Many large carnivore populations are under threat from persecution for killing
livestock. Our ability to deal with this threat is limited by our understanding of the
aspects of the ecology of large carnivores and the socio-economics of humans
relevant to livestock predation. This study adds new evidence to debates surrounding
lion ecology, home-range analysis and human-large carnivore conflict mitigation. I
use novel methods and try to span the divide between human sciences and ecology to
create a holistic view of a conflict and make recommendations based on both ecology
and socio-economics.
I used variation in the availability of migratory wild prey as a natural experiment to
investigate the feeding and spatial ecology of lions. I demonstrate a link between rises
in wild prey abundance and declines in the frequency of livestock predation per unit
abundance that supports claims that wild prey can buffer people against livestock
losses. Changes in livestock predation frequency were not passive responses to
changes in prey abundance and stock-raiding lions changed their movements to
increase livestock encounter rates although rarely seemed to attack livestock at
cattleposts. Instead they spent most time in areas where livestock grazed untended and
in which they strayed at night suggesting that, at least in the Makgadikgadi that
herding vigilance may be at least as important as static defences (such as reinforced
livestock enclosures) at reducing livestock losses. Livestock predation appeared to
allow stock-raiders to use smaller home-ranges than other lions which became smaller
yet when wild prey was least abundant.