Spoor density as a measure of true density of a known population of free‐ranging wild cheetah in Botswana

Abstract

Knowledge of the abundance of animal populations is essential for their management and conservation. Determining reliable measures of abundance is, however, difficult, especially with wide-ranging species such as cheetah Acinonyx jubatus. This study generated a correction factor to calculate true cheetah density from spoor survey data and subsequently tested its accuracy using the following season's data. Data were collected from October 2005 to December 2006 on a known population of wild, free-ranging cheetah in the Jwana Game Reserve, Botswana. The cheetahs in the area were captured, tagged and photographed. The reserve was divided into twelve 9 km transects covering all vegetation types and prey densities. The total sampling distance was 8226 km, with a spoor density of 2.32 individual cheetah spoor per 100 km 2 . To determine a precise and accurate spoor density, it was necessary to sample for a longer period during the dry season (April-September) than during the wet season (October-March). This difference may be due to cheetah behavioural changes with seasonal variations in habitat and prey. The true density was 5.23 cheetahs per 100 km 2 ranging from 3.33 to 7.78 at the low and high points of the population, respectively. A positive linear correlation between spoor and true density was observed. This relationship differed in the wet and dry season and required refinement with the following season's data. Correction factors may be viable, but require further testing taking the behavioural responses to seasonal, habitat and prey variations into consideration.

Detecting declines of apex carnivores and evaluating their causes: An example with Zambian lions

“…Durant, 2000), but are rare and relatively small scale due to their logistical difficulty, expense, and time-consuming nature (Durant et al, 2007). Consequently, a variety of rapid and economical survey methods have been developed to monitor large carnivore populations, including spoor counts (Van Dyke et al, 1986;Stander, 1998;Houser et al, 2009;Funston et al, 2010;Ferreira et al, 2013;Bauer et al, 2014;Midlane et al, 2014), audio lures (Ogutu and Dublin, 1998;Mills et al, 2001;Kiffner et al, 2008;Ferreira and Funston, 2010;Cozzi et al, 2013;Groom et al, 2014), camera trapping (Karanth and Nichols, 1998;Jackson et al, 2006;Balme et al, 2009;Karanth et al, 2011;Schuette et al, 2013), distance sampling (Durant et al, 2011), detection dogs (Smith et al, 2001), extrapolation from prey density (Karanth et al, 2004), and noninvasive genetic surveys (Kohn et al, 1999;Creel et al, 2003;Mondol et al, 2009;. While these survey methods avoid some of the constraints inherent to intensive monitoring of known individuals, they often provide population estimates with confidence intervals so broad that they provide little guidance for management and conservation.…”

Interpretations of Polar Bear (<em>Ursus maritimus</em>) Tracks by Inuit Hunters: Inter-rater Reliability and Inferences Concerning Accuracy

“…Animals must be mobile in order to be counted (Becker et al 1998); otherwise, a failure to detect tracks will not necessarily indicate absence (gese 2001;Crooks et al 2008). In addition to physical geography (gompper et al 2006;Houser et al 2009), weather and snow conditions can affect track detectability (Jewell et al 2001;Hayward et al 2002;Silveira et al 2003;Alibhai et al 2008), thus further supporting the need to evaluate the effect of substrate on interpretations made by Inuit hunters.…”

Comparative Efficacy of Sign Surveys, Spotlighting and Audio Playbacks in a Landscape-Scale Carnivore Survey

“…Detection efficiency Precision Minimum effort Cost Sign surveys 1 1 1 1 Spotlighting 3 2 3 3 Playbacks 2 3 2 2 surveys have been used to estimate absolute abundance of tigers (Panthera tigris), cheetahs, lions, leopards, brown hyaenas and spotted hyaenas (Stander 1998;O'Brien et al 2003;Carbone et al 2009;Houser et al 2009). This requires calibration against independent estimates of density, which were unavailable in our study area.…”

“…In addition, these sampling methods can be implemented without highly technical equipment or facilities, making them widely accessible to other investigators. Sign surveys (counts of scats, tracks, feeding signs, claw marks, dens and other visible structures) have been used world-wide to study a broad spectrum of focal carnivore species (Wilson & Delahay 2001), including cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), lions (Panthera leo), leopards (Panthera pardus), brown hyaenas (Hyaena brunnea) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) (Stander 1998;Carbone et al 2009;Houser et al 2009). Spotlighting along line transects has frequently been used for medium-sized species such as dingoes (Canis dingo) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) (Mahon et al 1998;Edwards et al 2000;Heydon et al 2000) in Europe and Australia.…”