Cheetah cub survival revisited: A re-evaluation of the role of predation, especially by lions, and implications for conservation

Journal of Zoology

Volumn 292, Issue 2, 2014, Pages 136-141

  Mills, M G L ^a,b   Mills, M E J ^a  

^a The Lewis Foundation   (South Africa)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Carnivore coexistence; Cheetah; Conservation; Cub survival; Ecosystem functioning; Lion; Predation

Indexed keywords

BIODIVERSITY; CARNIVORE; COEXISTENCE; ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION; FELID; MORTALITY; PREDATION; SPECIES CONSERVATION; SURVIVAL;

KGALAGADI TRANSFRONTIER PARK; SERENGETI; TANZANIA;

ACINONYX JUBATUS;

EID: 84892896067     PISSN: 09528369     EISSN: 14697998     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12087     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. Balme, G.A., Batchelor, A., de Woronin Britz, N., Seymourt, G., Grover, M., Hes, L., Macdonald, D.W. & Hunter, L.T.B. (2012). Reproductive success of female leopards Panthera pardus: the importance of top-down processes. Mammal Rev. 43, 221-237.
2. Begg, C.M., Begg, K.S., Du Toit, J.T. & Mills, M.G.L. (2003). Sexual and seasonal variation in the diet and foraging behaviour of a sexually dimorphic carnivore, the honey badger (Mellivora capensis). J. Zool. (Lond.) 260, 301-316.
3. Bennet, A.F. (1999). Linkages in the landscape. Gland: IUCN.
4. Bisset, C. & Bernard, R.T.F. (2011). Demography of cheetahs in fenced reserves in South Africa: implications for conservation. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 41, 181-191.
5. Bowen, B.W. (1999). Preserving genes, species, or ecosystems? Healing the fractured foundations of conservation policy. Mol. Ecol. Notes 8, 5-10.
6. Caro, T.M. (1994). Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
7. Caro, T.M. & Laurenson, M.K. (1994). Ecological and genetic factors in conservation: a cautionary tale. Science 263, 485-486.
8. Castley, J.G., Knight, M.H., Mills, M.G.L. & Thouless, C. (2002). Estimation of the lion (Panthera leo) population in the southwestern Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park using a capture-recapture survey. Afr. Zool. 37, 27-34.
9. Crooks, K.R., Sanjayan, M.A. & Doak, D.F. (1998). New insights on Cheetah conservation through demographic modeling. Conserv. Biol. 12, 889-895.
10. Durant, S.M., Bashir, S., Maddox, T. & Laurenson, M.K. (2007). Relating long-term studies to conservation practice: the case of the Serengeti cheetah project. Conserv. Biol. 21, 602-611.
11. Durant, S.M., Caro, T.M., Collins, D.A., Alawi, R.M. & Fitzgibbon, C.D. (1988). Migration patterns of Thomson gazelle and cheetahs on the Serengeti Plains. Afr. J. Ecol. 26, 257-268.
12. Durant, S.M., Dickman, A.J., Maddox, T., Waweru, M.N., Caro, T.M. & Pettorelli, N. (2010). Past, present, and future of cheetahs in Tanzania: their behavioural ecology and conservation, In Biology and conservation of wild felids: 373-382. Macdonald, D.W. & Loveridge, A.J. (Eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
13. Durant, S.M., Kelly, M. & Caro, T.M. (2004). Factors affecting life and death in Serengeti cheetahs: environment, age, and sociality. Behav. Ecol. 15, 11-22.
14. Funston, P.J. (2001) Final report: Kalahari transfrontier lion project. Endangered wildlife trust and the green trust, Johannesburg.
15. Funston, P.J. (2011). Population characteristics of lions (Panthera leo) in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 41, 1-10.
16. Funston, P.J., Frank, L., Stephens, T., Davidson, Z., Loveridge, A., Macdonald, D.W., Durant, S., Packer, C., Mosser, A. & Ferreira, S.M. (2010). Substrate and species constraints on the use of track incidences to estimate African large carnivore abundance. J. Zool. (Lond.) 281, 56-65.
17. Hayward, H.S., O'Brien, J. & Kerley, G.I.H. (2007). Carrying capacity of large African predators: predictions and tests. Biol. Conserv. 139, 219-229.
18. Hunter, L.T.B. (1998) The behavioural ecology of reintroduced lions and cheetah in the Phinda Resource Reserve, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
19. IUCN/SSC. (2007a) Regional conservation strategy for the cheetah and African wild dog in Eastern Africa. IUCN Species Survival Commission, Gland, Switzerland.
