Lion (Panthera leo) movements in a multiuse area of the eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Eric G LeFlore; Todd K Fuller; Andrew B Stein

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyad090

Lion (Panthera leo) movements in a multiuse area of the eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta, Botswana

J Mammal. 2023 Nov 16;104(6):1317-1328. doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyad090. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Eric G LeFlore^{1

2

3}, Todd K Fuller¹, Andrew B Stein³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
² Biology Department, Bates College, 45 Campus Avenue, Lewiston, Maine 04240, USA.
³ CLAWS Conservancy, P.O. Box 814, Northampton, Massachusetts 01061, USA.

Abstract

As global large carnivore populations continue to decline due to human actions, maintaining viable populations beyond protected area (PA) borders is critical. African lions (Panthera leo) ranging beyond PA borders regularly prey on domestic livestock causing humans to retaliate or even preemptively kill lions to minimize impacts of lost livestock. To understand how lions navigate high-conflict areas in human-dominated landscapes, lions were observed and monitored in the eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta between October 2014 and December 2016, and five lions were fitted with GPS satellite collars from August 2015 to December 2016. Lion prides and coalitions were small, with all prides having four or fewer females and all coalitions having two or fewer males. Home range size varied between the sexes but was not statistically different (males: $\bar{x}$ = 584 km², n = 3; females: $\bar{x}$ = 319 km², n = 2). There was considerable spatial overlap in home ranges as nonassociating, neighboring collared individuals utilized high levels of shared space (female-female overlap = 152 km², representing 41-56% of respective home ranges; male-male overlap = 125-132 km², representing 16-31% of respective home ranges). However, neighboring lions varied use of shared space temporally as evidenced by low coefficients of association (< 0.08), avoiding potentially costly interactions with neighboring individuals. Highest levels of overlap occurred during the wet and early dry seasons when flood waters minimized the amount of available land area. All collared individuals minimized time in close proximity (< 3 km) to human habitation, but some individuals were able to rely heavily on areas where unmonitored livestock grazed. While most lions exist within PAs, anthropogenic impacts beyond PA boundaries can impact critical populations within PAs. Studying systems beyond park boundaries with high levels of human-lion conflict while also establishing conservation programs that account for both ecological and sociocultural dimensions will better aid lion conservation efforts moving forward.

Keywords: African lion; Botswana; Okavango Delta; Panthera leo; home range; human-dominated landscape; livestock; overlap; season.