Wildlife rehabilitation, defined as “providing temporary care to injured, ill and orphaned wild animals with the goal of releasing them back into their natural habitat”, developed in response to the increase in human population and urbanisation. Widllife rehabilitation centres developed to deal with casualties from man-made hazards; and because rehabilitation involves human emotions of empathy and compassion, the activity has not tended to be the domain of wildlife specialists, but of concerned members of the public. This has caused concerns for wildlife specialists over the welfare of animals being rehabilitated, because making decisions based on emotions may result in an animal being kept alive under unethical conditions, instead of being euthansed. Furthermore, there may be negative impacts on conservation, as it could divert money away from habitat protection and may place wild populations at risk from disease and genetic pollution. This dichotomy in opinion is most often seen between rehabilitators, who focus on the individual animal, and government wildlife officials, who grant them permits, and who focus on the security of entire communities. Although the value of wildlife rehabilitation cannot be underestimated, in terms of its service to wildlife and the public, there is a need to evaluate whether wildlife rehabilitation may result in more rather than less animal suffering and have a detrimental impact on the existing wild populations. I thus set out to determine the efficacy of wildlife rehabilitation, particularly in South Africa. In the first assessment of rehabilitation centres in South Africa, 65% known centres (n = 63) from all nine provinces returned questionnaires. Several thousand injured, diseased and orphaned animals pass through these centres each year, clearly showing the need for rehabilitation centres in South Africa. However, due to lack of scientific research on the efficacy of rehabilitation methods of care and release, and minimal post-release monitoring, I found that experience and intuition drove most rehabilitation practices. Additionally, because personnel from most centres cited lack of finance as a main impediment to the goal of rehabilitation, the result of rehabilitation may include negative affects on individual animal welfare and survival, as well as on conservation efforts for wildlife communities. Thus, I suggested wildlife rehabilitation be centralised to a provincial or national government. Furthermore, I suggested that guidelines of minimum standards should be developed in consultation with experienced rehabilitators, veterinarians and conservation scientists; to be enforced by trained and dedicated conservation officials. To gain further insight into the need for wildlife rehabilitation in a community in South Africa, I decided to examine four-years of intake records from a large rehabilitation centre in the KwaZulu-Natal Province for trends. Animal intake rate was high (2701 ± 94 per annum). Most of the intake (90%) was birds, with few mammals (8%) and reptiles (2%), and most of these were of locally common species (eg doves, pigeons). This reflects the findings of other studies, namely that species living in close association with humans are the most frequently admitted to rehabilitation centres. In total, most of the animals admitted (43%) were juveniles, which were assumed to be abandoned or orphaned. The implications of then rehabilitating these juveniles, which were largely uninjured, is whether humans should be interfering with nature if the cause was not human-related; can each juvenile (especially in these large numbers) be adequately prepared to survive and thrive when released into the wild; and is there space in the environment for them, without causing harm to others already in the environment. I suggest that the large numbers of animals currently being admitted to the centre may be reduced, possibly through increased public education particularly to leave uninjured juveniles in the wild. Furthermore, improvements in the centre’s recording system may allow for use in funding requests and for various research opportunities. There is a general lack of post-release monitoring in wildlife rehabilitation, and the IUCN advises that confiscated and orphaned animals should be euthanased or placed in life-time captivity. I thus decided to document the post-release fate of rehabilitated vervet monkeys and leopard tortoises, two species commonly admitted to a rehabilitation centre, and rock hyrax (Procavia capensis), as a further case study, even though individuals were not from a rehabilitation centre. Success of releasing rehabilitated animals cannot be judged on whether it results in a self-sustaining population, as in reintroductions, as it is to improve the welfare of that particular animal, independent of its species’ status. Survival is thus the most basic indicator of a successful rehabilitation release. Other aspects, such as behaving similarly to a wild animal, are additional success factors, as they likely influence survival. Although after one year post-release, the two troops (T1 = 35, T2 = 24) of vervet monkeys (including an infant) survived, were independent of human food provision and companionship, had established in an area, and had births in the breeding season following release; low known survival (T1 = 11%, T2 = 50%) make it difficult to designate these releases as successful. However, it was clear that the two groups of rock hyrax released were not successful. The group of rock hyrax that had previously been in captivity for 16 months (n = 17) did not have site fidelity after release, and after three months could not be found. All wild rock hyrax (n = 9), except one whose fate is unknown, were