Assessing two detection dog-based sampling strategies targeting cheetah scat in diverse environments of central-east Namibia

Abstract

Cheetah monitoring can be improved with scat detection dogs that efficiently detect marking sites and scats randomly distributed across the landscape. To assess the scalability and adaptability of this method, we applied walking transects and visual searches, both supported by a detection dog, in four areas with varying cheetah densities, land use types, and habitats in central-east Namibia. We successfully detected cheetahs in all four study areas. Walking transects consistently yielded higher detection frequencies and detected cheetah presence in all areas, while vehicular searches were more time-efficient when marking sites were readily available. We recommend using an adaptive strategy to optimize searches depending on environmental characteristics in a given study area.