HOW ARE PEOPLE AFFECTING THE DISTRIBUTION OF LESS MIGRATORY WILDLIFE IN THE SOUTHERN KALAHARI OF BOTSWANA - A SPATIAL-ANALYSIS

Previous studies suggested an influence of human settlements on the di stribution patterns of some less migratory wildlife species in the Kal ahari ecosystem. This study addresses two alternative hypotheses to ex plain the observed patterns: habitat change caused by livestock grazin g, and wildlife utilization. Relationships between selected common and less migratory wildlife species and livestock distribution were exami ned using aerial counts, ground counts, spoor (tracks and dung) inform ation and vegetation surveys in a portion of the Kalahari of Botswana in a Geographical Information System (GIS). The vegetation surveys ind icated effects on the vegetation up to 10 km from the livestock waterp oints. Livestock-induced habitat change appeared to have little effect on most wildlife species. All wildlife survey methods and analyses in dicated the occurrence of a gap between the impact radius of livestock and high densities of gemsbok Oryx gazella, suggesting that the distr ibution of the latter was to be attributed to high hunting pressure re sulting in displacement. It is suggested that selective wildlife utili zation is a more important factor in the current distribution of commo n game species than avoidance of areas changed by livestock in the sou thern Kalahari. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.