Daniel M Parker

University of Mpumalanga | UMP · School of Biology and Environmental Sciences

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species’ population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate ‘intactness scores’: the remaining proportion of...

Protected areas are becoming increasingly isolated refugia for large carnivores but remain critical for their survival. Spotted hyaenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) are important members of the African large carnivore guild but, like other members of the guild, routinely come into conflict with people because of their large home ranges that are not always c...

Apex predators can both suppress mesopredators, causing behavioral changes such as temporal avoidance, and facilitate mesopredators via carrion provision. Thus, responses to apex predators may vary depending on the local context. We investigated the differences in the temporal activity of two mesopredators, the black-backed jackal (Lupulella/Canis...

The size of the home range of a mammal is affected by numerous factors. However, in the normally solitary, but polygynous, Leopard (Panthera pardus), home range size and maintenance is complicated by their transitory social grouping behavior, which is dependent on life history stage and/or reproductive status. In addition, the necessity to avoid co...

Tourism, biodiversity and agriculture contribute to the economy in the Waterberg. It's important to understand how these activities influence one another in order to manage and conserve the Waterberg. As bats fly, they can overcome most barriers inhibiting other non-volent similar sized mammals. Their range in morphology and ecology allows them to...

Ecological restoration is the process to facilitate the recovery of an area that has undergone change through land-use or degradation. Little is still known on spatial-temporal dynamics between land-use tenure, and restoration initiatives on species and assemblages. The objective of this study was to determine the patterns of mammal diversity (spec...

When wide ranging, herbivorous species such as African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are confined and their population densities increase, the vegetation may be negatively affected. Any changes to vegetation structure and complexity may then result in a series of ecological cascades on other plant and animal species that rely on the vegetation for...

Killing animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and criticised in some parts of contemporary human society. Here we review 10 primary reasons why humans kill animals, discuss the necessity (or not) of these forms of killing, and describe the global ecological context for human...

Habitat heterogeneity is a key driver of the diversity and distribution of species. African savannas are experiencing changes in their vegetation structure causing shifts towards increased woody plant cover, which results in vegetation structure homogenization. Given the impact that increasing woody plant cover has on patterns of animal use, resour...

Spatial patterns of and competition for resources by territorial carnivores are typically explained by two hypotheses: 1) the territorial defence hypothesis and 2) the searching efficiency hypothesis. According to the territorial defence hypothesis, when food resources are abundant, carnivore densities will be high and home ranges small. In additio...

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. Abstract Fruit bats provide vital ecosystem services through seed d...

Conservationists speculated on potential benefits to wildlife of lockdown restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic but voiced concern that restrictions impeded nature conservation. We assessed the effects of lockdown restrictions on biodiversity conservation in South Africa, a biodiverse country with economic inequality and reliance on wildlif...

The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is threatened primarily due to continued poaching for its horns. In South Africa, partly to promote the conservation of the species, white rhinos have been introduced into areas where they did not occur historically (i.e. where they are considered extralimital). Few studies have investigated the conservati...

Rewilding is a conservation strategy used to restore ecosystems to previous states and can involve the reintroduction of large carnivores into areas from where they had been previously extirpated. Whilst rewilding has been important for ecosystem functioning, it can have negative implications for naïve prey that have had no exposure to the presence...

The world is firmly cemented in a notitian age (Latin: notitia, meaning data) – drowning in data, yet thirsty for information and the synthesis of knowledge into understanding. As concerns over biodiversity declines escalate, the volume, diversity and speed at which new environmental and ecological data are generated has increased exponentially. Da...

As the top predator in African ecosystems, lions have lost more than 90% of their historical range, and few countries possess strong evidence for stable populations. Translocations (broadly defined here as the capture and movement of lions for various management purposes) have become an increasingly popular action for this species, but the wide arr...

Context: Mesopredators experience top down pressure from apex predators, which may lead to behavioural changes such as spatial avoidance to reduce both interference and exploitative competition. However, apex predators may also facilitate mesopredators through the provision of carrion, so mesopredators should respond flexibly to the presence of ape...

