Browsing by Author "Woodgate, Zoe"

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    An interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach to understanding the community-based natural resource management system and human-wildlife interactions in Namibia
    (2026) Tavolaro, Francesca Marina; O'Riain, Justin; Brown, Chris; Woodgate, Zoe
    Agricultural activities have adversely impacted biodiversity worldwide, and wildlife continues to affect farmers' livelihoods. A common strategy to mitigate these impacts is to implement programmes that promote the sustainable use of natural resources in multi-use landscapes. One such example is Namibia's community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programme, which aims to promote biodiversity while alleviating poverty and improving rural livelihoods. However, questions remain about how equitably the costs and benefits of such programmes are distributed among community members, and whether they deliver on their promises of both conservation and community development. To assess how well the community goals are being met, this thesis adopts an interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach that combines anthropology, biology, psychology and other social sciences. The aim of this thesis was to understand how human-wildlife interactions vary across Namibia's communal conservancies, and how these interactions shape community members' perceptions of the costs and benefits of living with wildlife, as well as their tolerance of damage-causing species. The study further employs the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a framework for exploring drivers of behavioural intentions in response to human-wildlife impacts (HWIs). I had four main objectives: 1) to write an ethnographic account of living and working in conservancies while performing annual game counts and other core activities of the CBNRM programme; 2) to quantify the type and frequency of HWIs within communal conservancies across Namibia and to explore possible drivers of their temporal and spatial variation; 3) to investigate the TPB factors that influence the likelihood of a community member to report livestock depredation events to authorities and to engage in legal killing of hyena species relative to farmers outside conservancies; 4) to assess tolerance, perceptions and beliefs of farmers inside and outside conservancies regarding damage-causing species, and what they deem are the tangible and intangible benefits and costs they derive from living with wildlife. To address these objectives, I conducted participant observation and recorded field notes while engaging in conservancy activities (2019), analysed 112,165 HWI incident reports from the NACSO ConInfo database (2001–2019), and administered 1,139 mixed-method questionnaires across 22 conservancies and five adjacent areas outside of communal conservancies (2029-2020). Findings revealed that the CBNRM programme enjoys broad support and that annual game counts are viewed as essential to sustainable wildlife-use. However, many community members felt forgotten by the system, with little to no perceived benefits reaching individuals. Livestock depredation was the most frequently reported HWI, though impact types varied by region. Elephant, jackal, hyena, cheetah and leopard (in descending order) were most commonly involved. The frequency and distribution of HWIs were significantly influenced by a suite if factors including distance to protected areas, terrain ruggedness, and annual rainfall. Farmers inside conservancies were significantly more likely to intend to report hyena-related livestock losses (90%) compared to those living outside conservancies (78%), but no significant differences were found in intention to kill hyena between groups. Using the TPB, I found that Attitude toward the behaviour was the strongest predictor of intention to report and kill hyena, except for Perceived Behavioural Control being the most significant predictor of intention to kill among respondents outside communal conservancies. Tolerance levels differed between groups, with only conservancy members reporting any benefits from wildlife. Despite this, 46% of respondents inside conservancies reported that benefits were decreasing, and 36% said there were no benefits at all. While Namibia's community-based conservation efforts have driven wildlife recovery at a national level outside protected areas, pressures from agriculture, population growth, and climate change may undermine their sustainability by altering the cost-benefit ratio for communities. Improving communication around long-term benefits and making individual costs tolerable is essential to ensuring continued support for conservation in multi-use landscapes. 
