Utilising bycatch camera trap data for broad-scale occupancy and conservation: a case study on brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea)

Williams, K.S.; Pitman, R.T.; Mann, G.T.; Whittington-Jones, G.; Comley, J.; Williams, S.T.; Hill, R.A.; Balme, G.A.; Parker, D.M

Abstract

With human influences driving populations of apex predators into decline, more information is required on how factors affect species at national and global scales. However, camera-trap studies are seldom executed at a broad spatial scale. We demonstrate how uniting fine-scale studies and utilizing camera-trap data of non-target species is an effective approach for broadscale assessments through a case study of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea. We collated camera-trap data from 25 protected and unprotected sites across South Africa into the largest detection/non-detection dataset collected on the brown hyaena, and investigated the influence of biological and anthropogenic factors on brown hyaena occupancy. Spatial autocorrelation had a significant effect on the data, and was corrected using a Bayesian Gibbs sampler. We show that brown hyaena occupancy is driven by specific co-occurring apex predator species and human disturbance. The relative abundance of spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta and people on foot had a negative effect on brown hyaena occupancy, whereas the relative abundance of leopards Panthera pardus and vehicles had a positive influence. We estimated that brown hyaenas occur across 66% of the surveyed camera-trap station sites. Occupancy varied geographically, with lower estimates in eastern and southern South Africa. Our findings suggest that brown hyaena conservation is dependent upon a multi-species approach focussed on implementing conservation policies that better facilitate coexistence between people and hyaenas. We also validate the conservation value of pooling fine-scale datasets and utilizing bycatch data to examine species trends at broad spatial scales.

Citation

Williams, K., Pitman, R., Mann, G., Whittington-Jones, G., Comley, J., Williams, S., Hill, R., Balme, G., & Parker, D. (2021). Utilising bycatch camera trap data for broad-scale occupancy and conservation: a case study on brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea). Oryx: The International Journal of Conservation, 55(2), 216-226. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605319000747

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 11, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Oct 12, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Deposit Date: Jun 17, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 16, 2020
• Journal: Oryx -The International Journal of Conservation
• Print ISSN: 0030-6053
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-3008
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 216-226
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605319000747
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1328514