Assessment of Big Cats Abundance and Distribution in Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA): An Analysis of Multiple Methods

Abstract

Large carnivores are considered key species and their presence signify health of the ecosystem. Mostly used methods to establish big cats abundance and spatial distribution in SWRA consist of spoor survey, individual observations, analysis of patrol data and interviews with safari operators. In this study, four methods were used to establish current abundance and distribution of big cats in Sengwa and to find advantages and disadvantage for each method used. To do this, spoor survey along twelve transects were done between 13th to 20th April 2020. Oral interviews with local professional hunters and park managers was done between 1st and 10th April 2020, whilst analysis of patrol reports from January 2018 to December 2019 were also done. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis of interview data. For other three methods, data were summarised in excel and quantitatively analysed. Mapping of spatial distribution of big cats from secondary data and spoor surveys were done in QGIS software. Five lion spoors and twenty-one leopard spoors were recorded during spoor survey. Two individual leopards and zero lions were also recorded. Lion spoors were mostly recorded along river valleys while leopard spoors were recorded in different habitats and terrain. Future related studies should focus on use of other survey design and combination of methods such as radio calls and camera traps as well as use of GPS enabled collars for monitoring and estimating abundance.