Lions in a coexistence landscape: Repurposing a traditional field technique to monitor an elusive carnivore

Abstract

Throughout Africa, lions are thought to have experienced dramatic population decline and range contraction. The greatest declines are likely occurring in human‐dominated landscapes where reliably estimating lion populations is particularly challenging. By adapting a method that has thus far only been applied to animals that are habituated to vehicles, we estimate lion density in two community areas in Kenya's South Rift, located more than 100 km from the nearest protected area (PA). More specifically, we conducted an 89‐day survey using unstructured spatial sampling coupled with playbacks, a commonly used field technique, and estimated lion density using spatial capture‐recapture (SCR) models. Our estimated density of 5.9 lions over the age of 1 year per 100 km2 compares favorably with many PAs and suggests that this is a key lion population that could be crucial for connectivity across the wider landscape. We discuss the possible mechanisms supporting this density and demonstrate how rigorous field methods combined with robust analyses can produce reliable population estimates within human‐dominated landscapes.

Genetic diversity of lion populations in Kenya: Evaluating past management practices and recommendations for future conservation actions

“…Torosei and Musenge (~30-50 km east), Naimina Enkiyio forest ~25 km west of Shompole and at landscape level Amboseli NP and the Maasai Mara National Reserve (Western et al, 2022). While lions are known to traverse large distances, we found a rather high percentage (38%) of monomorphic loci and a distinct clustering in the PCA and DAPC.…”

“…The lion population in Shompole occupies the protected areas of Shompole (620 km 2 ) and Olkiramatian conservancies (270 km 2 ); with the exception of the Rift Valley escarpment to the east, the conservancies are part of a contiguous transboundary ecosystem encompassing >8000 km 2 across southern Kenya and northern Tanzania (Schuette et al., 2013 ). Adjacent lion populations include Torosei and Musenge (~30–50 km east), Naimina Enkiyio forest ~25 km west of Shompole and at landscape level Amboseli NP and the Maasai Mara National Reserve (Western et al., 2022 ). While lions are known to traverse large distances, we found a rather high percentage (38%) of monomorphic loci and a distinct clustering in the PCA and DAPC.…”

Considerations on effort, precision and accuracy for long‐term monitoring of African lions (Panthera leo), when using Bayesian spatial explicit capture–recapture models, in fenced protected areas

“…More recently, Elliot and Gopalaswamy ( 2017 ) demonstrated how to apply unstructured spatial sampling to collect individual encounter histories of lions, and fit the data to spatial capture–recapture models. This search encounter‐based SCR (SECR) approach has since been successfully used within many east African source populations to provide robust population estimates and management recommendations (Braczkowski, Gopalaswamy, Nsubuga, et al, 2020 ; Elliot et al, 2021 ; Ngene et al, 2023 ; Western et al, 2022 ), yet has not been applied in southern Africa.…”