190-200
LSP 10-20 30-40 40-60
MSI 4 2 10 16
VIN 2 3 4 5 14
PLA 3 j ->
2 8
HUR 1 2 2 5
MFL 2 1 3
ACO 1 saw 2 3
FBE 2 saw 1 3
MKA saw I 1
N ote:a Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B.
b The price of the pelts dropped in 1995/96 harvest season so he stopped
soon.
154
Table 5.13 The trade information of a traveling pelt collector from Dengzhi County
during 1992/93 harvest season and part o f the following season.
Species a 92/93 93/94b Total

MMO 300-400 30 330-430
MRE 200 40-50 240-250
HUR 15 5 20
MKA 10 2 12
MSI 5-6 4 9-10
PLA 4-5 3 7-8
FBE 4-5 3 7-8
ACO 4-5 4-5
MFL 2-3 - 2-3
VTN 1-2 1 2-3
CLU 1 1
Note: a Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B.
bThe data in 1993/94 season were as o f January 14,1994.
155
Table 5.14 Game species for sale on the free markets at Pengze County seat.
Species a Number
LSP 327
SOR 40
BTH 36
FAT 20
PCO 11
AFA 4
ACR 3
TFE
VVA 2
APO I
AAC 1
RAQ 1
MMO 1
MME 1
MRE 1
HHO 1
LNY 1
SEL 1
CSP 1
TME I
156
Table 5 .15 Trade data of two game middlemen at the free market at Pengze County
seat during the 1992/94 harvest season. (Unit: kg)
Game species1 1992/93 1993/94

Mr. Xu Mr. Xub Mr. Ding
LSP 500 >1,250 2,500-3,000
MRE — 500-600 50
PCO 35-40 15-20 50
LNY 15 5-10 10-15
ASP >50 100 40-50
b The incomplete trade data o f Mr. Xu in 1993/94 harvest season was as of
January 16, 1994.
157
Table 5 16 The annual price of the wildlife parts during the 1992/96 harvest seasons.
Unless specified, the price of the meat refers to the whole animal carcass instead of
the unit weight price. (Unit: RMB yuan)
Game 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96

species a Meat Pelt Meat Pelt Meat Pelt Meat Pelt
LSP 6 10 10 15
HHO 20 30 40 60
MRE 50 10 80 10 100 20 150 20
VTN 10 15 15
PLA 10 25 15 35 15 35 15
FBE 20 20
MMO 5 8 10 10
MSI 10 10 15 10
MME 50
ACO 50
SSC 2/Kg 4/Kg 6/Kg
HUR 15 20 20 20
MKA I 1
MFL 20 20
EEU 2 2
CSU 2/Kg
PCO 5 10 15 20
LNY 5 10 15
SEL 5 10 15
BTH 1 2 2
AFA 15
SOR 1 9
TCA 20
MPE 60 70
GCU 5
N ote:a Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B.
158
Table 5 .17 Price comparison between muntjac meat and pork at Taohong Village.
Unit: RMB yuans/kg.
Time Muntjac meat Pork

30s No market —
50's 0.50 0.70

70's 0.4-0.6 1.48
1983 1.10-1.20 1.63
1990 2.00 2.00
1991/92 6.00 5.40
1992/93 8.00 6.00
1993/94 10.00 7.20
1994/95 16.00 9.00
1995/96 22.00 12.00
159
Table 5.18 Comparison o f the pelt price between 1930s and 1992/6 harvesting
seasons. Unit: RMB yuans.
Game speciesa _________________ Price__________ Ratio

