Data from: Testing the prey-trap hypothesis at two wildlife conservancies in Kenya

Protecting an endangered and highly poached species can conflict with providing an open and ecologically connected landscape for coexisting species. In Kenya, about half of the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) live in electrically fenced private conservancies. Purpose-built fence-gaps permit some landscape connectivity for elephant while restricting rhino from escaping. We monitored the usage patterns at these gaps by motion-triggered cameras and found high traffic volumes and predictable patterns of prey movement. The prey-trap hypothesis (PTH) proposes that predators exploit this predictable prey movement. We tested the PTH at two semi-porous reserves using two different methods: a spatial analysis and a temporal analysis. Using spatial analysis, we mapped the location of predation events with GPS and looked for concentration of kill sites near the gaps as well as conducting clustering and hot spot analysis to determine areas of statistically significant predation clustering. Using temporal analysis, we examined the time lapse between the passage of prey and predator and searched for evidence of active prey seeking and/or predator avoidance. We found no support for the PTH and conclude that the design of the fence-gaps is well suited to promoting connectivity in these types of conservancies.保护濒危且遭大肆偷猎的物种，可能会与为共存物种打造开放且生态连通的景观产生冲突。在肯尼亚，约半数黑犀牛（Diceros bicornis）栖息于配备电击围栏的私人保护地。专门设置的围栏缺口，可为大象提供一定的景观连通性，同时阻止黑犀牛逃逸。我们借助运动触发式相机对这些围栏缺口的使用模式进行了监测，发现此处的动物通行量颇高，且猎物的移动模式具有可预测性。猎物陷阱假说（Prey-Trap Hypothesis, PTH）提出，捕食者会利用猎物这种可预测的移动规律。我们依托两种不同方法，在两处半通透型保护区内对该假说进行了验证：空间分析法与时间分析法。通过空间分析，我们利用GPS标记捕食事件的发生位置，探究了猎杀点在围栏缺口附近的聚集情况，并通过聚类分析与热点分析，确定了具有统计学显著性的捕食聚集区域。通过时间分析法，我们考察了猎物与捕食者通过围栏缺口的时间间隔，并搜寻了捕食者主动搜寻猎物或是猎物主动规避捕食者的相关证据。本研究未发现支持该假说的证据，并由此得出结论：此类围栏缺口的设计，十分适宜在这类保护地中促进景观连通性。