IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Balme, G.; Hunter, L.; Robinson, H. | |
| Baited camera-trap surveys - Marginally more precise but at what cost? A response to du Preez et al. 2014 | |
| 2014 Biological Conservation (179): 144-145 | |
du Preez et al. (2014) propose that baited camera-trap surveys of leopards _Panthera pardus_ (1) generate more precise estimates of population density due to increased capture rates, (2) provide more accurate descriptions of population structure, and (3) are more cost effective than unbaited surveys. They also imply that baited camera-trap surveys are more accurate; however, they do not compare their density estimates against a known reference population, or even against an independent estimate of population density. As such, there is no way to validate the accuracy of baited or unbaited) surveys. This is of concern as density estimates from baited surveys were 12-65% higher than unbaited surveys. Baiting does appear to increase the precision of population density estimates. Although the standard errors of estimates from unbaited surveys were consistently lower than baited surveys, the relative standard errors (mean/standard error 100) are higher. However, this difference is marginal - from 2% to 4% - which seems a small gain for the increased effort associated with baiting (an additional 44 man-hours per week or 314 man-hours per survey). |
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