Reassessment of an introduced cheetah <i>Acinonyx jubatus</i> population in Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe

Journal article

Predators reintroduced to fenced reserves may help restore trophic balance. However, predator reintroductions are challenging, as they can threaten resident prey species and may trigger unintended ecological effects. These challenges have hampered reintroductions of predators to fenced reserves globally, except in Africa, where reintroductions are primarily driven by ecotourism. This has resulted in the failure to capitalise on the benefits that predator reintroductions can provide, such as conservation of the predators, regulating prey species and restoring trophic relationships of ecosystems. Also, reintroduction of predators can improve anti-predator behaviours in prey, important for reducing prey naïveté of species in fenced conservation reserves or islands, and relevant to their survival outside of these closed ecosystems. By investigating the ecological effects of reintroducing the western quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii), a native predator, to a fenced reserve in Australia, I assessed positive and negative effects of this reintroduction on resident prey species, informing future reintroductions of similar predators in Australia. Positive effects include improved anti-predator responses in naïve prey species and restoring trophic balance, and negative effects were impacts to threatened prey populations. In Chapter 1, I review previous reintroductions of carnivores globally, highlighting knowledge gaps in monitoring and reporting prey impacts and ecosystem effects of carnivore reintroductions on ecosystems. In Chapter 2, I investigated the impacts of quoll predation on reintroduced threatened prey species, highlighting a preference for two threatened prey species and the importance of alternative prey for predators. In Chapter 3, I examined anti-predator behaviour in two prey species, and documented improved general anti-predator responses in quoll-exposed prey species compared to predator naïve animals in the reserve. For Chapter 4, I examined whether the reintroduction of western quolls triggered trophic cascades such as improved vegetation cover via the suppression overabundant herbivores, or increased abundance of small reptiles via the suppression of mesopredators, inside relative to outside the reserve. Finally, in Chapter 5, I evaluated management procedures to mitigate these impacts to prey species and highlight the importance of supplementary feeding for reintroduced predators. The knowledge gained from this thesis can provide guidance for future reintroductions of western quolls into Australian fenced reserves. The management strategies developed from this comprehensive research are also applicable to reintroductions of other predators within Australia and improves knowledge of the effects of carnivore reintroductions globally

Authors: van der Meer, E; Sousa, LL; Loveridge, AJ

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Oryx: The International Journal of Conservation
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 294-301
• Publication date: 2020-02-03
• DOI: 10.1017/s0030605319000164
• EISSN: 1365-3008
• ISSN: 0030-6053
• Language: English
• Keywords: Habitat; Human–wildlife conflict; Chromosomal translocation; Occupancy; Carnivore; Demography; Endangered species; Range (aeronautics); Poaching; Ecology; Biology; Population; National park; Minimum viable population; Acinonyx jubatus; Predation; Wildlife; Geography