N. (Nynke) Wemer

PhD project: The effect of human-wildlife conflict on the free-roaming cheetah density and distribution in South Africa

I am studying free-roaming cheetah presence, abundance and distribution in South Africa, while quantifying human-cheetah conflict on commercial properties. This will help with identifying specific areas that have the potential to become natural corridors and conservation areas, which are essential to the future survival of wild cheetah in southern Africa. I shall achieve this by focusing on the following chapters within my PhD i) developing a habitat suitability-based species distribution model and site selection, ii) questionnaire surveys to determine spatio-temporal conflict between cheetah and landowners and social modelling and iii) locating cheetah sentinel points by using camera traps and sniffer dogs and SECR (Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture) modelling.

This PhD dissertation aims to supply information about the size, distribution and ranging pattern of the free-roaming cheetah, as well as reporting these findings back to landowners through a communication network. These aims help de-escalate human-wildlife conflict and creates possible corridors or tolerance and conservation areas for wild cheetah.

My research forms a part of the Free Roamer Cheetah Project, which is a collaborative project between Cheetah Outreach, Ashia Cheetah Conservation, Stellenbosch University and the University of Groningen. This complete research aims to be the first multi-disciplinary, wide-range survey which will have direct contribution not only to land users but will also assist in creating management plans for such a vulnerable species.