Effects of age and sex on site fidelity, movement ranges and home ranges of white and black rhinoceros translocated to the Okavango Delta, Botswana

 Vera Pfannerstill, Johannes Signer, Michael Fitt, Kyle Burger, Niko Balkenhol, Emily Bennitt

  Abstract

Evaluating translocation success is essential for wildlife management and conservation; short-term success can be evaluated by analysing settlement behaviour after release. We analysed GPS collar data from 47 white (Ceratotherimum simum simum, Burchell, 1817) and 25 black (Diceros bicornis minor, Drummond, 1876) rhinoceros translocated to the Okavango Delta in Botswana between 2014 and 2018. We tested for effects of age and sex on site fidelity and compared movement ranges after translocations between different release sites and between newly released and established individuals. White rhinoceros adults displayed higher site fidelity than subadults and males higher than females. Adults may therefore be better translocation candidates. Site fidelity of black rhinoceros did not differ between sexes or ages. Established rhinoceros movement ranges were smaller than those of newly released ones, pointing towards extended post-translocation exploratory movements and later settlement in smaller home ranges. Movement ranges of white rhinoceros released on an island were significantly smaller than others, which shows together with annual home range sizes compared with the literature that reserve size and rhinoceros density affect home range size. All rhinoceros in this study survived for more than 1-year post-translocation, so these translocations can be deemed successful in the short term.

 Full article:  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aje.13011