ETD

• african elephant
• camera trap
• spatio-temporal distribution
• ungulates

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) strongly influence the structure and functioning of savanna ecosystems, yet their effects on other herbivores remain poorly quantified. In this study, a systematic camera-trap survey conducted across 21 sites in Nkasa Rupara National Park (Namibia) was used to explore how elephants relate spatially and temporally to the park’s main herbivore species. Independent detections were extracted using a 480-minute threshold, and elephant relative abundance was examined as a predictor of herbivore events through a negative binomial GLMM, while diel activity patterns and temporal overlap were quantified using kernel density estimation. The results showed that elephant relative abundance was positively associated with browser detections, whereas grazers exhibited an essentially flat response. Accordingly, the two trophic niches showed different patterns; although the interaction term was only marginally significant, the contrasting slopes indicate that browsers and grazers differ in how their occurrence relates to elephant use of the landscape. Environmental predictors such as distance to the river and proximity to the park boundary were also tested but did not show significant effects. Temporally, herbivore species displayed distinct activity rhythms, yet most showed moderate to high overlap with elephants, with no clear patterns of temporal avoidance. Overall, these findings indicate that elephants in Nkasa Rupara do not strongly displace other herbivores and may even create conditions that locally favour browsers. The study provides a first ecological baseline for this understudied region of the KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area.