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Seasonal ungulate distribution and densities on Manyara ranch 2012-13

The northern Tarangire-Manyara Ecosystem in Tanzania is among the richest areas in the world for large mammal diversity and abundance, and Manyara Ranch provides crucial wildlife habitat for migratory and resident species between the Tarangire River and Lake Natron. This area is essential to the survival of migratory wildlife populations in the area, and sustains the ecological viability of both Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks, two of the highest income earning parks in Tanzania. We conducted ungulate surveys in

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The giraffe and its food resource in the Serengeti. I. Composition, biomass and production of available browse

The quantification of the browse resource available to giraffe was undertaken as the first stage in the study of the relationship of the giraffe population and its food supply in the Serengeti woodlands. Techniques are described for estimating the seasonal standing crop biomass of available browse and its quarterly rate of production. The conversion of the mature Acacia woodland to a more open regeneration-grassland phase as a result of the combined effects of elephants and fire protection, has substantially increased

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Letter From Namibia

The modern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the world’s tallest animal and its largest ruminant. It is also among the most quintessentially African of animals, being found throughout most of the continent—the great­est concentrations in eastern and southern Africa. Yet, since the dawn of the new millennium, a combination of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, civil unrest, and rampant poaching has led to an alarming 40 percent de­cline in giraffe populations across Africa—from an estimated 140,000 individuals in 1999 to less than

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Standing Tall for Giraffes – Research and Conservation of an Overlooked African Icon

Despite being iconically African, the giraffe remains largely understudied in the wild—unlike most of the continent’s other large megafauna. In part, this is because giraffes were not heavily hunted until recently: they don’t produce tusks or horns that are coveted as trophies or medicine and they are not an aggressive species. Sadly, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) now estimates that giraffe numbers have plummeted across Africa by 40 percent in the last decade to less than 80,000 individuals due to

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Three–way interactions between Acacia, large mammalian herbivores and bruchid beetles ‐ a review

Large mammalian herbivores are both predators and dispersers of Acacia seeds. While some of the seeds are destroyed during passage through the herbivore’s digestive tract, others are defecated unharmed. Ingestion by large herbivores facilitates germination by scarification of the seed coat. The extent of the influence of herbivores on seed dispersal and germination depends on seed retention time and tooth size, which are both positively correlated with body size. Infestation by bruchid beetles (Bruchidae) reduces Acacia germination. Herbivores may reduce

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Advances in Giraffe Nutrition

In the last decade, numerous publications have been written with regard to the nutrition of giraffe and other ruminant browsers maintained in zoological institutions, inspired by several health problems suspected to have a nutritional origin. Thus, reports of rumen acidosis, chronic wasting, peracute mortality syndrome, energy malnutrition, hoof disease, inverse serum calcium and phosphorus levels, mortality caused by cold stress, overall poor body condition, urolithiasis, serous fat atrophy, chronic energy deficiency, dental disease, and pancreatic disease, among others, have been

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A study on the social organisation of the Southern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa)

In this study, I have investigated the social structure of a population of the Southern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) residing in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. To do so, association data was collected using photo-identification to recognise individual giraffes. Within the study period between October 27th 2012 and January 25th 2013, 257 groups of giraffes were encountered, and the population number was estimated to be at least 173 giraffes residing within the 513 km2 area. For the analysis of the

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Feeding behaviour of giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis in the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve, Orange Free State

The habitat and feeding behaviour of giraffe in the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve, Orange Free State, are described. Acacia karroo, the single most important component, together with Asparagus laricinus, Rhus undulata and Ziziphus mucronata, comprises almost 90% of the giraffe’s diet. During the wet season deciduous plants of the savanna flats are preferred, but in the dry season the animals concentrate on evergreen plants in the more densely vegetated kopjies. Seasonal variation with respect to the number of plant species

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Overlap and seasonal shifts in use of woody plant species amongst a guild of savanna browsers

To clarify the potential influence of different browsers in the same guild on woody vegetation, dietary overlap and separation between elephant, giraffe, kudu, nyala and impala was assessed in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa. Woody species browsed, browsing heights, plant-parts browsed and browsing versus grazing were recorded over 2 y by direct observation. We obtained 3068 browse records. Niche breadth (Levins’ measure) and overlap (Schoener’s index) in species browsed and browsing heights were calculated. Annual and seasonal differences in these measurements,

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Regional Differences in Seasonal Timing of Rainfall Discriminate between Genetically Distinct East African Giraffe Taxa

Masai (Giraffa tippelskirchi), Reticulated (G. reticulata) and Rothschild’s (G. camelopardalis) giraffe lineages in East Africa are morphologically and genetically distinct, yet in Kenya their ranges abut. This raises the question of how divergence is maintained among populations of a large mammal capable of long-distance travel, and which readily hybridize in zoos. Here we test four hypotheses concerning the maintenance of the phylogeographic boundaries among the three taxa: 1) isolation-by-distance; 2) physical barriers to dispersal; 3) general habitat differences resulting in

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