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Loveridge, A.J.; Valeix, M.; Davidson, Z.; Fritz, H.; MacDonald, D.W.
Ecological Correlates of Lion Home Range Size in a Dystrophic Savanna Ecosystem
2007  Conference Proceeding

Understanding variation in animals' home range size is of importance to management and conservation. In lions, one comparison of different populations suggested that home range size is negatively correlated to prey availability, however little is known about such variation within populations. Most behavioural studies on lions have been undertaken in eutrophic savannas. Here, we describe the ranging behaviour of lions from one population in a dystrophic savanna, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. We show that home ranges are larger than in eutrophic ecosystems. We also document that pride home range size increases as pride biomass increases. Once controlled for pride biomass, pride home range size decreases as prey availability increases, confirming that this relationship is consistent across spatial scales. Male home range size was less influenced by prey availability but was influenced by the number of females within a male home range. No seasonal difference in home range size was apparent, but lionesses tended to have smaller home ranges when annual rainfall was lower and hence prey abundance was higher. This suggests that pride ranges probably respond to changes in food availability at the annual level. Finally we show that the abundance of buffaloes, and to a lesser extent kudus, has a greater influence on the size of lion ranges than other herbivores species.

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