Anthropogenic influences on the spatio-temporal displacement of elepnats (Loxodonta africana) in Olifants West Nature reserve landscape, South Africa

Bc. Romana Kremláčková

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Human population and eco-tourism have been growing. As a result of such growth, people and wild animals share the land and often come into intensive contact. Areas with anthropogenic features such as roads, human settlements, fences, and other physical objects that are often connected to human activity, pose threats and disturbance for animals and can lead to a change of their behaviour. To avoid these potential disturbances, animals may have to adjust their spatio-temporal activities. This includes using the areas with less disturbing anthropogenic features or shifting their active times to the night. In this study, a combination of line transects and satellite data from collared elephants were used to evaluate the effects of anthropogenic features of the landscape. These features were namely the intensity of use of buildings, roads, and waterholes by humans on the spatio-temporal displacement of elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Balule Nature reserve (BNR) focused on Olifants West, part of BNR. Ground-based data were collected for two months in the dry season and were further tested in Statistica software. Two years of satellite data was provided by Elephants Alive and was further processed with ArcGIS (ESRI). A relative abundance and density of elephant dung and tree damage was used as a proxy for time spent at the unit are by elephants. Satellite data were used to determine the elephants’ home range and various degrees of avoidance near anthropogenic features on the landscape. It was found that elephants did not show significant avoidance towards anthropogenic features, but they generally spent more time in the areas with low human activity or further away from the potential disturbance. Additionally, male elephants showed to be less sensitive towards disturbance and potential threats than females, which was shown in their differing home range and a females’ clear avoidance of the areas with high density with human settlements. This study further suggests the need for further investigation of elephants’ diurnal and seasonal activity patterns around anthropogenic features.

Keywords

animal behaviour, elephants, anthropogenic features, disturbance, drivers, human-wildlife conflict, South Africa

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 15. 5. 2020

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: prof. RNDr. Pavla Hejcmanová, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Wildlife Management in the Tropics and Subtropics