1930s 1992/96
CER 100 5 20
MRE 100 20 5
HUR 100-200 20 5-10
PLA 100-200 15 6.7-13.3
VIN 300-400 15 20-26.7
MMO 500-600 10 50-60
MME 1,200 50 24
MSI 1,200 15 80
Note:a Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B.
160
Table 5.19 Economic revenue from wildlife harvest during the 92/96 harvest seasons. Unit: RMB yuan.
Game8 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 Total
species T H O I T H O I T H O L T H O I
LSP 180 1392 6 1578 450 1,980 70 2,500 620 1,600 2,220 420 900 15 1,335 7,633
HHO 20 240 260 60 120 180 360 120 480 180 180 1,100
MRE 3,540 60 60 3,660 5,220 360 5,580 6,720 120 6,840 3,570 170 3,740 19,820
VIN 90 50 140 15 15 30 170
PLA 30 10 40 240 240 100 100 50 50 430
FBE 20 40 60 20 20 80
MMO 50 5 10 65 208 56 8 272 460 50 80 590 360 20 130 510 1,437
MSI 10 50 60 60 60 135 15 150 80 80 350
MME 50 50 50
ACO 50 50 50
SSC 200 100 300 400 200 600 300 900 1,200 2,100
HUR 45 45 80 20 100 20 20 20 20 185
MKA 2 2 1 1 3
MFL 20 20 20
EEU 14 14 4 2 6 20
CSU 60 60 60
PCO 15 75 90 10 10 20 15 150 165 20 20 40 315
LNY 5 50 55 400 10 410 15 30 45 510
SEL 10 10 10
BTH 1 1 8 4 12 10 10 23
AFA 15 15 15
SOR 6 6 6
TCA 20 20 20
MPE 60 60 70 70 130
GCU 5 5 5
Total 4,242 2,043 246 6,531 6,755 2,786 550 10,091 8,270 3,320 295 11,885 4,470 1,300 265 6,035 34,542
Note:8 Key to abbreviations for game species is in Appendix B.
Table 5.20 Personal incomes from wildlife harvest during 1992/96 seasons.
Name Category Incomes Total
92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96
CMJa T 1,260 1,358 1,800 1,530 5,948

HLZa T 600 920 1,800 680 4,000
HTQa H 1,355 1,512 670 — 3,537
WJFa T 920 1,260 990 10 3,180
TDXa T 1,279 875 690 180 3,024
ZYH T 41 538 870 680 2,129
CSP T/H 74 510 1,030 395 2,009
ZJKa T — 400 600 680 1,680
XJG H — 78 1,460 140 1,678
LZJa T 68 324 520 480 1,392
HTL H 400 706 — — 1,106
YGJ T — 360 600 — 960
TDXu H 0 0 80 540 620
DWZ T — 32 150 85 267
JDS H 106 150 — — 256
LZQ T — 140 0 50 190
TBS H 17 70 26 75 188
TQY H 17 70 26 75 188
TQH H 17 70 26 75 188
WSY T — 38 120 — 158
XZM H 130 — — — 130
WDX T — — 130 — 130
XJGu H — 120 — — 120
LTY T — — 0 95 95
ZXM H -------------- 10 -------------- ------------- 10
WQM H — - - — 0 0
HTB T 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6,284 9,541 11,591 5,770 33,172
Averag 393 415 552 321 1,229
e
a designates professional harvesters.
162
Table 5.21 Comparison between the professional and amateur harvesters during
1992/96 harvest seasons.
Items Harvesters Test

Professional Amateur F value P value
Age 57.9 36.1 1.17 0.3608
Career length 39.6 9.7 1.26 0.3205
Tools used 4.6 1.6 3.99 0.0094
Income ¥3,252 ¥521 4.98 0.0032
163
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169
APPENDIX A
INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR WILDLIFE HARVEST AT TAOHONG VILLAGE
The questions to be asked are grouped into 8 categories. They were not
necessarily asked in the same order as listed here.
1. General information: age and sex o f the harvesters; level o f education; means o f
subsistence.
2. Harvest activities: number o f years in career; reasons for harvesting; source of
skill; know any relative or friend who harvested; preferred harvest methods;
areas harvested; time committed in each season.
3. Shotgun: make; manufacturer; time and location o f purchase; price; possession of
firearm license or not; source o f the prime, shell, powder, and the shots.
4. Harvest: number and species o f animals taken in the past four seasons.
5. Utilization: self consumption; sharing among friends and relatives; routes to
market for pelt and game meat.
6. Incomes: price of pelt and game meat; income from harvest; other source of cash
income; total annual income.
7. Wildlife resources: change in the wildlife resources; reasons for the changes.
8. Other harvesters, same questions would be asked.
170
APPENDIX B
THE ABBREVIATIONS FOR GAME SPECIES
Latin Name Common name Abbreviation
Erinaceus europeus Hedgehog EEU

