ABSTRACT
Introduction Interventionist conservation management of territorial large carnivores has increased in recent years, especially in South Africa, where farmland has been rehabilitated to game reserves and many species have been reintroduced [1]–[3]. At least 37 reserves have reintroduced lions (Panthera leo) primarily for ecotourism, but also for ecological processes [3]–[5]. Understanding of spatial ecology is an important component of these two management objectives, both in planning prior to reintroduction, and in subsequent population management to ensure that the population introduced is not above carrying capacity and is representative of a natural population in terms of size and structure. Because these reserves manipulate both the resource (e.g. water provision and harvesting of prey species) and social environment (selective removals or supplementation of lion), separating the dierent competing drivers of spatial ecology is important in order to make the correct management decisions in such small reserves.
