Patterns of spatial co‐occurrence among native and exotic carnivores in north‐eastern Madagascar

• Published in: Animal conservation 2016-04, Vol.19 (2), p.189-198
• Main Authors: Farris, Z. J., Kelly, M. J., Karpanty, S., Ratelolahy, F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: behavior; camera trapping; carnivore biology; feral cat; feral dog; invasive species; occupancy; spatial segregation; Studies; Wolves
• ISSN: 1367-9430; 1469-1795
• DOI: 10.1111/acv.12233

Human populations continue to increase and encroach on remaining natural habitats worldwide, resulting in greater numbers and larger ranges of commensal exotic carnivores such as cats and dogs. This results in increased interactions with native wildlife. In Madagascar, we know relatively little about the effects of domestic and/or feral dogs and cats on native carnivore populations. We investigated spatial interactions by combining photographic sampling across seven sites with two‐species co‐occurrence modeling to provide the first assessment of the spatial co‐occurrence of native and exotic carnivores in Madagascar, including an examination of habitat characteristics that explain these relationships. Our surveys from 2008 to 2013 accumulated 2991 photo‐captures of native and exotic carnivores in 8854 trap nights. We found that native and exotic carnivores in rainforest habitat occur together less often than expected and that exotic carnivores may be replacing native carnivores, particularly in forest areas nearest villages. Six of the native carnivores in this study had higher site use in the absence of exotic carnivores and their species interaction factors (SIF) revealed a lack of co‐occurrence (e.g. SIF