Precision and performance of an 180 g solar-powered GPS device for tracking medium to large-bodied terrestrial mammals
Advances in the technology of biotelemetry are transforming the ways in which we remotely acquire environmental, physiological and behavioural data. Large and heavy batteries, however, continue to reduce the availability of GPS tracking devices for small taxa and for species with morphologies that limit attachment options. Device miniaturisation is beginning to be achieved through the […]
Rothschild’s giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi (Linnaeus, 1758) in East Africa: A review of population trends, taxonomy and conservation status
Giraffe populations have suffered a 40% decline in the past thirty years, making them a new priority for conservation and there are considerable uncertainty and disagreement over the taxonomic classification of giraffes. Consequently, there has never been a more critical time to fully understand the global population size and distribution of all giraffe subspecies. The […]
Male-Biased Partial Migration in a Giraffe Population
Partial migration is a common movement phenomenon in ungulates, wherein part of the population remains resident while another portion of the population transitions to spatially or ecologically distinct seasonal ranges. Although widely documented, the causes of variation in movement strategies and their potential demographic consequences are not well-understood. Here, we used GPS telemetry data and […]
Cameras replace human observers in multi-species aerial counts in Murchison Falls, Uganda
Wildlife counts in Africa and elsewhere are often implemented using light aircraft with ‘rear-seat-observer’ (RSO) counting crews. Previous research has indicated that RSOs often fail to detect animals, and that population estimates are therefore biased. We conducted aerial wildlife surveys in Murchison Falls Protected Area, Uganda, in which we replaced RSOs with high-definition ‘oblique camera […]
Genetic Architecture Detected by Microsatellite Screening of the Rothschild’s Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) Population in Murchison Falls National Park
There are six recognized populations of Rothschild’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) protected in Uganda and Kenya. Two populations in Uganda are at Murchison Falls National Park and Kidepo Valley National Park. Four populations in Kenya are at Lake Nakuru National Park, Ruma National Park, Giraffe Manor, and Yoder Flower Farm. The Kidepo Valley population in […]
Comparison of the fatty acid component in structural lipids from dolphins, zebra and giraffe: possible evolutionary implications
Essential fatty acid compositional data on the structural lipids of mammals which predominantly eat n‐3 fatty acids suggests preferential incorporation of n‐6 essential fatty acids. The structural lipids of liver, muscle and brain of five species of dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, Stenella allenuata, Steno bredanesis, Delphinus delphis and Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), obtained from the wild, contained substantial amounts of arachidonic […]
All the eggs in one basket: A countrywide assessment of current and historical giraffe population distribution in Uganda
To design effective conservation and management strategies at the national scale, it is important to consider population trends across space and time. Here we assessed the near threatened Rothschild’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) in Uganda. We applied individual-based photographic surveys to generate abundance estimates for all extant populations, using either mark-recapture estimates or complete enumeration, […]