Pettifer HL. 1981. Aspects on the ecology of cheetahs on the ...

<strong>Pettifer</strong> <strong>HL</strong>. <strong>1981.</strong> <strong>Aspects</strong> on the ecology of cheetahs on the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. Worldwide
Furbearer Conference. ; 1142 p.
Keywords: 1Afr/Acinonyx jubatus/cheetah/management/population dynamics/prey
selection/research/social dominance/social grouping/Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve/territoriality
Abstract: Cheetah were relocated to the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve between 1975 and 1976. A rapid
increase in cheetah numbers with simultaneous declines in certain ungulate species warranted intensive
management-oriented research. Social grouping, population dynamics and prey selection of cheetahs are
briefly discussed. Home ranges are shown to overlap considerably, although an effective spacing system
is in operation. Home range size appears to depend largely upon social dominance and possibly
territoriality.

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PATTIEER
;;;;;; """; *:'"'::'l:u -::,ilil"'ii"il;""'ll"ll.',ll;,'li,
cheetahs corlP!l3lng 5 mel6s snd 3 femeles w€re trapped in llveBtoch
populatlon ht'l rlsen to an ertrd|arsq
:' l:-:-'*-,* ,^*to"t"." r"."ril,i,""""""
dlsmstlc dtop ln ths blesbok and spltngbok (!g!g9lS-- -
olalis) numbers' An intensrve research prog'am on relocsted cheetahs
t-#i;;;;;"
launched with the maior obJectlves of studvlns the prealator-prey
relatiotrships'
gopulatton dyn&rlcs' lmvementa and aocial
st ruct ure of r€locat€d chsettha'
Thls Pape! lopolts on certrln asPscts of the ecology of_th€ cheetah8 on
an"' "'"i*"to."tt"U Netu!6 ReBorve wlth particular eophasiB on homq renge
qnal movementa '
STUDY ARSA
I'he Suikerbosrsn'l Nrture Reserve ls situated apploxlDately 40 ltxo south
;;" ;;;;;;;""'. rn tho southcentrsr rrsns'aar (2602?t - 26034's'
28o09' - 28o21r8). The re6erve' compfislng somerhat 13'tl00 ha' falIs
lr,nrr ^"""*"' (1953) Brnkenv€ld' ls characterize'l by predoDinantlv open
€rsssveld with 'lense thiclret! in 6one ot the ravines' Bledenkamp and
n."oo (rgzo) classrfied the gra.slan'ls tnto
These
-13 .c.drn]l:le^:'
crossland codounlties are gr€atly affected by the divelslty of the to-
altltudes renge'froo 1's25 D
i"".""i"-aa""
- r'916 m)'
The rese.ve ls blsect€'I Uy a'l ta"t-rtat rtdge' Ivo gsological forma-
tlons, namely the Vent€rsdolp Syst€o'ln the c€ntral and' $estcrn regiong
ina..;..;;. wltwstefsflnd syitgn |n the east, comprls€ the reserve.
Tbe latter Syst€in has un'lorgon€ consi'lerable faulting' loldlng and erosion
(du Toit 1954) and is ret'tlv€ly g&!e-f!ee ttue to the sou' vegetation
on the qualtzlte aolls'
fhe reserve lies withln the suitrner rf,intall region' l{inters ere cold
$ith icy nountain winds' surners ale leoperate with frequent thunde!'
li€htenlng an'l hall slortDs' Annual rainfall varles bett€en 650 nm _
rso tlrn, the maio!ity falltng b€tween October and Malch (Pigue 1)
Monthly mean tninlmurn telDperrrures sle normal ly below 5o C 'luring winter'
wheless the nean nonthly maxltnl,'n ternperatu'es seldom exceed 2?o C dul_
lng sulflrc! (Ftgure 1) '
tl22