found dead, mostly predated, within 18 days. The release likely failed due to predation. For both vervet monkeys and rock hyrax, a lack of social cohesion was suggested as causing the group to dissolve or split upon release, which in turn would increase their vulnerability to predation. Recommendations are provided for considerations in future releases of captive vervet monkeys and rock hyrax. Movements of two groups of tortoises (ten and seven individuals) released at two different sites were monitored over a year, using radio-telemetry. In total, one tortoise was returned to captivity because of disease, four were killed intentionally or accidentally by humans, three others died due to a combination of disease, starvation and/or dehydration, and the fate of six were unknown. Since only two out of seven tortoises survived 13 months after release and only one out of ten tortoises were known to have survived 25 months after release, rehabilitated leopard tortoises were not successfully released into the wild. Recommendations to improve the success of future releases are provided. The occurrence of disease in the tortoise release was a worrying result, and must be addressed before any further releases are allowed. To summarise, there is a dichotomy between wildlife rehabilitation and conservation throughout the world, but this study highlighted the situation in South Africa. The IUCN guidelines for the reintroduction, introduction and supplementation of animals make it clear that there are many threats to the individual animal, to the release environment and to the conservation of species when transporting and releasing animals, especially if they had been in captivity. I believe that I have presented enough evidence in the thesis to suggest that wildlife rehabilitation may result in negative consequences to the welfare of the individual being rehabilitated and to the wild conspecifics or to other species in the release site. I suggest that wildlife rehabilitation needs to move away from being an emotional-based “animal-rights” organisation, to being objectively managed, such that no harm is caused to conservation by these efforts. This may require them to change their constitution so they are aligned with the IUCN guidelines, where more consideration is given to the possible risks involved in releasing animals. However, the applicability of the IUCN guidelines will vary slightly according to the species and situation, and they require input from the local conservation authorities (as was the case in the studies documented in this thesis). I suggest that the public be educated as to the risks that wildlife rehabilitated animals can pose to the safety of the environment as a whole, and that rehabilitated animals do not necessarily survive or thrive in the wild when released, and thus they have to understand that rehabilitation centres will sometimes have to prioritise casualties for treatment, and euthanase exotic species. In conclusion, implementing further research in ensuring long-term post-release survival of rehabilitated animals; developing and enforcing practical guidelines/minimum standards by dedicated and qualified governmental wildlife conservation officials; and having examinations in order to qualify as a wildlife rehabilitator, will ensure humans are “making amends” instead of having an additional negative impact on conservation and animal welfare. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009

The development of conservation and management programs for an animal population relies on a knowledge of the number of individuals in an area. In order to achieve reliable estimates, precise and accurate techniques for estimating population densities are needed. This study compared the use of direct and indirect methods of estimating kudu (Trage/aphus strepsiceras), bush buck (Trage/aphus scriptus), common duiker (Sy/vicapra grimmia), and blue duiker (Philantamba manticala) densities on Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. These species prefer habitats of dense forest and bush for concealment and are therefore not easily counted in open areas. Herein direct observation counts were compared to indirect sampling via pellet group counts (clearance plots, line transects, variable-width transects, and strip transects). Clearance plots were examined every 2 weeks, while all other methods were conducted seasonally, from August 2002 until August 2003. The strip transect method provided the lowest density estimates (animals per hal ranging from 0.001 for bushbuck to 0.025 for common duiker, while direct observations yielded the highest estimates, ranging from 0.804 for bush buck to 4.692 for kudu. Also, a validation of methods was performed against a known population of kudu during which the DISTANCE method yielded the most accurate results, with an estimated density of 0.261 that was within the actual density of 0.246 to 0.282. In addition, the DISTANCE method was compared to helicopter counts ofkudu and its estimates were found to be approximately 2.6 times greater than the helicopter count results. When the assessment of the methods was made, the cost, manpower and effort requirements, coefficient of variation, and performance against a known population for each method were taken into consideration. Overall, the DISTANCE method performed the best with low cost, minimal manpower and effort requirements, and low coefficient of variation. On Shamwari Game Reserve, the DISTANCE method estimated 0.300 kudu, 0.108 bushbuck, 0.387 common duiker, and 0.028 blue duiker per ha, which, when extrapolated to the total number of animals present within subtropical thicket habitat, estimated 1973 kudu, 710 bush buck, 2545 common duiker, and 184 blue duiker.

