Home ranges of Cape porcupines on farmlands, peri-urban and suburban areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Cape porcupines, Hystrix africaeaustralis, are one of the South African mammalian species that are increasing their distribution range and abundance with anthropogenic changing land-use. Knowledge of the home range of this species can provide important ecological information and explain their abilit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mammalian biology : Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 2019-05, Vol.96 (1), p.102-109
Main Authors: Ngcobo, Samukelisiwe P., Wilson, Amy-Leigh, Downs, Colleen T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Animal Anatomy
Animal Ecology
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Evolutionary Biology
Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management
Forage distribution
GPS telemetry
Histology
Hystrix africaeaustralis
Kernel Density Estimator (KDE)
Land-use change
Life Sciences
Morphology
Original Investigation
Zoology
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Summary:Cape porcupines, Hystrix africaeaustralis, are one of the South African mammalian species that are increasing their distribution range and abundance with anthropogenic changing land-use. Knowledge of the home range of this species can provide important ecological information and explain their ability to persist in a range of land-use types. We investigated the home ranges of 15 radio-tagged Cape porcupines on farmlands, peri-urban and suburban areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using the 95% Kernel Density Estimator (KDE), Cape porcupines had an overall estimated mean home range of 39.37 ± 6.33 ha (n = 9) which ranged from 13.19 to 67.19 ha. When compared with other Hystrix species, Cape porcupines had the lowest estimated home range size. Individuals on farmlands had the smallest mean estimated home range area (24.57 ha), relative to peri-urban (34.61 ha) and suburban (45.18 ha) sites. Variation in the home range sizes of Cape porcupines with differing anthropogenic land-use type showed their behavioural flexibility in response to habitat heterogeneity and forage availability in each. Our results suggest that Cape porcupine ranging ecology is influenced by food resource distribution and availability in various land-use types.
ISSN:1616-5047
1618-1476
DOI:10.1016/j.mambio.2018.10.006