Fehlmann, Gaelle;
O'Riain, M Justin;
Kerr-Smith, Catherine;
Hailes, Stephen;
Holton, Mark;
Hopkins, Phil;
King, Andrew J;
(2023)
Using behavioral studies to adapt management decisions and reduce negative interactions between humans and baboons in Cape Town, South Africa.
Conservation Science and Practice
, Article e12948. 10.1111/csp2.12948.
(In press).
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Abstract
Understanding the behavioral ecology of wildlife that experiences negative interactions with humans and the outcome of any wildlife management intervention is essential. In the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) search for anthropogenic food sources in both urban and agricultural areas. In response, the city of Cape Town and private farmers employ “rangers” to keep baboons within the Table Mountain National Park. In this study, we investigated the success of rangers' intervention in keeping baboons in their natural habitat. Based on our findings in year one, we recommended adjustments to the rangers' management strategy in year two. We recommended improved consensus of actions toward baboons (that is, when/where to herd them), and the construction of a baboon-proof fence around one of the farms that provided a corridor to urban areas. During the 2 months following recommendations, these interventions combined resulted in a significant reduction in the time baboons spent in both urban and agricultural land. Our case study illustrates the importance of integrating research findings into ongoing management actions to improve both human livelihoods and baboon conservation through an adaptive management framework. We expect similar approaches to be beneficial in a wide range of species and contexts.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Using behavioral studies to adapt management decisions and reduce negative interactions between humans and baboons in Cape Town, South Africa |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/csp2.12948 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12948 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2023 The Authors. Conservation Science and Practice published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | bio-logging, crop guarding, crop-foraging, fencing, home range, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, primate, raiding frequency, social sciences, space use |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10171627 |
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