Diet and seasonal dispersal of extralimital giraffe at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, Little Karoo, South Africa
South African giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) have been introduced as an extralimital species to private farms in the Little Karoo on the basis of economic sustainability, and the need to create a competitive tourism product. However, little is known about the medium- to long-term impacts and ecological sustainability of such introductions. The diet of a […]
Interspecific and temporal variation of condensed tannins and cyanide concentrations in potential dietary sources of extralimital giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) in the Karoo
During 2016 and 2018 four giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) mortalities occurred in the Karoo potentially caused by acute hydrogen cyanide poisoning. Plants have various defence mechanisms to protect themselves against herbivory, including the production of secondary metabolites such as condensed tannins and hydrogen cyanide. This study quantified condensed tannin and hydrogen cyanide production in selected Karoo […]