Movement patterns of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) in farmlands in Botswana

Abstract

Botswana has the second highest population of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) with most living outside protected areas. As a result, many cheetahs are found in farming areas which occasionally results in human-wildlife conflict. This study aimed to look at movement patterns of cheetahs in farming environments to determine whether cheetahs have adapted their movements in these human-dominated landscapes. We fitted high-time resolution GPS collars to cheetahs in the Ghanzi farmlands of Botswana. GPS locations were used to calculate home range sizes as well as number and duration of visits to landscape features using a time-based local convex hull method. Cheetahs had medium-sized home ranges compared to previously studied cheetah in similar farming environments. Results showed that cheetahs actively visited scent marking trees and avoided visiting homesteads. A slight preference for visiting game farms over cattle farms was found, but there was no difference in duration of visits between farm types. We conclude that cheetahs selected for areas that are important for their dietary and social needs and prefer to avoid human-occupied areas. Improved knowledge of how cheetahs use farmlands can allow farmers to make informed decisions when developing management practices and can be an important tool for reducing human-wildlife conflict.

Queuing, takeovers, and becoming a fat cat: Long‐term data reveal two distinct male spatial tactics at different life‐history stages in Namibian cheetahs

“…Two recent studies reported as having identified both spatial tactics but did so without investigating or reporting marking and defending behavior, used a limited sample and took the smallness of the observed HR sizes as their sole clue (Van der Weyde et al. , n = 4, one solitary male, two coalitions of two, one coalition of four; Marker et al. , n = 20, 10 units of territory holders, 10 units of floaters, no information on coalition sizes).…”

“…A recent study with a small sample size of one radio‐collared solitary males and three radio‐collared coalitions of males distinguished between ranges of territory holders and floaters, with the solitary floater having a larger range than the territory holders (Van der Weyde et al. ). Both territory holders and floaters can be solitary or occur in coalitions, with most territory holders consisting of coalitions (Caro ).…”

“…Subsequent studies on radio-collared male cheetahs in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, all Southern Africa, mostly reported range sizes for solitary males and males in groups (coalitions) without detecting a difference between them (Broomhall et al 2003, Marker et al 2008, Houser et al 2009, Marnewick and Somers 2015, Mills et al 2017. A recent study with a small sample size of one radio-collared solitary males and three radio-collared coalitions of males distinguished between ranges of territory holders and floaters, with the solitary floater having a larger range than the territory holders (Van der Weyde et al 2016). Both territory holders and floaters can be solitary or occur in coalitions, with most territory holders consisting of coalitions (Caro 1994).…”

Towards a unified generic framework to define and observe contacts between livestock and wildlife: a systematic review

“…Presence on pasture at the same time 5 (4) 43Clifford et al (2009);Benham & Broom (1989);Carusi, Beade & Bilenca (2017);Weise et al (2019);Zarco-González & Monroy- Vilchis (2014) Presence on pasture at unspecified time interval 8 (7) 50Pruvot et al (2014); Fleming et al (2016); Guillermo Bueno et al (2010);Woodroffe et al (2016); Bromen et al (2019);Chavez & Gese (2006); Ham et al (2019);Muhly et al (2010) Presence on pasture at different times 1 (1) 51Odadi et al (2017) At holding boundary and on pasture at unspecified time interval 1 (1) 52Gehring et al (2010)Presence on farm at unspecified time interval 12 (10) 62Mullen et al (2015);Sleeman, Davenport & Fitzgerald (2008);O'brien et al (2014);O'Mahony (2015);Anderson et al (2019);Ward et al (2008); Braz et al (2019);Judge et al (2011);Kamler et al (2019);Van Der Weyde et al (2017);Viggers & Hearn (2005); Berentsen et al (2014) At holding (farm) boundary 3 (3) 65Vercauteren et al (2007a);Vercauteren et al (2007b); Individuals within 120 metres of the same location at different times1 (1) 66 Kukielka et al (2016) (continued on next page) Bacigalupo et al (2020), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.10221 11/39…”

Rewilding landscapes with apex predators: cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) movements reveal the importance of environmental and individual contexts

“…While we cumulatively know much about baseline cheetah ecology (Caro, 1994;Durant et al, 2007;Marker et al, 2018b), information on cheetah movement ecology is sparse. Insights from movement analysis of carnivores hold the potential to inform human-wildlife conflict mitigation and bolster critical ecosystem services by maintaining carnivores on the landscape (Odden et al, 2014;Van der Weyde et al, 2017;Loveridge et al, 2022;Teichman et al, 2023).…”