Life on the edge: exploring the effects of urbanisation on the foraging ecology and ecotoxicology of caracals
type: CreativeWork
description: The continuing loss of natural habitat to a broad range of human activities is one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline worldwide and a defining feature of the Anthropocene. However, some opportunistic, generalist species may benefit from transformed landscapes through, for example, the absence of apex predators or access to human-subsidised food resources. These benefits may thus offset the higher mortality and health risks typically associated with human-dominated landscapes. To understand the cost-benefit trade-offs of life on the urban edge, I investigated the foraging ecology and ecotoxicology of a highly adaptable medium-sized carnivore, the caracal (Caracal caracal), utilising both natural and transformed landscapes around the rapidly growing city of Cape Town, South Africa. Through a combination of scat analysis (n = 654 scats) and prey remains located at 677 GPS clusters, I quantified dietary resource use of 26 collared individuals, as well as opportunistically sampled caracals. Using a range of gut transit times, I estimated whether scat at cluster sites was from the same or an earlier feeding event, thereby increasing the overall detection of individual-specific feeding events by > 50%. While most feeding events occurred within 200 m of the urban edge of Cape Town, I found that caracals have flexible diets that largely comprise medium- to small-sized wild prey (60%), followed by human-associated species (27%), and introduced or domestic species (13%). Using a subset of the feeding and resting events (n = 326 prey remains, n = 384 scat, n = 177 resting sites) that were associated with known individuals (n = 17), I then investigated caracal resource selection using both anthropogenic and environmental factors. Additionally, I examined the behaviour of caracal at feeding clusters to determine if they respond to spatial and temporal risks associated with anthropogenic factors. I found divergent resource selection patterns based on the level of exposure…
abstract: The continuing loss of natural habitat to a broad range of human activities is one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline worldwide and a defining feature of the Anthropocene. However, some opportunistic, generalist species may benefit from transformed landscapes through, for example, the absence of apex predators or access to human-subsidised food resources. These benefits may thus offset the higher mortality and health risks typically associated with human-dominated landscapes. To understand the cost-benefit trade-offs of life on the urban edge, I investigated the foraging ecology and ecotoxicology of a highly adaptable medium-sized carnivore, the caracal (Caracal caracal), utilising both natural and transformed landscapes around the rapidly growing city of Cape Town, South Africa. Through a combination of scat analysis (n = 654 scats) and prey remains located at 677 GPS clusters, I quantified dietary resource use of 26 collared individuals, as well as opportunistically sampled caracals. Using a range of gut transit times, I estimated whether scat at cluster sites was from the same or an earlier feeding event, thereby increasing the overall detection of individual-specific feeding events by > 50%. While most feeding events occurred within 200 m of the urban edge of Cape Town, I found that caracals have flexible diets that largely comprise medium- to small-sized wild prey (60%), followed by human-associated species (27%), and introduced or domestic species (13%). Using a subset of the feeding and resting events (n = 326 prey remains, n = 384 scat, n = 177 resting sites) that were associated with known individuals (n = 17), I then investigated caracal resource selection using both anthropogenic and environmental factors. Additionally, I examined the behaviour of caracal at feeding clusters to determine if they respond to spatial and temporal risks associated with anthropogenic factors. I found divergent resource selection patterns based on the level of exposure…
author: Leighton, Gabriella Ruth Michaela
keywords: Biological Sciences
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:39Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Biological Sciences

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35894