African lion (Panthera leo) populations normally consist of several neighbouring prides and multiple adult males or groups of males that interact competitively. In large, open systems, cub defence from infanticidal males and territory defence drive group living in lions. However, in smaller (<1000 km²), fenced wildlife reserves, opportunities for n...

Access to scientific knowledge, and teaching in the sciences, is believed to be about training because scientific knowledge is, generally, specialised. However, for students to gain full epistemological access in the sciences, they also need to be inducted as scientists and learners of science. We use Bernstein’s regulative and instructional discou...

Reliable estimates of wildlife mortality due to wildlife-vehicle collisions are key to understanding its impact on wildlife populations and developing strategies to prevent or reduce collisions. Standardised approaches for monitoring roadkill are needed to derive robust and unbiased estimates of mortality that are comparable across different study...

Rapid population growth of reintroduced lions (Panthera leo) poses several ecological and management challenges in small (

Based on published and unpublished records, together with original data collected from regular field trips over a 15-year period, 68 mammal species have been reliably recorded from the Mountain Zebra National Park. I assessed the current status of all mammal species, in relation to park expansion and research effort over time (1937–2020). Although...

The Kruger National Park (KNP) is considered an important biodiversity hotspot, with insectivorous bats representing about twenty percent of the total mammalian diversity of South Africa. Historically, 40 bat species have been documented in the northern region of the Park between 1960 and 1990. However, it has been three decades since the last comp...

The risk of predation can alter the way animals perceive costs and benefits in their environment, on which foraging decisions are made. To maximize fitness, animals with offspring show the most pronounced alteration in behavior because mothers experience increased nutritional requirements and increased vulnerability to predation. Therefore, the tol...

Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) have been used for centuries to reduce depredation on livestock and, more recently, to facilitate the conservation of threatened carnivores. Conservation organisations in southern Africa promote the use of Anatolian shepherds as LGDs. However, livestock farmers in Botswana use a variety of breeds for this purpose, inc...

Nature is experiencing degradation and extinction rates never recorded before in the history of Earth.1,2 Consequently, continuous large-scale monitoring programmes are critical, not only to provide insights into population trends but also to aid in understanding factors associated with altering population dynamics at various temporal and spatial s...

Wildlife population density estimates provide information on the number of individuals in an area and influence conservation management decisions. Thus, accuracy is vital. A dominant feature in many landscapes globally is fencing, yet the implications of fence permeability on density estimation using spatial capture‐recapture modelling are seldom c...

African lions (Panthera leo) can influence the location, distribution and behaviour of smaller carnivores such as cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). In fenced protected areas, where space is limited, the effects of the apex predator can be exaggerated to the point of localized extinction of the subordinate. Here, we directly compare the prey selection of...

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 effect...

Interspecific competition among terrestrial carnivores can have widespread impacts on community structure and can ultimately determine which species are able to coexist. Within the carnivore guild, coexistence can be achieved through either spatial, temporal or dietary partitioning. The most effective method of avoiding competition may be spatial p...

Leopards (Panthera pardus) are the only free-ranging large predators to still occur naturally throughout much of Africa, but are vulnerable to habitat loss, ecosystem degradation and persecution. We used a systematic camera trap survey covering an area of ∼3100 km² in the Little Karoo, a semi-arid biodiversity hotspot in South Africa, to assess the...

Although the Limpopo River is not perennial in its upper stretches in South Africa, the presence of a narrow riparian forest zone is expected to enhance bat diversity by promoting a wider range of foraging types, but the scale at which this effect may operate is not known. A recent, fine-scale model of bat diversity in Africa suggested that rivers...

The Okavango River Basin is a hotspot of bat diversity that requires urgent and adequate protection. To advise future conservation strategies, we investigated the relative importance of a range of potential environmental drivers of bat species richness and functional community composition in the Okavango River Basin. During annual canoe transects a...

