https://phys.org/news/2018-07-lion-southern-africaa-approach.html

In the new study, Cushman and colleagues used two spatial modeling approaches—known as "resistant kernel" and "factorial least cost path"—to analyze GPS collar data that captured the movements of lions outside of national parks in and around the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). KAZA spans more than 520,000 square kilometers in four countries.

The analysis revealed nine key dispersal areas—regions in which lions can move freely between breeding sites and thus maintain higher genetic diversity, which is essential for a population's long-term health and survival. Also identified were 27 corridors linking those core areas and 27 potential hotspots for human-lion conflict.