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After an epic 36-hour journey, the first native giraffe to be returned to an Angolan national park arrived from Namibia this week, in what many hope to be the first of multiple translocations to return the animals to their historical homeland.
Assessing the numbers and distribution of at-risk megafauna such as the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) is key to effective conservation, yet such data are difficult to obtain. Many current monitoring technologies are invasive to the target animals and expensive. Satellite monitoring is emerging as a potential tool for very large animals (e.g., elephant) but detecting smaller species requires higher resolution imaging. Drones can deliver the required resolution and speed of monitoring, but challenges remain in delivering automated monitoring systems where
Have you ever darted a giraffe from a helicopter or moved a sable antelope? Have you fitted a satellite tracking device to an elephant or a gemsbok? And have you done all of this in a single day? Eight young African wildlife veterinarians who recently participated in a 10-day hands-on training course would answer with a resounding YES! During a highly interactive time in the field at the Etosha Heights Private Reserve, these young veterinarians worked hand-in-hand with several highly
Functional diversity is a component of biodiversity that includes the range of roles that organisms perform in communities and can explain and predict the impact of organisms on ecosystems. Mudumu National Park is an important ecosystem that acts as a wildlife corridor for migratory fauna moving between Botswana, Namibia, Angola and Zambia. Thus, a thorough understanding of the functional diversity of large herbivores would assist with the management of the park. The present study examined large herbivore species contribution to
Giraffe numbers grow exponentially when farmed, necessitating periodic culling. This study quantified the effect of sex and muscle on the physical quality characteristics of eight giraffe muscles. The Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) was the only parameter to be affected by an interaction between sex and muscle (P < 0.001), although the interaction for the CIE L* values tended towards significance (P = 0.054). Cooking loss (male = 41.6 ± 0.35%; female = 40.7 ± 0.33%; P = 0.024) and CIE
Giraffe populations across the African continent have declined over the past decades, mainly due to habitat loss and fragmentation of subpopulations. To fight the decrease in numbers of the different giraffe species, conservation actions have been and are currently in place, such as translocations into protected areas and reintroductions into areas where giraffes have disappeared. In Namibia, the Angolan subspecies is widely spread and mostly found on private land, which offers the opportunity to study the species in closed environments,
Understanding whether giraffe will survive in Iona NP might seem obvious, considering that the area is likely part of their former natural range. However, research on re-introductions suggests that historical occurrence, or a superficial look at the introduction site, is not enough to ensure success. Feasibility studies provide essential information on the current state of the habitat and other social, economic, and ecological factors. A feasibility study is especially important when a long time has elapsed since the extinction of
This paper deals with reflections that arose after observing prehistoric rock engravings at different locations in Namibia. These observations stimulated comparative considerations with focus on southern Africa and central Europe. Similar to the Aurignacian rock art of European origin, the most common motifs in the Namibian rock engravings are large animals. While in Europe, the species that served as a blueprint for the illustration of Aurignacian rock art have mostly disappeared, the megafauna illustrated on the rock engravings in Namibia
Various body measurements and commercial carcass yields of relatively young (2 1/2 –6 yrs old) giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) were investigated to quantify the effect of sex there upon. Eight male and eight female giraffe were culled by standard practice in Namibia, where body and horn measurements were taken, before the carcasses were dressed. There were no significant differences between the mean dead weights of the two sexes (bulls = 691.1 kg; cows = 636.5 kg; p = 0.096), the
In extreme environments, temperature and precipitation are often the main forces responsible for structuring ecological communities and species distributions. The role of biotic interactions is typically thought to be minimal. By clustering around rare and isolated features, like surface water, however, effects of herbivory by desert-dwelling wildlife can be amplified. Understanding how species interact in these environments is critical to safeguarding vulnerable or data-deficient species. We examined whether African elephants (Loxodonta africana), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), and southern giraffe (Giraffa