Data from: Why did the buffalo cross the park? Resource shortages, but not infections, drive dispersal in female African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)

Dispersal facilitates population health and maintains resilience in
species via gene flow. Adult dispersal occurs in some species, is often
facultative, and is poorly understood, but has important management
implications, particularly with respect to disease spread. Although the
role of adult dispersal in spreading disease has been documented, the
potential influence of disease on dispersal has received little attention.
African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) are wide‐ranging and harbor many
pathogens that can affect nearby livestock. Dispersal of adult buffalo has
been described, but ecological and social drivers of buffalo dispersal are
poorly understood. We investigated drivers of adult buffalo dispersal
during a 4‐year longitudinal study at Kruger National Park, South Africa.
We monitored the spatial movement of 304 female buffalo in two focal areas
using satellite and radio collars, capturing each buffalo every 6 months
to assess animal traits and disease status. We used generalized linear
mixed models to determine whether likelihood of dispersal for individual
female buffalo was influenced by animal traits, herd identity,
environmental variables, gastrointestinal parasites, or microparasite
infections. The likelihood and drivers of buffalo dispersal varied by
herd, area, and year. In the Lower Sabie herd, where resources were
abundant, younger individuals were more likely to disperse, with most
dispersal occurring in the early wet season and during an unusually dry
year, 2009. In the resource‐poor Crocodile Bridge area, buffalo in poor
condition were most likely to disperse. Our findings suggest that
dispersal of female buffalo is driven by either seasonal (Lower Sabie) or
perhaps social (Crocodile Bridge) resource restriction, indicating
resource limitation and dispersal decisions are tightly linked for this
social ungulate. We found no direct effects of infections on buffalo
dispersal, assuaging fears that highly infectious individuals might be
more prone to dispersing, which could accelerate the spatial spread of
infectious diseases.