ECOLOGI OF CEEETAES
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ECOLOEI OE CEEEIAES
(Tester 19?1). Plots trith angles les! than 10o were reiected and readings
were taken as close to the anlmal as feasibly posaible without
causing any disturbance.
A further problem on Sulkerbosland nas caused bv the leflection of sig-
nsls off the mountainous terrain. In 50 t.lal plots whele the cheetah8
oere flushed after the leadings had been'taken, it was lound that al I
plots except 2 fell within 100 m x 100 |l| of true location' the remaining
z plots being 200 m out of true location. Botl these plots were taken
frorn distances over 4 lsn lroo the anlmal.
Whe!e posslble, daily plois lf.!e takeo on all radio marked cheetaha'
Each selected cheetsh was periodlcally track€d on a routine ba8is and
ell data relevant to th€ ecology of the cheetshawere recorded' Behavi-
oral aspects and habttat descrlptlons rere lecorded onto nicrocasEelte'
For the purpose of thls paper, hothe Fange wes bssed on the minlmrim area
method (Stickle 195{) anal high utllitttion aleas calculated by plotting
the geog.Sphical position o! th6 daily dlurnal restlng sltes of all the
study animels anal by progres!lvely €xcluding successive observat ion€
that contllbut€d the most to the totsl hotne lang€ slte, u|rtil a deflnite
co!e area remained which conslstGd of observat ions thf,t were closely
situateal to each other. Ttlese calculetlons were mad€ using a Fortran
prog!am on a Bulroughs B 6?00 digital cooputer as used by FerguBon
(1980). The lnitlal plotting of the localities of each ch€etah *as
performed using s Versatec Plottet coupled to a Cyber l?4 digital com-
STUDY ANIMALS
The 1st cheelah was radlo marked on 4 July 1978 on the suikerbosrend
Nature Reserve. The anlmal nas an approximately 18-np-old femele
(Puldey) origtnating from a group of 4i the other 3 wer€ relocated to
the Eastern Shores Nature Beserv€ ln Natal. On 26 July l9?8, an adult
female (Mary) with 4 3-mo-old cubs was !adio marked, followed bv an
sdult fenale singleton (Rosina) on 18 September l9?8. On 23 Sept€mber
l9?8, 2 aalult males ((ojak and setzure) wer€ malked' bringing the total
to 3 females and 2 nales, Al I those cheetshs are st I I I under study'
tt25

PEI!7FER
All the stualy ehlmels wete rmoblllted uslng ketadlne hydrochlori'le
mtxed to 250 mg P6l ml at the dosage rate oI 12 mg pe! Lg' z€ro point
flv6dilllllt6!s4pefcentRoq'un(xylszlnehydfochlorldelBAyef)wae
adaled to each doso.
RESULTS
socl al structuro
Throughout th€ study perlod th€ radlo marke't fenales nere either single-
ton"-o.".oor4rr,,te'tbythelrcubs'Th€lronlyphysicalencounte'with
other cheetahs on the r€asrve trs durln8 matlng wlth I ot the 2 ladio
marked oele6' Th€se males 9er6 only s€palsted lrqn €ach other during
mating encounters, which s€ldoo laste't long€' than ' dey3' seizure
mate.twithPuldeyandBostne'hil€ltagpegrsdthst(o,akmtedf,ith
Mdry. All sighttngs of urDAlted ch€etehs on the reselve $€!e also of
singletons o! feoales accoq)snle'l by cubs' Mixe'l groups 'ere not en-
Populetlon DYnamlcg
fhe total cheetah populatlon on Sutk€'bosland was estlorted at between
29 and 31 ln December 19?9 (Pettlf€r et al' 19?9)' slnce that report'
Uaay rt." ptoa,r"eC 6 cubs' llcr cub3 lroE h€! Pr€vious lltte! $€le relo-
"rt"a to ttr. easteln Trensvf,al ' A turther 1l cheetah heYe been relocat-
.U ,o ntrot. Reillr'vea ln the Cr9€ Provlnce' Nrtal and eaatern Tranavaar
betreen JulY 19?8 and Deceder 1979'
trrom July 19?8 to date 8 lltlels totaftng 33 cubs hevs been captuled and
g|alkeal. the sex latio o! cuDs tras 13 Eales:20 females' with a m€an lit_
ter sizs of {.13- (rango 3 _ 6)' Mortality of cubs ls lotr wlth onlv 5
lo3ses 6mong the r33 malked cubs (15'15 Percent) '
Hoo€ Ranges of Raatlo Marksd Cheet ah3
defined a6 the alea habltually tlaversed bv sn indivlduar
tlom range ia
activltle! withln a specltlc perlod ot tlioe (Brown 1966)
ln i ts nomal
e:(cluded randqs exculslon ttlps out o( th€
Butt (1943)
t].26
'

