Abstract
African leopards (Panthera pardus pardus) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are data deficient across much of Africa, and there are only a handful of recent population estimates for these species from Uganda. This has conservation ramifications, as both species are important for wildlife tourism, and leopards are hunted for sport in several regions adjacent to national parks as part of a government-led revenue-sharing scheme to foster increased tolerance of wildlife. We ran a single-season camera-trap survey in each of the northern and southern sections of the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area (2400 km2), Uganda’s second largest national park. We applied spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) models to estimate the population density and abundance of leopards and spotted hyenas in the northern Mweya and Kasenyi plains area, and the southern Ishasha sector. Leopard densities were estimated to be 5.03 (95% Highest Posterior Density, HPD = 2.80–7.63) and 4.31 (95% HPD = 1.95–6.88) individuals/100 km2 for the north and south of the conservation area, respectively, while spotted hyena densities were 13.44 (95% HPD = 9.01–18.81) and 14.07 individuals/100 km2 (95% HPD = 8.52–18.54) for the north and south, respectively. Leopard densities were in the middle range of those recorded in the literature, while sex ratios were what would be expected for this polygamous felid. Spotted hyena densities were on the higher end of those recorded for the species using spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) methods. Our work provides the first robust population estimate of leopards and spotted hyenas in the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area of western Uganda.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority for their support in the implementation of this study; particularly, Aggrey Rwetsiba, Jimmy Kisembo, and Daniel Tirwomwe are thanked for assistance. This research was performed under a research permit granted by the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (permit number UWA/COD/96/05). Simon Nampindo and Andy Plumptre from the WCS Uganda Program are thanked for their collaborative support in sourcing a permit for this research. The Scientific Exploration Society is thanked for funding the camera traps used in this study, and the University of Queensland is acknowledged for supporting Alex Braczkowski with a graduate scholarship. The National Geographic Society, Wilderness Safaris, Volcanoes Safaris, Rufford Foundation, and the Siemiatkowski Foundation are thanked for their help with funding fieldwork and supporting Alex Braczkowski, while he was in the field. We acknowledge the Editors, Stephen C.Y. Chan and Leszek Karczmarski for their methodical and thorough editorship, and thank both Editors and three external Reviewers for many helpful comments that greatly benefitted this work.
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AB: conceived the idea for this research. AB and SI: implemented all fieldwork. AB and AB: assigned individual identity to leopard and spotted hyena images. AB, AG, and JF: performed the analysis. AB, AG, JF, SI, MM, and AB: wrote up the manuscript.
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Leopard individual #11 captured on sampling occasion #12 at camera site #36. Note the clear rosette pattern located on the left flank and on the left hind leg. This image was captured using a CuddebackTM 20-megapixel Long Range IR camera traps
Spotted hyena individual #8 captured on sampling occasion #13 at camera site #7. This image was captured using a CuddebackTM 20-megapixel Long Range IR camera traps
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Braczkowski, A., Gopalaswamy, A.M., Fattebert, J. et al. Spatially explicit population estimates of African leopards and spotted hyenas in the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area of southwestern Uganda. Mamm Biol 102, 1199–1213 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00324-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00324-5