Status and Habitat Use Responses of Leopard (Panthera Pardus) in a Human Impacted Region of Rural Mozambique
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Status and habitat use responses of leopard (Panthera pardus) in a human impacted region of rural Mozambique Paolo Strampelli September 2015 A thesis submitted for the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Imperial College London Submitted for the MSc in Conservation Science Declaration of Own Work I declare that this thesis, “Status and habitat use responses of leopard (Panthera pardus) in a human impacted region of rural Mozambique” is entirely my own work, and that where material could be construed as the work of others, it is fully cited and referenced, and/or with appropriate acknowledgment given. Signature _______________________________________ Name of student Paolo Strampelli Name of supervisors Dr. Marcus Rowcliffe Prof. Michael Somers i Contents LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................................. v ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... vii 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem statement & significance .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project aims, objectives and hypotheses ................................................................................................ 3 1.2.1 Aims & Objectives .................................................................................................................................... 3 2 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 The African leopard Panthera pardus ............................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Status and threats in sub-Saharan Africa ............................................................................................... 5 2.1.2 Habitat use and functional relationship with humans and with other large felids ......................... 6 2.1.3 The leopard in Mozambique ................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Sampling large carnivore populations ............................................................................................................ 9 2.2.1 Capture-recapture methods for density estimation ............................................................................. 9 2.2.2 Occupancy modelling and estimation in the context of large carnivores ...................................... 10 2.3 Study area ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 2.3.1 A note on Mozambique ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.3.2 Limpopo National Park ......................................................................................................................... 11 2.3.3 Xonghile Game Reserve ........................................................................................................................ 12 3 METHODS ........................................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................................................. 13 3.2 Data collection................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.2.1. Camera trap array in Limpopo National Park ................................................................................... 13 3.2.2. Camera trap array in Xonghile Game Reserve .................................................................................. 15 3.2.3 Sampling protocol ................................................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Habitat selection investigation and POA estimation through occupancy modelling in LNP ............ 16 3.3.1 Occupancy estimation rationale and assumptions ............................................................................. 16 3.3.2 Survey design ........................................................................................................................................... 16 3.3.3 Site covariate identification .................................................................................................................... 18 3.3.4 Detection covariate identification......................................................................................................... 20 3.3.5 Analytical Methods: Occupancy Modelling ........................................................................................ 21 3.4 SECR Modelling for Density Estimation in XGR .................................................................................... 22 3.4.1 Survey Design .......................................................................................................................................... 22 3.4.2 Leopard Identification ............................................................................................................................ 22 ii 3.4.3 Analytical Methods: Density Estimation using SECR Models ........................................................ 23 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1. Occupancy Modelling ................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.1 Five month home-range scale occupancy model ............................................................................... 24 4.1.2 Five month fine (resource use within home range) scale occupancy model ................................. 25 4.1.3 Twelve month fine (resource use within home range) occupancy model...................................... 25 4.2. SECR Modelling ............................................................................................................................................ 28 4.2.1 Capture success........................................................................................................................................ 28 4.2.2 Density estimation in XGR ................................................................................................................... 28 5 DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 29 5.1 Occupancy and habitat use by leopards in Limpopo National Park ...................................................... 29 5.1.1 Anthropogenic impacts on leopard habitat use and occupancy ...................................................... 30 5.1.2 Effect of impala site use on leopard occupancy ................................................................................. 31 5.1.3 Effect of lion space use on leopard habitat use ................................................................................. 31 5.1.4 Effect of riparian habitat on leopard space use .................................................................................. 33 5.1.5 Comparisons with results from other large felids .............................................................................. 33 5.2 Estimation of leopard density ....................................................................................................................... 34 5.2.1 Limitations of density estimate ............................................................................................................. 35 5.3 Conservation implications of findings ......................................................................................................... 36 5.3.1 Interspecific competition with lions and bushmeat hunters ............................................................ 36 5.3.2 LNP & XGR as potential population sinks ........................................................................................ 36 5.3.3 Results in the wider GLTFCA context ................................................................................................ 37 5.3.4 Implication of results for previous estimates of leopards in Mozambique ................................... 38 5.3.5 Implications for occupancy as a state variable for leopards ............................................................