Temporal Detection Patterns of the African Clawless Otter Aonyx capensis (Schinz, 1821) in the Laikipia Plateau of Central Kenya

Abstract

The detection time of the African clawless Otter along its habitat was studied from January 2013- April 2013 over 720 trap nights. Camera traps were set up in six sites of different altitudes along the riparian area of the Ewaso Nyiro River in Central Kenya. Based on the still pictures and the time recorded in the snapshot: 50.68% of their occurrence was found to be between 18h00 and 00h00 in the evening, 41.78% between 00h00 and 06h00 in the morning and an insignificant 7.53% between 06h00 and 18h00 during the day. This evidence suggests a temporal detection niche for the African clawless Otter in this ecosystem, which is empirical verification in line with its known cryptic and nocturnal behavior.