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GIRAFFES

The giraffe, Girafa camelopardalis, is distributed widely in Africa, although in many territories numbers have decreased greatly during the past century. In West Africa, a few are said to live in the Ferlo district, but there are none in Gambia, Sierra Leone or Liberia. In French West Africa, the once extensive range of the giraffe has become very reduced, and it is now found in number in only two regions-the first in the Mtnaka district, and the second around Aderbissinat.

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Vascular system of giraffe

Both the discussions of the vascular system of the giraffe…mention venous valves, but both overlook the special ‘seried’ valves found at the entry of major tributaries into the axillary and brachial veins, though not into the jugular. Fewer occur in the closely-related okapi and some in jugular and femoral veins of the bactrian camel.

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Feed Selection and Digestibility by Captive Giraffe

A digestion trial with subsequent examination of feed selection was conducted using two captive giraffe fed four feedstuffs. Apparent digestibility coefficients were relatively high, indicating that the animals were efficiently utilizing the feedstuffs. However, values could be affected by the possible ingestion of soil containing acid‐insoluble ash. A high fiber pelleted feed was eaten in a greater quantity than a low fiber feed, even though the constituents in each feed were the same. Gross energy content of residual hay was

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Robert Goetz: A pioneer of the study of the physiology of animals in the wild

Studying the physiology and behaviour of free-living wild animals was impossible until the technology to capture wild animals and to make measurements in the field was developed. A pioneer in this field was Robert H. Goetz who, having completed medical degrees in Germany and Switzerland, took up an appointment as a research scientist in the J.S. Marais Surgical Research Laboratory at the University of Cape Town in 1937. His expertise was in cardiovascular physiology and pathology and he became interested

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The ecology and changes of the Amboseli ecosystem: Recommendations for planning and conservation

This report is prepared for the Amboseli Task Force responsible for presenting an integrated landuse plan for the Amboseli ecosystem. The landuse plan aims at fostering sustainable development in south-eastern Kajiado while ensuring the conservation of wildlife in Amboseli National Park and the larger ecosystem. The Task Force, chaired by the Amboseli and Tsavo Group Ranch Conservation Association (ATGRCA), was convened in March 2004 by a workshop of some 70 landowners, community leaders, Kenya Wildlife Service, government agencies and non-government

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Subordinal artiodactyl relationships in the light of phylogenetic analysis of 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes

Extant artiodactyls (even-toed hoofed mammals) are traditionally divided into three main lineages: Suiformes (pigs, peccaries and hippopotamuses), Tylopoda (camels and llamas) and Ruminantia (bovids, deer, tragulids and giraffes). Recent molecular studies have not supported a close relationship between pigs and hippopotamuses, however, instead grouping hippopotamuses with Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises). In this study we have sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of a tylopod — the alpaca (Lama pacos), the only artiodactyl suborder not previously represented by a complete mitochondrial

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The diet of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) on a wildlife ranch in the mosaic thicket of the southern Cape, South Africa

We studied the diet composition and preference of giraffe in mosaic thicket. Diet composition was determined by direct observations throughout the year. The Jacobs index was used to calculate dietary preference indices. Although the recorded diet consisted of 20 browse species, 17 were tree/shrubs, and only two, Acacia karroo and the invasive alien Acacia cyclops, formed the bulk of the annual giraffe diet. On a seasonal basis, the deciduous A. karroo was the main food in spring/summer/autumn when it was

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Holocene vegetation change and the mammal faunas of South America and Africa

Aim: Although sharing many similarities in their vegetation types, South America and Africa harbour very dissimilar recent mammal faunas, not only taxonomically but also in terms of several faunistic patterns. However late Pleistocene and mid-Holocene faunas, albeit taxonomically distinct, presented many convergent attributes. Here we propose that the effects of the Holocene climatic change on vegetation physiognomy has played a crucial role in shaping the extant mammalian faunistic patterns. Location: South America and Africa from the late Pleistocene to the

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Characterization of Tannin-tolerant Bacterial Isolates from East African Ruminants

Several tannin-tolerant bacteria were isolated from enrichment cultures of rumen microflora of bush duiker, giraffe, Grant’s gazelle, sheep, and goat, and established in medium containing crude tannin extracts or tannic acid. The isolates were characterized by classical and molecular methods. The isolates were also tested for the presence of tannin acylhydrolase. Characterization by restriction fragment length polymorphism of the 16S rRNA–PCR product was performed with Alu 1, Dde 1, Msp 1, and Taq 1. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis was performed only on the isolates that were

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Giraffe mothers in East Africa linger for days near the remains of their dead calves

Repeated investigation of dead young or carrying of corpses has been observed in several mammalian taxa, notably primates [e.g. yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus): Altmann, 1980; chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Goodall, 1986; Matsuzawa, 1997; Biro et al., 2010; ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta): Nakamichi, Koyama & Jolly, 1996; Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti): Li et al., 2012), dolphins (Tursiops spp.) (Tayler & Saayman, 1972; Harzen & Dos Santos, 1992) and elephants (Loxodonta africana) (Moss, 1976; Poole, 1996), and was recently also described in

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