1. A history of cheetah tracking at CCF: then and now
Dr. Laurie Marker,
Matti Nghikembua,
Dr. Louisa Richmond-Coggan, and Tarik Bodasing
NCE – B2Gold
24 November 2016

2. General overview – 1991- 2016 What types of information do we collect:
Health assessment – Basic physical examination
Blood – Health, disease and genetic analysis
Tissue, blood, and hair – Genetic analysis and long term storage
Morphometrics – Long -term biological data
Scat – DNA, Diet analysis, parasitology and hormones (e.g. cortisol)
Collar fitting (VHF or satellite) – depends on objective (research vs monitoring)

3. How do we store and use collar data
FILEMAKER PRO DATABASE – managed by CCF
ARCGIS 10 to build home range kernels - 50% (core) and 95% (total)
Spatial analyses (Geospatial Modeling Environment)
Cluster analysis – Activity patterns (ARCGIS 10)
Modeling habitat selection – ARCGIS & remote sensing
Ground truth: Scat analysis – collect kill data
Ground truth: Habitat selection – vegetation surveys
Overlay with data from other surveys (e.g. grid-based camera trap survey)

4. Early research… Focus on understanding cheetah biology and ecology
Radio telemetry - Home range, dispersal, habitat selection, spatial use
Feeding clusters – prey preference
Activity patterns - time of day effects
Habitat selection
Conflict management
Marker et al. (2008) Spatial Ecology of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on North-central Namibian farmlands. Journal of Zoology, London. 274.

5. CCF Research Area Understand movements on farmland
Need for large landscapes
Data vital for effective conservation strategies
Development of other census methods
Radio-telemetry
Opportunistic collection of biomaterials for research
Trapped cheetahs (red dots)
Blood samples
Fecal samples
Necropsies
Farmers surveys (black dots)
Marker et al. (2008) Spatial Ecology of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on North-central Namibian farmlands. Journal of Zoology. 274.
55 collared cheetah, 11 leopard, 4 caracal

6. Home range ave. 2,979.7 km² (± 809.7 km²)
Females Home Range up to 3000km2
Travel ~ 20 farms (5,000 ha each)
50% core ave. 14% of the home range,
Home range not exclusive –
ave. HR overlap of 16%.
Female cubs within female HR
Cheetahs have huge home ranges, some of the largest for any land species reported, up to 1,600 km 2.
Females cover many male ranges.
Marker et al. (2008) Spatial Ecology of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on North-central Namibian farmlands. Journal of Zoology, 274.

7. Namibia (north-central farmlands)
Home Range different from other studies
Area
Method of
estimation
Ave. Female
km2
Ave. Coalition male
Ave. Single male
Namibia (north-central farmlands)
95% kernel
2161 (15)
1344 (11)
1490 (15)
Serengeti
MCP
833 (19)
37 (22)
777 (9)
Kalahari Gemsbok
National Parks
Sightings
320 (4)
125 (3) –
Kruger National Park
212 (2)
188 (1)
250 (1)
Kernel
95% km2
75% km2
50% km2
Marker et al. (2008) Spatial Ecology of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on North-central Namibian farmlands. Journal of Zoology. 274.

8. Genetic relatedness: Panmictic (Random mating) structure
Cheetah from different regions are intermixed
Due to intensive hunting (east boarders on Botswana farms – many are game farms)
Allele drop out in 2 areas: North west/east
Due to intensive removal
Marker et al. 2008
Microsatellite markers

9. Home range overlap with conspecifics (leopard & caracal)
Ave overlap of 35% between the 3 species
Ave. overlap of 16% with other cheetah
MCP overlap with conspecifics
Aspects of Cheetah Biology, Ecology and Conservation Strategies on Namibian Farmlands. Dphil. Marker (2002)
Stein et al Lepoard Population and Home Range Analysis (African Journal of Ecology)
Marker & Dickman 2005 (African Journal Ecology). Notes on the spatial ecology of caracals (felis caracal) with particular reference to Namibian farmland.
Marker & Dickman (2005) Factors effecting leopard spatial ecology with particular reference to Namibian farmland. South African Journal of Wildlife Researcch
Caracal 95% kernal 359 km2 av. 19%
Leopard 95% MCP km2 ave. 23%