Populations of small prey species (< 92 kg) can be regulated by competition, habitat-mediated responses, climate change, disease and predation. Populations of small prey species have declined in the Addo Elephant National Park Main Camp Section since the reintroduction of apex predators (lion and spotted hyaena). One possible explanation is predation by lion and spotted hyaena. However, small prey species are not generally considered preferred prey items of these predators, hence their contribution to predator diets needs to be explored. Global Positioning System (GPS) cluster analysis has emerged as a viable approach to locate lion kills for lion diet estimation in AENP, however this technique is known to bias diet estimates to large prey species. Understanding the impact of lion predation on populations of small prey in Main Camp therefore requires better estimates of lion diets. This study investigated the potential underestimation of small prey species in lion diet estimates by combining the data from scat analysis and carcasses located at GPS clusters. The adjusted lion diets were then used to investigate if the impact of lion predation could explain declines in small prey, by relating lion prey preferences to prey population trends in Nyathi. Using the results from Nyathi, it could then be inferred whether lions could have been responsible for the declines observed in Main Camp. Six GPS-collared lions provided location data used to construct individual movement paths, along which spatio-temporal clusters of GPS locations (n = 4896) were identified for ground investigation. Carcasses (n = 643) were recorded at the GPS clusters and scats (n = 256) were collected at GPS clusters with or without carcasses. Data from the located carcasses and scat collections were then used to create a history of feeding events for each collared lion in Main Camp-Colchester and Nyathi from a) carcasses alone or b) a combination of scats and carcasses, based on an estimated short and long lion throughout period. Relative prey availability was estimated based on camera trapping in Nyathi in high lion, low lion and no lion use areas, as lions may encounter some prey species more than other prey species. Jacobs’ index prey preference was used to investigate the importance of prey species to lion diets at three landscape scales: 1) Nyathi, 2) lion UD and 3) core lion UD. Lastly, prey population trends were investigated in Nyathi to provide an indication of possible changes in prey populations. Large prey species dominated the adjusted diets of lions in Main Camp-Colchester and Nyathi. However, when comparing the GPS carcass-derived lion diet estimate to the combined lion diet estimate, small prey were underestimated more often than large prey in the GPS carcass-derived lion diet estimate. Missed feeding events were therefore a function of prey body size. In addition, missed feeding events were also representative of the lion diets based on carcasses, with the tendency for species more often consumed to be missed more often in the diet record. However, even though small prey species were underestimated, they represented the minority of species consumed by lions and were predominantly avoided by lions in Nyathi. Lion prey preferences thus did not correlate to the declines in small prey species in Naythi, suggesting other potential drivers are important for small population trends in Nyathi. Lion predation cannot be ruled out as a driver of the decline in small prey species in Main Camp, due to different ecological conditions (e.g. vegetation density) in Main Camp compared to Nyathi, during the observed small prey population declines. Lion prey preferences in Nyathi revealed fine-scale variations in species specific preferences by lions, as well as site-specific differences in prey preferences when compared to published lion prey preference meta-analyses. These findings suggest that metaanalysis studies should be used as a guideline from which hypotheses about local predatorprey interactions can be developed rather than as an absolute measure of prey preference.

