Conservation in southern Africa has become increasingly complex, requiring practitioners to operate across ecological, legal, economic, and sociopolitical domains. Through a longitudinal analysis of Game Ranch Management, a foundational textbook in wildlife conservation, this article traces how the field's knowledge base and professional expectations have expanded over time. Since its first edition in 1989, the textbook has grown from a 672-page technical manual to a 1012-page interdisciplinary reference, mirroring the profession's shift from land-based management to multidimensional governance. Drawing on systems theory, governance scholarship, and the sociology of professions, this study treats the textbook as an institutional artefact that encodes changing norms, values, and competencies. The results show progressive content expansion, disciplinary broadening, and the incorporation of governance, economic, and ethical frameworks, reflecting conservation practitioners' increasing cognitive and administrative load. The findings highlight how conservation's increasing complexity reshapes training curricula, institutional design, and practitioner identity in resource-constrained contexts, offering a novel, text-based approach for understanding professional and epistemic change in applied environmental fields.

Mawana Game Reserve (MGR, 110 km2, northern KwaZulu-Natal) is of key importance to the establishment of a regional biodiversity conservation initiative. Quantifying the reserve's medium and large mammal species richness and understanding the predictors of the reserve's richness patterns can greatly contribute to the effective management of this conservation area. Camera trap images of medium and large mammals collected over 40 days in the austral summer from 51 evenly spaced (1.3 × 1.3 km) sites across the reserve yielded 2960 independent detections of 29 medium and large mammal species. Bayesian Multi-Species Occupancy Model (MSOM) estimated 34 (95% HDI: 29–45) species present which correlate well with field observations. Four of nine environmental and anthropogenic variables tested for correlations with mammal richness patterns, using a Bayesian hierarchical MSOM that accounts for imperfect detection, rendered significant results. Species richness increased with improved visibility, reduction in grass biomass and distance to human settlement but decreased with vegetation type variability. The positive association between species richness and distance to human settlement was surprising and one plausible explanation is the possible safety provided by the presence of a biological research field site in the north of the reserve close to settlements. With an estimated species richness of between 32 and 35 species, MGR is an important refuge for mammal species of the Maputaland Pondoland–Albany hotspot and the protection and expansion of this area should be encouraged.

In southern Africa, the conservation of large carnivores such as cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) is challenging because of their extensive home range requirements and competition for space with human activities. Here, we focus on the influence of intrinsic individual traits and reserve characteristics on the home range sizes of cheetahs. We investigated the determinants of the home range and core area sizes of cheetahs in fenced protected areas, focusing on the effects of sex, social grouping, reserve size, and habitat openness, as well as prey, cheetah, and other large predator densities. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking data from 21 cheetahs across eight fenced reserves in South Africa, we employed the local convex hull (k-LoCoH) method to calculate 95% home range and 50% core area sizes. Moreover, linear mixed-effects models determined the influence of various ecological and demographic variables on these sizes. The top model explaining the cheetahs' home range size included prey density and the percentage of open habitat available as fixed effects. We found that home range sizes were significantly influenced by the percentage of open habitat and prey density, with smaller ranges associated with higher prey densities and more open habitats. The top model explaining the cheetahs' core area size included sex as the only fixed effect and indicated that males had significantly smaller core areas than females. Therefore, the habitat type, prey density, and sex of the individual are crucial factors influencing the spatial ecology of reintroduced cheetahs. The findings underscore the importance of considering these factors in cheetah conservation planning. Strategies such as enhancing habitat openness and prey availability within protected areas could optimize conditions for cheetah conservation.

Population dynamics and vital rates of savanna large herbivores, such as the black (Diceros bicornis) and white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), are influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, among which environmental fluctuations play an important role as they affect food resources. Given the differences in diets between the two rhino species and the differences in relationships between rainfall and woody versus herbaceous plants, there should also be differences in their survival and other vital rates in response to environmental stochasticity. We used historical rhino-monitoring, rainfall and vegetation greenness data to investigate rhino survival and other vital rates of two rhino populations at Lapalala Wilderness Nature Reserve. Mean population growth rates during the study were 4.8% for black rhinos and 8.9% for white rhinos, and both populations illustrated no evidence of density-dependence. Cox proportional hazard models showed that survival of both species was stage-specific and increased with rainfall. Vegetation greenness models similarly showed that survival increased with integrated annual greenness for all stages and proved to be the better proxy for white rhino survival. Additionally, density effects were somewhat trivial for both black and white rhinos as the populations seem to be rather resource limited. With droughts expected to be more common in an already variable system, species-specific assessment of how environmental stochasticity affects vital rates will be necessary for effective conservation of species in semi-arid regions.

Riverine woodlands in some protected semi-arid savannas in southern Africa are threatened by increasing elephant densities. Our study in Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe, sought to differentiate elephant impacts from the impacts of other agents on vegetation changes along 7 km of the Runde River over ∼70 years. We examined whether a legacy effect on woody cover persisted after bush clearing by Tsetse Control on the upper terrace in 1963/64, followed by a decade of maintaining an elephant-free corridor, using aerial and lateral photographs, and remote-sensing imagery. Plants coppiced to produce a dense shrubland during the wet 1970s. Woody cover increased on cleared and uncleared areas until 2005, then declined sharply by 2016. The effect of partial protection from elephants on the structure and composition of riverine woodland was investigated in 2024 using a fence-line contrast constructed in 2012. The partially protected area supported greater woody cover, canopy volume, woody plant density, and taller plants, and showed less elephant damage, than unprotected woodland. Lateral photographs illustrated that elephant impact increased after 2015 and was amplified by drought conditions from 2017/18 to 2019/20. Changes in reedbeds over ∼70 years were assessed because of their importance as an alternative dry season food for elephants. Floods resulting from cyclones Eline in 2000 and Dineo in 2017 stripped reedbeds capable of supporting >11 500 days of elephant foraging. Reedbeds have not recovered, denying elephant a food source which mitigates their impact on woody vegetation. Large trees were also lost to these floods. Over ∼70 years, elephants have reshaped the riverine woodland by transforming a species-rich, closed-canopy woodland to a depauperate open woodland. However, these changes were potentiated by preceding losses to bush clearing and to floods stripping reedbeds. Recovery of riverine woodland can be achieved using a set of fast-growing woody species under reduced elephant pressure.

Before 2014, spotted hyaenas were not present on Welgevonden Game Reserve, Limpopo. However, from 2014 sporadic sightings have occurred, becoming more frequent with observed denning, indicating residency. Here we attempt to document this natural recolonization using 10 years of existing camera trapping data from the South African Leopard Monitoring Project managed by Panthera. Individual spotted hyeanas were identified by applying machine learning and computer vision in the African Carnivore Wildbook platform. We documented 10 years of spotted hyaena recolonization and noted an increasing frequency of captured spotted hyaenas using camera traps as follows: 2014, 6 photogaphs; 2015, 50; 2016, 33; 2017, 110; 2018, 164; 2019, 131; 2020, 267; 2021, 174; 2022, 250; and 2023, 417. The natural recolonization of spotted hyaenas is poorly understood and managing them in fenced reserves through reintroductions is poorly described. This will add to our limited knowledge of reintroduction biology for the species and aid in supporting managed metapopulations in the future.

In the past decade, giraffe (Giraffa spp.) conservation has received increased attention in part due to updated IUCN Red List assessments that highlighted the urgency of the plight of giraffe. The most recent assessments showed that giraffe populations in East Africa, encompassing three of the four extant species, had undergone precipitous declines in the preceding 35 years, with anthropogenic activities identified as the leading cause. As such, urgent conservation efforts were required to address the threats that Masai (Giraffa tippelskirchi ), Nubian (G. c. camelopardalis), and reticulated (G. reticulata) giraffe face in the East African region. Driven by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) all East African countries have drafted, launched and initiated the implementation of their first-ever national giraffe conservation strategies with the involvement and participation of diverse stakeholders ranging from NGOs, academia, governments, and communities. These important conservation tools have proven invaluable in the fight against the giraffe's silent extinction. We demonstrate that multidisciplinary conservation research, collaborative partnerships, capacity building, and knowledge exchange have led to better understanding of the ecology and improved conservation outcomes. This is particularly important as giraffe populations and the threats they face have not traditionally received conservation attention compared to other charismatic megafauna. We present the opportunities and challenges in giraffe conservation in a region where a large portion of the wild population occur in human-dominated landscapes. Our conservation research showcases the importance of involving all stakeholders in securing a future for giraffe in Africa.

Accurately estimating species population sizes and distributions is essential in wildlife conservation and management, particularly for keystone species such as large carnivores. These species play a pivotal role in ecosystems due to their position at the top of the food chain. Furthermore, it is often difficult to estimate the population size of carnivores by traditional census methods. This project aims to produce the first-ever population size estimates and spatial distributions for cheetahs and leopards in Etosha National Park, Namibia. Both species have unique coat patterns, allowing for individual identification from direct observation. Using photographs of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and leopards (Panthera pardus) submitted by visitors to Etosha National Park from 2024 to 2025, we use a specialized Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform (i.e. the African Carnivore Wildbook) to aid in identifying individuals. The data will be analysed within a spatially explicit capture–mark–recapture framework to generate population estimates and confidence intervals. The principal output of this project will be providing up-to-date population size estimates for cheetahs and leopards in Etosha National Park, a priority expressed by the Etosha Ecological Institute and the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. This research will contribute to the management of Etosha National Park by providing essential data to inform conservation strategies, ensuring the long-term sustainability of these keystone species and their ecosystems.