Large predators

Due to their cryptic nature, predators cannot be adequately counted from the air in woodland or savanna habitats.

For this reason, lion, cheetah, and wild dog numbers have been estimated from known groups (or individuals) and spoor counts (Cotterill 1995, Lunt 2003a, Joubert 2010, 2013, van der Meer 2018), and leopard numbers from spoor counts (Lunt 2003a, Joubert 2010, 2013) and by using data from baited-camera traps in mark-recapture models (Clegg and Joubert 2010, Tarugara and Clegg 2015, Tarugara 2016).

Although hyenas function as a clan at the den site, they normally split up to hunt, making it impossible to develop knowledge of groups from casual sightings. In addition, unlike leopards and cheetahs, they do not have coats with easily identifiable spot patterns, so mark-recapture methods cannot be used. For these reasons, the size of the hyena population has been estimated from spoor counts (Lunt 2003a, Joubert 2010, 2013).