10. Modeling cheetah habitat suitability
High use area
Low use area
Low use area
Paper: Muntifering, J.R., Dickman, A.J., Perlow, L.M., Hruska, T., Ryan, P.G., Marker, L.L. & Jeo, R.M. Managing the matrix for large carnivores: a novel approach and perspective from cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) habitat suitability modelling . Animal Conservation 9 (2006)

11. habitat selection Quantified habitat – all GPS fixes within 50% core
Nghikembua M., Harris J., Tregenza T., Marker L. Interactions between bush encroachment and large carnivore habitat selection: a case study on GPS satellite collared cheetahs in northern Namibia. OJF Vol.6 No.4, July 2016
Quantified habitat – all GPS fixes within 50% core
if there is temporal variation in habitat use,
if habitat correlates to prey diversity or sighting visibility,
Open shrubland was used significantly more often

12. Temporal activity patterns
Nghikembua M., Harris J., Tregenza T., Marker L. Interactions between bush encroachment and large carnivore habitat selection: a case study on GPS satellite collared cheetahs in northern Namibia. OJF Vol.6 No.4, July 2016
Temporal variation was seen between habitat types
different behavioral patterns throughout the day.

13. Prey-preferences
77% of the cheetah’s diet included hartebeest, kudu and gemsbok calves.
Females prefer steenbok & duiker.
Natural prey versus predation on livestock – informs HWC
Marker, L., Muntifering, J., Dickman, A., Mills, M., & MacDonald, D. Quantifying Prey Preferences for the free-ranging Namibian Cheetah. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 33: 43-53, 2003a.

14. Cluster analysis – kill data
N=19 cheetah (single males, females, coalition males)
Rewilded, free-roaming and reintroduced cats

15. Reintroduction, Translocation and Rewilding
Translocations* – wild caught and relocated (n=14)
Reintroduction** – Establish species in former range (n=12)
Rewilding** – In captivity for a period before release into wild (n=41)
**Marker et al. (2008) Spatial Ecology of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) on North-central Namibian farmlands. Journal of Zoology, 274.
**Marker et al. (in prep) Recommendations for the release of captive reared cheetah

16. Re-introductions – Namib Rand

17. Time to independence 67.6 % were successfully released into the wild,
Ave. minimum survival time of 17.6 months (n = 23) months, max = 53.1 months).
8 (23.5 %) cheetah were returned to captivity

18. Rewilding – measuring success (Erindi)
Establishment of home ranges
Integration into wild population
Ave. homeranges of rewilded -
Males km² (± 68.3 km²) vs. wild translocated males - 2,315.5 km² (± 1,017.6 km²).
Females km² vs. wild translocated females - 3,245.4 km² (± 1, km2).
Ave. weekly distance increased the first three weeks (20km,31km, 47km) and then plateaued.
Ave. daily movement was highest between 06: :00 and 16: :00.

19. Movements of a rewilded cheetah on commercial farmland
ZINZI
Released June 2014
Gave birth in September 2015 only 1km from a farm house with calves – spent nearly 3 months in that area and never once killed livestock – went to the waterpoints near house frequently
70% of all known kills are steenbok and duiker – never once killed livestock
Spent time on both cattle farm and game farms
Moved a lot and would normally only spend 2-3 days in an area before moving on to another
Since release moved over 2800km
Moved 52km per week on average
3 years collar data
Never caught livestock
Main prey ~ steenbok
3 cubs raised successfully

20. Free roaming wild cheetah – fine scale collar data
7day movement (> 65 km travelled)
Drivers of short term movement response?

21. Wild cheetah - land use type vs leopard presence
Movement in relation to land use
Avoidance of conflict with farmers?
Commercial vs communal vs resettled?
CCF leopard survey
Capture-Recapture model
Leopard Estimate ~ 26 individuals (95% CL :25-47) –
Closure test p=0.075
Avoidance of high density leopard areas/denser habitat?

22. Moving forward… Greater collaboration between all parties
Potential to overlap with other long-term research
- Game census
- Camera trap surveys
Encourage cross-species studies
Use collar data to mitigate HWC
- commercial and communal land
Proximity collars – Response to other predators
Perception of risk ~ landscape of fear type study

23. Selected Published Papers

27. Cheetah@iway.na www.cheetah.org
Questions?

28. Thank You