ECOtrOCT OP CEEEIAES
range, but becsuse these €xcuralga ttlp3 are often repeated tn the cheetchs,
th€ definttion descrlbed by Xoeppl et al. (19?5) waa applied
whereby only one-tiEe excurslon tiips that rere consldorebly beyond the
normal hooe range were omitted. Accoldlngly by calculating the 95 per-
cent home range atea, it was found that a more reallstic pattern ol horo€
rangea on Suikerboarand waa achieved.
The horn€ rangee of the che€taha on Suikelboarand as described in lhis
paper were calculeied on the lo(hlities of diurnal resting eites. Ahls
nethod 3ho{s ltttle dtfference ovsr 3 long period of tlme to co|rt lnuous
half-hourly plota over a ahottet perlod (<strong>Pettifer</strong> in pr€p.).
By the calculatlon of the 50 percent horDe lange, tho uniforrrity of ho|!e
lange ua€ or the convelae can be rordily deterrDlned. Tho Bizes of the
50 percent and 95 pe.cent hdre rangea of th€ 3tudy anlEals rre glven in
Table 1.
Table 1- Ths nud€r of lrdlo-t.leoetry flx€s on dally dlurnal resting
sltos snd size6 of the 50 p€rcent and 95 percent hooe ranges
of rodlo marked che€teh3 on the Sulkerbo8rand l{atule Roserve,
(All data through Dec€rnbst 1979)
Individual
Purdey
Mary
Ros ina
Kojak and
Seizure
Dat e
Morked
{ Jul 19? 8
26 Jul 19?8
18 Oct 19?8
23 oct 19 78
Nudsr of
Deys Plotted
161
l6?
lr3
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Sl !e of
95 perc€nt
Home Rtnge
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PE?TIFER
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ECOLOE| OF CAEE?A|S
reserve. Thls can be ascribed to the constaterable tim€ she spent 1n
this area alurlng whelplng of her cubs tn early June l9?9. Throughout
June she r€rDa
ineal ln thls area, but on 2 occaslons rfas observed as far
a6 7 ls! away fro|D her cubs. lVhlll€ s sldgleton, purdey appearod to roaD
ad lib throughout her home renge end wes noteal to have trqversod largo
sections ol thc leserve tn a slngte aldy. The iol'Ied plots tndlcato con_
secutive deys. The greatest straiBht-llne distence between consecutive
diurnal re8tlng Bltea was 8.? lq[,
Mary (Figure 3) had a sonewhat snaller hode range than purdey or Rosina.
Her 50 p€rcent home range iras slgniflcantly less than halt the 9, p€r_
cenl hooe rangs (x' = 23,83, p = 0.05), iDdtcsrtng a definit6 area of
preference. llery re6 accoq)rnted by 4 cubs when msrkeal. These cubs
broke ti€3 {lth her durtng Sept€ober l9?9. She ploduced 6 cubs durlog
December 19?9. She rhelped th€.e cubs ln the pr€terreat area and with
both llti€rs t€ualned reagonabty wtthtn thts area. She dlat, nowev€r,
undertake aeveral 6rcursion t!lp!, f,hIch c ffered lrm those ot the
oales ln thet they norfielly stretcheal ove! 6evetal days, wlth the ex_
cepllon of those to the er6t of the leaerve. T}reae excurslon trips
greatly influencod the atetelntnatlon ot h€! horne rango. Although itsry
had a Eore predictable horp rsnge, end dlstances between consecutlv€
diurnal rostlng slt€s ner€ nolmallJr shott, she dld on occasion movo con_
6iderable distances ln a stnglo day - the greatest st.alght_ltne dis_
tance being 12.5 t(d. Roslna (Ftgu!€ 4) showed a sleilar untform utllt_
zation of h€r 95 percent hoDe range to pur

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ECOLOEI OF CEEEIAES
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ECOLOCI OF CEEETAIIs
preterred rrea. Several Bhort duration excurslon trtps occurred, ofteo
over reaaonqbly la.ge distances. ftey conslstently !eturned to their
preferred area the followlng day with the exception of d few excursions
to the l,est of thelr plefe!led aree (this area was lncluded tn the 60
percent home range).
In all cases the radio marked chestah3 geldoD returned to th€ ldenticat
spot even when they had spent considerable itDe withtn en area. No tree
or bush could be identlfied as a regutar visiting site. The selection
of sleeping o! le8ting sites was opportunlstic with the provision that
the site offered a clear panorainlc vlew of the sulrounali[g area _ normally
Eituated on hlgh glound.
Cheetah ilovements i|| Relatlon to Pley Movements
The cheetaha on Suikerbosland hunt predoDinently lflthtn the shaated a.eas
Bhown in Figure 6. These areaa concur rtth th€ pleferreat habttats of
blesbok and 3pringbok on the reselve. Although cheetahs are comonly
regarded aa animals ol vast open pl&lns, the conlrary rras observed et
Suikerbosrand. fhe cheetahs tended to uttllze th6 slopes and lavrnes
snd very seldoD ventured out onto the plains. They dtd, however, f!e_
qu€ntly ro&t| the lmaller plateeus and open valley bottoms where, alons
with the slopes, the rDajortty ol kllls wer€ maale.
on no occaalon $ere cheetahs obderveal
length of time. I.tre genelsl tlend was
fill, then vacate the area.
Predator-pr€y Relat lonships
to follo$ prey herds for any
to Dake their kill, eat thei!
Slesbok are the prlnclpel prey spectes of cheetehs on Suik€rbosrsnd.
Iable 2 sumDerizes prey spectes ateftcits on the teserve between November
l9?8 anal November r9?9. ,Ibese dat a x€r€ accrued by dtrect observsrrons on
cheetah kilts as eelt rs lroln carcesses recorded du!ing regular line-
srveeps conducteal on th€ reserve. Although not all the aleficits can De
o8cribed to cheetshs, tt can be safely postulated thdt the majortty of
theln were cheetah kills. Of pa.ttculsr interest lB the htgh propoltron
of blesbok le rales arld juv€nll€s sel€cted.
1133

