Space use in a South African agriculture landscape by the caracal (Caracal caracal)

Agricultural expansion has replaced many natural habitats and the landscape structure with potential benefits to certain wildlife species. Some of mesocarnivores widely use man-made habitats in agri-ecosystems that are devoid of large carnivores and often prey on livestock. We examined the space use and habitat relationships of radio-collared caracals Caracal caracal between May 2013 and December 2014 in the Drakensberg Midlands, South Africa, to identify suitable habitat for better management of caracals that are perceived as pests in these fragmented agricultural mosaic landscapes. Home ranges of males were bigger than those of females. Caracal movements increased more during the night than the daytime indicating avoidance of peak exposure time to human activities during the day in agricultural lands. Generalized linear mixed models showed that caracal space use increased with area availability of plantations and cultivations while their space use decreased with increasing altitude and area availability of forests. Our results showed that the modified habitat use over natural habitats and preference to altitude <1200 m by caracals are a consequence of behavioural facilitation and adaptation to access highly available prey resources, particularly, livestock and rodents in irrigated farmlands. Caracals have adapted to take advantage of the trophic resource enhancement by farming practices in agri-ecosystems, thereby facilitating their range expansion in agri-ecosystems, South Africa. Our findings aid in the sustainable management and planning of production-orientated agricultural lands. Therefore, management of these mesocarnivores is dependent on the conservation of sufficient natural habitats and prey species, to minimize their dependence on livestock and consequently reduce farmer-caracal conflict.