Temporal Patterns of Utilization of Constructed Water Pans by Different Mammal Species: A Study of Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya

Abstract

Climate change induced risks like prolonged dry spells are exacerbating water scarcity especially, in the wildlife conservancies calling for alternative water supply systems for wildlife. In Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, water pans were constructed to provide water to animals during wet and dry seasons. The study aim was to establish patterns of water pans utilization by different mammal species in different seasons and times of the day. Study was conducted on the mammals visiting water pans in the dry season (June 2022) and wet season (October 2022) at two water pans in Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. Mammal utilization of water pans was studied using observations and camera traps. Pearson correlation and t-test were used to analyze data. Impala had the highest water pan visitations (36.7%) followed by zebra (22.2%) while eland and reedbuck had the lowest (0.7%) visitations. Morning (0900hrs-1000hrs) was a period of peak visitations, followed by midday while dusk recorded the least visitations. Mammals utilized water pans for drinking, wallowing, grazing, socialization, and soil licking. There were significant differences in the number of visitations between the dry and wet seasons (df =7, t = 2.739, p=0.029) where dry season had high visitations (64.6%) while wet season had 35.4%. There was also a strong negative correlation between mammal visitations to the water pans and the time of the day.  The study shows that constructed water pans provide important source of water in protected areas where natural water sources are absent, inaccessible due to fencing, or during the dry season when water is limited. Therefore, water provisioning during the dry season in areas lacking water to increase dispersal ranges in the conservancy reducing mammal concentration around water pans.