PETIIFER
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ECOLOCI OE CEEETAES
Table 2. Recorded cheetah kills and carcaaaes located in the
the Sulkerboara[d Nature Reserve belween Novembe.
Novenber 19?9.
Spec i eg
aleBbok
Dami I i scu8
FFrrfpsI-
Spfingbok
deraupiallg
Du ike r
Sylvicapra grlmlr
Crey Rhebuck
Pelea capr6olua
Mountaln_ Reedbuck
Reduncr fulvorufula
Or ibi
ourebl a
ou!ebi
Steenbuck
Raphlceru6 capl,esttl s
Untdent i fl edb
fleld on
19?8 and
Sex/Age
Not
r(u)" r(r) Yes.l ings Lambs Determined Total
l3
49
",r = "aoit.
_Comp!lses pledo inrntly tho fenrles of ortbi, steenbuck, rDountaln reeal-
ouck and grey lhebuck.
Proo regular hellcopter cenauaea on the reaolve anal the careful monltor-
lng of the bl€sbok lsDbing seeson r total deftcit of 286 blesbok was
lecordoal between S6ptettrb€r 19?8 and August 19?9, gtvlng a total bl€sbok
tDrtality to che€tah lrtlo of 11.6 per annur lbaseal on a ch€etah popula-
tlon ol 23 (Pettlt€r et sl. l9?9)1. wlth tho cheetah population at
rpproxillately
30 (Deceder 19?9) the postuleted blesbok nortslity fot
1980 wlll be ln oxcesB of 3tg, Thts excludes atl oth€r pr€y sp6ctes.
1135
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20
15
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2L5

DISCUSSION ^NO OtCr,us Ions
Soclal Structule
PRIITFER
Eaton (19?0s,b, lg?t) roport€d adult groups consistlng of both sexes in
ch€etaha ln the l{sirobt Nrtlonal park, Wlog€rr|ann (19?E) 6tates, hor{_
ever, that Mcleoghlln's 6tudy on che€tlhs tn the sane palk shored no
Ioixed adult groups. clahrrD anat parker (196S) recorat€d mlxed adult
groupa froc a questlonnalre sutvey, Schslle. (19?2) reported a 6tmilar
aoclal st.ucture lor the Serengstt as that at Sutkerbosranat wrtn adult
alngletona, sEAll all-Dele groups an

BCOLOGT O? CEEEIAES
particulat the spotted hyene. Slnce the ch€otah ls the termlnal preda-
tor on Suik€tsland, thls hypoth€sls was further Bupporled by the low
mortelity late of cub8 at Suikelbosrand.
Data on sex rstlos ot wlld che6tehs are scsnty' Schaller (19?2) dtd'
however, !€po!t a ser latlo ln faYor of f€males, as dtd wrogelDann (1975)
ln he! sumDary ol the lltoratuFe. A polnt trorth mentionlng 13 thst the
sex .atlo of cubs on Sull

