Shivani Bhalla Thesis 2017 Compressed
Demography and ranging behaviour of lions (Panthera leo) within a human-occupied landscape in northern Kenya A thesis submitted to the University of Oxford for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology Shivani Bhalla Lady Margaret Hall 2017 DECLARATION The thesis presented here represents a project that I developed as a D.Phil. student of the Zoology Department, University of Oxford. I implemented all aspects of this project, analysed the results and wrote all of the material in the thesis. While others assisted with the project at various stages including fieldwork, data entry and analysis, it represents a work entirely of my own doing and I assume full responsibility for the work presented here. The text, excluding figure legends, tables, references and appendices, does not exceed 50,000 words. All photographs included in the thesis are the copyright of the Ewaso Lions Project, except where stated. Signed Date: 18th April 2017 i ABSTRACT Lion populations across Kenya are threatened, primarily as a result of habitat loss and human persecution in response to livestock depredation. This study provides the first population insights into lions within the Samburu-Isiolo ecosystem; considering both the protected area network and the surrounding human-occupied landscape. These results are particularly pertinent given Kenya’s low lion population. The demography of the lion population in the Samburu-Isiolo ecosystem was studied to provide data on the area’s basic lion population structure. Due to the small size of the protected areas within the study area, it was expected that lions would frequently move outside the Reserves into the human-occupied landscapes that surround the protected areas and, therefore, their ranging behaviour was also assessed.
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