Carnivore population dynamics on two reserves, comparable or not?

Abstract

Small carnivore species might provide the disease link in disease transmission between domestic dogs and apex predators. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of carnivores and prey species on two wildlife reserves in Mpumalanga Province. Carnivore presence was determined on two reserves managed by Mpumalanga Tourist and Parks Agency(MTPA). Manyeleti is contiguous with Kruger National Park (KNP), 23 000 hectares in area, and has villages on one side. Andover is not adjacent to KNP, 7 000 hectares in area, and has villages on three sides of the reserve. The presence of carnivores and determination of inter-species interactions were measured during a two-year period using randomly placed clusters of camera traps. These camera traps were placed at each selected location for a period of 4 to 6 weeks before being moved. Permanent camera traps were also placed on the interface between reserves and villages. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and mapped using ArcGIS 10.4.1. Ordinary Kriging and inverse distance weighting interpolation were used to determine the spatial distributions of observed wildlife. The Mackenzie model was used to determine the daily detection probability of each species. The most abundant species present in Manyeleti were hyena (Crocuta crocuta) and Lion (Panthera leo). In Andover, the only apex predator present was leopard (Panthera pardus), while serval (Leptailurus serval), caracal (Felis caracal), and mongoose (Mungos mungo) were also present. Some locations were shared among carnivore species, while other areas had no carnivore species detected at all. Areas with prey species, water and access routes to water had the highest probability of carnivore detection.