Human disease hinders anti-poaching efforts in Indian nature reserves

Where hunting pressure is high, anti-poaching efforts are often crucial for protecting native wildlife populations in nature reserves. However, many reserves suffer from inadequate support and provisioning of staff, especially in developing nations. In Pakke Tiger Reserve in northeastern India, we found that malarial infection is a serious hindrance for front-line patrolling staff that limits the time they can spend in the field. We assessed the consequences of malaria both for local people and park staff in the general region and its indirect effects on wildlife protection. To accomplish this we compiled data from annual epidemiological records of malaria, the number of malaria cases and associated mortality, financial costs, and loss of time spent patrolling. Over a 4-year period (2006–2009), the majority (71%) of forest department staff in Pakke Tiger Reserve suffered from malaria. Malaria treatments cost park managers nearly 3% of their total budget and caused a net loss of 44,160 m...在狩猎压力较高的区域，反盗猎工作对于自然保护区内本土野生动物种群的保护往往至关重要。然而，诸多保护区，尤其是发展中国家的保护区，常面临人员配备与后勤补给不足的困境。针对印度东北部的帕克老虎保护区（Pakke Tiger Reserve），本研究发现疟疾感染对一线巡逻人员而言是严重阻碍，会缩短其野外执勤时长。我们评估了疟疾对该区域内当地民众与保护区工作人员的影响，及其对野生动物保护产生的间接效应。为此，我们收集了疟疾年度流行病学记录、疟疾病例数与相关死亡数据、财务成本，以及巡逻执勤时间损失等相关资料。在2006至2009年的4年周期内，帕克老虎保护区内林业部门的多数工作人员（71%）曾罹患疟疾。疟疾治疗费用占保护区管理总预算的近3%，并造成了44,160 m……的净损失。