Vol. 60, 2021
(update: 2021.07.07; 09.16)
Threats
to Site Occupation of Carnivores: A Spatiotemporal Encroachment of
Non-native Species on the Native Carnivore Community in A
Human-dominated Protected Area
Kasereka
Vitekere1 , Luc Mumbere Lango2,
Jiao Wang1,
Mengyan Zhu1 , Guangshun
Jiang1,* , and Yan
Hua3,*
doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-52
1Feline
Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration,
College of Wildlife and Natural Protected Area, Northeast Forestry
University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150040, P.R. China. *Correspondence:
E-mail: jgshun@126.com (Jiang).
E-mail: kasvitekere@hotmail.fr (Vitekere); wj15765526221@163.com (Wang)
2Research Center for Environmental Planning, Goma,
Democratic Republic of Congo. E-mail: luclango@yahoo.fr (Lango)
3Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture,
Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou
510520, China. *Correspondence: E-mail: wildlife530@hotmail.com (Hua)
4University of Goma, Faculty of Sciences, Goma,
North-Kivu, 204, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Received 4 January 2021 / Accepted 6
June 2021
Communicated by Jian-Nan Liu
Interspecific interactions of
commensal non-native species such as domestic dogs and livestock with
native wildlife are evident issues in protected areas (PAs). We studied
spatiotemporal interactions by combining camera trap photographic
sampling over three years. We used a generic multiseason occupancy and
co-occurrence analysis and kernel density estimates of temporal
activity. We accumulated a total of 1,305 and 1,557 independent
photo-captures respectively for non-native and carnivore species during
26,216 trap nights. We found that non-native and carnivore species did
not show substantial changes in occupancy rate over time. Yet both
kinds of species were frequently detected. Carnivores had lower values
of occupancy equilibrium than non-native species in seasons one and
two. Domestic dogs directly occurred with native carnivores (except
with leopards in season one), while the human and livestock presence
displayed direct (Species Interaction Factors > 1) and indirect
(Species Interaction Factors close to 1) cooccurrence, respectively,
with the leopard and two mesocarnivores. The leopard cat was the least
spatially influenced carnivore by the non-native species interactions.
Furthermore, the leopard had higher temporal overlap (high Δ4)
with all non-native species than the leopard cat and red fox (low Δ4).
Our study exposes the negative impact of free-ranging non-native
species across this protected area on native carnivore occupancy. An
evaluation of the interconnections among non-native and carnivore
species across diverse PA management regimes is crucial to develop
robust landscape-scale conservation strategies.
Key words: Conservation and
management, Non-native and carnivore species, Overlap, Protected area,
Spatiotemporal patterns.
Citation:
Vitekere K, Lango LM, Wang J,
Zhu M, Jiang G, Hua Y. 2021. Threats to site occupation of carnivores:
a spatiotemporal encroachment of non-native species on the native
carnivore community in a human-dominated protected area. Zool Stud 60:52. doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-52.

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