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such as the African wild dog and cheetah, were detected and where we also recorded species beyond their known range, as documented on the IUCN Red List (the bushpig and white-tailed mongoose Ichneumia albicauda; Supplementary Material 1). Ondjou Conservancy could serve as an important buffer for the larger conservation network, facilitating wildlife movement because it provides suitable habitat over a broader landscape. However, reducing the adverse effects of external threats such as human encroachment and wildlife persecution will be key to the area functioning as a buffer and not as an ecological trap (Stoldt et al., 2020). In addition, efforts should focus on securing and improving connectivity with existing functional core areas of the KAZA TCA. For highly mobile species (e.g. African wild dogs) landscape permeability is relatively high and populations may be well-connected (Creel et al., 2019; Hofmann et al., 2021). However, for most large mammal species, Ondjou Conservancy appears to be isolated (Cushman et al., 2018; Brennan et al., 2020)or could function as a sink, and consequently its contribution to the larger conservation context could be limited.We rec- ommend further exploration of and focus on peripheral and understudied regions of the KAZA TCA, to maximize the conservation potential of this landscape-level conservation initiative. This will be key for implementing conservation measures and ensuring functional connectivity and wildlife dispersal across one of the largest conservation landscapes.
Author contributions Conceptualization: SV, TH, BC; data collec- tion: SV, TH, MK; data analysis: SV; writing: SV; revision: all authors; supervision: BC, LM; funding acquisition: SV, BC, LM.
Acknowledgements We thank the conservancy chair, community game guards and the people of Ondjou Conservancy for access to the study area and their assistance during fieldwork. Funding was pro- vided by Leopold III-Fonds voor Natuuronderzoek en Natuurbehoud and Cheetah Conservation Fund donors.
Conflicts of interest None.
Ethical standards This research abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical standards and was authorized by the Namibian National Commission on Research Science & Technology under Section 21 of the Research Science and Technology Act No. 23 of 2004. No formal ethical review was conducted as camera trapping is a minimally inva- sive technique for wildlife monitoring and no concerns for animal wel- fare arose.We followed the ethical code of conduct for the use of camera traps inwildlife research (Sharma et al., 2020). Fieldwork took place with consent of the conservancy committee and community members, and images containing people have not and will not be shared.
Data availability The data and code supporting the findings of this study will be made available by the corresponding author upon reason- able request. Images containing people will not be shared.
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Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 793–801 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000024
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