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We conducted an attitudinal study on the socio-economic implications of human-carnivore conflict in an East African pastoralist landscape through a semi-structured questionnaire survey complemented by a locally organised community carnivore conservation workshop. We compared actual livestock predation rates by the large carnivores from a nine-year livestock predation dataset for Samburu County to perceived predation rates from our respondents. Our study revealed that perceived rates of livestock predation vis-à-vis actual rates of livestock predation by large carnivores in a modern pastoralist community setting are dissimilar. Even though community goodwill to embrace coexistence with wildlife persists, the perceived lack of equitable sharing of benefits from wildlife earnings nationally with local communities inadvertently reinforces negative views towards wildlife in general and carnivores specifically. Therefore, an increased participatory community approach in the management and conservation of wildlife needs to be addressed appropriately by policy makers for the benefit of the communities and wildlife.

The conversion of natural ecosystems due to anthropogenic activities has led to the destruction of natural habitats and to the deterioration of habitat quality. Top predators particularly respond sensitively to changes in habitat structures, including the availability of prey. The cheetah Acinonyx jubatus prefers small-medium-sized, wild ungulate prey due to the cheetah's morphological adaptations. However, the majority of the species’ population is found beyond protected areas, where habitat structures, species abundances, and community composition are highly influenced by human activities. Only few studies have analyzed the diet preference of cheetahs in relation to prey availability and abundance for rangelands beyond protected areas in Eastern Africa. The study aimed to determine cheetah prey preference in the rangelands of south-eastern Kenya based on scat analyses. We compared dietary preference of cheetah with prey availability. For this purpose, we conducted standardized game counts. We analyzed 27 cheetah scat samples collected across the same study area where we also conducted game counts. We found that Grant's gazelle Gazella granti contributed the highest portion of cheetah's diet, although Thomson's gazelle Gazella thomsonii was the most abundant medium-sized ungulate prey in the study areas. We also recorded two primate species, yellow baboon Papio cynocephalus and vervet monkey Chlorocebus pygerythrus, as well as the rock hyrax Procavia capensis in the cheetah diet. These species have never been documented as cheetah prey before. Furthermore, our results document livestock as potential prey for cheetahs. These observations underline that cheetah use diverse prey in rangelands outside protected areas, and that the abundance of specific prey does not influence cheetah prey preference.

Knowledge on cheetah population densities across their current range is limited. Therefore, new and efficient assessment tools are needed to gain more knowledge on species distribution, ecology and behaviour. Scat detection dogs have emerged as an efficient and non-invasive method to monitor elusive and vulnerable animal species, like cheetahs, due to the dog’s superior olfactory system. However, the success of locating scat using detection dogs can be significantly improved under suitable weather conditions. We examined the impact of temperature, humidity and wind speed on detection rates of scat from cheetahs during a scat detection dog survey in Northern Kenya. We found that average wind speed positively influences the scat detection rate of detection dogs working on leash. Humidity showed no significant influence. Temperature showed a strong negative correlation with humidity and thus was excluded from our model analyses. While it is likely that wind speed is especially invalid for dogs working off leash, this study did not demonstrate this. Wind speed could thus influence the success of monitoring cheetahs or other target species. Our findings help to improve the survey and thus maximise the coverage of study area and the collection of target samples of elusive and rare species.