Systematic aerial sample survey of Laikipia county, April 2016 Preliminary Report
A systematic aerial sample survey of Laikipia County (9666km2) was carried out in April 2016 by Kenya’s Directorate of Resource Survey and Remote Sensing survey teams in partnership with Laikipia Wildlife Forum and Mpala Research Centre, with funds from US AID. This report presents the preliminary results as a basis for use by management and […]
Contemporary niche contraction affects climate change predictions for elephants and giraffes
Aim: Climate change assessments are largely based on correlative species distribution models (SDMs) that are sensible to spatial biases or incompleteness of input distribution data. We tested whether changes on the species’ climatic niche resulting from recent human-induced range contractions have a significant influence on SDM predictions of future species distributions. Location: Africa. Methods: For […]
Updated geographic range maps for giraffe, Giraffa spp., throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and implications of changing distributions for conservation
Giraffe populations have declined in abundance by almost 40% over the last three decades, and the geographic ranges of the species (previously believed to be one, now defined as four species) have been significantly reduced or altered. With substantial changes in land uses, loss of habitat, declining abundance, translocations, and data gaps, the existing geographic […]
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 […]
Food supply and poaching limit giraffe abundance in the Serengeti
The iconic giraffe, an ecologically important browser, has shown a substantial decline in numbers across Africa since the 1990s. In Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, giraffes reached densities of 1.5–2.6 individuals km-2 in the 1970s coincident with a pulse of Acacia tree recruitment. However, despite continued increases in woody cover between the 1980s and the 2000s, […]
Factors affecting habitat use by Masai Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi L) in Athi-Kapiti Plains ecosystem, Kenya
Increased human settlement, land use changes, loss of migration corridors, habitat loss and fragmentation have affected habitat use by Masai giraffe in Athi-Kapiti plains ecosystem. The purpose of the study was to assess the factors affecting habitat use by Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) in the Athi-Kapiti plains ecosystem and to generate information for giraffe […]