Hartmann’s mountain zebra resource selection and movement behavior within a large unprotected landscape in northwest Namibia

Abstract

Expanding human populations, combined with an increasingly variable climate, present challenges to the conservation of wide-ranging wildlife species, particularly for populations that persist in human-dominated landscapes. Although the movements and space use of many equid species have been well studied, comparable research of the Hartmann's mountain zebra (HMZ) Equus zebra hartmannae, which primarily inhabits communal and commercial farming areas of Namibia, has been scarce and may limit conservation effectiveness. Here, we investigated the environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing HMZ movements and resource use across a large area of their range in northwestern Namibia. We deployed 6 GPS collars on HMZ during 2011 to 2013 and used integrated step selection functions to quantify HMZ movements and space use. HMZ movements averaged ~5 km d −1 , and mean seasonal home range sizes were 681 and 256 km 2 in the wet and dry season, respectively. HMZ selected for areas with high normalized difference vegetation index values (used as a proxy for primary production), particularly during the dry season, while avoiding areas further from water and closer to human settlements, although the effect was less apparent during the rainy season. Movement rates increased when HMZ crossed roads and were closer to roadways, but rates were not impacted by proximity to human activities. These results provide insights toward mitigating human−HMZ conflict. We highlight the difficulty a changing and less predictable climate creates for grazing species living in arid regions, as they must expend more energy and navigate dangers of a growing human footprint to seek out valuable but ephemeral forage.

Rolling pits of Hartmann’s mountain zebra (Zebra equus hartmannae) increase vegetation diversity and landscape heterogeneity in the Pre‐Namib

“…The current number of mountain zebras is estimated to be 32.000 individuals (Gosling et al, 2019). Their seasonally shifting home ranges (Muntifering et al, 2019), the long persistence, and limited reuse of abandoned pits result in an occurrence of mountain zebra pits through- as an ecosystem engineer. In the future, the importance of the rolling pits for the local forb and arthropod communities might even increase, due to prolonged severe drought periods, which are expected in the region as a result of climate change (Archer et al, 2019;Maúre et al, 2018).…”

“…The pits are mainly used for only one season but remain as depressions for several years. When the vegetation dries up, the Hartmann's mountain zebras move to their dry season home ranges (Muntifering et al., 2019 ) and the pits become abandoned. In the following rainy season, when the zebras return, new pits are created.…”

“…The habitat of Hartmann's mountain zebra is mountainous areas and flats. Hartmann's mountain zebras further exhibit a marked migration pattern, following the rainfall and forage availability and moving between dry season and rainy season home ranges (Muntifering et al., 2019 ). Hartmann's mountain zebras usually live as family groups that consist of a stallion and his harem of mares and their foals.…”

Adapting participatory processes to fine‐tune conservation approaches in multiactor decision settings

“…2019; Muntifering et al. 2019), thereby paralleling the attitude of many practitioners (Arpin 2019). Most studies addressing situations in which conflicts are unavoidable propose concrete solutions of local relevance (e.g., Dhungan et al.…”

“…Studies in which conservation knowledge was used to identify ways to avoid wildlife–human conflicts (e.g., Muntifering et al. 2019) exemplify the work of honest brokers fostering conservation in more complex pluralist settings.…”