Situational appraisal of post-fire wildlife occupancy on a mixed-use ranch in Kenya

Abstract Fire is integral to the ecology of tropical savannas. This study evaluated the scenario after a huge outbreak on part of a mixed wildlife-livestock ranch one year earlier. Driving along the roads and tracks to search for animals on three consecutive days, findings confirmed that the study area remained a wildlife stronghold, with a large proportion of large mammal species being spotted in the portion affected by the fire over the three-day survey. Overall, large animal distribution was significantly different between the unburnt and burnt area (t = 3.712569, df =36, P<0.001**). A similar pattern was only evident for the elephant (t= 2.819678, df =4, P<0.05*) but no other species. The disturbance was akin to ‘beneficial’ prescribed burning.