Identifying areas of socio-ecological value for the translocation of perceived conflict cheetah (A. jubatus) and leopard (P. pardus) in Namibia
Abstract
Human-wildlife conflict is an ever-present threat to large carnivores in Namibia due
to their distribution across privately owned properties. Translocation techniques
are one approach to solving this conservation challenge, but are often regarded as
unsuccessful due to new sources of competition, stress, or human conflict for translocated
animals. In attempt to mitigate some of these failures, I developed an ArcGIS- (v.10.1,
ESRI 2012) based carnivore translocation suitability tool (CaTSuiT) that identifies
habitat patches which meet the ecological requirements of leopard and cheetah and
accounts for human-development parameters. CaTSuiT ranks potential habitat patches
based on landowner tolerance of carnivores (determined by survey) and the uncertainty
associated with a patch's designated tolerance due to the number of un-surveyed landowners.
The model indicates a large number of available habitat patches for leopard; however,
suitable cheetah habitat patches are limited by the amount of suitable areas farther
from the recommended minimum homing distance away from a conflict animal's capture
location. This tool should be used as a guide to inform conservation managers about
where to focus their efforts to help landowners incorporate more tolerant farming
practices and improve coexistence between local land-owners and large carnivores.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6977Citation
Lemeris, Joseph Jr. (2013). Identifying areas of socio-ecological value for the translocation of perceived conflict
cheetah (A. jubatus) and leopard (P. pardus) in Namibia. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6977.Collections
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