Trophic cascade theories such as the ‘behaviourally-mediated trophic cascade hypothesis’ (BMTCH), have mainstreamed as ecological tools for conserving biodiversity and restoring ecosystems. The BMTCH relies on indirect negative effects of large carnivores through suppression of mesocarnivore activity and habitat use. Importantly, effects of top car...

Carnivores are adapted to kill, meaning sympatric carnivores can have particularly aggressive and harmful competitive interactions. The co‐existence of multiple carnivores in an ecosystem could be restricted by their similarity in ecological niches (e.g. dietary overlap); however, high prey abundances could facilitate their co‐existence. Although t...

The 'Compassionate Conservation' movement is gaining momentum through its promotion of 'ethical' conservation practices based on self-proclaimed principles of 'first-do-no-harm' and 'individuals matter'. We argue that the tenets of 'Compassionate Conservation' are ideological-that is, they are not scientifically proven to improve conservation outco...

There are several hypotheses that could explain territory size in mammals, including the resource dispersion hypothesis (RDH), the intruder pressure hypothesis (IPH), and the intraguild predation hypothesis (IGPH). In this study, we tested predictions of these three hypotheses regarding territories of 19 packs of endangered African wild dogs (Lycao...

Social integration is an important factor when reintroducing group-living species, but examples of the formation of social groups before reintroduction are largely lacking. African wild dogs Lycaon pictus are endangered, and reintroductions have become a routine part of range expansion in South Africa. Wild dogs form packs that are essential to the...

Introducing consumptive and non-consumptive effects into food webs can have profound effects on individuals, populations and communities. Consequently, the deliberate use of predation and/or fear of predation is an emerging technique for controlling wildlife. Many now advocate for the intentional use of large carnivores and livestock guardian dogs...

Context. Managed wild lions (Panthera leo) are lions found in smaller (<1000 km 2), fenced protected areas that hold a substantial portion of South Africa's wild lion population. Because the natural population control mechanisms are compromised within these properties, managers must actively control population growth rates. Fecundity control is use...

Global distributions of most terrestrial large mammals have been dramatically reduced through the loss and fragmentation of natural habitat. These impacts are likely to be intensified by the effects of global climate change. Here we use two free roaming leopard (Panthera pardus) populations to explore the intersecting influences of climatic conditi...

Compassionate conservation focuses on 4 tenets: first, do no harm; individuals matter; inclusivity of individual animals; and peaceful coexistence between humans and animals. Recently, compassionate conservation has been promoted as an alternative to conventional conservation philosophy. We believe examples presented by compassionate conservationis...

Few studies have investigated the factors that influence roadkill occurrence in developing countries. In 2013, we monitored a 100-km section of the road (comprising the R572 and R521 regional highways and the D2662) that pass through the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area in South Africa, to assess the possible factors influencing r...

Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental fact...

R-code for boosted beta regression (Fix acquisition rate). (R)

Covariate partial effects on the variability of the fix acquisition rate. (PDF)

Tagged individuals per species. (PDF)

Covariate partial effects on the variability of the Overall fix success rate. (PDF)

Trends in observed data. (PDF)

Global dataset for boosted beta regressions. (CSV)

Description of data fields in S1 Data. (CSV)

Satellite telemetry articles published. (PDF)

Distribution of response variables and covariates. (PDF)

Unit purchase and operation costs. (PDF)

R-code for boosted beta regression (Overall fix success rate). (R)

Standardized data collection questionnaire. (PDF)

Satellite telemetry evaluations. (PDF)

Social integration is an important factor when reintroducing group-living species, but examples of the formation of social groups before reintroduction are largely lacking. African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are endangered, and reintroductions have become a routine part of range expansion in South Africa. Wild dogs form packs that are essential to t...

Introducing consumptive and non-consumptive effects into food webs can have profound effects on individuals, populations and communities. This knowledge has led to the deliberate use of predation and/or fear of predation as an emerging technique for controlling wildlife. Many now advocate for the intentional use of large carnivores and livestock gu...

When vegetation structure is altered, songbird communities may be affected. Despite speculation that African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) browsing impacts bird communities, existing data are limited. I sampled the bird communities of the Albany Thicket Biome at 10 sites in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, half with elephants and half without. Songb...

