Human-wildlife conflicts are common across the globe. In Namibia, cheetahs roam freely on privately owned farmland and occasionally prey on cattle calves. Drawing on GPS data obtained and analyzed in close collaboration with farmers, the CRP unraveled the spatial sytem of cheetah society and identified communication hubs as hotspots of cheetah activity and farmer-cheetah conflict. In a new range-wide study we aim to understand these patterns in a wider context across the range - and potentially upscale a successful conservation solution.
In central Namibia, our team from the Leibniz-IZW investigated the spatial behaviour of male cheetahs using high-resolution, long-term movement data and identified communication hubs as hotspots of cheetah activity.
Our findings help to reduce conflict between cheetahs and farmers by providing key information for succesful herd management. If we are able to validate this knowledge and experience in different contexts, we could potentially upscale a promising conservation solution to the entire range of the cheetah. We teamed up with WWF Germany to do exactly that!
Find more information about this study and learn how you can partipate here: www.cheetah-research.org/upscaling.