Diurnal time-activity budgets of Blacksmith Lapwings in the dry season at Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Wader Study ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Ewbank
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Activity Budgets ◽  
Time Activity ◽  
Hwange National Park

scholarly journals Driving factors of temporary and permanent shallow lakes in and around Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Water SA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (2 April) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stembile Msiteli-Shumba ◽  
Shakki Kativu ◽  
Beaven Utete ◽  
Edwin Makuwe ◽  
Florence D Hulot
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
National Park ◽  
Water Hardness ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Hwange National Park

Small aquatic ecosystems in semi-arid environments are characterised by strong seasonal water level fluctuations. In addition, land use as well as artificial pumping of groundwater to maintain water resources throughout the dry season may affect the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we investigated pans situated in and around Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, where certain waterholes are artificially maintained during the dry season for conservation purposes. We monitored 30 temporary and permanent waterholes for 7 months across the wet and dry seasons in 2013, and analysed them for standard parameters to investigate seasonal variations, assess the effects of land use and pumping on lake functioning, and determine the driving factors of these aquatic systems. Results show an increase in conductivity, hardness, and turbidity when temporary pans dry up and permanent ones are filled with groundwater. Prominent parameters explaining the diversity of aquatic ecosystems are water hardness, conductivity, turbidity, and the presence of vegetation. Seasonality differences in certain parameters suggest the influence of water level fluctuations associated with rainfall, evaporation, and pumping activities. Further, the distinction between turbid pans and those with clear water and vegetation suggests the alternative functioning of pans. Land use had no significant effects, while the effects of pumping are discussed. In times of water scarcity, animals gather around artificially maintained waterholes and foul water with faeces and urine, thus inducing water eutrophication.

Foraging ecology of coyotes (Canis latrans): the influence of extrinsic factors and a dominance hierarchy

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 769-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Gese ◽  
Robert L. Ruff ◽  
Robert L. Crabtree
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
National Park ◽  
Canis Latrans ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Activity Budgets ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Time Activity

We examined the influence of intrinsic (age, sex, and social status) and extrinsic (snow depth, snowpack hardness, temperature, available ungulate carcass biomass) factors in relation to time–activity budgets of coyotes (Canis latrans) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. We observed 54 coyotes (49 residents from 5 packs, plus 5 transients) for 2507 h from January 1991 to June 1993. Snow depth, ungulate carcass biomass, and habitat type influenced the amount of time coyotes rested, travelled, hunted small mammals, and fed on carcasses. Coyotes decreased travelling and hunting and increased resting and feeding on carcasses as snow depth and available carcass biomass increased. Age and social status of the coyote influenced activity budgets. During times of deep snow and high carcass biomass, pups fed less on carcasses and hunted small mammals more than alpha and beta coyotes. Pups apparently were restricted by older pack members from feeding on a carcass. Thus, pups adopted a different foraging strategy by spending more time hunting small mammals. Coyotes spent most of their time hunting small mammals in mesic meadows and shrub–meadows, where prey densities were highest. Prey-detection rates and prey-capture rates explained 78 and 84%, respectively, of the variation in the amount of time coyotes spent hunting small mammals in each habitat in each winter. Our findings strongly suggested that resource partitioning, as mediated by defense by older coyotes, occurred among coyote pack members in Yellowstone National Park.

scholarly journals Spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta prey on new-born elephant calves in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Koedoe ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Salnicki ◽  
Marion Teichmann ◽  
V.J. Wilson ◽  
F. Murindagomo
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Crocuta Crocuta ◽  
Giraffa Camelopardalis ◽  
New Born ◽  
Varied Diet ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Hwange National Park

Spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta are known to be opportunists and to have a varied diet including mammals, reptiles and birds. Prey most often hunted are medium sized ungulates but spotted hyaenas will on occasion take larger species such as giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis and zebra Equus burchellii. They are also known to hunt whichever species are most abundant and will vary their prey seasonally. In this study spotted hyaenas were observed to take an unusual prey species in the form of elephant calves (Loxodonta africana). On a number of occasions hyaenas were observed feeding on or killing newborn and very young elephant calves. These observations were made whilst the authors were conducting research on spotted hyaena ecology in the woodlands of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe and were made during the dry season between September and November 1999.