The causes of human-predator conflict (HPC) are typically viewed from an anthropocentric perspective (see Redpath et al., 2013) and are consequently translated into costs incurred by humans through various animal behaviours (Aust, Boyle, Ferguson & Coulson, 2009; Barua, Bhagwat & Jadvav, 2013). Instances of HPC may originate where predators prey on...

An introduction to the Snapshot Safari - South Africa project.

Using various sources, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), published literature, recent (2015–2017) collections, as well as bat detector and camera trap surveys with opportunistic sightings and live capture in the upper Okavango catchment in central Angola, we present an updated mammal checklist of 275 species from 15 dif...

Using various sources, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), published literature, recent (2015–2017) collections, as well as bat detector and camera trap surveys with opportunistic sightings and live capture in the upper Okavango catchment in central Angola, we present an updated mammal checklist of 275 species from 15 dif...

Test list of species names

Excel spreadsheet of occurrence data from cleaned GBIG search of Angolan mammal

Labeled images of example sonograms of each bat species identified

The survival of wildlife ultimately relies on its acceptability to humans. The African wild dog Lycaon pictus is an endangered species that often comes into conflict with humans. Currently, the only viable population in South Africa resides in the Kruger National Park (KNP). To begin to understand the acceptability of wild dogs outside this importa...

Insectivorous bats are a difficult group of mammals to survey because they are small, nocturnal, fly and often roost in hard to reach places during the day. However, bats should not be neglected from biodiversity assessments because they play pivotal roles in pest regulation and as biological indicators. We used acoustic detectors to sample bat spe...

Hyenas (family Hyaenidae), as the sister group to cats (family Felidae), represent a deeply diverging branch within the cat-like carnivores (Feliformia). With an estimated population size of less than 10,000 individuals worldwide, the brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) represents the rarest of the four extant hyena species and has been listed as Near...

We studied the correlates of population density and body size, growth rates, litter size, and group size in Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis (Ogilby, 1838)) at two study sites with contrasting population densities. Group size, litter size, and the probability of recapture were independent of study site. However, body size differed between t...

Black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis) are endangered and the southern-central sub-species (Diceros bicornis minor) is considered critically endangered. We assessed the reproductive lifehistories of black rhinoceroses in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park (HiP), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to determine whether this historically important donor sub-population w...

The largest part of the South African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) distribution occurs outside formally protected areas, making cheetahs vulnerable to conflict-related killings. This conflict is assumed to be directly related to negative attitudes of landowners towards predators. Our study assessed the socio-economic factors influencing landowner att...

The endogenous rhythmicity of the locomotor activity and subsequent entrainment by light cycles of the pygmy mouse (Mus minutoides A. Smith, 1834) was investigated under laboratory-controlled conditions. Seasonal trapping in the field was used to assess the predominant activity phase in their natural habitat, and determine whether seasonal variatio...

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are capable of visibly altering the structure of vegetation through their browsing habits, and such alteration of habitat may be magnified when the broader movements of elephants are restricted by fences. I assessed the structure and composition of the woody and succulent components of Albany thicket vegetatio...

With an estimated population size of less than 10,000 individuals worldwide, the brown hyena ( Parahyaena brunnea ) has been listed as ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN. Despite this rank, studies involving DNA analyses of the brown hyena are limited. Little consideration has been focussed towards population structure within the brown hyena, which coul...

The locomotor activity patterns of two species of shrew were investigated under both standard laboratory conditions and in their natural environment. Trapping, using live traps, was undertaken on a seasonal basis to determine the predominant periods of activity for each species in their natural habitat. We assessed if there was a seasonal variation...

1. Response to Bruskotter and colleagues We recently described the following six interrelated issues that justify questioning some of the discourse about the reliability of the literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores (Allen et al., in press): 1. The overall paucity of available data, 2. The reliability of carnivore population samplin...

Large carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to ignore, disregard or devalue fundamental pri...

Full text available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aje.12374/full