- Title
- African wildcats on unprotected land in the Northern Cape, South Africa: potential prey and conflict status
- Creator
- Stadler, Cindy
- Subject
- African wildcat South Africa Northern Cape
- Subject
- African wildcat Effect of human beings on South Africa Northern Cape
- Subject
- Predation (Biology) South Africa Northern Cape
- Subject
- Livestock Predators of South Africa Northern Cape
- Subject
- Human-animal relationships South Africa Northern Cape
- Date Issued
- 2021-10-29
- Date
- 2021-10-29
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191012
- Identifier
- vital:45049
- Description
- The African wildcat (Felis lybica cafra) is the most common and widely distributed of all wildcats. The southern Kalahari in South Africa offers favourable conditions for African wildcats and supports high wildcat densities on protected and unprotected land. African wildcats have been reported as livestock predators on South African farms, however wildcat-livestock predation is usually reported as infrequent and to have a low financial impact on the farmer. The aim of this study was, firstly, to determine what natural prey species were available for African wildcats on unprotected land and, secondly, to determine the extent of human-wildcat conflict on unprotected land in the southern Kalahari. The frequency of occurrence of potential African wildcat prey was determined through small mammal trapping, camera trap surveys and direct observations. The results indicated that a variety of the African wildcat’s natural prey species occurred on unprotected land and that the dune and adjacent ‘street' habitats most likely supported the majority of small mammals which are preferred prey for African wildcats. The African wildcat’s human-predator conflict status was determined through interview questionnaires (n = 22) with participants who owned or managed farms in the southern Kalahari. African wildcats were perceived to occur on 100% of farms, to be common in the region, to be the top livestock predator on 68% of farms and to be responsible for 46% (n = 1542 newborn lambs) of all livestock deaths in 2020. African wildcats were, however, not viewed in the same negative light as black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) and caracals (Caracal caracal), who received more negativity from participants and who had the highest persecution rates in my study area. This result could potentially be explained by a combination of generationally taught hatred towards certain species and due to the perceived livestock loss (e.g. livestock size and species) caused by each predator species. It is important to research and monitor wildcats outside protected areas to obtain a deeper knowledge of wildcat behaviour, abundance, population dynamics and other aspects of their ecology. By doing this, specific conservation and management questions can be addressed and through the knowledge of the natural history of a species, conservation failures can be avoided.
- Description
- Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (142 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Rhodes University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Stadler, Cindy
- Rights
- Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Rights
- Open Access
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | STADLER-MSC-TR21-202.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |