Sustained poaching over the past decade has led to significant loss of black (Diceros bicornis) and southern white (Ceratotherium simum simum) rhinoceroses across South Africa. Whereas much research has focussed on the heavily targeted state-owned populations, there is little understanding of the trends and challenges faced by rhino populations held in the private sector. Private rhino ownership has increased substantially across South Africa over the past three decades, with over 42% of the entire rhino population now in private ownership. Although total rhino numbers on private properties are still increasing, the number of properties owning rhinos is declining. This suggests a move away from traditional extensive properties to large, single-species breeding facilities, which are less valuable from a conservation perspective. The economic impact associated with increased poaching of rhinos over the past decade is the major challenge to private rhino ownership and may encourage disinvestment in rhinos. Some private rhino owners advocate for trade in rhino horn to generate the funds necessary for continued protection of their animals. However, other options to reduce disinvestment, such as local community-engagement projects, are likely to be more favourably received by the wider conservation industry.

Context. The conservation of large wild herbivores presents a challenge posed by the fact that their broad habitat requirements overlap with various human activities. Elucidating the factors that explain their distribution patterns provides us with a better understanding of habitat–species relationships and facilitates the design of effective management policies.

Aims. Identify the natural (forage availability, weather) and anthropogenic (hunting, interspecific competition) factors that explain the abundance and productivity distribution of the guanaco. Estimate guanaco abundance and productivity and describe their distribution.

Methods. We estimated the abundance and productivity of guanaco by using aerial surveys during the breeding and non-breeding season of two consecutive years, following the strip-transect methodology; we then modelled these as a function of environmental factors by means of density surface models.

Key results. The highest abundance and productivity of guanaco occurred mostly where mesic grassland was dominant. Guanaco abundance presented three hotspots on the basis of geographic location, and family groups were more productive at low to intermediate livestock level. Abundance was significantly higher in the breeding season for both years (5614 and 14 092 individuals) than in the non-breeding season (2922 and 6926 individuals), and it was higher in 2015 than in 2014. Productivity was higher in 2015 than in 2014 (0.54 and 0.46 calves per adult respectively).

Conclusions. Guanaco responded to forage availability, occupying zones with low to intermediate food availability in the breeding season, and those with the highest availability in the non-breeding season. This could be due to interspecific competition between livestock and guanaco family groups. We propose that the overall guanaco response could also be explained by social structure or by unassessed factors such as predation risk by feral dogs.

Implications. The guanaco could compensate for the use of habitats with a lower food availability during the breeding season by using better-quality habitats during the non-breeding season.

Context. Increasing forest fragmentation and degradation has forced wildlife to live in close proximity to humans, increasing the chances of human–wildlife conflict. Leopard (Panthera pardus) typifies the problem faced by large carnivores. It is a threatened species with a wide distribution, with a large part of their range outside protected areas, leaving them vulnerable to human–leopard conflict. Understanding their status and diet in such non-protected forests is necessary for their long-term conservation.

Aims. The present study aimed to estimate leopard density and assess their diet in a non-protected forest.

Methods. A camera-trapping survey was carried out in the Kamdi forest corridor outside of protected areas, covering 791.29 km² in the western part of Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) in Nepal. Leopard density was estimated based on the photographs obtained in camera traps, using Bayesian Explicit Capture–recapture (B-SECR) models. Scats of leopards were opportunistically collected (n = 60) and their diet analysed through micro-histological characters of hair remains. The frequency of occurrence and relative biomass of different prey species consumed by leopard was calculated.

Key results. Leopard density was estimated to be 1.50 (± 0.49 s.e.) 100 km⁻² in the survey area. Similarly, we identified 13 prey species in the leopard scats. Wild prey contributed the majority (67.8%) of leopard diet, including 23.2% of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and 18.3% of spotted deer (Axis axis). Nearly one-third of leopard diet consists of domestic livestock (cattle, goat, sheep) and dog.

Conclusions. Leopard density was found to be relatively low in the forest corridor compared with protected areas. Nearly one-third of leopard diet from domestic livestock and dogs suggests that human–leopard conflict could be problematic in the survey area.

Implications. Increasing prey density in the forest corridor and improving livestock husbandry in the periphery will contribute to increase leopard density, reduce the human–leopard conflict and enhance the functionality of the corridor.

