Communication hubs of an asocial cat are the source of a human-carnivore conflict and key to its solution.

ABSTRACT: Human-wildlife conflicts occur worldwide. Although many nonlethal mitigation solutions are available, they rarely use the behavioral ecology of the conflict species to derive effective and long-lasting solutions. Here, we use a long-term study with 106 GPS-collared free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) to demonstrate how new insights into the socio-spatial organization of this species provide the key for such a solution. GPS-collared territory holders marked and defended communication hubs (CHs) in the core area of their territories. The CHs/territories were distributed in a regular pattern across the landscape such that they were not contiguous with each other but separated by a surrounding matrix. They were kept in this way by successive territory holders, thus maintaining this

SUBMITTER: Melzheimer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7776775 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature