Camera Traps Research Articles

Occurrence and habitat preference of wildanimal in T. A. Afolayan wildlife park, Nigeria

Adequate knowledge of the occurrence and habitat preference of wild fauna species in an ecosystem is critical for taking stock of what is available and improving its effective management. This study was conducted at the T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park in Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. Data on population and species of animal in relation to the habitat where they are found was obtained using Camera trap, direct and indirect methods along the established transect in the park. Vegetation data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Shannon Werner Diversity Index (H). Result showed that six species of wild animals were observed which include tree squirrel (Paraxerus cepapi), maxwell duiker (Philantomba maxwellii), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), black cobra (Naja nigricollis), flat-headed cusimanse (Crossarchus platycephalus) and fresh water turtle (Pelusios species). Tree squirrel has a higher naïve occupancy (NO=1.00) while fresh water turtle the lowest naïve occupancy (NO=0.14). A total of 36 tree species belonging to 16 families were identified with Diversity index (H1) of 2.68, also Diversity index of 2.56 and 2.00 were recorded for open secondary forest and rock outcrop vegetation respectively. Maxwell duiker and bushbuck were encountered along the open secondary forest and degraded vegetation, tree squirrel were found in open secondary forest and the water turtle were found in Rock outcrop. The study has provided insight on the distribution of wild animal species in the park while recommending that the University administration should be proactive in the management of wildlife resources in their conservation area.

Relative abundance, activity pattern and habitat suitability of Great Argus (Argusianus argus grayi) in Sungai Wain Protected Forest, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan

Great Argus (Argusianus argus) is a globally threatened species that is protected by law in Indonesia. This species is a habitat specialist that tends to be confined to primary forests and is susceptible to human disturbance and environmental change. Sungai Wain Protected Forest (SWPF) is an isolated lowland rainforest in Kalimantan. The rising deforestation rate has threatened species sustainability in recent decades, including the Great Argus in SWPF. This study aimed to systematically analyze camera trap data on the Great Argus's abundance, activity patterns, and habitat suitability prediction in SWPF. We used camera trap data from 2018-2022 at the SWPF. Great Argus's lowest relative abundance index was in 2020, and the highest was in 2022. Overall, the relative abundance index of the Great Argus was approximately 3.125 independent events per 100-day trap night. The activity pattern of the Great Argus started at dawn and then constantly decreased until dusk. The habitat suitability prediction for the Great Argus was mostly in primary forests. Distance to road and building were the variables that contributed the most to the results of habitat suitability modeling. Habitat loss and suitability are the determining factors for the sustainability of significant argus populations.

Integrating human trail use in montane landscapes reveals larger zones of human influence for wary carnivores

Abstract Coexistence between humans and wildlife is necessary for many conservation goals but is difficult to achieve in landscapes with increasing human populations and species that are often wary of people and may also threaten human safety. In these contexts, coexistence may be enhanced by identifying geographic areas where animal movement is particularly important and changes to human use via trail design could support both wildlife conservation and human safety. We used camera trap data to monitor the spatial distribution of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), grey wolves (Canis lupus), and humans within the central Canadian Rocky Mountains, where anthropogenic development and human activity have gradually encroached on limited wildlife habitat. We quantified spatial variation in human use and then incorporated this output into models for the detection rates of bears and wolves. We interpolated metrics of human use throughout the study area using inverse distance weighted averages of human detection rates from cameras. This approach supported a novel estimate of the cumulative effects of human use at all nearby trails on animal space use. We used our models to estimate the zone of influence of human use on bears and wolves, determining the distance at which human use on nearby trails no longer exhibited a measurable change in detection rates for each of grizzly bears and wolves. The negative effects of human use on wildlife declined steeply with distance such that 50% of the decrease in detection rates immediately adjacent to trails would be expected to occur at 267 m for grizzly bears and 576 m for wolves. Weak effects, 5% as strong as the effect adjacent to trails, extended up to 1.8 and 6.1 km for grizzly bears and wolves, revealing the importance of cumulative measures of human use. Synthesis and applications. Our work shows how human activity over entire landscapes can alter wildlife detection rates. Our results identify target buffer distances for protected areas near trails, and the modelling framework could be used by land managers to predict how altering trail networks and modifying human activity could affect wary wildlife species and advance coexistence.

The Spatial Relationship Between Two Sympatric Pheasant Species and Various Human Disturbance Activities.

Establishing and managing nature reserves to mitigate wildlife habitat loss and fragmentation is challenging, particularly in the face of increasing human activity. To understand how wildlife coexists in environments affected by anthropogenic disturbances, we conducted a 19-month survey examining the Reeves's pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) and Koklass pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha) in the Anhui Tianma National Nature Reserve, China. Previous studies of large terrestrial birds focused primarily on livestock impacts, with less attention given to other human activities. We used occupancy models and performed daytime activity rhythm analysis based on camera trap data to examine the spatiotemporal responses of these species to human activities, livestock, and domestic dogs. The results showed that human disturbance activities within the reserve impact the distribution patterns of Reeves's pheasant and Koklass pheasant, but the effect was not significant. In high-disturbance environments, both species adjusted their activity times to avoid direct or indirect interactions with humans, livestock, and dogs. These findings provide insights for replanning core and creation of buffer zones within the reserve and have broader implications for conservation strategies in similar habitats. Our study suggests that well-designed conservation objectives can balance species protection with sustainable human presence.

Monitoring terrestrial rewilding with environmental DNA metabarcoding: a systematic review of current trends and recommendations

IntroductionRewilding, the facilitation of self-sustaining and resilient ecosystems by restoring natural processes, is an increasingly popular conservation approach and potential solution to the biodiversity and climate crises. Outcomes of rewilding can be unpredictable, and monitoring is essential to determine whether ecosystems are recovering. Metabarcoding, particularly of environmental DNA (eDNA), is revolutionizing biodiversity monitoring and could play an important role in understanding the impacts of rewilding but has mostly been applied within aquatic systems.MethodsThis systematic review focuses on the applications of eDNA metabarcoding in terrestrial monitoring, with additional insights from metabarcoding of bulk and ingested DNA. We examine publication trends, choice of sampling substrate and focal taxa, and investigate how well metabarcoding performs compared to other monitoring methods (e.g. camera trapping).ResultsTerrestrial ecosystems represented a small proportion of total papers, with forests the most studied system, soil and water the most popular substrates, and vertebrates the most targeted taxa. Most studies focused on measuring species richness, and few included analyzes of functional diversity. Greater species richness was found when using multiple substrates, but few studies took this approach. Metabarcoding did not consistently outperform other methods in terms of the number of vertebrate taxa detected, and this was likely influenced by choice of marker, sampling substrate and habitat.DiscussionOur findings indicate that metabarcoding, particularly of eDNA, has the potential to play a key role in the monitoring of terrestrial rewilding, but that further ground- truthing is needed to establish the most appropriate sampling and experimental pipelines for the target taxa and terrestrial system of interest.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://osf.io/38w9q/?view_only=47fdab224a7a43d298eccbe578f1fcf0, identifier 38w9q.

Combining detection dogs and camera traps improves minimally invasive population monitoring for the cheetah, an elusive and rare large carnivore

Abstract Monitoring large carnivores is imperative for conservation planning, but is difficult due to their elusive behaviour and natural rarity. Some carnivores such as the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) are particularly wide ranging and often go undetected despite being present, or are detected at rates too low to make meaningful quantitative inferences. The combination of minimally invasive survey techniques, such as detection dog surveys and camera traps, holds promise for improving monitoring efforts of large carnivores. We surveyed a cheetah population within the Acacia savanna biome of central east Namibia, employing various search strategies and camera trap configurations. We analysed detection data in an occupancy framework and estimated the effort required to confirm cheetah presence with 95% certainty. We found that sign surveys required intensive field effort when walked as road transects, but detections of scat by the detection dogs were twice that of tracks (5/100 and 2.5/100 km, respectively, 7.5/100 km combined). Vehicular searches to identify cheetah marking sites appear to be an efficient alternative or complementary approach (3.8/100 km), if a road network is available and marking sites are visually distinguishable. The detection probability (p) of cheetahs with one camera trap station per sampling unit placed at roads was low (p = 0.167), but increased for camera traps placed at marking sites that were identified through the detection dog survey (p = 0.244), and in particular when multiple camera trap stations were placed per sampling unit and detections were pooled across stations (p = 0.348–0.750). The minimum survey effort required to reliably detect cheetahs in each 256 km2 sampling unit was estimated to be 45 km or 10 h of walking, 123 km or 5 h of driving or 150 nights of camera trapping. Practical implications. We showed that complementing detection dog surveys with camera trapping can comprehensively and efficiently inform occurrence patterns for an exceptionally wide‐ranging terrestrial carnivore. Our findings provide practical guidance for designing effective minimally invasive monitoring programmes, which are important for empirically deriving distribution maps of cheetahs and other carnivores in data‐poor regions.

Snapshot Japan 2023: the first camera trap dataset under a globally standardised protocol in Japan.

There is an urgent need to develop global observation networks to quantify biodiversity trends for evaluating achievements of targets of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Camera traps are a commonly used tool, with the potential to enhance global observation networks for monitoring wildlife population trends and has the capacity to constitute global observation networks by applying a unified sampling protocol. The Snapshot protocol is simple and easy for camera trapping which is applied in North America and Europe. However, there is no regional camera-trap network with the Snapshot protocol in Asia. We present the first dataset from a collaborative camera-trap survey using the Snapshot protocol in Japan conducted in 2023. We collected data at 90 locations across nine arrays for a total of 6162 trap-nights of survey effort. The total number of sequences with mammals and birds was 7967, including 20 mammal species and 23 avian species. Apart from humans, wild boar, sika deer and rodents were the most commonly observed taxa on the camera traps, covering 57.9% of all the animal individuals. We provide the dataset with a standard format of Wildlife Insights, but also with Camtrap DP 1.0 format. Our dataset can be used for a part of the global dataset for comparing relative abundances of wildlife and for a baseline of wildlife population trends in Japan. It can also used for training machine-learning models for automatic species identifications.

Inferring bird communities on remote freshwater lakes through time-lapse imagery

Assessing bird diversity and associated ecological patterns in remote freshwater lakes presents challenges that require innovative approaches. Here, we evaluated the utility of time-lapse images from camera traps for this purpose using two lakes in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. We consider four key factors: (1) manual versus automated image processing, (2) data validation through in-person observations, (3) the ability of time-lapse data to capture known ecological patterns, and (4) variation in sampling effort. We find that (1) MegaDetector, a common AI approach, is not effective at detecting birds from time-lapse images—necessitating manual screening, (2) relative bird abundances were correlated between time-lapse and in-person observer data, (3) time-lapse data capture previously documented ecological variation in space and time, and (4) sampling effort per camera trap can be, under certain scenarios, scaled down, but camera trap position and time-lapse frequency greatly influence bird detectability. Our research builds on the few previous studies that use time-lapse imagery to detect birds, and our work is the first to focus on detecting ecological patterns on freshwater lakes in remote landscapes. Camera trap technologies can shed light on avifauna in remote freshwater lakes, but additional developments are needed to maximize utility of such applications.

SNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023: The First Five Years of Data From a Coordinated Camera Trap Survey of the United States

ABSTRACTMotivationSNAPSHOT USA is an annual, multicontributor camera trap survey of mammals across the United States. The growing SNAPSHOT USA dataset is intended for tracking the spatial and temporal responses of mammal populations to changes in land use, land cover and climate. These data will be useful for exploring the drivers of spatial and temporal changes in relative abundance and distribution, as well as the impacts of species interactions on daily activity patterns.Main Types of Variables ContainedSNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023 contains 987,979 records of camera trap image sequence data and 9694 records of camera trap deployment metadata.Spatial Location and GrainData were collected across the United States of America in all 50 states, 12 ecoregions and many ecosystems.Time Period and GrainData were collected between 1st August and 29th December each year from 2019 to 2023.Major Taxa and Level of MeasurementThe dataset includes a wide range of taxa but is primarily focused on medium to large mammals.Software FormatSNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023 comprises two .csv files. The original data can be found within the SNAPSHOT USA Initiative in the Wildlife Insights platform.

Diversity and Abundance of the Species of Arboreal Mammals in a Tropical Rainforest in Southeast Mexico.

Habitat loss threatens biodiversity worldwide being particularly detrimental in tropical rainforests where a cumulative deforestation expands for decades. Tropical rainforests harbor a rich mammal diversity with a wide range of species using different habitats, ranging from forest-dwelling to arboreal species. Recent techniques such as camera trapping have proven to be useful to study the ecology of arboreal mammals. Here, we assessed the overall community structure of arboreal mammals in a protected area by analyzing the patterns of diversity and abundance and their spatial and seasonal variations. A total of 21 camera-trapping stations were set in clusters in three zones. Spatial and seasonal alpha-diversity and community evenness patterns were estimated using Hill's numbers, and Sørensen's dissimilarities were used as a proxy to estimate beta-diversity. A relative abundance index was calculated for each species, at each site and season. To estimate the influence of spatial and tree morphology on arboreal use by mammals, a Principal Component Analysis was performed. We observed a high species richness (14 species) of arboreal mammals. Species richness remained similar between sites, although shifts in abundances and a decreasing gradient in community evenness related to the distance of camera trap station located in each site were noted. We observed a high- and low-diversity dissimilarity between camera trap stations and between zones, respectively. Seasonality showed no significant effect over abundance, alpha, and beta diversities. This protected area holds the natural habitat conditions to ensure the persistence of this rich arboreal mammal community.

Spatial and Temporal Relationships Between Roe and Red Deer in an Alpine Area

ABSTRACTInterspecific interactions are important drivers of population dynamics and species distribution. These relationships can increase niche partitioning between sympatric species, which can differentiate space and time use or modify their feeding strategies. Roe deer Capreolus capreolus and red deer Cervus elaphus are two of the most widespread ungulate species in Europe and show spatial and dietary overlap. However, limited information is available on their interspecific relationships, especially in mountainous areas. In this study we used 5 years of camera trapping data collected in the Stelvio National Park (Central Italian Alps) to investigate spatial and temporal interactions between roe deer and red deer. Analyses were based on 2060 and 9030 roe deer and red deer detections, respectively, collected from July to September, from 2019 to 2023, using 50 camera traps randomly distributed over a 10,000‐ha study area. Spatial interactions were assessed by fitting a single‐season, single‐species occupancy model to calculate the probability of roe deer detection and occupancy as a function of relative red deer abundance and site‐specific environmental covariates. Temporal interactions were obtained by comparing the diel activity patterns of the two species. Results showed no significant effect of red deer relative abundance on the probability of presence of roe deer. Spatial analysis suggested a higher probability of roe deer presence in forested habitats, at lower elevations, and in areas with gentler slopes. Diel activity patterns of roe deer were consistent across sites with higher and lower red deer relative abundance, with moderate to high interspecific overlap, suggesting moderate temporal partitioning and no major support for temporal avoidance of the latter by the former. The high degree of overlap between the two species may be the result of area‐specific ecological conditions, such as the widespread distribution of red deer during the summer period, as well as of the adoption of strategies that favor coexistence.

CNN‐Based Flank Predictor for Quadruped Animal Species

ABSTRACTThe bilateral asymmetry of flanks, where the sides of an animal with unique visual markings are independently patterned, complicates tasks such as individual identification. Automatically generating additional information on the visible side of the animal would improve the accuracy of individual identification. In this study, we used transfer learning on popular convolutional neural network (CNN) image classification architectures to train a flank predictor that predicted the visible flank of quadruped mammalian species in images. We automatically derived the data labels from existing datasets initially labelled for animal pose estimation. The developed models were evaluated across various scenarios involving unseen quadruped species in familiar and unfamiliar habitats. As a real‐world scenario, we used a dataset of manually labelled Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from camera traps in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany, to evaluate the model. The best model on data obtained in the field was trained on a MobileNetV2 architecture. It achieved an accuracy of 91.7% for the unseen/untrained species lynx in a complex unseen/untrained habitat with challenging light conditions. The developed flank predictor was designed to be embedded as a preprocessing step for automated analysis of camera trap datasets to enhance tasks such as individual identification.

Camera Trapping to Assess Diversity, Habitat Use and Activity Patterns of Mammals in a Tropical Hotspot Area

ABSTRACTTropical forest mammal communities, especially those in ecological transition zones, are under constant threat from human activities, but in most cases there is a lack of knowledge about their status, and baseline information on their diversity is lacking in many parts of the world. The Mpem and Djim National Park in central Cameroon is a degraded forest savannah mosaic known to host several globally threatened species. As little is known about the diversity and ecology of the species there, we undertook a rapid assessment using line transects, opportunistic surveys (recce), and camera trapping from September 2021 to December 2021. Our aim was to collect information on species diversity, population status, relative abundance, activity patterns and potential threats to inform conservation priorities for park managers. After 1700 trapping days, we obtained 915 camera events (mean per location = 29.5). The species richness was 32 large, medium‐sized and small mammals. The mammal species monitored belonged to 18 families and 10 orders. The family Antilopinae obtained the highest relative abundance index (RAI, 26.24) and relative frequency (RF, 0.49), and the members of this family were the most active (6392 individuals). The Blue Duiker (Philantomba monticola, Thunberg, 1789) had the highest relative abundance index (RAI, 16.47) and relative frequency (RF, 0.31). No significant difference was found between RAI, RF, and the number of events between habitat classes. Human tracks and snares were the most abundant human activity recorded (ER, 0.42 and 0.22 signs per km). The alpha diversity suggests a high diversity within the community with an almost even distribution of species and no dominance of one species over another. We estimated a lower richness but a very low probability of recording new taxa (Q = 0.99). Our results also suggest a spatio‐temporal niche partitioning and niche overlap between some duikers, with the highest overlap coefficient obtained between Cephalophus callipygus, Peters, 1876, and Cephalophus dorsalis, Grey, 1846 (Δ = 0.81) and Genetta maculata, Grey, 930 vs. Genetta servalina, Pucheran, 1855 (Δ = 0.82). Our observations provide a baseline for long‐term monitoring of terrestrial vertebrates in MDNP.

Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) Generate Grazing Lawns and Maintain Plant Diversity in Neotropical Savanna

ABSTRACTQuestionsHerbivores can exert strong top‐down control on vegetation structure and composition, which in turn can affect overall biodiversity and ecosystem processes. However, South American megafauna was largely driven to extinction in recent prehistory, and remaining species have suffered severe range reductions from human actions. The potential role of South American megafauna in shaping vegetation therefore remains unclear. We examined herbivore‐driven top‐down control of the vegetation, particularly impacts on plant diversity, structure and functional composition.LocationIberá Wetlands, Corrientes, Argentina.MethodsWe set up an herbivore exclosure experiment in a restoration area with 10 wild large‐herbivore species. We compared vegetation dynamics in fenced plots with paired control plots to which herbivores had full access. Replicate plot pairs were established in three grassland types: characterized as short, medium‐tall and tall grasslands. Grass height, plant biomass, functional types and community composition were measured at the start of the experiment and after 6, 13 and 18 months.ResultsWe found that in short and medium‐tall grasslands, herbaceous biomass and grass height increased significantly in no‐grazing plots, while species richness decreased. Similarly, community dissimilarity between paired grazed and ungrazed plots increased over time for short and medium‐tall grasslands. Camera trap images revealed that capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) was the dominant grazer on the grazed plots.ConclusionOur results show a strong impact of native herbivores on the structure and composition of South American savannas akin to African grazing lawns, with higher plant species richness and dominance of grazing‐tolerant growth forms. These results imply that South American grassy ecosystems, despite severely reduced herbivore richness and density, have retained plant taxa and functional trait complexes that tolerate intense herbivory. Further, they also show that herbivory can still play an important role in maintaining their plant diversity. The conservation and restoration of South American grassy ecosystems are likely to benefit from restoring functional grazing regimes.

DNA of the three elements: development of molecular genetic techniques in environmental research

Environmental DNA (eDNA) refers to genetic material extracted directly from natural substrates, such as soil, water, or air, rather than from a living organism. This innovative approach simplifies the identification of elusive and rare species that are often challenging to detect using traditional environmental monitoring methods. For instance, instead of deploying a camera trap to capture nocturnal visitors to a watering place, eDNA can be analyzed from footprints in the sand. The origins of eDNA analysis date back to the 1980s. Like many transformative ideas, the method builds on a combination of techniques long employed by biologists. Over the past four decades, advancements in methodology and technology have revolutionized the field, enabling the rapid and precise identification of species within complex ecological communities.

Comparison of three camera trap designs for sampling small mammals

Small mammals are increasingly of conservation concern, and addressing management questions like distribution and habitat associations for many species has been limited by low detection rates. Recently, three novel camera trapping designs for small mammals (Mostela, Small Mammal Box, and Baited Post) have been pioneered for camera-trap-based small mammal monitoring. However, these techniques have not been comparatively assessed. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of these three designs at capturing images of small mammals in forest edge habitats of the southeastern United States. Across all methods we generally were only able to identify larger bodied small mammals (> 25 cm in length) to species, although the percentage of mammals we successfully identified down to species was greatest for the Mostela. The Small Mammal Box and Mostela recorded more small mammal species on average than the Baited Post, and the Small Mammal Box had five times more mice detections than other techniques. Latency to detection varied by species, with mice (Peromyscus sp.), opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and rabbit (Sylvilagus sp.) visiting the Small Mammal Box 1 to 8 days earlier than the Mostela and the Baited Post. While no single technique enabled us to identify all small mammals encountered down to species, we suggest the broader use of Small Mammal Boxes and Mostelas, particularly in combination with traditional capture designs, could enhance monitoring and ultimately fill knowledge gaps for small mammal species in this region.

Terrestrial mammal activity in the post-rehabilitation Halaban monitoring area using camera trap data

Terrestrial mammal activity in the post-rehabilitation Halaban monitoring area using camera trap data

Does Differential Habitat Selection Facilitate Coexistence Between Badgers and Hedgehogs?

Predicting the spatial and temporal responses of species exhibiting intraguild predation (IGP) relationships is difficult due to variation in potential interactions and environmental context. Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) are intraguild predators of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and are implicated in their population decline via both direct predation and competition for shared food resources. Previous studies have shown spatial separation between these species and attributed this to hedgehogs experiencing a 'landscape of fear', but little is known about the potential role of differential habitat use. We estimated the density and occupancy of both species at 22 rural study sites in England and Wales, to explore whether food availability, habitat or the presence of badgers, explained hedgehog distributions. Hedgehog density varied significantly across major rural land uses, whereas badger density did not. Although both species coexisted at a regional (1 km2) scale, occupancy modelling showed spatial segregation at a finer (individual camera trap) scale, associated with differential habitat use. In contrast to badgers, hedgehogs were recorded near buildings, and in areas supporting lower invertebrate biomass. This is in agreement with IGP theory, whereby IG-prey may occupy suboptimal habitat to avoid predation; however, hedgehog habitat use did not vary relative to the presence of badgers. Badger and hedgehog temporal activity showed no evidence of separation. Although these findings are consistent with hedgehogs avoiding badgers via a landscape of fear, they are also indicative of differential habitat use, highlighting the need for more holistic studies considering variation in habitat selection and food availability when investigating intraguild relationships. Future studies exploring alternative hypotheses for urban habitat selection by hedgehogs are needed to better understand how possible spatial niche partitioning may support their coexistence with badgers in some areas.

