A major source of human-wildlife conflict worldwide, detrimental both for people and wildlife, is livestock depredation by carnivores. Carnivore attacks on livestock cause major economic and food-security losses for people, which can in turn lead to retaliatory killings of carnivores deemed to be responsible. Effective mitigation of this conflict requires an understanding of both why livestock depredation occurs, and which factors correlate with the likelihood of carnivore attack. In this context, understanding the environmental variables that correlate with carnivore encounters at livestock enclosures, a previously understudied but important stage in the depredation process, is critical.

These objectives are being explored via the analysis of multi-year camera trap data from livestock enclosures in central Kenya, an area experiencing high rates of livestock depredation by carnivores. The outputs of this research will provide new avenues to predict livestock depredation and understand its drivers, with implications for carnivore conservation and livestock management.