IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Strampelli, P. | |
| Status and habitat use responses of leopard (_Panthera pardus_) in a human impacted region of rural Mozambique | |
| 2015 Full Book | |
Leopard (_Panthera pardus_) populations in Africa are increasingly faced with high levels of anthropogenic pressure. Research on how leopards respond to humans and to other predators in human-impacted regions can help guide conservation interventions, and rigorous estimates of populations are necessary to prioritise investments and assess their effectiveness. However, across the leopard's range, and particularly in Africa, such research is lacking. This study used camera trap data, combined with occupancy and capture-recapture modelling, to provide inferences on leopard status and habitat use in Limpopo National Park and Xonghile Game Reserve, two areas of southern Mozambique experiencing different levels of anthropogenic pressure. Multi-scale replicated detection/non-detection surveys were used to estimate the proportion of area occupied by leopards in a representative area of Limpopo National Park, and to investigate the relative impacts of environmental and anthropogenic factors on leopard occurrence at two spatial (home-range selection, temporary resource use within the home range) and temporal (wet season only, full year) scales. The estimated proportion of area occupied by leopards was 0.812 (SE = 0.095). Results suggest that distribution and habitat use by leopards at both scales are influenced by a complex, multifaceted combination of top-down and bottom up factors, rather than by a single defining influence. Little evidence was found that leopards were spatially avoiding humans or lions (Panthera leo), a dominant sympatric carnivore, even at finer spatial scales. Comparisons with past studies reveal that leopards are using human-disturbed areas which other predators, lion and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), are both avoiding. The study also established a baseline leopard density for the region and the first empirical leopard density estimate in Mozambique, through density estimation in nearby Xonghile Game Reserve, where leopards are exposed to lower levels of anthropogenic disturbances than in Limpopo National Park. Maximum-likelihood spatially-explicit capture-recapture modelling revealed a density of 1.53 (SE=0.57) adult leopards per 100 km2. Altogether, the study provides unbiased estimates of occurrence and density that can be used to compare changes across sites or time, and provides some of the few data available on leopard habitat-use in a human-dominated landscape in Africa. Results also highlight the potential for a multi-country leopard meta-population, and future interventions should focus on assessing and improving connectivity in the region. |
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