Research overview: carrying-capacity models for African predators

An overview of the quantitative tools used to predict how many large predators a reserve can sustain from its prey base, building on the prey-preference and prey-biomass approaches. These models estimate predator carrying capacity from the abundance of each species' preferred prey, enabling managers of fenced reserves to set stocking targets, anticipate competitive suppression among predators, and plan reintroductions. This survey synthesizes the regression-based methods validated for lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and wild dogs, their assumptions and limitations, and how shared preferred prey constrains the total predator load a system can hold. It connects applied management to predation ecology and prey selectivity. The topic is central to the intensive management of small reserves and to evidence-based predator restoration across southern Africa.