OryxPub Date : 2024-09-16DOI: 10.1017/s0030605324000206
Muhammad Khairuldin Aziz, Anthony O'Dempsey, Bee Choo Ng, Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan, Sonja Luz, Charlene Yeong, Sharon Chan, Marcus A.H. Chua
{"title":"Georeferencing Sunda pangolin Manis javanica records in Singapore","authors":"Muhammad Khairuldin Aziz, Anthony O'Dempsey, Bee Choo Ng, Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan, Sonja Luz, Charlene Yeong, Sharon Chan, Marcus A.H. Chua","doi":"10.1017/s0030605324000206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605324000206","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In Singapore, the Critically Endangered Sunda pangolin <span>Manis javanica</span> is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and road traffic collisions. To mitigate these threats, an understanding of its spatiotemporal distribution is needed, as identified in the National Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the species. However, Sunda pangolin occurrence data are held in multiple separate databases, are typically collected using non-standardized methods, and often lack accurate location details. To compile a complete georeferenced database of Sunda pangolin records in Singapore, we consolidated occurrence data from heterogeneous databases and mainstream and social media, and converted locality descriptions into geographical coordinates. We demonstrate the use of this database to analyse data on rescued pangolins and those killed on roads, to aid conservation efforts in Singapore, and describe other potential applications. We georeferenced 482 records of pangolin sightings, rescues and roadkill for 1996–2021, finding an increase in all three over the study period. Roadkill and rescues occurred mostly in central and western Singapore, close to forested areas, and were predominantly of subadults and adult males. The data can be used to inform threat mitigation strategies, post-rescue release plans and further research. The database has already been used in practice, contributing to environmental impact assessments and conservation recommendations. Overall, this georeferenced database demonstrates the value of citizen science and collating wildlife data from multiple sources, and the methods used can be applied to other taxa to aid conservation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142261364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-16DOI: 10.1017/s0030605324000656
Jeannie Miller Martin, Jacqueline Y. Buckley, Ellen Connelly, Lisa Hywood, L. Mae Lacey, Rachel M. Ruden, Deo Ruhagazi, Anna Wearn
{"title":"The Pangolin Universal Notching System: a scale-marking methodology for pangolins","authors":"Jeannie Miller Martin, Jacqueline Y. Buckley, Ellen Connelly, Lisa Hywood, L. Mae Lacey, Rachel M. Ruden, Deo Ruhagazi, Anna Wearn","doi":"10.1017/s0030605324000656","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605324000656","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Despite thousands of individuals entering the illegal wildlife trade each year, assessments of pangolin populations are largely non-existent, even in areas with high exploitation and limited personnel and field equipment. Although pangolins have unique keratin-based scales, there is no universal scale-marking method for individuals despite some pangolin conservation programmes utilizing marking for reference and cataloguing. Each programme currently establishes and manages its own system, resulting in inconsistencies and limiting data sharing. To facilitate pangolin monitoring and research, we developed a standardized method for assigning individual identification numbers, which we call the Pangolin Universal Notching System. This system is neither resource nor training intensive, which could facilitate its adoption and implementation globally. Its application could help to address knowledge gaps in pangolin ageing, reproduction, survivorship, migration and local trafficking patterns, and could be used in combination with other tagging techniques for research on pangolin biology.</p>","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142261365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-11DOI: 10.1017/s0030605324000085
Eliza King, Stotra Chakrabarti, Fredrick Lala, Stephen Nyaga, Grace Waiguchu, Patrick I. Chiyo, Joseph Kimaile, Richard Moller, Patrick Omondi, Aaron Morris, Joseph K. Bump
{"title":"The lion's share: implications of carnivore diet for threatened herbivores in Tsavo, Kenya","authors":"Eliza King, Stotra Chakrabarti, Fredrick Lala, Stephen Nyaga, Grace Waiguchu, Patrick I. Chiyo, Joseph Kimaile, Richard Moller, Patrick Omondi, Aaron Morris, Joseph K. Bump","doi":"10.1017/s0030605324000085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605324000085","url":null,"abstract":"Predation can have cascading, regulatory effects across ecological communities. Knowledge of the diet of predators can therefore provide important information regarding their ecology and conservation, as well as their impacts on prey populations. Using scats collected during 2019–2023 and estimates of prey abundance from aerial surveys, we characterized prey consumption and preferences of the Vulnerable African lion <jats:italic>Panthera leo</jats:italic> population in Tsavo, Kenya. Biomass models applied to prey frequencies in scats revealed that > 85% of lion diet comprised large ungulates weighing > 150 kg. The Critically Endangered hirola <jats:italic>Beatragus hunteri</jats:italic> and Endangered Grevy's zebra <jats:italic>Equus grevyi</jats:italic> (species that were introduced in Tsavo as part of ex situ conservation programmes in the 1960s) were amongst the seven prey species, of 16 detected, that were preferred by lions. Our results potentially indicate a disproportionate impact of lion predation on the small hirola and Grevy's zebra populations. Preferential predation, coupled with high availability of alternative prey, may trap the small populations of hirola and Grevy's zebra within a predator pit. Our findings provide a better understanding of lion diet, optimal foraging and the potential effects predators can have on threatened and rare prey species in an important conservation landscape. Based on our findings, we recommend an observational study of the predation ecology of lions and other predators in this system, to provide information on age- and sex-specific predation rates on hirola and Grevy's zebra for a population viability analysis, to support the management of these two threatened and rare herbivores in Tsavo.