M anis pentadactyla Pangolin MPE
Ccmis lupus W olf CLU
M artes flavigula Yellow-throated marten MFL
M ustela sibirica Siberian weasel MSI
M ustela kathia Yellow-bellied weasel MKA
Melogale moschata Ferret badger MMO
M eles meles Eurasia badger MME
Arctonyx collaris Hog badger ACO
Viverricula indica Small Indian civet VIN
Pciguma larvata Masked palm civet PLA
Herpestes urva Crab-eating mongoose HUR
Felis bengalensis Leopard cat FBE
Lepus capensis Hare LSP
L. sinensis Hare LSP
Callosciurus erythraeus Red-bellied tree squirrel CER
Hystrix hodgsoni Porcupine HHO
Sus scrofa Wild pig SSC
M untiacus reevesi Muntjac MRE
Capricomis sumatraensis Serow CSU
Anas spp Ducks ASP
Anas acuta Pintail duck AAC
A. crecca Common teal ACR
A. poecilorhyncha Spotted-bill duck APO
Tadoma ferruginea Ruddy shelduck TFE
Anser fabalis Bean goose AFA
Bambusicola thoracica Bamboo partridge BTH
Lophura nycthemera Silver pheasant LNY
Phasiarms colchicus ring-necked pheasant PCO
Syrmaticus ellioti Elliot’s pheasant SEL
Rallus aquaticus Common rail RAQ
Fulica atra Coot FAT
Vanellus vcmellus Lapwing VVA
Capella spp Sandpipe CSP
Streptopelia orientalis Spotted dove SOR
Tyto capensis Grass owl TCA
Glcnicidium cuculoides Little owl GCU
Turdus merula Blackbird TME
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INFORMATION TO USERS

This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UM I

T he quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality o f th e

Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by

Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced

AND THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC CARNIVORES

Submitted to the Graduate School of the

Department o f Forestry and Wildlife Management

All rights reserved.

UMI Microform 9920665

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All Rights Reserved

AND THE ECOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC CARNIVORES

Approved as to style and content by:

Todd. K. Fuller, Chair

William M. Healy, Membep-

Robert M. Muth, Member

William C. McComb, Department Head

The completion of this dissertation was made possible by the support o f

firm support during my protracted years of graduate study at the University of

Massachusetts. He helped me overcome the obstacles inevitably confronting a

foreign student in a new environment, tailored my academic preparation, guided me

academic advisor and much more.

I am deeply indebted to Master Tang Daxong and his family at Taohong

gaining anything in return. To be precise, he treated me like a family member. In

proved invaluable both in my ecological study and wildlife harvest interviews.

I am extremely grateful to my committee members for their understanding

Wildlife Conservation, Ministry o f Forestry, Beijing; Mr. Baojin Wang, Director of

Wildlife and Natural Reserves Management Office, Jiangxi Forestiy Department,

Many friends and associates provided important assistance. I am extremely

o f need. Mr. Melvin Carlson, W.E.B. Dubois Library at University o f

Massachusetts, kindly volunteered to edit the draft of this dissertation.

Though it is far beyond the capacity o f words, I still want to express my

that she has done what few women have done.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN RURAL SOUTHEASTERN CHINA:

HAIBIN WANG, B. S. BEIJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY

M. S., INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY, ACADEMIA SINICA

Ph.D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Directed by: Professor Todd K. Fuller

Taohong Village, Jiangxi Province, southeastern China during 1992-1996.

Food habits of four species o f sympatric carnivores were studied by scat

kopschi), domestic animals and small carnivores was negligible.

Ferret badgers (Melogale moschata) were strictly nocturnal. Their daybeds

humans allowed them to live in close proximity to human settlement.

method o f participant observation. Wildlife harvesters comprised 1.5% of the local

reduced harvest efforts. Wildlife harvest was market-oriented and played an

discussed and recommendations to control harvest are proposed.

The biggest problem facing wildlife researchers in developing countries is

poor logistical support, or pervasive human disturbance, as well as academic or

technical reasons. In addition, the working conditions affecting communication and

transportation often are harsh. These constraints force wildlife research in

developing countries to be more o f an exploratory nature. To be able to finish a

equally important as the principal one.

This is precisely the situation I encountered at Taohong Village. The only

ubiquitous human disturbance effectively disrupted any attempts at an in-depth

study. Rather, I was forced to resort to comprehensively studying on several topics

of picking up improvised studies were plenty.

Chapter 2, "Food habits of large canids in southeastern China", has been

1 FOOD HABITS OF SYMPATRIC SMALL CARNIVORES

overlap between species j and k was computed a s ff;* = E E /V E A') 2-