caa a22 4500 605526753 CHVBK 20210128100804.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10531-015-0895-7 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10531-015-0895-7 A home away from home: insights from successful leopard ( Panthera pardus ) translocations [Elektronische Daten] [Florian Weise, Joseph Lemeris Jr., Ken Stratford, Rudie van Vuuren, Stuart Munro, Stuart Crawford, Laurie Marker, Andrew Stein] When protected carnivores harm people's livelihoods, conservationists often seek non-lethal mitigation strategies. Large carnivore translocation is one such strategy but it has shown limited success. Many reported examples used methods that likely contributed to their failure. We conducted six leopard (Panthera pardus) translocations (three males, three females) within Namibia to test specific criteria for improved protocols. We moved leopards 402.7km (SD=279.6km, range 47-754km). Overall translocation success, using strict criteria, was 67% and increased to 83% when post-release conflict was not considered in this assessment. Four individuals successfully established new territories after exploratory periods of <2months. One female died in a road accident shortly after release and a male resumed killing livestock that were illegally herded within a protected area. Both surviving females produced cubs—the ultimate sign of success. When compared with resident leopards (six males, six females), translocated individuals showed no significant difference in range behaviour, survivorship or likelihood of conflict. At their capture sites, livestock depredation ceased for a minimum of 16months, thus at least temporarily alleviating conflict. We used our successful protocol to develop a translocation suitability model for determining appropriate release sites. For Namibia, this model predicts potential recipient habitat of 117,613km2, an area sufficient to support up to 87 leopard translocations. Where alternative conservation strategies have failed and managers decide to proceed with translocations, we recommend the application of our conservative protocol to identify the most suitable recipient locations. Our study demonstrates the potential value of translocation under specific circumstances and as part of a larger conflict management repertoire. Our findings are useful for management of other large carnivores and conflict wildlife. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Panthera pardus nationallicence Relocation nationallicence Conservation planning nationallicence Conflict management nationallicence Weise Florian N/a'an ku sê Research Programme, P.O. Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia aut Lemeris Jr. Joseph Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90328, 27708, Durham, NC, USA aut Stratford Ken Ongava Research Centre, P.O. Box 640, Outjo, Namibia aut van Vuuren Rudie N/a'an ku sê Research Programme, P.O. Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia aut Munro Stuart N/a'an ku sê Research Programme, P.O. Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia aut Crawford Stuart Ongava Game Reserve, P.O. Box 58, Okaukeujo, Namibia aut Marker Laurie Cheetah Conservation Fund, P.O. Box 1755, Otjiwarongo, Namibia aut Stein Andrew Landmark College, 19 River Road, 05346, Putney, VT, USA aut Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/7(2015-07-01), 1755-1774 0960-3115 24:7<1755 2015 24 10531 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0895-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0895-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Weise Florian N/a'an ku sê Research Programme, P.O. Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lemeris Jr Joseph Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90328, 27708, Durham, NC, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Stratford Ken Ongava Research Centre, P.O. Box 640, Outjo, Namibia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- van Vuuren Rudie N/a'an ku sê Research Programme, P.O. Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Munro Stuart N/a'an ku sê Research Programme, P.O. Box 99292, Windhoek, Namibia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Crawford Stuart Ongava Game Reserve, P.O. Box 58, Okaukeujo, Namibia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Marker Laurie Cheetah Conservation Fund, P.O. Box 1755, Otjiwarongo, Namibia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Stein Andrew Landmark College, 19 River Road, 05346, Putney, VT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/7(2015-07-01), 1755-1774 0960-3115 24:7<1755 2015 24 10531