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Prey preferences of modern human hunter-gatherers

Understanding traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles in our modern world is fundamental to our understanding of their viability, as well as the role of humans as predators in structuring ecosystems. Here, we examine the factors that drive prey preferences of modern hunter-gatherer people by reviewing 85 published studies from 161 tropical, temperate and boreal sites across five continents. From these studies, we estimated Jacobs’ selectivity index values (D) for 2243 species/spatiotemporal records representing 504 species from 42 vertebrate orders based on a

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Factors influencing host selection by yellow-billed oxpeckers at Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe

Oxpecker host selection appears to be governed by an array of factors affecting the efficiency of foraging for ticks, with optimally foraging oxpeckers choosing those hosts that maximize tick intake and/or minimize search time. We studied yellow-billed oxpeckers Buphagus africanus (Linnaeus) at Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe, in order to examine the relationship between host selection and seasonal tick abundance, host characteristics and water availability. Preference ranks were highly correlated between the dry and wet seasons, implying that relative tick burdens of

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A preliminary investigation into comparative foraging ecology of reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) and domestic camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Laikipia Kenya

Female camels actively browse over a wide range of heights, from ground level up to 3 meters. Traditionally, due to their being browsers, their dispersal ability and elevated foraging level, giraffes have been thought to be able to co-exist with traditional pastoralist livestock species. However, with the introduction of the larger and taller browsing camels, could this alter the status quo, and potentially affect giraffes’ ability to co-exist with livestock? Due to time and budget constraints, this study gathered baseline

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Movement patterns and herd dynamics among South African giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa)

Giraffes reside in a fission–fusion social system, with sex, age proximity, kinship and home range overlap accounting for some of the variance in herd composition, while season, sex, age and time of day influence diet, home range size and distance travelled. To increase our knowledge of habitat use and fission–fusion herd dynamics, we placed GPS devices on eight adult female South African giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) living in the Khamab Kalahari Nature Reserve (South Africa). We tested four predictions about

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Sexual segregation by Masai giraffes at two spatial scales

In this paper alternative explanations for observed patterns of sexual segregation by giraffes are examined at two spatial scales: within-habitats and within-landscape. Habitats are defined as recognizable plant associations and the landscape as the collection of all available habitat types. The study was conducted in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. At the within-landscape level, all sex and age classes of giraffes exhibited high degrees of preference for riverine habitats. Sex differences in habitat selection were mostly due to females with young,

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Feeding habits of spotted hyaenas in a woodland habitat

The feeding habits of spotted hyaenas were recorded during a 2-year full-time study in the Lowveld of South Africa. The animals were observed for 335 h at night using artificial light. These results were supplemented by the analysis of 200 regurgitations and 527 scats collected on a monthly basis over 12 months, with a consideration of the availability of different prey species. It is argued that regurgitation gets rid of any excess of hair, the remainder in the scats giving

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