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PETIITEA
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ECOI.OCI OF CEEETAES
Thompson'a sarelle (99!glq
1!9qp!99) killed by cheetahs were gubadult
and that there appea.eal to bo no seloctlon for rex ln ihs adult class,
rhe.eas Kruuk rnd Turne! (196?) found a plefere|rce for adult f€r[ales in
the same species. Lik€wise, ptey 3peciea selectlon appears to vuy, for
exornple Pie|rarr (1969) found leedbuck (Bedunca arundtnun) to be rn lmportant
prey species in the Xruge! National Park, rhll6 Mltchell et al.
(1965) found reedbuck not to be lmportant at Kafue Nationrl Park, Zam-
bia, even though they were more abundint theae.
Xruux and Turner (lg8?) poEtulrted that selectlon for feoale prey could
be due io feoaler tl.elng lst snd thuB sttmulatlng the cheetahs to glve
cha6e. Eaton (19?2) Bhowed expe!iDentally that the flight ol prey re-
leasea at t ack in cheetahs.
Eaton (19?0b) elao atated that thcro rpDear8 to be a dlffelential 60lec-
tlon for females rnd Juvenilcs. On Sulkerbosranal, the aslectlor| lor
fsDalea and iuvenlle3 could b6 due to the alr. celeSoty of the pr6y.
Adult male blesbok relgh ov6r 80 kg. El6abok ere not eglle rnimala lnd
lndividual aelection ia thue mral6 ee6l€r.
Implicallons of Cheetah on the Suikerbosrand Nature Reaerve
The reproductlve succesa ot che6trha on Suikerboarand has already led to
the relocrtion of l6 che€trhs. A almultaneouB ph€noh€nal breedlng succes8
of cheetshs in captlvlty hea been achleved at the De Wlldt qreetah
Breedlng Stetlon noer Pretorlr. The rdvantsge of th. Suikelbosrand
cheetah8 ls, however, the tact thrt they are bo.[ anal r€ared ln the wild
and are thus eaally reloc|ted to [rtural ar€aB, although lt has also
been establlshed that capt lye-bred cheetah6 otry adapt to lile ln the
l{i ld (Pet t t l€r 1S81).
The success of che€tahs on Suikerbosarnd ls not wlthout lts repotcus-
srons. Wlth the r.apid lncreaae of cheetaha, e alrertlc reduct lon ln cs!-
taln prey species, prrtlculerly bl€sbok and sprlngbok, has followed. tn
the absenc6 of oth€r lsrge predrtors, limttlng fuctors lfhlch could opor-
ate on the cheetrhs on Sulkorboarand at p!€sent rre depl6tlon of food
resourcea, dl6€rae, end soclal lntol€rrnce. At pr€a€nt, none of thsa6
factore appeer to have dny slgntllcant ln!luence.
1139

PE??ITER
Suike.bosranat' being sltuat€d close to Johann€sburg' ls sn ilDpo'tant
l"io"." """."r,t"n c€nte' wlth gane-vlewing as an integral To
-facet'
allov.lh€cheetshpopulatlonto6tablll'eby.Iepletionofltsotinfood
""nnt" ."" thus not be consldered' lhe cheetah population will the!e-
fore always have to be managed'
One of the mejor questions that now alises is to flhat lev€l should the
Ii""i.n n.n"t"tt"n
be managed? Ths establlshm€nt of a safe cheetah to
;;";;.,;.'ls comPllcated bv the obvious selection of cheetahs on this
;:.;.-';;' fenal; blesbok' Fulthemo'e' exPerlence h63 shown that the
,r"npt", .t cheetshs is boih oxpenslve an'l tloe_consumlng wtt}I rrs own
;;;;i",;."" in thst certain lndlvlduals ere repeatedlv captured' wh€!eas
oth€rs act ivelY avold the traps'
At piesent' the hlesbox popul'tlon ls bsing augmented by exce33 3tock
;;;-;;." ."""."es' Thi6 wtll plobablv hsvs to be continued-untll such
;i;;;; ,". blesbok reach n.nbers itherebv thelr lncrement will sreatlv
"".n""'.o.ple.laiionl.atetoAllo'o!thecfoppingofexcesifasato
balance out ths aer ratio'
The r€search et Suikerbosland is belng continue'l in otder to flnd a
plact I cal tuoagement PolicY'
ACKNS{LBDCMBNTS
Thls study could not hrve b€en unde'tekeD wlthout the suPport rnd enthusis$6
of Iny flel'l technlctsns foos 'le lfet snd Piet M\rller - to them a
speclal word of than}s '
J.W.H. F€lguson was a great help tn the final computatlon ol data and
c!ltlcally revlewed this paper' The staft on the Suikerbosland Nature
Reaelve are thanke'l for thelr help ln oany rays' D!' E' Young and s'
wolffarescknowlettg€droru'efurco@ntthfoughoutthedufatlonof
this study. The Problem Anlmel Control Unit' T'tnBvaal Divlslon of Na_
ture Crnservation' was r€sPon6ible fo! |mst ot the trspptng of cheetshs
on the resetv€' the Director of Nature Conselvatlon granted p€rttl6sion
to atl€nd the Conference an'l Publish thl3 paper'
1140

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