Context. Wildlife tourism is expanding and can detrimentally affect taxa such as penguins, if not managed carefully. The yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) is an endangered species, with mainland populations projected to decline to extinction in the next 40 years, despite conservation interventions. Their nesting sites are exposed to increasing numbers of human visitors, which contributes to reduced reproductive success.

Aims. We evaluated the effectiveness of a breeding colony (Boulder Beach) closure to the public, which was implemented to reduce visitor disturbance.

Methods. We compared reproductive success 5 years before and 5 years during the closure with success at an adjacent site (Sandfly Bay) that experiences high human disturbance, over the same time periods.

Key results. Beach closure did not result in an increase in chick mass or survival at Boulder Beach; however, trends at adjacent Sandfly Bay suggested that, without the closure, chick survival at Boulder Beach would likely have declined. Chick survival decreased at Sandfly Bay across the two 5-year periods, whereas chick survival at Boulder Beach did not decline, but remained constant during the closure years.

Conclusions. The beach closure was beneficial because it appeared to buffer environmental factors, so that mean chick survival remained constant rather than declining.

Implications. Beach closures might be difficult to implement because of public expectations regarding free access to coastal land in New Zealand, but they should be considered at sites where increasing numbers of visitors are likely to have detrimental impacts on wildlife. Without urgent action, these culturally important animals will likely be extinct on mainland New Zealand within the next few decades. Beach closures may represent an effective management measure to increase population resilience by decreasing the detrimental impacts of visitors on breeding success.

Context. Advancements in camera-trap technology have provided wildlife researchers with a new technique to better understand their study species. This improved method may be especially useful for many conservation-reliant snake species that can be difficult to detect because of rarity and life histories with secretive behaviours.

Aims. Here, we report the results of a 6-month camera-trapping study using time lapse-triggered camera traps to detect snakes, in particular the federally listed Louisiana pinesnake (Pituophis ruthveni) in eastern Texas upland forests in the USA.

Methods. So as to evaluate the efficacy of this method of snake detection, we compared camera-trap data with traditional box-trapping data collected over the same time period across a similar habitat type, and with the same goal of detecting P. ruthveni.

Key results. No differences in focal snake species richness were detected across the trap methods, although the snake-detection rate was nearly three times higher with camera traps than with the box traps. Detection rates of individual snake species varied with the trapping method for all but two species, but temporal trends in detection rates were similar across the trap methods for all but two species. Neither trap method detected P. ruthveni in the present study, but the species has been detected with both trap methods at other sites.

Conclusions. The higher snake-detection rate of the camera-trap method suggests that pairing this method with traditional box traps could increase the detection of P. ruthveni where it occurs. For future monitoring and research on P. ruthveni, and other similarly rare and secretive species of conservation concern, we believe these methods could be used interchangeably by saturating potentially occupied habitats with camera traps initially and then replacing cameras with box traps when the target species is detected.

Implications. There are financial and logistical limits to monitoring and researching rare and secretive species with box traps, and those limits are far less restrictive with camera traps. The ability to use camera-trap technologies interchangeably with box-trap methods to collect similar data more efficiently and effectively will have a significant impact on snake conservation.

Context. Pig production is increasing in developing countries and is increasing the coexistence of different production systems regarding management practices. Small mammals can cause major economic and sanitary problems on pig farms. The interactions among small mammals, production practices and habitat complexity have been sparsely studied.

Aims. The aim was to compare small-mammal assemblages on extensive and intensive pig-production systems, and to analyse the relationship with environmental characteristics and management practices.

Methods. Seasonal live-trapping of small mammals within 18 farms (under intensive or extensive management) was performed in central Argentina, simultaneously with a survey of environmental and management practices. Multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the relation between infestation levels and environmental characteristics.

Key results. In total, 472 small mammals were captured, including the exotic murids Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus and Mus musculus, three native sigmodontines, namely, Akodon azarae, Oligoryzomys flavescens and Oxymycterus rufus, and two native marsupials, namely, Didelphis albiventris and Lutreolina crassicaudata. The location of waste deposits, the density of cats, the frequency of rodent control and the way pig food was stored influenced wild small-mammal abundance; exotic rodent species were lower when the density of cats increased. Rattus norvegicus was more abundant where rodent control was not frequent or null, contrary to M. musculus. Both species were more abundant in food and pig sheds, whereas native species were associated with vegetated areas outside of sheds. Also, A. azarae was associated with the density of pigs. Didelphis albiventris was more abundant on extensive farms, whereas L. crassicaudata was captured on intensive farms.