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    Factors influencing cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) distribution in Kafue National Park, Zambia
    (2025) Mulenga, Choolwe; O'riain, Mannus; Woodgate, Zoe; Overton, Kim-Young; Durant, Sarah
    Globally, effective management of large carnivores, particularly threatened and endangered species like cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), hinges upon a comprehensive understanding of their spatial distribution and conservation status. Despite being among the most threatened species within the Felid family, cheetah are data deficient throughout much of their known range, including within protected areas of Zambia, a potential stronghold for the species. In this study, existing camera trap data collected between 2018 and 2023, were used to assess cheetah occupancy estimates within Kafue National Park. These camera trap surveys were designed and run by the NGO Panthera Wildcat Conservation, in collaboration with Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) to estimate leopard density across the north, central, and southern regions of the park. To adapt this survey for use in cheetah occupancy analyses, I overlaid a 6 x 6 km grid cell onto the surveyed area (KNP), where each grid subsumed multiple camera traps stations, and was treated as an independent site. All subsequent analyses were conducted at this site level. Due to low detection of cheetah, I used a stacked occupancy model to analyse cheetah spatial distribution in relation to landscape/site covariates within KNP, interpreting the results as probability of site use rather than the true occupancy. Data on cheetah detection histories (presence and absence) were analysed against nine covariates, including closed versus open habitat types (namely open forest, closed forest and grassland), the relative abundance of both prey and other large predators (lion [Panthera leo] and spotted hyena [Crocuta Crocuta]), distance to water, anti–poaching patrol effort and distance to legal camps (lodges, NGO and DNPW bases). The results confirmed the presence of cheetah in KNP with 170 cheetah detections, 110 of which were independent. The detection probability for cheetah increased significantly with the sampling effort (total number of days cameras were active in a site) but the addition of other detection variables decreased the predictive performance of the models. The naïve occupancy varied from 28% in the south to 50% in the northern region. Similarly, cheetah detections were highest in the north and lowest in the south. Among the nine site covariates analysed, only prey RAI (β = 2.08), and proportion of open forest (β = –3.55) had a significant influence on cheetah probability of site use. Using cheetah by–catch data from a leopard survey provided a first estimate of cheetah occupancy in a Zambian National Park. These estimates could be improved through the addition of more sites and a longer survey duration (range: 80 –100 days) to improve estimates for this important carnivore species.
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    Land use influence on biodiversity and activity patterns of predators and prey in the semi-arid drylands of South Africa
    (2024) Ayinla, Oluwaseun; O'riain, Mannus Justin; Woodgate, Zoe
    The unprecedented rise in anthropogenic activity worldwide has left wildlife with no other choice but to find means to coexist with humans across a range of different land uses. While some animals have developed strategies to adapt to the gradual and long-term modifications to the environment as a result of anthropogenic disruptions, rapid and pervasive changes often result in drastic reduction in species abundance causing local extirpation and posing a threat to ecosystem sustainability. Some behaviourally plastic species may be able to cope in real time to changes brought about by anthropogenic disruptions in their habitat, but they may have to compete with humans directly for space and food prompting negative interactions between people and wildlife which in turn lead to conflicts between conservation bodies on how best to mitigate these interactions. Understanding these interactions and how they influence ecosystem level functions, community interactions and the long-term persistence of wildlife is essential to achieving biodiversity goals. Most studies on wildlife in South Africa have focussed on protected areas but given that most animals still persist outside protected areas, it is imperative to expand research to include human modified landscapes too. The goal of my study was to 1) explore how wildlife adjust their activity with land use and, 2) determine whether heavily persecuted species adjust their activity more in human modified landscapes compared to protected areas and 3) how prey species adjust their activity with and without apex predators and 4) whether lunar illumination influences the activity of heavily persecuted species on farmland and predator-prey interactions in protected areas. I used camera trap surveys conducted on farmland between September 2012 and March 2013, in Anysberg Nature Reserve between the end of September 2013 and May 2014 and in Sanbona Wildlife Reserve between the end of August and November 2015 to provide insights into the relationships between land use, biodiversity, and predator-prey dynamics in the semi-arid drylands of South Africa. My study showed that semi-arid drylands of South Africa are important refugia for wildlife which is evident in the high species richness found in my study. I found that the temporal overlap for the same species living in Anysberg Nature Reserve and the nearby small livestock commercial farmland of Koup were not dissimilar. However, heavily persecuted (e.g., black backed jackal) and harvested species (e.g., steenbok) exhibited greater nocturnality on farmland presumably to avoid the diurnal peaks in farm worker activity. The presence and absence of apex predators had minimal influence on the activity of both smaller predators and a large size range of potential prey. That said both plains zebra and kudu showed increased nocturnal behaviour in the absence of lion which typically hunt at night. The response of wildlife to moon phase in different land uses was mixed with no clear patterns in the proportion of activity at night with different moon phases in either Anysberg or the farmland. This dissertation highlights the complex interplay between human activities and wildlife populations and provides important baseline information on the relationships between land use, biodiversity, and predator-prey dynamics that can be used to explore future shifts in both land use and climate in the drylands of the Karoo.