TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimating occurrence and detectability of a carnivore community in Eastern Botswana using baited camera traps
AU - Satterfield, Lauren C.
AU - Thompson, Jeffrey J.
AU - Snyman, Andrei
AU - Candelario, Luis
AU - Rode, Brian
AU - Carroll, John P.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Botswana, for their cooperation and permission to conduct our research as well as Mashatu Game Reserve, in particular Pete le Roux and David Evans. Additionally, we would like to thank Anton Lategan and Stuart Quinn for their continued support of our research and collaboration. We greatly appreciate the advice of Drew Tyre in finalizing quantitative aspects of the manuscript. Finally, we thank the University of Georgia Botswana Field Course students for field assistance. This work was supported by the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and EcoTraining Inc. We thank these organizations and individuals for their extensive financial and logistical support.
PY - 2017/4
Y1 - 2017/4
N2 - Human-wildlife conflict and habitat loss are threatening carnivore populations in southern Africa, where the bulk of research focuses on large predators. However, scant research exists on medium and small carnivore (mesocarnivore) ecology. We employed hierarchical community modelling to estimate the effect of habitat on species occurrence and the effect of bait on detection probabilities for the carnivore community in the Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana. We tested sites baited with either impala (Aepyceros melampus) meat (meat sites) or cheesecloth soaked in used cooking fat (fat rag sites) against unbaited sites (control sites). Within each bait classification, we divided our sampling effort between two habitat classifications, riverine and non-riverine sites. Thirteen of 16 carnivore species inhabiting the area (81%), including 10 of 12 species of mesocarnivore (83%), were recorded. Occupancy rates were higher in riverine habitat for several species, in particular African civet (Civettictis civetta), brown hyaena (Hyaena brunnea), and large-spotted genet (Genetta tigrina), demonstrating the importance of riverine habitat, which is declining in the study region. Our results suggest that the use of bait improves detectability. Several large carnivores, including spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta), brown hyaena, and leopard (Panthera pardus), were detected at highest rates at meat sites. Many mesocarnivores, including black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) and African civet responded equally to meat and fat rag sites, with detections greater than at control sites. Notably, large-spotted genet showed highest detection rates at fat rag sites, and brown hyaena showed higher rates at fat rag sites than control sites. Our detection results indicate that spent cooking fat may be used as an effective bait alternative to meat when studying mesocarnivore communities in southern Africa, whereas meat may still be the most effective for studying large carnivore communities. Identifying effective methods of increasing detection rates will benefit carnivore survey and monitoring initiatives, especially for cryptic species.
AB - Human-wildlife conflict and habitat loss are threatening carnivore populations in southern Africa, where the bulk of research focuses on large predators. However, scant research exists on medium and small carnivore (mesocarnivore) ecology. We employed hierarchical community modelling to estimate the effect of habitat on species occurrence and the effect of bait on detection probabilities for the carnivore community in the Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana. We tested sites baited with either impala (Aepyceros melampus) meat (meat sites) or cheesecloth soaked in used cooking fat (fat rag sites) against unbaited sites (control sites). Within each bait classification, we divided our sampling effort between two habitat classifications, riverine and non-riverine sites. Thirteen of 16 carnivore species inhabiting the area (81%), including 10 of 12 species of mesocarnivore (83%), were recorded. Occupancy rates were higher in riverine habitat for several species, in particular African civet (Civettictis civetta), brown hyaena (Hyaena brunnea), and large-spotted genet (Genetta tigrina), demonstrating the importance of riverine habitat, which is declining in the study region. Our results suggest that the use of bait improves detectability. Several large carnivores, including spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta), brown hyaena, and leopard (Panthera pardus), were detected at highest rates at meat sites. Many mesocarnivores, including black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) and African civet responded equally to meat and fat rag sites, with detections greater than at control sites. Notably, large-spotted genet showed highest detection rates at fat rag sites, and brown hyaena showed higher rates at fat rag sites than control sites. Our detection results indicate that spent cooking fat may be used as an effective bait alternative to meat when studying mesocarnivore communities in southern Africa, whereas meat may still be the most effective for studying large carnivore communities. Identifying effective methods of increasing detection rates will benefit carnivore survey and monitoring initiatives, especially for cryptic species.
KW - Africa
KW - Botswana
KW - Carnivora
KW - Mashatu
KW - bait
KW - camera trap
KW - carnivore
KW - cooking fat
KW - detection
KW - habitat
KW - meat
KW - occupancy.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85038421473&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3957/056.047.0032
DO - 10.3957/056.047.0032
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85038421473
SN - 2410-7220
VL - 47
SP - 32
EP - 46
JO - African Journal of Wildlife Research
JF - African Journal of Wildlife Research
IS - 1
ER -