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142218043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-11DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323001710
Thomas Pienkowski, Aidan Keane, Eugene Kinyanda, Birthe Loa Knizek, Caroline Asiimwe, Geoffrey Muhanguzi, E.J. Milner-Gulland
{"title":"Exploring links between socio-ecological systems and psychological distress: a case study in rural Uganda","authors":"Thomas Pienkowski, Aidan Keane, Eugene Kinyanda, Birthe Loa Knizek, Caroline Asiimwe, Geoffrey Muhanguzi, E.J. Milner-Gulland","doi":"10.1017/s0030605323001710","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605323001710","url":null,"abstract":"Poor mental health is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease but there is poor understanding of how it is influenced by people's interactions with ecological systems. In a theory-generating case study we asked how interactions with ecosystems were perceived to influence stressors associated with psychological distress in a rural setting in Uganda. We conducted and thematically analysed 45 semi-structured interviews with residents of Nyabyeya Parish. Poverty and food insecurity were the primary reported causes of ‘thinking too much’ and related idioms suggesting psychological distress. Households bordering a conservation area reported that crop losses from wildlife contributed to food insecurity. However, forest resources represented important safety nets for those facing poverty and food insecurity. Commercial agricultural expansion also emerged as a salient theme in the lives of residents, reportedly exacerbating poverty and food insecurity amongst poorer households but contributing incomes to wealthier ones. Our exploratory study suggests how two globally prevalent land uses, nature conservation and commercial agriculture, may influence social determinants of psychological distress in the study area. We highlight co-benefits and trade-offs between global sustainability goals that could be managed to improve mental health.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142227219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-10DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323001771
José R. Ferrer-Paris, Luis D. Llambí, Alejandra Melfo, David A. Keith
{"title":"First Red List of Ecosystems assessment of a tropical glacier ecosystem to diagnose the pathways towards imminent collapse","authors":"José R. Ferrer-Paris, Luis D. Llambí, Alejandra Melfo, David A. Keith","doi":"10.1017/s0030605323001771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605323001771","url":null,"abstract":"Tropical glaciers are rapidly disappearing, particularly in isolated mountain peaks below 5,000 m elevation. These glaciers are fundamental substrates for unique cryogenic ecosystems in high tropical environments where the ice, melting water and rocky substrate sustain microbiological communities and other meso- and macro-biota. This study uses the Red List of Ecosystems guidelines to diagnose the collapse of the tropical glacier ecosystem of the Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela. We undertook the assessment with existing estimates of glacier ice extent, indirect historical estimates of ice mass balance and global mechanistic models of future ice mass balance. We complemented these with additional statistical analysis of trends and bioclimatic suitability modelling to calculate and predict rates of decline and relative severity of degradation in selected ecosystem indicators. The evidence suggests an extreme risk of collapse (Critically Endangered) because of a prolonged and acute reduction in ice extent and changes in climatic conditions that are leading to the complete loss of ice mass. The ice substrate has declined 90% in the last 20 years, and observed acceleration of the rate of decline suggests it will probably disappear within the next 5 years. Loss of ice substrate will trigger an immediate loss of supraglacial, englacial and subglacial biotic compartments and initiate a decades-long succession of forefield vegetation. However, ongoing inventories of native biota and monitoring of ecosystem transitions can provide valuable insights and lessons for other ecosystems facing similar risks. The Red List of Ecosystems assessment protocol provides a useful framework for comparative analysis of cryogenic ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142218045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-09DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323001795
Lynn Von Hagen, Bruce A. Schulte, Todd D. Steury, Kelly Dunning, Mwangi Githiru, Sarah Zohdy, Christopher A. Lepczyk