Effects of an Extreme Weather Event on Primate Populations.

With contemporary, human-induced climate change at a crisis point, extreme weather events (e.g., cyclones, heatwaves, floods) are becoming more frequent, intense, and difficult to predict. These events can wreak rapid and significant changes on ecosystems; thus, it is imperative to understand how wildlife communities respond to these disruptions. Primates are perceived as being a largely adaptable order, but we often lack the quantitative data to rigorously assess how they are impacted by extreme environmental change. Leveraging detections from a long-term camera trap survey, this opportunistic study reports the effects of an extreme weather event on a little-studied population of free-ranging primates in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. We examined shifts in gray-footed chacma baboon (Papio ursinus griseipes) and vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) spatial distribution and relative abundance following Cyclone Idai-a category four tropical cyclone that struck Mozambique in March 2019. Baboon spatial distributions were impacted in the first month after the cyclone, with more detections in areas where flooding was less severe. Spatial distributions renormalized once floodwaters began to recede. We describe vervet monkey spatial distribution trends, though sample size limitations inhibited statistical analysis. Primate relative abundance did not appear to substantially decrease following the cyclone, suggesting troops were able to adopt behavioral adjustments to evade rising floodwaters. These findings highlight the behavioral flexibility of Gorongosa's primates and their ability to adapt to extreme-if temporary-disruptions, with implications for primate conservation in the Anthropocene and research into how rapid climatic events may have shaped primate evolution.

The diversity and habitat association of medium and large mammals in the Dhidhessa Wildlife Sanctuary, Southwestern Ethiopia.

Understanding species diversity and habitat association is the baseline for developing conservation plan. The study aimed to assess diversity, abundance and habitat association of medium and large sized mammals in the Dhidhessa Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS), Southwestern Ethiopia. The survey was conducted from December 2022 to July 2023, both in the wet and dry seasons. A stratified random sampling design was applied to stratify the study area in to four (wooded grassland, riparian forest, seasonally flooded grassland, and savanna grassland) strata based on vegetation and habitat type. Lines transect survey, sensor camera trapping, and indirect and direct evidence methods were used to collect data during wet and dry seasons. Data were analyzed using the chi square test and species diversity indexes. Twenty -seven mammalian species were recorded for the area. Order Artiodactyla which had the highest number of species (eleven = 11) followed by the, order Carnivora (n = 9). While, orders Rodentia and Tubulidentata each represented by one species. Papio anubis (n = 500, 24.9%) were the most abundant species followed by Hippopotamus amphibious (n = 364, 17.8%) in the present study area in both wet and dry seasons. But Panthera pardus (n = 13, 0.64%) and Civettictis civetta (n = 13, 0.64%) were the least abundant species in the present study area. Riparian forest had the highest number of species (n = 732, 36.3%) followed by savanna grassland (n = 615, 30.5%). Savanna grassland held the highest species diversity of medium- and large-sized mammals (H' = 2.44). Seasonally flooded grasslands (E = 0.6849) and riparian forests (E = 0.4889) showed the highest and lowest evenness of the mammalian species, respectively. Therefore, DWS's primary priority should be creating management plans to reestablish the sanctuary as a fully functional sustainable ecosystem and ensuring the social and economic viability of the surrounding community.