Assessing the Role of Livestock in Big Cat Prey Choice Using Spatiotemporal Availability Patterns

Ghoddousi, Arash; Soofi, Mahmood; Hamidi, Amirhossein Kh.; Lumetsberger, Tanja; Egli, Lukas; Khorozyan, Igor; Kiabi, Bahram H.; Waltert, Matthias

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153439

Cited by 46 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In the Maasai Mara, cheetahs do occasionally predate on livestock (Broekhuis, Thuo, & Hayward 2018) and as livestock numbers outside the wildlife areas are high (Broekhuis, Cushman, & Elliot, 2017b; Ogutu et al., 2016) it is potentially an easy food source for cheetahs. However, it has been shown that some carnivores, including cheetahs, prefer wild prey over domestic (Ghoddousi et al., 2016; Marker, 2002) and as wild prey species outside the wildlife areas are declining (Ogutu et al., 2016) it is possible that cheetahs prefer the wildlife areas where large numbers of wild prey are still readily available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living on the edge: Multiscale habitat selection by cheetahs in a human‐wildlife landscape

Klaassen

Broekhuis

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Animals select habitats that will ultimately optimize their fitness through access to favorable resources, such as food, mates, and breeding sites. However, access to these resources may be limited by bottom‐up effects, such as availability, and top‐down effects, such as risk avoidance and competition, including that with humans. Competition between wildlife and people over resources, specifically over space, has played a significant role in the worldwide decrease in large carnivores. The goal of this study was to determine the habitat selection of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in a human‐wildlife landscape at multiple spatial scales. Cheetahs are a wide‐ranging, large carnivore, whose significant decline is largely attributed to habitat loss and fragmentation. It is believed that 77% of the global cheetah population ranges outside protected areas, yet little is known about cheetahs’ resource use in areas where they co‐occur with people. The selection, or avoidance, of three anthropogenic variables (human footprint density, distance to main roads and wildlife areas) and five environmental variables (open habitat, semiclosed habitat, edge density, patch density and slope), at multiple spatial scales, was determined by analyzing collar data from six cheetahs. Cheetahs selected variables at different scales; anthropogenic variables were selected at broader scales (720–1440 m) than environmental variables (90–180 m), suggesting that anthropogenic pressures affect habitat selection at a home‐range level, whilst environmental variables influence site‐level habitat selection. Cheetah presence was best explained by human presence, wildlife areas, semiclosed habitat, edge density and slope. Cheetahs showed avoidance for humans and steep slopes and selected for wildlife areas and areas with high proportions of semiclosed habitat and edge density. Understanding a species’ resource requirements, and how these might be affected by humans, is crucial for conservation. Using a multiscale approach, we provide new insights into the habitat selection of a large carnivore living in a human‐wildlife landscape.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living on the edge: Multiscale habitat selection by cheetahs in a human‐wildlife landscape

Klaassen

Broekhuis

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Selective killing of livestock by carnivores has high practical importance as it may identify most vulnerable livestock species or intraspecific categories and potentially help reduce conflicts by targeting these high‐risk species or categories. Carnivores may give preference to particular livestock species and take proportionally higher numbers than available (Chetri, Odden, & Wegge, ; Elbroch & Wittmer, ) or, alternatively, avoid or prey them opportunistically (Ghoddousi et al., ; Lyngdoh et al., ; Suryawanshi et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cattle selectivity by leopards suggests ways to mitigate human–leopard conflict

Khorozyan

Ghoddousi²,

Soufi

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Addressing widespread livestock losses to carnivores requires information on which livestock categories are preferentially selected. We analyzed an individual‐based database of cattle grazing in forest (n = 932) and having been killed (n = 70) by leopards (Panthera pardus) in the Hyrcanian forest, Iran. We calculated Jacobs’ selectivity index for cattle age, sex, and coloration across four scales: the study area as a whole, three sites, nine villages, and 60 cattle owners. Naturally colored cattle were significantly preferred by leopards at all scales in comparison with black and black‐and‐white cattle, and there was also a preference for males and juveniles at the study area level. More research is needed to see whether cattle losses would decrease if the share of naturally colored individuals in local holdings was reduced and males and juveniles had limited access to forest. We conclude that phenotypic and biologic characteristics of livestock can affect depredation and appeal for more research in this direction, particularly within the predator–prey framework.

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“…As the number of scat samples with remains of the i ‐th prey ( n i ) was not always reported in literature sources, we calculated it from available data on the frequency of prey occurrence in scats ( f i ) and the total number of collected scats ( n total ) using the relationship f i = ( n i / n total ) × 100 (Ghoddousi et al. ). As Wachter et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Ghoddousi et al. ). Depredation often leads to retaliatory killing of large carnivores by humans, especially of big cats such as the lion Panthera leo , tiger Panthera tigris , jaguar Panthera onca , leopard Panthera pardus , snow leopard Panthera uncia , puma Puma concolor, and cheetah Acinonyx jubatus , which prey on economically valuable livestock and occasionally may attack humans (Inskip & Zimmermann , Loveridge et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global patterns in biomass models describing prey consumption by big cats

et al. 2017

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Widespread prey depletion forces carnivores to rely more on livestock, which may lead to increased persecution by humans. Reliable quantification of livestock consumption is essential for understanding depredation scales, but a comparative analysis of extant biomass models used for this purpose has never been done before. We conducted a global meta‐analysis of two linear and three non‐linear biomass models used to estimate consumption of prey biomass and individuals by seven big cat species. We applied the z‐test to perform pairwise comparisons of estimates produced by five models for each prey record. Further, we used logistic regression to assess the effects of species of big cats and their prey, scat sample size, prey body mass, and study sites on significantly different and similar estimates. The analysis of 769 prey records from 47 sites demonstrated that, in over 95% of cases, linear and non‐linear biomass models produced similar estimates of prey biomass and individuals consumed. Significantly different estimates of prey biomass consumed (in 1.5% of cases) and prey individuals consumed (4%) were obtained only in certain study sites and for a few big cat species (tiger Panthera tigris, leopard Panthera pardus, and puma Puma concolor). Due to the paucity of different estimates, the effects of predictors could not be ascertained. Our study demonstrated that linear models tend to estimate higher biomass of large prey, lower biomass of medium‐sized prey and fewer individuals of large and medium‐sized prey consumed than non‐linear models. This disagreement in estimates suggests that the numbers of livestock lost to depredation can be underestimated by linear models, and that re‐calculation by non‐linear models is required. However, the difference between estimates produced by linear and non‐linear models is generally small and such re‐calculation may be recommended only for tiger, puma and leopard in certain areas.

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Assessing the Role of Livestock in Big Cat Prey Choice Using Spatiotemporal Availability Patterns

Cited by 46 publications

References 43 publications

Living on the edge: Multiscale habitat selection by cheetahs in a human‐wildlife landscape

Living on the edge: Multiscale habitat selection by cheetahs in a human‐wildlife landscape

Cattle selectivity by leopards suggests ways to mitigate human–leopard conflict

Global patterns in biomass models describing prey consumption by big cats

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