Conclusions. Small-mammal abundance did not respond to the type of production system per se, but exotic species abundance was influenced by management decisions. The most important human behaviours related to exotic rodent infestation were the possession of cats, the frequency of rodent control and the way waste and pig feed were managed.

Implications. Our findings highlighted the need for integrated studies on factors influencing the dynamics of rodent populations in commercial piggery systems, for the development of effective pest management. Management recommendations need to assess environmental complexity and human behaviour as important moderators of the population dynamics of small mammal species in and around piggeries.

Context. Non-invasive sampling methods are widely used by ecologists to collect animal hair, images, tissue or signs. Sampling devices are imperfect, and collection success may vary over time owing to behavioural changes in study organisms or other factors. If collection success decreases, the utility of non-invasive sampling devices for longitudinal studies that rely on consistency may be compromised.

Aims. Our primary objectives were to evaluate whether collection success of brown bear (Ursus arctos) hair by using hair snares and camera traps changed over time, and whether hair- and image-collection success was influenced by bear activity around the sampling site.

Methods. We paired non-invasive sampling by hair snares with motion-activated cameras at six streams in Alaska over 4–6 years, so as to evaluate how often brown bears left samples on wires or were photographed by cameras, and whether this sampling success changed over time. Changes in sampling success were evaluated in the context of bear activity per sampling period as determined by camera data (number of bear–wire encounters) or hair snare (number of barbs with hair); genetic analyses allowed us to evaluate whether the same bears were sampled repeatedly.

Key results. Overall, hair was collected in 78% and images in 73% of 2-day sampling periods when bears visited sites, and we observed no substantial change in the probability of successful sampling over time at 11 sites. The number of bear–wire encounters was positively correlated with the number of hair samples collected, as would be expected if sampling rates remained constant over time, and individual bears with previous wire experience were sampled in multiple years.

Conclusions. Overall, the results indicated that sampling success by using hair snare and camera trap showed substantial interannual variability, but changes over time were not consistently identified across sites. Among-site variation in sampling success highlighted the importance of accounting for site-specific differences in sampling success, and neither method sampled unfailingly.

Implications. Sampling by wires and cameras remained effective over time, suggesting that these non-invasive sampling methods may be successfully employed in long-term studies.

Context. Diet variability is a significant driver of seabird decline; however, data on seabird diet composition and trends have been affected by changes in precision and resolution owing to the evolution of different sampling methods over time. We investigated the effectiveness of applying a passive molecular diet method using faeces obtained from the endangered yellow-eyed penguin.

Aims. To assess the feasibility of applying DNA metabarcoding methods to yellow-eyed penguin faeces to evaluate diet, and to compare the reliability of diet results derived from adults and chicks, and from latrine versus fresh faecal samples.

Methods. We collected 313 faecal samples from yellow-eyed penguins resident on the Otago coast of New Zealand from October 2016 to August 2017. We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with mitochondrial 16S cephalopod and chordate primers to amplify prey DNA present in the faecal samples, and tested the completeness of our assembled reference databases based on previous diet research. Amplified prey DNA sequences were then assigned to taxa from our reference databases by using QIIME2.

Key results. Mitochondrial 16S chordate PCR primers were effective at identifying 29 fish taxa, with 98.3% of amplified sequences being identified to species or genus level in 193 samples (61.7% collected). There was no significant difference in the number, occurrence or proportion of ray-finned fish prey DNA sequences derived from fresh samples or latrines. Mitochondrial 16S cephalopod PCR primers classified 1.98% of amplified DNA sequences as targets, with 96.5% of these target sequences being identified to species or genus level in 48 samples (15.3% collected), and five taxa identified.

Conclusions. We recommend the collection of latrine samples to enable long-term monitoring of the diet of yellow-eyed penguins, which will optimise the trade-off between wildlife disturbance and dietary resolution. Further refinement is needed to identify cephalopod dietary components for yellow-eyed penguins, because our cephalopod primers were not as specific as those used for ray-finned fishes, amplifying a large number (>98%) of non-cephalopod species.

Implications. DNA metabarcoding offers a robust and comprehensive alternative to other, more intrusive, seabird diet-assessment methods, but still requires parallel studies to provide critical information on prey size, true diet composition and diet quality.