Appraisal of postfire wildlife occupancy on a mixed-use ranch in Kenya

Abstract

A comparison of habitat utilization was undertaken one year after a large fire outbreak on part of a mixed wildlife-livestock ranch in Kenya, driving along roads and tracks to search for animals on three consecutive days. The overall distribution of large animals differed significantly between the unburnt and burnt areas (t = 3.713, df =36, P<0.001**), as was the case for the elephant (t= 2.820, df =4, P<0.05*) but not any of the other species. A large proportion of the populations were spotted in the portion affected by the fire over the course of the three-day survey, indicating that the ranch remained a wildlife stronghold. The findings suggested that the disturbance was akin to the ‘beneficial’ prescribed burn.