Tracking data from a free-roaming female cheetah released into the Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa
Citation
Power J, Page-Nicholson S, van der Merwe V, Dell S, Roxburgh L (2019). Tracking data from a free-roaming female cheetah released into the Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. Version 1.3. Endangered Wildlife Trust. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/wt3gfz accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-15.Description
In 2011, South Africa’s cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) metapopulation began with the capture of free-roaming cheetahs on ranchland to populate a network of fenced game reserves. This practice has become increasingly disparaged as the wild population faces population decline due to numerous anthropogenic threats. However, occasionally, there are extenuating circumstances where free-roaming animals are captured from this population to augment the managed metapopulation. One particular female cheetah that was captured on ranchland in the North West Province in April 2014, where she was perceived to be at risk from persecution, was released onto Pilanesberg National Park She was monitored via satellite telemetry for a period of 10 months, and interventions took place during this period to ensure her survival. Satellite location data of ~11 months, including four locations per day, is availed for users interested in movement, home-range and resource use dataSampling Description
Study Extent
Restricted to Pilanesberg National Park, South AfricaSampling
A female cheetah was immobilised using standard procedures. She was fitted with a satellite collar (Iridium GPS unit, 1 D cell AWT transmitter, 1 C cell, African Wildlife Tracking cc, 106 Nuffield Street, Rietondale, Pretoria, South Africa), that would obtain 4 location fixes per day. The download times were at the following evenly spaced times throughout the diel cycle: 00:00, 06:00, 12:00 and 18:00. The recorded data was the geographic coordinates, altitude and temperature. The collar stopped at the end of the period, while the telemetry component lasted till the end of the year in 2015, and this animal is still alive, but we have not removed her collar as yet.Method steps
- It is possible that the first day’s locations upon release would be at different times to that specified, which is the case when a specific schedule is selected, so such can be excluded. The fixes obtained are mostly within a 10 m accuracy.
Additional info
Note that while the Endangered Wildlife Trust published this dataset to GBIF, we have done so in collaboration with North West Parks Board, who are the rights holders to the data, as indicated in the Institution code in the dataset itself.Taxonomic Coverages
-
Acinonyx jubatuscommon name: Cheetah rank: species
Geographic Coverages
Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
John Poweroriginator
position: Terrestrial Ecologist
Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development
ZA
email: JPower@nwpg.gov.za
Samantha Page-Nicholson
originator
position: Lion Database Coordinator
Endangered Wildlife Trust
ZA
email: samanthap@ewt.org.za
userId: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8vctlVUAAAAJ
Vincent van der Merwe
originator
position: Cheetah Metapopulation Coordinator
Endangered Wildlife Trust
ZA
email: vincentv@ewt.org.za
Stephen Dell
originator
position: Field Ecologist
Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development
ZA
email: sdell@nwpb.org.za
Lizanne Roxburgh
originator
position: Senior Scientist
Endangered Wildlife Trust
ZA
email: lizanner@ewt.org.za
userId: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-7K8E30AAAAJ
Lizanne Roxburgh
metadata author
position: Senior Scientist
Endangered Wildlife Trust
ZA
email: lizanner@ewt.org.za
userId: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-7K8E30AAAAJ
John Power
metadata author
position: Terrestrial Ecologist
Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development
ZA
email: JPower@nwpg.gov.za
John Power
user
position: Terrestrial Ecologist
Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development
ZA
email: JPower@nwpg.gov.za
John Power
administrative point of contact
position: Terrestrial Ecologist
Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development
ZA
email: JPower@nwpg.gov.za