Lions, Wild dogs, and Humans in the western GLTFCA - The ecology of coexistence.
My doctoral research focuses on investigating the distribution, habitat preferences, and connectivity of lions and African wild dogs in Kruger National Park (South Africa) and Limpopo National Park (Mozambique), as well as exploring the attitudes and expectations of local communities towards carnivore conservation.
Alison Govaerts
Alison Govaerts
Alison Govaerts
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Stellenbosch University - Faculty of AgriSciences - Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology - Wildlife Free to Roam Research Group - Main supervisor: dr. Katharina von Dürckheim
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In collaboration with Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), South African National Parks (SANParks), and the Mathematical Biology Research Group at Stellenbosch University.
Study Area
In southern Africa, the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) was established to align conservation and management strategies spanning public and private lands across Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The area includes 5 national parks [Kruger National Park in South Africa, Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe], together with communal land and privately and state-owned conservation areas.
The GLTFCA contains one of Africa’s most critical lion populations, with the majority occurring within Kruger National Park. Lion population status across the Mozambican GLTFCA is largely unknown. Kruger National Park is also a stronghold for African wild dogs, while the status of African wild dogs in Limpopo National Park is unclear.
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In this study, I will focus on an area spanning the north of Kruger National Park (KNP) and Limpopo National Park (LNP) (red circle). These parks both have very different histories, management strategies, and conflict situations. LNP still has communities living inside the park. Both parks are crucial elements within the GLTFCA, KNP being a ‘source’ as it contains a stronghold for both endangered species, and LNP being centrally located and a stepping stone towards the four surrounding parks.
Study species
Larger carnivores are prone to extinction due to their slow life histories, low population densities, and high energetic requirements. Their wide-ranging movements bring them into conflict with humans and livestock, which often leads to persecution, and with increasing anthropogenic activity their natural range has been heavily contracted, degraded, and fragmented. Large carnivore extirpation can induce irreversible ecological cascades, leading to changes in vegetation, species’ diets, activity patterns, and extinctions.
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On the African continent, two once widespread carnivores have faced serious declines in the past decades: the African lion (Panthera leo), and the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), assessed as vulnerable (IUCN, 2014) and endangered (IUCN, 2012) by the IUCN Red List respectively. To ensure their persistence, it is crucial to investigate their distribution, habitat use, and movement behavior under current and future environmental and anthropogenic threats. Furthermore, connectivity is a crucial element in conservation to ensure viable populations by creating opportunities for gene flow, migration, recolonization, and adaptation to climatic changes and seasonal prey fluctuations. Part of this project therefore focuses on investigating connectivity inside and between the parks, and identifying potential corridors.
Inclusive conservation
It is crucial to investigate the drivers behind human-carnivore conflict both from an animal and human perspective, as this conflict is determined by human and carnivore behavior. While conservationists only see the positive aspects of their study species and their survival, living along wildlife can bear significant costs upon local people, such as depredation upon livestock or game, attacks on people, and opportunity costs, where people forgo economic or lifestyle choices due to impositions placed upon them by the presence of wild animals or conservation areas in the case of large carnivores. Integrating local communities in conservation strategies is necessary to ensure long-term co-existence as conservation management strategies that are not codesigned with local communities have very low chances of being sustainable.
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Therefore, I plan on developing a Theory of Change for site-specific carnivore conservation in the study area based on surveys that explore the services and disservice that lions and wild dogs bring, the attitudes that local people have toward carnivore conservation and their vision of the future.
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Main goals
Investigate the patterns underlying the distribution, density, habitat preferences, and movement behavior of lions (Panthera leo), and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) within the southern GLTFCA; including the presence of hotspot conflicts and environmental influences.
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Characterize the permeability of the landscape in the study area for wild dogs and lions, and assess and identify potential corridors between South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
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Develop a novel framework for carnivore conservation by integrating biodiversity goals and community development into a novel theory of change (TOC) for carnivore-human coexistence in southern GLTFCA.
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Support
Working in conservation is extremely fulfilling, but unfortunately, it is a constant search for funding. Help support the work by donating for me to buy equipment, fund my project, and help me cover life expenses.
