Abstract Transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) have the potential to provide havens for large carnivores while preserving connectivity across wider mixed-use landscapes. However, information on the status of species in such landscapes is lacking, despite being a prerequisite for effective conservation planning. We contribute information to this gap for leopard (Panthera pardus) in Africa, where the species is facing severe range contractions, using data from transect surveys of a 30,000km2 area across Botswana and Zimbabwe in the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA. We used occupancy models to assess how biotic, anthropogenic, and management variables influence leopard habitat use, and N-mixture models to identify variables influencing the species' relative abundance. Leopard were detected in 184 out of 413 sampling units of 64km2; accounting for imperfect detection resulted in mean detection probability p ¯ = 0.24 (SD = 0.06) and mean probability of site use ψ ¯ = 0.89 (SD = 0.20). Habitat use was positively influenced by prey availability and high protection. Relative abundance was best predicted by trophy hunting, which had a negative influence, while abundance was positively associated with high protection and availability of steenbok. Our findings suggest that securing prey populations should be a priority in conservation planning for leopard in Africa, and underline the necessity of preserving highly-protected areas within mixed-use landscapes as strongholds for large carnivores. Our findings also support calls for better assessment of leopard population density in trophy hunting areas, and illustrate the value of N-mixture models to identify factors influencing relative abundance of large carnivores.

中文翻译：

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非洲最大跨界保护区内豹 (Panthera pardus) 栖息地利用和相对丰度的驱动因素

摘要 跨界保护区 (TFCA) 有可能为大型食肉动物提供避风港，同时保持更广泛的混合用途景观之间的连通性。然而，尽管是有效保护规划的先决条件，但缺乏关于此类景观中物种状况的信息。我们使用来自博茨瓦纳和津巴布韦 Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA 的 30,000 平方公里区域的横断面调查数据，为非洲豹 (Panthera pardus) 的这一差距提供信息，该物种正面临严重的范围缩小。我们使用占用模型来评估生物、人为和管理变量如何影响豹栖息地的使用，并使用 N 混合物模型来确定影响物种相对丰度的变量。在 64 平方公里的 413 个采样单元中，在 184 个中检测到了豹；考虑到不完美的检测导致平均检测概率 p¯ = 0.24 (SD = 0.06) 和平均站点使用概率 ψ¯ = 0.89 (SD = 0.20)。栖息地利用受到猎物可用性和高度保护的积极影响。奖杯狩猎可以最好地预测相对丰度，这具有负面影响，而丰度与 steenbok 的高保护和可用性正相关。我们的研究结果表明，保护猎物种群应该是非洲豹子保护规划的优先事项，并强调了在混合用途景观中保护高度保护区作为大型食肉动物的据点的必要性。我们的研究结果还支持更好地评估战利品狩猎区的豹种群密度的呼吁，