Home Range Utilisation and Territorial Behaviour of Lions (Panthera leo) on Karongwe Game Reserve, South Africa

Abstract

Interventionist conservation management of territorial large carnivores has increased in recent years, especially in South Africa. Understanding of spatial ecology is an important component of predator conservation and management. Spatial patterns are influenced by many, often interacting, factors making elucidation of key drivers difficult. We had the opportunity to study a simplified system, a single pride of lions (Panthera leo) after reintroduction onto the 85 km2 Karongwe Game Reserve, from 1999–2005, using radio-telemetry. In 2002 one male was removed from the paired coalition which had been present for the first three years. A second pride and male were in a fenced reserve adjacent of them to the east. This made it possible to separate social and resource factors in both a coalition and single male scenario, and the driving factors these seem to have on spatial ecology. Male ranging behaviour was not affected by coalition size, being driven more by resource rather than social factors. The females responded to the lions on the adjacent reserve by avoiding the area closest to them, therefore females may be more driven by social factors. Home range size and the resource response to water are important factors to consider when reintroducing lions to a small reserve, and it is hoped that these findings lead to other similar studies which will contribute to sound decisions regarding the management of lions on small reserves.

Does captivity influence territorial and hunting behaviour? Assessment for an ex situ reintroduction program of African lions Panthera leo

“…We recorded territories of 28.5 km 2 and 56 km 2 for the wild pride in 2014 and 2015, which reflects those previously observed for prides within the Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve (24.9–106.8 km 2 , Lehmann et al. ). The presence of other prides and coalitions on the reserve influenced our pride, as evidenced by a change in territory size of the adult males between Makhutswi 1 and Makhutswi 2.…”

“…Males protect their territory from invading conspecifics via two methods: directly, through their presence with the pride and by confronting competing males, and indirectly, by patrolling and maintaining territory boundaries (Lehmann et al. ). Prides and coalitions use roaring and scent marking for within‐group and between‐group communication (Hanby et al.…”

Rare observation of the existence and masculine behaviour of maned lionesses in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

“…When urinating, SaF05 was significantly more likely to use an overt marking posture than the maneless adult females in the study population (Table ). Male lions are more commonly observed scent marking by rubbing their head onto vegetation and depositing their urine with overt marking postures (Schaller, ; Lehmann et al ., ).…”

Spatiotemporal Genetic Diversity of Lions

“…In the lion mating system, females primarily remain with their natal pride while males disperse (48,49). If unobstructed by geographic or artificial barriers, a male home range can be hundreds to thousands of km 2 (52)(53)(54) and can span different habitats (55)(56)(57). However, the original range of the lion has been severely reduced as a direct result of the growing human population (24) and changes in land-use, such as expansion of large-scale cultivation and increased movement of livestock into protected areas (58)(59)(60).…”