M.Sc. / KwaNibela Peninsula is situated directly adjacent to the World Heritage Site of Lake St. Lucia, and lies between the northern parts of False Bay and Lake St. Lucia. The community of KwaNibela is not unlike many other rural communities in Africa, found in pristine areas with very little development having taken place over the years. However the pristine environment of KwaNibela is under threat from the community themselves, through excessive hunting, slash and burn bush clearing, the encroachment of alien plant species, and various uncontrolled forms of harvesting from the bush. Around the world eco-tourism has been seen as a way to sustainably fund conservation and benefit the local communities. For the conservation of the sand forests and surrounding wetland areas of KwaNibela it is necessary for the local people to see the benefit of conserving the area in their everyday life. Ecotourism has been investigated as the solution to conservation problems at KwaNibela. However it should not be neglected that for hundreds of years the people of KwaNibela have been harvesting from the bush and it is a part of their everyday life, so sustainable ways of using the natural resources in the surrounding area are also being looked at. A plan to demarcate a conservancy area is put forward and to allow limited harvesting and promote and develop tourism in that area. The education of the local community is also of paramount importance to the progression of the project, right from primary school level to the adult community members. The tourism potential of the area is immense; but depends on the development of the right infrastructure and skills to make it a success.

The leopard, Panthera pardus, is particularly threatened outside conservation areas in South Africa. This has been attributed to a reduction in natural habitat, decreasing natural prey populations, and commercial exploitation such as trophy hunting, and most importantly, persecution by stock farmers (Woodroffe 2001). The leopard population in the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve (BMR) has undergone a substantial decrease in range and numbers in the past 200 years, resulting in a highly fragmented population in the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve, and is regarded as being insecure. There is thus a need to investigate the nature and extent of leopard-stock farmer interactions to provide the foundation for an effective leopard conservation plan. Here I investigated the ecological and socio-economic factors influencing leopard-stock farmer conflict via landowner surveys and estimated potential leopard numbers using a prey-based density model. Leopards are not necessarily the most important causes of livestock mortality in the BMR. On average, leopards killed significantly less livestock (0.7 percent livestock per year) than black-backed jackals (4.7 percent per year) and caracal (2.5 percent per year), yet 67 percent of farmers had negative attitudes towards leopards. These negative attitudes were not significantly related to stock losses. However, most of the farmers that had negative attitudes towards leopards did not have any stock losses attributed to leopards. Thus if predator-stock conflict is not reduced it will result in the retaliatory killing of leopards. This will have severe consequences for this relatively small population (estimated at 59 – 104 individuals by the prey-based model), which may ultimately lead to the local extinction of these leopards (Woodroffe & Ginsberg 1998).

The backbone of this study was a systems thinking based analysis of the management and control of predators as practiced in South Africa since the advent of Europeans in 1652. The first bounties were introduced for a variety of animal species in 1656. Many species became labeled as vermin and were persecuted, often with the intention of eradication. A variety of controls have been applied, of which many have not kept pace with contemporary thinking or technology, and which by simply killing predators fail to address the crux of the issue of predator – livestock conflict. Many of the methods used cannot be applied to specifically remove an individual damage-causing animal. Considerable collateral ecological damage is inflicted by the killing of animals regarded as innocent bystanders. The objective of the analysis was to highlight the futility of temporary solutions which fail to resolve the conflict in the long term. These quick fixes frequently perpetuate an ecological imbalance which exacerbates the predator – livestock conflict. The analysis used raw data from a questionnaire survey conducted by the Poison Working Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT-PWG) (2003). The EWT-PWG intended to assess pesticide abuse as toxicant for predators by farmers, and to identify all control methods used. The data forthcoming was Cartesian in nature and a fixed snap-shot in time. This study sought to identify the root cause of the conflict by applying systems thinking which added the dimension of cause and effect interrogation. The study categorised and described predator conflict management methods as lethal or preventative, and assessed each category in archetypal terms from a systems thinking perspective. It also sought to identify leverage points, or small changes which have profound effects, to stimulate a change in approach to humanpredator conflict management. In order to assess and illustrate the positive change brought about by application of preventative methods, a small group of farmers who had initiated changes in their predator conflict management over the five years subsequent to the EWTPWG survey were selected from the original group for reassessment. Through evaluation of predator conflict management methods from a systems thinking perspective, and by probing learning processes, the shortcomings or failure of inappropriate management responses to conflict situations were shown to exacerbate conflicts. Contrarily, it was illustrated that application of systems thinking and a process of addressing the root cause of conflict issues in predator conflict management, was a longer term solution. The study illustrated that application of long term proactive prevention and conflict avoidance principles, can offer long term solutions for predator conflict managers. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

