Coexistence from a lion's perspective: Movements and habitat selection by African lions (Panthera leo) across a multi-use landscape

PLoS One. 2024 Oct 3;19(10):e0311178. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311178. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Diminishing wild space and population fragmentation are key drivers of large carnivore declines worldwide. The persistence of large carnivores in fragmented landscapes often depends on the ability of individuals to move between separated subpopulations for genetic exchange and recovery from stochastic events. Where separated by anthropogenic landscapes, subpopulations' connectivity hinges on the area's socio-ecological conditions for coexistence and dispersing individuals' behavioral choices. Using GPS-collars and resource- and step-selection functions, we explored African lion (Panthera leo) habitat selection and movement patterns to better understand lions' behavioral adjustments in a landscape shared with pastoralists. We conducted our study in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), Tanzania, a multiuse rangeland, that connects the small, high density lion subpopulation of the Ngorongoro Crater with the extensive Serengeti lion population. Landscape use by pastoralists and their livestock in the NCA varies seasonally, driven by the availability of pasture, water, and disease avoidance. The most important factor for lion habitat selection was the amount of vegetation cover, but its importance varied with the distance to human settlements, season and time of day. Although we noted high levels of individual variation in tolerance for humans, in general lions avoided humans on the landscape and used more cover when closer to humans. Females showed more consistent avoidance of humans and stronger use of cover when near humans than did males. Connectivity of lion subpopulations does not appear to be blocked by sparse pastoralist settlements, and nomadic males, key to subpopulation connectivity, significantly avoided humans during the day, suggesting a behavioral strategy for conflict mitigation. These results are consistent with lions balancing risk from humans with exploitation of livestock by altering their behaviors to reduce potential conflict. Our study lends some optimism for the adaptive capacity of lions to promote coexistence with humans in shared landscapes.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Ecosystem*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lions* / physiology
  • Male
  • Seasons
  • Tanzania

Grants and funding

The project was supported by grant from the Swedish Research Council, awarded to GS [grant No. 2014-03382]. IJ also was awarded several grants over the years 2012-2023 for operations and equipment linked to this research: yearly grants from NABU International (https://en.nabu.de/about/index.html); National Geographic Society (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/) through the Waitt Foundation Grant awarded to C. Packer, and managed by IJ [grant No. W235-12]; National Geographic Society through the Big Cat Initiative [grant No. B15-15, and No. B4-17]; Panthera (years 2012, 2017-2019, https://panthera.org/); Wildaid (years 2017-2019, https://wildaid.org/); Lion Recovery Fund (https://lionrecoveryfund.org/) [grant No. TZ-KL-01, TZ-KL-02-LRF]; SOS – IUCN Save Our Species (https://iucnsos.org/) [grant No. 2021A-6]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.