Movements and source–sink dynamics of a Masai giraffe metapopulation
Spatial variation in habitat quality and anthropogenic factors, as well as social structure, can lead to spatially structured populations of animals. Demographic approaches can be used to improve our understanding of the dynamics of spatially structured populations and help identify subpopulations critical for the long-term persistence of regional metapopulations. We provide a regional metapopulation analysis […]
Spatial variation in giraffe demography: a test of 2 paradigms
Examination of spatial variation in demography among or within populations of the same species is a topic of growing interest in ecology. We examined whether spatial variation in demography of a tropical megaherbivore followed the “temporal paradigm” or the “adult survival paradigm” of ungulate population dynamics formulated from temperate-zone studies. We quantified spatial variation in […]
Fission–fusion dynamics of a megaherbivore are driven by ecological, anthropogenic, temporal, and social factors
Fission–fusion dynamics hypothetically enable animals to exploit dispersed and ephemeral food resources while minimizing predation risk. Disentangling factors affecting group size and composition of fission–fusion species facilitates their management and conservation. We used a 6-year data set of 2888 group formations of Masai giraffes in Tanzania to investigate determinants of social group size and structure. […]
Correlates of home range sizes of giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis
Abiotic, biotic and human influences are factors that can affect animal home ranges. We calculated home range sizes of adult giraffes in the Tarangire-Manyara region of northern Tanzania (N ¼ 132 giraffes with data collected over 6 years), and investigated correlations between home range sizes and environmental and anthropogenic factors (for a subset of N […]
Woodland loss and restoration in a savanna park: a 20-year experiment
Woodland loss is a major cause of biodiversity decline in African savanna parks. Decisions about whether remedial steps are possible and warranted depend on the cause. Climate, fire, elephants and human impact, often in combination, have been cited as major causes. The almost complete extinction of woodland in Amboseli National Park since 1950 has been […]
Charting a course for giraffe conservation
Letter reporting on the July 2011 indaba at Etosha Safari Lodge, Namibia Giraffe: The Forgotten Megafauna convened by GCF.
Limited introgression supports division of giraffe into four species
All giraffe (Giraffa) were previously assigned to a single species (G. camelopardalis) and nine subspecies. However, multi-locus analyses of all subspecies have shown that there are four genetically distinct clades and suggest four giraffe species. This conclusion might not be fully accepted due to limited data and lack of explicit gene flow analyses. Here, we […]
Population structure of giraffes is affected by management in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya
Giraffe populations in East Africa have declined in the past thirty years yet there has been limited research on this species. This study had four objectives: i) to provide a baseline population assessment for the two largest populations of Rothschild’s giraffes in Kenya, ii) to assess whether there are differences in population structure between the […]
Conservation conundrum: Endangered predators eating endangered prey
As populations of wildlife dwindle in number, and as ecosystems suitable for animals disappear, conservation conundrums emerge that have no easy solutions. One such issue involves predators and prey. What can be done when an endangered species of predators might be hastening the extinction of an endangered species of prey by including it in their […]
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, […]