The Eden To Addo Corridor Initiative aims to connect formally protected areas in a conservation corridor from the coastal area of the Eden District near Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape, South Africa to the Addo National Elephant Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The corridor will incorporate government and privately owned land, and will be an attempt to maintain ecological processes at a range of spatial and temporal scales. The Langkloof Valley lies between the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Area and the Tstitsikamma National Park; two formally protected areas that will be incorporated into the Eden To Addo Corridor. Spatial prioritization analyses allow conservation planners to select areas that should be targeted for conservation action based on a range of criteria. Historically, ecological criteria have been included mostly alone in spatial prioritization. Recently, the idea of ‘conservation opportunity’ has emerged in the field of conservation planning; the notion suggests that a range of different types of data should be included in processes to spatially prioritise for conservation. By including those data defined as ‘human’ and ‘social’ data into prioritising activities, the feasibility of conservation plans can be accounted for, but historically conservation planners have failed to do so. I conducted a literature review that demonstrated that although the importance of human and social data are acknowledged in the conservation planning literature, these data that define opportunity are rarely actually included in spatial prioritisation analyses. I then carried out a social assessment that allowed me to define the social and human context of our study area and, specifically, what stewardship instruments land managers in the Langkloof would be prepared to engage. We found that land managers were generally willing to engage, but lacked the financial capacity to adopt conservation methods. Using a subset of the social and human data that were collected in the social assessment, I trialled a new Decision Support Software to fuse those data with ecological data in a novel attempt to identify priority areas for conservation action based on ecological integrity and feasibility. We also scheduled (ranked) land managers to approach for conservation action with a focus on local champions and clusters of land managers displaying strong conservation characteristics. Two corridors were identified; a major corridor in the western region of the valley and a secondary corridor closer to the middle. The members of the Initiative have been briefed on the outcomes, which provided them an opportunity to provide feedback; it is hoped that the framework of this study can be used for planning future connections. The Eden To Addo Corridor Initiative sent out a stewardship extension officer in February 2011 to approach those land managers areas that were identified. This planning exercise is a good demonstration of how, by collaborating effectively, academic conservation planners can contribute to supporting decision making by organizations that are implementing conservation action.

The existence of the rhino is under serious threat. South Africa has experienced a dramatic increase in rhino poaching since 2008. With the current trend of poaching, rhino in South Africa will soon become extinct. The current strategies to protect rhino have proved to be ineffective. The common view is that rhino poaching is morally wrong, and associated with greed and evil intentions and that rhino poaching must be stopped; however, there are two schools of thought regarding two main approaches (in association with current strategies) to be used in order to stop or limit poaching. The first school of thought supports the CITES ban on international trade in rhino horn, and believes that rhino poaching can only be stopped by eliminating demand (the “conventional approach”). The second school of thought is in favour of the legalisation of international trade, and argues that any solutions to the rhino poaching problem must address the underlying economic forces. This is called the sustainable approach. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the ban on international trade in rhino horn, as well as the viability of legalising international trade. The effectiveness of the current strategies was also investigated. A qualitative research design was used, and eighteen participants were selected in order to obtain information by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.The first school of thought supports the CITES ban on international trade in rhino horn, and believes that rhino poaching can only be stopped by eliminating demand (the “conventional approach”). The second school of thought is in favour of the legalisation of international trade, and argues that any solutions to the rhino poaching problem must address the underlying economic forces. This is called the sustainable approach. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the ban on international trade in rhino horn, as well as the viability of legalising international trade. The effectiveness of the current strategies was also investigated. A qualitative research design was used, and eighteen participants were selected in order to obtain information by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. A literature review was also conducted, for the purpose of evaluating the responses of participants, and also for the purpose of validity and reliability. The findings indicated that the scales tip in favor of a well-managed, legalized trade, inter alia, to make funds available to rhino owners, rhino custodians and the government, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to reduce the reward and increase the risk to the poacher. Findings also indicated that a legalized trade cannot be implemented in isolation; it goes hand in hand with increased security and improved law enforcement, while strategies such as dehorning and translocation still have a role to play. Finally, findings also indicated that communities need to be involved in the sustainable use approach. These communities are currently excluded from the benefits derived from the neighboring protected areas, thereby making them susceptible to being recruited as poachers. / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Management)

Leopards (Panthera pardus) are the most common large predators, free roaming outside of protected areas across most of South Africa. Leopard persistence is attributed to their tolerance of rugged terrain that is subject to less development pressure, as well as their cryptic behaviour. Nevertheless, existing leopard populations are threatened indirectly by ongoing transformation of natural habitat and directly through hunting and conflict with livestock farmers. Together these threats may further isolate leopards to fragmented areas of core natural habitat. I studied leopard habitat preferences, population density, diet and the attitudes of landowners towards leopards in the Little Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa, an area of mixed land-use that contains elements of three overlapping global biodiversity hotspots. Data were gathered between 2010 and 2012 using camera traps set up at 141 sites over an area of ~3100km², GPS tracking collars fitted to three male leopards, scat samples (n=76), interviews with landowners (n=53) analysed in combination with geographical information system (GIS) layers. My results reveal that leopards preferred rugged, mountainous terrain of intermediate elevation, avoiding low-lying, open areas where human disturbance was generally greater. Despite relatively un-fragmented habitat within my study area, the leopard population density (0.75 leopards/100km²) was one of the lowest yet recorded in South Africa. This may reflect low prey densities in mountain refuges in addition to historical human persecution in the area. Currently local landowners are more tolerant of leopards than other wildlife species with incidents of conflict involving leopards being rare relative to black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), baboons (Papio hamadryas), caracals (Caracal caracal) and porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis). Although current levels of conflict between leopards and stock farmers are low, leopards do depredate livestock, which constitute 10-15% of their diet. Improved livestock husbandry measures and co-operation between conservation authorities and farmers are necessary to mitigate such conflict and balance economic security with biodiversity conservation in the region. Leopards are the only remaining top predators throughout much of the Little Karoo and the Western Cape and as such are predicted to play a critical role in ecosystem structure and the survival of other species. Current high levels of connectivity between areas of suitable leopard habitat bode well for the conservation status of leopards within this region and future conservation efforts need to ensure that narrow corridors linking such habitat are preserved. The potential for leopards to serve as both an umbrella and a flagship species for biodiversity conservation suggests that long term monitoring of this population would be a conservation priority for the Little Karoo.

The reintroduction of lions, cheetahs and African wild dogs to Kwandwe Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa created the opportunity to study the biology and behaviour of these large carnivores in an enclosed system. The research focused on space utilisation and feeding ecology of the predators, using standard observational methods. Changes in the structure of the carnivore guild, and changes in the prey base that occurred during the study were used as natural experiments to examine factors affecting space use and diet. In general, the diets of the predators were similar to previous studies and prey abundance was more important than prey species size in determining prey selection. Changes in the abundance of certain prey species was matched by a dietary switch in lions from kudu to warthog and an increase in the proportion of springbok kills by the cheetahs. There was no significant difference in the proportions of prey species detected by ad hoc or continuous observations. Core areas occupied by the predators were significantly smaller than home ranges except when females were denning. Home ranges overlapped both within and between species, but there was very little overlap of core areas. An increase in the number of lion prides in the area during the study resulted in an increase in overlap of home ranges of lions and cheetahs, but did not result in a change in home range size. Space use by female cheetahs with cubs increased as the cubs grew older. The use of thicket vegetation by cheetahs decreased with an increase in the number of lion prides. Minimum Daily Energy Expenditure, energy intake and net benefit were calculated for the predators using data from continuous observations. All predators exhibited a large net benefit and the net benefit for single female cheetahs was greater than for the members of the coalition. Net benefit for the alpha pair of African wild dogs was lower than that of the pack.