{"title":"Lack of crucial information exacerbates barriers to mitigating human–elephant conflicts in rural Kenya","authors":"Lynn Von Hagen, Bruce A. Schulte, Todd D. Steury, Kelly Dunning, Mwangi Githiru, Sarah Zohdy, Christopher A. Lepczyk","doi":"10.1017/s0030605323001795","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605323001795","url":null,"abstract":"Crop foraging by African savannah elephants <jats:italic>Loxodonta africana</jats:italic> negatively affects farmer livelihoods and support for conservation, yet affordable, sustainable and practical solutions remain elusive. To inform conservation priorities, our goal was to assess the hitherto little explored relationships between farmers’ views on agricultural damage and the socio-economic factors limiting their use of elephant deterrents. We tested our hypotheses associated with the demographic categories of age, education level, years spent farming, gender, exposure to information on deterrent methods, farm size, village and relevant combinations of these factors by surveying 206 respondents across six villages in rural Kenya and analysing the resulting data using an information theoretic approach. Respondents were almost four times more likely to use deterrents if exposed to the relevant information, and almost five times more likely to do so if they had secondary education as opposed to none. Farmers with a higher level of education were five times more likely to have received information on deterrents compared to those with no formal education. Participants who had not received information on deterrents were almost three times more likely to believe that they could implement deterrent methods. Respondents who stated that they could not implement deterrents overwhelmingly cited a lack of financial resources as the reason. Overall, we found that crucial information on reducing elephant crop foraging is not reaching the relevant stakeholders, and socio-economic factors such as education and exposure to information appear to limit uptake of protective measures. These insights are important for developing mitigation strategies and supporting the livelihoods of people affected by negative human–elephant interactions, and thus for effective elephant conservation. Our findings also have broader applications for practitioners seeking to understand barriers stakeholders face in their efforts to mitigate negative interactions with wildlife.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142227217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-09DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323001734
Rajendra Dhungana, Tek Maraseni, Benjamin L. Allen, Ram Chandra Kandel, Pashupati Nath Koirala, Ganesh Pant, Rishi Ranabhat
{"title":"Multi-stakeholder identification and prioritization of human–tiger conflict reduction measures in Chitwan National Park, Nepal","authors":"Rajendra Dhungana, Tek Maraseni, Benjamin L. Allen, Ram Chandra Kandel, Pashupati Nath Koirala, Ganesh Pant, Rishi Ranabhat","doi":"10.1017/s0030605323001734","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605323001734","url":null,"abstract":"The identification and implementation of conflict reduction measures are necessary to reduce predator attacks on people and livestock and to minimize human encroachment into predator habitats. We identified potential human–tiger conflict reduction measures and prioritized these measures for Chitwan National Park, Nepal. We identified these measures through a literature review, key informant interviews and a local stakeholder workshop. We prioritized the identified measures using a questionnaire survey of victims of tiger attacks (farmers, forest users and fishers), beneficiaries of tiger conservation (tourist guides, Jeep and elephant safari operators, tour and hotel operators and business operators) and National Park managers. We identified 22 measures (12 preventative, five reactive and five mitigative) as having potential for reducing negative interactions between people and tigers. Amongst these, we identified compensation payments, tiger-proof fences and habitat and prey management as high-priority measures. Conflict reduction priorities also varied amongst stakeholder groups. The victims assigned the highest priority to the construction of tiger-proof fences, whereas beneficiaries identified the management of habitat and prey as their highest priority. Compensation payments were the first preference of National Park managers and were amongst the top two priorities of all stakeholder groups. We recommend the adoption of the identified stakeholder priorities for reducing human–tiger conflict around Chitwan National Park and encourage consideration of the variations in priorities between stakeholder groups during policy development and decision-making.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142218044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-09-09DOI: 10.1017/s0030605324000486
Marcelo Arana, Evangelina Natale, Antonia Oggero
{"title":"Lost and found: the rediscovery of the lost fern species Asplenium achalense (Aspleniaceae) and assessment of its conservation status","authors":"Marcelo Arana, Evangelina Natale, Antonia Oggero","doi":"10.1017/s0030605324000486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605324000486","url":null,"abstract":"The fern of Achala <jats:italic>Asplenium achalense</jats:italic> Hieron. (Aspleniaceae), endemic to north-west and central Argentina, was formerly considered a lost species. We describe its rediscovery in August 2022 in the Yungas biogeographical province, compile a map of all historical and current records of the species, and propose an IUCN Red List status. We estimated the fern of Achala's range using the area of occupancy of the rediscovered population, calculated as 4 km<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> because it is located in a single 2 × 2 km grid square. The extent of occurrence cannot be calculated because only a single living population is known. These data suggest a provisional categorization of the fern of Achala as Critically Endangered based on criteria B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v). The species should be considered Regionally Extinct in its locus classicus in Comechingones biogeographical province. We recommend securing the conservation of the single known population (which does not lie within a conservation unit), further surveys for the species in the five protected areas where it was recorded historically, and restoration of the species in the wild. To support the latter, we are cultivating spores and gametophytes of the fern of Achala, in collaboration with colleagues from the National University of La Plata.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"188 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142227218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-07-04DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323001576
