EWT: Carnivore Conservation Programme Cheetah Tracking Data

Study Extent

The study covers two provinces within South Africa; the Limpopo Province and the North-West Province, where a free-roaming population of Cheetah occurs. Most data points (> 95%) occur in Limpopo; typically around the town of Thabazimbi located in the western reaches of the province. Some of the points (< 5 %) occur in the northern areas of the North-West Province.

Sampling

Cheetahs were trapped using double door traps (described in Marnewick 2015; Marnewick & Celliers 2006). Trapped Cheetahs were immobilised by a professional wildlife veterinarian and fitted with tracking collars. In instances where coalitions were caught (i.e. George and Joss), only one member of the coalition or group was fitted with a tracking collar. Cheetahs were allowed to recover from immobilisation in the trap cage and were released at the site of capture. Cheetahs were monitored for the extent of their life or the life of the collar. All activities involving Cheetah handling and research were done under the guidance of the University of Pretoria Animal Use and Care committee (reference number: EC030-09) and with permits issued by Limpopo Economic Development Environment and Tourism department (the local conservation authority). Cheetahs were monitored for between 28 and 2 119 days, depending on the life of the Cheetah or the collar. Initially, VHF collars (African Wildlife Tracking, Pretoria, South Africa) were fitted to two individuals. Later in the study, these were replaced by GPS/GSM collars (African Wildlife Tracking, Pretoria, South Africa & Hot Group, Pretoria, South Africa) which were utilized to obtain more frequent and more accurate data. Two collars needed to be replaced as a result of deteriorating batteries. In these instances, the Cheetahs were immobilised from a helicopter. The two male (AM196 - GeorgeJoss) and three male (AS68 - CBU) coalitions were initially monitored using VHF collars resulting in 56 (2.8% of total) and 12 (8.6% of total) data points being obtained respectively.

Quality Control

The dataset has gone through a cleaning and georeferencing verification process to ensure GPS points and accompanying location information is correct.

Method steps

1. Locations for animals wearing VHF collars were recorded by tracking the individuals from a microlight aircraft with one pilot and one researcher on board. For GPS/ GSM collars, all GPS fixes were recorded directly from the device and transmitted through cell phone towers. This data was then accessed and downloaded through an online platform. The GPS/ GSM devices were set to take either two or four locations per day (at 12h00 and 00h00 for the collars set for two daily locations and additional times of 06h00 and 18h00 for collars with four daily locations).

The dataset covers a single species, namely the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus

1. Acinonyx jubatus
   common name: Cheetah rank: species

Limpopo and North West provinces of South Africa