Abstract:
White lions are a colour variant of the African lion Panthera leo melanochaita and disappeared
from the wild due to anthropogenic factors until their reintroduction to the Greater Kruger Park
Region of South Africa in 2006. Natural home range behaviour is an index of reintroduction success.
Therefore, the home range and movement of a pride of reintroduced white lions and a constructed
pride consisting of reintroduced white lions and translocated wild tawny lionesses in small, fenced
reserves was assessed. GPS data from collared adults were collected for the white lion pride between
2010–2011 and 2018–2020 for the constructed pride. Home ranges were estimated using kernel
density estimation and minimum convex polygon, with minimum daily distance tested for differences
between sex, season, and pride. Home ranges were small and average daily movements restricted
for both prides (white lion pride: 5.41 km2 and 10.44 4.82 km; constructed pride: 5.50 km2,
11.37 4.72 km) due to the small reserve size of 7 km2. There was no difference between prides
for annual and seasonal home range size, male and female home ranges, minimum daily distance
travelled, or habitat selection. White lions from both prides established territories and displayed
natural home ranging behaviour, suggesting that their reintroduction was successful, in the absence
of anthropogenic threats.
Description:
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : This research and its data forms part of a PhD thesis registered with
Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
This study was conducted as part of Jason Turner’s Doctorate of Philosophy, Science, through the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Science, Leiden University, Netherlands.