Temporal dynamics of dry-season water-hole use by large African herbivores in two years of contrasting rainfall in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Valeix
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Large Herbivore ◽  
Herbivore Species ◽  
Level Of Aggregation ◽  
Hwange National Park ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract:As the dry season progresses in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, rain-fed surface water sources become depleted, forcing most animals to concentrate in the immediate vicinity of the few remaining permanent sources of drinking water. This study investigates the temporal dynamics of use of water-holes by nine African large-herbivore species in the dry season in the semi-arid savanna of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, and particularly how annual rainfall influences this temporal dynamics. Two contrasting years in terms of annual rainfall were compared: 2003 (a drought – 362.6 mm) and 2004 (average rainfall – 695.8 mm). In 2003, water-holes were used far more intensively and the level of aggregation of herbivores at water-holes was significantly higher. The temporal dynamics of water-hole use in the dry season differed between the two years: in 2003, the peak of water-hole use started much earlier and lasted 3 mo. Elephants and grazers showed the largest difference in use of water-holes between 2003 and 2004 supporting the suggestion that browsers are less water dependent. This study suggests that annual rainfall should be taken into account when predicting the peak of the dry season.

Home range and space use by African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liberty Mlambo ◽  
Munyaradzi Davis Shekede ◽  
Elhadi Adam ◽  
John Odindi ◽  
Amon Murwira
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
National Park ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Hwange National Park

scholarly journals The Kruger National Park: Provision of Water for Wild Life

Oryx ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-189
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Rain Water ◽  
General Fund ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Wild Life

Two years have passed since Colonel J. A. B. Sandenbergh, the Warden of the Kruger National Park, launched a public appeal to provide water for the wild life of the park. Subscriptions were invited for two purposes: the first to provide boreholes so that in the dry season animals could find water within reach of their grazing, the second to form a general fund to build dams to retard the run-off of rain water.

Spatial relationship between elephant and sodium concentration of water disappears as density increases in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 725-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Chamaillé-Jammes ◽  
Hervé Fritz ◽  
Ricardo M. Holdo
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Mineral Concentration ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Elephant Population ◽  
Hwange National Park ◽  
Nutrient Selection

African elephants Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach) may profoundly affect vegetation and associated animal bio-diversity in savannas (Conybeare 2004, Skarpe et al. 2004). Understanding the patterns of habitat use by elephants is crucial to predict their impacts on ecosystems (Ben-Shahar 1993, Nelleman et al. 2002), particularly now that many populations are recovering from past culling events or poaching outbreaks (Blanc et al. 2007). Surface water is one of the major constraints on elephant distribution (Chamaillé-Jammes et al. 2007, Stokke & du Toit 2002), and accordingly, elephant impacts are higher in the vicinity of water (Ben-Shahar 1993, de Beer et al. 2006). However, waterhole selection by elephant remains poorly understood. Weir (1972) showed in Hwange National Park (hereafter Hwange NP), Zimbabwe, that elephant numbers at waterholes over 24 h increased with the sodium concentration of water on nutrient-poor Kalahari sands. His work has become widely cited in elephant studies as it remains the only one, to the best of our knowledge, to have studied elephant use of waterholes in relation to the mineral concentration of water. Weir's work, however, took place when elephant densities in Hwange NP were low, likely below 0.5 elephants km−2 as estimated by aerial censuses (Williamson 1975). Since then, the elephant population has increased dramatically, particularly since the halt to culling operations in 1986 (Chamaillé-Jammes 2006, Cumming 1981). The present elephant density is much higher, estimated to be over 2 elephants km−2 (Chamaillé-Jammes et al. 2007, in press), and is one of the highest in the world (Blanc et al. 2007). Increased density may modify ecological constraints and affect the hierarchy of habitat selection processes (Morris 2003), and the extent to which water-nutrient selection still constrains elephant distribution at high population density – when their impact on savanna vegetation is the highest – remains unknown.

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