Files
Abstract
Growing human populations and climate change is altering habitat for wildlife and exacerbating human wildlife conflicts. The creation of protected areas, commonly surrounded by a wildlife fence, allows for the persistence of wildlife populations in natural environments. However, as resources become scarce inside protected areas and wildlife are forced to leave, they are faced with a myriad of threats to their survival. To understand the drivers of resource selection and movement of wildlife in a protected area surrounded by anthropogenic land use in sub-Saharan Africa, I used two approaches 1) GPS-collared lions and spotted hyenas and 2) remote sensing cameras at fence breaks in Etosha National Park, Namibia. My results broadly indicate that wildlife living in arid environments are mostly influenced by permanent water sources, land use influences fence crossing behaviors for different taxa groups, and the importance in utilizing the protected area-human dominated land matrix to access resources.