Irene M.R. Pinondang, Nicolas J. Deere, Maria Voigt, Ardiantiono, Agus Subagyo, Alexander Moßbrucker, Antika Fardilla, Desy S. Chandradewi, Fahrudin Surahmat, Febri A. Widodo, Gabriella Fredriksson, Hariyo T. Wibisono, Jatna Supriatna, M. Irfansyah Lubis, Nuri Asmita, Sunarto, Tengku Lidra, Tomi Ariyanto, Wido R. Albert, Wilson Novarino, Wulan Pusparini, Yoan Dinata, Matthew J. Struebig
{"title":"Safeguarding Asian tapir habitat in Sumatra, Indonesia","authors":"Irene M.R. Pinondang, Nicolas J. Deere, Maria Voigt, Ardiantiono, Agus Subagyo, Alexander Moßbrucker, Antika Fardilla, Desy S. Chandradewi, Fahrudin Surahmat, Febri A. Widodo, Gabriella Fredriksson, Hariyo T. Wibisono, Jatna Supriatna, M. Irfansyah Lubis, Nuri Asmita, Sunarto, Tengku Lidra, Tomi Ariyanto, Wido R. Albert, Wilson Novarino, Wulan Pusparini, Yoan Dinata, Matthew J. Struebig","doi":"10.1017/s0030605323001576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605323001576","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Asian tapir <span>Tapirus indicus</span> is the only tapir species in Southeast Asia. It is declining across its range and is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The forests of Sumatra are critical to Asian tapir conservation as they contain some of the last remaining populations of the species, yet conservation efforts are hindered by a lack of information on habitat suitability. We collated camera-trap data from nine landscapes across 69,500 km<span>2</span> of Sumatran rainforest to help predict suitable habitat for Asian tapirs on the island. Predictions from Bayesian occupancy models demonstrated that tapir occupancy was greatest in forests below 600 m elevation and exclusively in forests with high aboveground biomass. Forests around the Barisan Mountains on the west of Sumatra provide the most suitable habitat for the species. Only 36% of the most critical habitat (i.e. 80th percentile of predicted occupancy values, or above) for tapirs is formally protected for conservation, with much of the remainder found in forests allocated to watershed protection (35%) or logging (23%). We highlight several key areas in Sumatra where tapir conservation could be bolstered, such as by leveraging existing conservation efforts for other charismatic flagships species on the island.</p>","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141551517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OryxPub Date : 2024-05-09DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323001746
Robin Horion, Zoe Woodgate, Marine Drouilly
{"title":"First insights into the spatio-temporal ecology of sympatric large carnivores in Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal","authors":"Robin Horion, Zoe Woodgate, Marine Drouilly","doi":"10.1017/s0030605323001746","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605323001746","url":null,"abstract":"Large carnivores play a crucial role in their native ecosystems, but their populations are rapidly declining across the African continent. West Africa is no exception, with large protected areas often forming the last strongholds for these species. Little is known about the population status and ecology of large carnivores in the region, hampering the design and implementation of effective conservation strategies. We conducted a camera-trap survey during the dry season in Niokolo-Koba National Park, the largest terrestrial protected area in Senegal and the second largest in West Africa, to investigate the spatio-temporal ecology of the four large carnivores inhabiting the Park: the spotted hyaena <jats:italic>Crocuta crocuta</jats:italic>, leopard <jats:italic>Panthera pardus</jats:italic>, West African lion <jats:italic>Panthera leo leo</jats:italic> and African wild dog <jats:italic>Lycaon pictus</jats:italic>. Spotted hyaenas and leopards had the widest spatial distribution and highest probability of site use. Spotted hyaena site use was positively associated with leopard relative abundance index and negatively associated with normalized difference vegetation index, whereas only distance to the nearest road influenced leopard site use. Distance to the Gambian River was the most important covariate positively affecting site use by lions. African wild dog site use was negatively associated with the relative abundance indices of lions and leopards. Lions, spotted hyaenas and leopards showed strong overlap in their activity patterns. By providing new information on the ecology of large carnivores in West Africa, including where they range and which habitats are critical for their survival, our study will facilitate conservation planning. Our findings lay the foundations for future research to conserve these threatened species in West Africa effectively and to guide ranger patrol efforts, which are key for their long-term survival.","PeriodicalId":19694,"journal":{"name":"Oryx","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140929233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}