A home away from home: insights from successful leopard (Panthera pardus) translocations

Published source details Weise F.J., Lemeris Jr J., Stratford K.J., van Vuuren R.J., Munro S.J., Crawford S.J., Marker L.L. & Stein A.B. (2015) A home away from home: insights from successful leopard (Panthera pardus) translocations. Biodiversity and Conservation, 24, 1755-1774.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Translocate predators away from livestock to reduce human-wildlife conflict Action Link

Translocate predators away from livestock to reduce human-wildlife conflict

A controlled study in 2004–2014 across five regions of Namibia (Weise et al. 2015) found that following translocation (mostly of animals moved from sites of livestock predation), survival rates and home range sizes of leopards Panthera pardus did not differ significantly from those of resident leopards and that translocated females reproduced in the wild. The average annual survival rate of the six translocated leopards (93%) was not significantly different to that of 12 resident leopards (85%). The same applied for home range sizes (translocated: 54–481 km²; resident: 36–580 km²). Two of three translocated females reproduced in the wild, with conception occurring from eight months post-release. Livestock predation ceased for 16–29 months or entirely at pre-translocation capture sites, and was then lower (1–3 calves/year) than before translocation (5 calves in one year). Only one of six translocated leopards killed livestock (herded into range) at release sites. Eighteen leopards were trapped and fitted with GPS (14) or VHF (5) transmitter collars. Twelve were released at or close to their capture sites and six (4 ‘problem’ animals) were released at an average distance of 403 km (47–754 km) from their capture site. Translocated animals spent an average of 203 days in captivity before release. VHF-tagged leopards were monitored at least weekly and GPS-tagged individuals were monitored daily, for an average of 718 days for translocated animals and 465 days for resident animals.

(Summarised by: Nick Littlewood)