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Safety of Travel in South Africa: The Kruger National Park

South Africa is a flourishing tourist destination, and the South African Tourism Board (SATOUR) recorded a steady growth in international visitors of about 11% per annum for the period from 1994–1999. The four most popular sites visited by tourists are Cape Town and environs, the Garden Route, Oudtshoorn ostrich farms, and the Kruger National Park. The Kruger National Park (KNP), which at over 1.949 million hectares, is the largest wildlife or nature reserve in a single African country, affords the

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Hierarchy of fear: experimentally testing ungulate reactions to lion, African wild dog and cheetah

Experiments have begun demonstrating that the fear (antipredator behavioral responses) large carnivores inspire in ungulates can shape ecosystem structure and function. Most such experiments have focused on the impacts of either just one large carnivore, or all as a whole, rather than the different impacts different large carnivores may have in intact multi-predator-prey systems. Experimentally testing the relative fearfulness ungulates demonstrate toward different large carnivores is a necessary first step in addressing these likely differing impacts. We tested the fearfulness

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Environmental DNA as a management tool for tracking artificial waterhole use in savanna ecosystems

Game parks are the last preserve of many large mammals, and in savanna ecosystems, management of surface waters poses a conservation challenge. In arid and semi-arid regions, water can be a scarce resource during dry seasons and drought. Artificial waterholes are common in parks and reserves across Africa, but can alter mammal community composition by favoring drought intolerant species, with consequences for disease dynamics, and population viability of drought-tolerant species. Analysis of waterborne environmental DNA (eDNA) is increasingly used to

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State-shifts of lion prey selection in the Kruger National Park

Aims: Indicators of pending state-shifts carry value for policy makers. Predator–prey relations reflect key ecological processes that shape ecosystems. Variance in predator–prey relations may serve as a key indicator of future state-shifts. Methods: Lion (Panthera leo) diet in the Kruger National Park was evaluated as such an indicator. Over the three-decade time span reviewed, variance in diet in relation to rainfall, prey abundance, management strategies and disease emergence were reviewed. Key results: Rainfall patterns, both seasonal and cyclical, were identified

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Mammal road-type associations in Kruger National Park, South Africa: Common mammals do not avoid tar roads more than dirt roads

The majority of Africa’s parks and conservation areas have a vast road network, facilitating motorized vehicle game viewing. These roads have an influence that is both road type- and species-specific, on the surrounding ecosystem. Due to their higher traffic volumes, we hypothesized that tar roads and their immediate surrounds within the Kruger National Park, South Africa, are avoided to a greater extent by medium-to-large mammals than comparable dirt roads in the park. We systematically recorded the presence of medium-to-large mammal

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Mammal Species Richness at a Catena and Nearby Waterholes during a Drought, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Catenas are undulating hillslopes on a granite geology characterised by different soil types that create an environmental gradient from crest to bottom. The main aim was to determine mammal species (>mongoose) present on one catenal slope and its waterholes and group them by feeding guild and body size. Species richness was highest at waterholes (21 species), followed by midslope (19) and sodic patch (16) on the catena. Small differences observed in species presence between zones and waterholes and between survey

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Diet of lions and spotted hyaenas assessed from stomach contents

Analyses of stomach contents was used to assess the diet of lions and spotted hyaenas in the Central District of Kruger National Park. Of 257 lion and 167 spotted hyaena stomachs examined 47,1% and 10,8% respectively, were empty. The relative edible biomass contributed by each prey animal to the diet of lions is given. For spotted hyaenas the relative importance of each prey animal was assessed by considering both frequency of occurrence and the amount found in each stomach. During

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Estimating the trends in herbivore numbers in the Southern District of the Kruger National Park

Census data over several years of survey were utilized to develop a sampling strategy in which the species totals for both abundant and rare herbivore species can be estimated should aerial sample surveys be conducted. Correspondence analysis is used towards the development of this sampling strategy. The study pertains to the Southern District of the Kruger National Park. Census data from 1977 to 1989 were used. It is shown that the trends indicated by the census data, are also clearly

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An evaluation of the use of correspondence analysis for the analysis of herbivore – habitat selection

The necessity for finding an objective method for the identification and evaluation of the salient factors affecting habitat selection in large-herbivore/habitat relationships served as motivation for the present study. A number of habitat parameters were recorded for eight important large herbivores in the Kruger National Park and subjected to correspondence analysis. This method yielded satisfactory results and illustrated animal species associations, based on the selection for similar habitat factors, and the habitat factors most favoured by each species. Analysis of

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Stable carbon isotope reconstruction of ungulate diet changes through the seasonal cycle

We analysed stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) in faeces of 11 African ungulate species from three South African savanna environments to determine whether this approach is sufficiently sensitive to record short-term seasonal diet changes in browsers (BR), mixed-feeders (IM), and grazers (GR). At monthly intervals, faecal δ13C revealed variations in proportions of C3 (browse) to C4 (grass) biomass consumed that were not detected by broader dry versus wet season comparisons, including subtle diet shifts amongst BR and GR. However, trends

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