Browsing by Subject "wildlife"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Open Access
    Between a croc and a herd place: Battle at Kruger and nature interpretation
    (2010) Rijsdijk, Ian-Malcolm
    The article examines the popular YouTube clip Battle at Kruger and its National Geographic spin-off Caught on safari: The battle at Kruger. In seeking to account for the clip's popularity and National Geographic's motivations for making the hour-long feature, the author draws on the burgeoning studies of wildlife film in an effort to contextualise this new ‘eye-witness’ approach within the traditions of documentary films focusing on nature – particularly animals. Furthermore, do the clip and its online popularity suggest a new direction for wildlife documentary in an age of increasingly advanced filming technologies and digital broadcast platforms?
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    Open Access
    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.
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    Open Access
    Mobilising biodiversity data gathered during environmental impact assessments in South Africa
    (2024) Van Eeden, Dona; Trisos, Christopher; Cowan, Oliver
    The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers to sharing data on species of conservation concern (SCC) in South Africa that are collected during environmental impacts assessments (EIAs) and to propose potential solutions to overcome these barriers. This was done by i) reviewing literature related to this topic, ii) determining the actors responsible for sharing the data collected during EIAs, iii) identifying the technical and non-technical barriers that these actors face when considering the sharing of these data, and iv) exploring solutions to overcoming these barriers while considering the different actors and regulations that impact the data-sharing process. A mixed methods approach was used to accomplish these objectives, including a review of the available literature, preliminary interviews, surveys, and key-informant interviews. Preliminary interviews identified that the experts hired to conduct biodiversity surveys during EIAs play the most important role in sharing data gathered on SCC. Consequently, surveys were sent to 75 biodiversity specialists, containing questions focused on species of conservation concern (SCC) data sharing practices and barriers to data sharing, which led to a 58,7% response rate (44 responses). A thematic analysis of the qualitative results showed the key themes that should be focused on for targeted interventions to overcome barriers to sharing data. Key themes included challenges related to time constraints and workload, data ownership, data quality and accuracy, fear of data misuse and challenges in adopting new technologies for data sharing. Key-informant interviews were conducted with 20 EIA stakeholders across South Africa— including environmental impact assessment practitioners (EAPs), biodiversity specialists, government authorities, and individuals from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — to elaborate on these themes and to identify possible solutions to encourage more data-sharing from biodiversity professionals in the EIA process. Findings from the key-informant interviews suggest that it is important to build trust among the EIA stakeholders, to establish collaborative networks within the EIA stakeholder ecosystem for data sharing, to improve the communication and dissemination of protocol updates, clarify where to show proof of sharing data, enhance support for specialists and EAPs, strengthen the roles of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), and provide continuous capacity building and training on new tools and technologies for data capture and sharing for specialists and EAPs.
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    Open Access
    Tails through time: leopard population dynamics in the Little Karoo
    (2024) Steyn, Lawrence; Williams, Kathryn; Distiller, Gregory; Hofmeyr, Sally; Mann, Gareth; Wilkinson, Anita
    Large carnivores play a vital role in structuring our ecosystems, yet they face mounting threats such as habitat loss, prey reduction and persecution. These threats reduce their global distribution and impacts their population numbers. Protected areas can offer refuge for large carnivores, however leopards (Panthera pardus), can persist outside of these areas and often occupy mixed-use landscapes. Our understanding of how leopards persist over time in mixed-use landscapes is limited, especially in the semi-arid regions of southern Africa. This study, to the best of my knowledge, is the only multi-session maximum likelihood spatial capture-recapture (SCR) analysis to have been conducted in a semi-arid environment outside of a protected area in Southern Africa. The study aimed to estimate leopard population changes over time and to investigate the possible drivers affecting density, using three surveys (2012, 2017, 2022), in the mixed-use landscape of the Little Karoo in the Western Cape, South Africa. In 2012, a total of 141 paired camera stations were used for a total of 13,050 trap days resulting in 29 unique leopard captures. In 2017, a total of 40 paired camera stations were used for a total of 2,128 trap days resulting in 18 unique leopard captures and in 2022 a total of 64 paired camera stations were used for a total of 8,997 trap days resulting in 37 unique leopard captures. The best performing density model indicated an increasing population trend over the study period which included a trend term on density (D~year) and an interaction term (individual session*sex) on λ0 (capture rate) and σ (spatial decay). Density estimates (Standard Error) for leopard populations for the three surveys 2012, 2017, and 2022, were 0.52 (± 0.11), 0.70 (± 0.08), and 0.95 (± 0.08) leopards per 100 km2, respectively. Terrain ruggedness, elevation, vegetation type and distance from major rivers were all important drivers in leopard density in the Little Karoo. Indicating that high lying areas provide suitable refuge for leopards and are key areas for movement corridor planning. These density estimates are similar to previous single maximum likelihood SCR density estimate studies in the Little Karoo and the Western Cape province. Results from this study indicate the leopards have persisted in the Little Karoo over the study period and suggest that the population may be increasing. Further research on what is driving this population shift is needed, but the results serve as an encouraging sign for leopard conservation in the Little Karoo
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    Open Access
    Tails through time: leopard population dynamics in the Little Karoo
    (2024) Steyn, Lawrence; Williams, Kathryn; Distiller, Gregory; Hofmeyr, Sally; Mann, Gareth; Wilkinson, Anita
    Large carnivores play a vital role in structuring our ecosystems, yet they face mounting threats such as habitat loss, prey reduction and persecution. These threats reduce their global distribution and impacts their population numbers. Protected areas can offer refuge for large carnivores, however leopards (Panthera pardus), can persist outside of these areas and often occupy mixed-use landscapes. Our understanding of how leopards persist over time in mixed-use landscapes is limited, especially in the semi-arid regions of southern Africa. This study, to the best of my knowledge, is the only multi-session maximum likelihood spatial capture-recapture (SCR) analysis to have been conducted in a semi-arid environment outside of a protected area in Southern Africa. The study aimed to estimate leopard population changes over time and to investigate the possible drivers affecting density, using three surveys (2012, 2017, 2022), in the mixed-use landscape of the Little Karoo in the Western Cape, South Africa. In 2012, a total of 141 paired camera stations were used for a total of 13,050 trap days resulting in 29 unique leopard captures. In 2017, a total of 40 paired camera stations were used for a total of 2,128 trap days resulting in 18 unique leopard captures and in 2022 a total of 64 paired camera stations were used for a total of 8,997 trap days resulting in 37 unique leopard captures. The best performing density model indicated an increasing population trend over the study period which included a trend term on density (D~year) and an interaction term (individual session*sex) on λ0 (capture rate) and σ (spatial decay). Density estimates (Standard Error) for leopard populations for the three surveys 2012, 2017, and 2022, were 0.52 (± 0.11), 0.70 (± 0.08), and 0.95 (± 0.08) leopards per 100 km2, respectively. Terrain ruggedness, elevation, vegetation type and distance from major rivers were all important drivers in leopard density in the Little Karoo. Indicating that high lying areas provide suitable refuge for leopards and are key areas for movement corridor planning. These density estimates are similar to previous single maximum likelihood SCR density estimate studies in the Little Karoo and the Western Cape province. Results from this study indicate the leopards have persisted in the Little Karoo over the study period and suggest that the population may be increasing. Further research on what is driving this population shift is needed, but the results serve as an encouraging sign for leopard conservation in the Little Karoo