20. IUCN/SSC. (2007b) Regional conservation strategy for the cheetah and African wild dog in Southern Africa. IUCN Species Survival Commission, Gland, Switzerland.
21. Kamler, J.F., Stenkewitz, U., Klare, U., Jacobsen, N.F. & Macdonald, D.W. (2012). Resource partitioning among Cape foxes, bat-eared foxes, and black-backed jackals in South Africa. J. Wildl. Manage. 76, 1241-1253.
22. Kelly, M.J. & Durant, S.M. (2000). Viability of the Serengeti cheetah population. Conserv. Biol. 14, 786-797.
23. Laurenson, M.K. (1992). Implications of high offspring mortality for cheetah populations, In Serengeti II: research, conservation and management of an ecosystem: 385-399. Sinclair, A.R.E. & Arase, P. (Eds). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24. Laurenson, M.K. (1994). High juvenile mortality in cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and its consequences for maternal care. J. Zool. (Lond.) 234, 387-408.
25. Laurenson, M.K. & Caro, T.M. (1994). Monitoring the effects of non-trivial handling in free-living cheetahs. Anim. Behav. 47, 547-557.
26. Lindenmayer, D.B., Fischer, J., Felton, A., Montague-Drake, R., Manning, A.D., Simberloff, D., Youngentob, K., Saunders, D., Wilson, D., Felton, A.M., Blackmore, C., Lowe, A., Bond, S., Munro, N. & Elliott, C.P. (2007). The complementarity of single-species and ecosystem-oriented research in conservation research. Oikos 116, 1220-1226.
27. Marker, L.L. (1998). Current status of the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). pp. 1-17. Proc symp cheetahs as game ranch animals. Onderstepoort.
28. Marker, L.L. & Dickman, A.J. (2003). Conserving cheetahs outside protected areas: an example from Namibian farmlands. Cat News 38, 24-25.
29. Marker, L.L., Dickman, A.J., Jeo, R.M., Mills, M.G.L. & Macdonald, D.W. (2003). Demography of the Namibian cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus jubatus. Biol. Conserv. 114, 413-425.
30. Merola, M. (1994). A reassessment of homozygosity and the case for inbreeding depression in the cheetah, acinonyx jubatus: implications for conservation. Conserv. Biol. 8, 961-971.
31. Mills, M.G.L. (2005). The role and conservation of large African carnivores in ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity, In Large carnivores and the conservation of biodiversity: 208-229. Ray, J.C., Redford, K.H., Steneck, R.S., Berger, J. (Eds). Washington: Island Press.
32. Mills, M.G.L., Wolfe, P., le Riche, E.A.N. & Meyer, I.J. (1978). Some population characteristics of the lion Panthera leo in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe 27, 163-171.
33. Noss, R.F. (1990). Indicators for monitoring biodiversity - a hierarchial approach. Conserv. Biol. 4, 353-354.
34. Nowell, K. & Jackson, P. (1996). Sub-Saharan Africa, Cheetah, In Wild cats: status survey and conservation action plan: 12-16. Nowell, K. & Jackson, P. (Eds). Gland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.
35. Packer, C., Hilborn, R., Mosser, A., Kissui, B., Borner, M., Hopcraft, G., Wilmshurst, J., Miduma, S. & Sinclair, A.R.E. (2005). Ecological change, group territoriality, and population dynamics in Serengeti lions. Science 307, 390-393.
36. Purchase, G.K., Vhurumuku, G. & Purchase, D. (2006). A wild-to-wild translocation of cheetahs from private farmland to a protected area in Zimbabwe (1994-2005). Cat News 44, 4-7.
37. Reiss, J., Bridle, J.R., Montoya, J.M. & Woodward, G. (2009). Emerging horizons in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24, 505-514.
38. Sinclair, A.R.E. (1977). The Serengeti environment, In Serengeti: dynamics of an ecosystem: 31-45. Sinclair, A.R.E. & Norton-Griffiths, M. (Eds). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
39. Smithers, R.H.N. (1982). The mammals of the Southern African subregion. Pretoria: Pretoria University Press.
40. Sunquist, M. & Sunquist, F. (2002). Wild cats of the world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
41. Van Rooyen, M.W., van Rooyen, N., Bothma, J.D.P. & van den Berg, H. (2008). Landscapes in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, South Africa. Koedoe 50, 99-112.
42. Wachter, B., Thalwitzer, S., Hofer, H., Lonzer, J., Hildebrandt, T.B. & Hermes, R. (2011). Reproductive history and absence of predators are important determinants of reproductive fitness: the cheetah controversy revisited. Conserv. Lett. 4, 47-54.