I am a Founding Trustee and Principal Investigator for the Wilderness & Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT) in Sri Lanka. Under WWCT’s Leopard Project I have designed and conducted remote camera surveys in Horton Plains National Park(2012), Ritigala Strict Natural Reserve (2015), Wilpattu National Park (2015) and the Central Highlands (2016). Research on leopard population structure, ecology, diet, resource selection and human-leopard interactions are also undertaken. My 2014 PhD, “The influence of prey availability, habitat attributes and other factors on space use by social carnivores”, included two chapters on factors underlying space use and predation events by African lions.

Recent news

New WildCRU collaboration paper on Sri Lankan leopards

Mongabay – Leopards and landmines: Post-war carnivore research in Sri Lanka

Selected Publications

Kittle, A.M., Watson, A.C., Cushman, S.A. & Macdonald, D.W. 2018. Forest cover and level of protection influence the island-wide distribution of an apex carnivore and umbrella species, the Sri Lannkan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya). Biodiversity and Conservation 27(1): 235-263. DOI 10.1007/s10531-017-1431-8

Da Silva, L.G., Kawanishi, K., Henschel, P., Kittle, A.M., Sanei, A., Reebin, A., Miquelle, D., Stein, A.B., Watson, A., Kekule, L.B., Machado, R.B. & Eizirik, E. 2017. Mapping black panthers: Macroecological modeling of melanism in leopards (Panthera pardus). PLoS One DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170378.

Kittle, A.M., Watson, A.C. 2017. Density of leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) in Horton Plains National Park in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. Mammalia. DOI 10.1515/mammalia-2016-0139.

Kittle, A.M., Anderson, M., Avgar, T., Baker, J.M., Brown, G.S., Hagens, J., Iwachewski, I., Moffatt, S., Mosser, A., Patterson, B.R., Reid, D.E.B., Rodgers, A.R., Shuter, J., Street, G.M., Thompson, I.D., Vander Vennen, L.M.. & Fryxell, J.M. 2017. Landscape-level wolf space use is correlated with prey abundance, ease of mobility, and the distribution of prey habitat. Ecosphere 8(4):e01783. 10.1002/ecs2.1783.

Bukombe, J., Kittle, A.M., Senzota, R.B., Mduma, S., Fryxell, J.M., & Sinclair, A.R.E. 2017. Resource preferences and seasons influence spatial distribution of ungulates in the western Serengeti National Park. African Journal of Ecology: DOI: 10.1111/aje.12410

Kittle, A.M., Watson, A.C., & T.S.P. Fernando. 2017. The ecology and behaviour of a protected area Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) population. Tropical Ecology 58(1): 71-86

Hudson, L.N. et al. 2017. The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project. Ecology and Evolution 7(1):145-188

Kittle, A.M., P.H.S.C. Kumara, D.G. Pathirathna, H.K.N. Sanjeewani, H.T.J. Seneviratne, and A.C. Watson. 2016. A comparison of floral and faunal diversity between two small, disturbed forest patches in Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands. WildLanka 4(3):133-141

Kittle, A.M., Bukombe, J.K., Sinclair, A.R.E., Mduma, S.A.R. & Fryxell, J.M. 2016. Landscape-level movement patterns by lions in western Serengeti: comparing the influence of inter-specific competitors, habitat attributes and prey availability. Movement Ecology 4(17). DOI: 10.1186/s40462-016-0082-9

Bukombe, J., Senzota, R.B., Fryxell, J.M., Kittle, A.M., Kija, H., Hopcraft, J.G.C., Mduma, S. & Sinclair, A.R.E. 2015. Do animal size, seasons and vegetation type influence detection probability and density estimates of Serengeti ungulates? African Journal of Ecology 54(1):29-38.

McGreer, M.T., Mallon, E.E., Vander Vennen, L.M., Wiebe, P.A., Baker, J.A., Brown, G.S., Avgar, T.,

Hagens, J., Kittle, A.M., Mosser, A., Street, G.M., Reid, D.E.B., Rodgers, A.R., Shuter, J., Thompson, I.D., Turetsky, M.J., Newmaster, S.G., Patterson, B.R. & Fryxell, J.M. 2015. Selection for forage and avoidance of risk by woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) at coarse and local scales. Ecosphere 6(12):art288. DOI: 10.1890/ES15-00174.1

Kittle, A.M., Anderson, M., Avgar, T., Baker, J.M., Brown, G.S., Hagens, J., Iwachewski, I., Moffatt, S., Mosser, A., Patterson, B.R., Reid, D.E.B., Rodgers, A.R., Shuter, J., Street, G.M., Thompson, I.D., Vander Vennen, L.M.. & Fryxell, J.M. 2015. Wolves adapt territory size, not pack size to local habitat quality. Journal of Animal Ecology 84(5):1177 – 1186. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12366

Avgar, T., Baker, J.M., Brown, G.S., Hagens, J., Kittle, A.M., Mallon, E.E., McGreer, M., Mosser, A., Newmaster, S.G., Patterson, B.R., Reid, D.E.B., Rodgers, A.R., Shuter, J., Street, G.M., Thompson, I.D., Turetsky, M., Wiebe, P.A. & Fryxell, J.M. 2015. Space-use behavior of woodland caribou based on cognitive movement model. Journal of Animal Ecology 84(4): 1059 – 1070. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.1235

Kittle, A.M., Watson, Kumara, P.H.C., Sandanayake, S.D.K., Sanjeewani, H.K.N. and Fernando, S. 2014. Notes on the diet, prey and habitat selection of the Sri Lankan leopard in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 6(9): 6214-6221

Kittle, A.M., Watson, A.C., Kumara, P.H.C. and Sanjeewani, H.K.N. 2012. Notes on the status, distribution and abundance of the Sri Lankan leopard in the central hills of Sri Lanka. CatNews 56, Spring

Kittle, A.M. and Watson, A.C. 2008. Panthera pardus ssp. Kotiya. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008:e.T15959A5334064

Kittle, A.M., Fryxell, J. M., Desy, G. E. and Hamr, J.  2008.  The scale-dependent impact of wolf predation risk on resource selection by three sympatric ungulates.  Oecologia 157:163-175.