Monthly Activity Centers of African Elephants in a Small Game Reserve
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CONTRIBUTORS:
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INSTITUTION ID:
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SERIES TITLE:
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YEAR:
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3
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PUB TYPE:
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Working Paper/Manuscript
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WORKING PAPER NUMBER:
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None
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PAGES:
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SUBJECT(S):
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African elephants, center of activity, home range, harmonic mean, marula
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DISCIPLINE:
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Ecology
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HTTP:
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LANGUAGE:
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English
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PUB ID:
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103-409-779
(Last edited on
2005/06/15 11:46:41 GMT-6)
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SPONSOR(S):
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ABSTRACT:
Understanding spatio-temporal activity can help the conservation and management of both elephants and their habitats, especially in a small reserve. The harmonic mean center-of-activity was used to investigate shifts in the monthly home-range of reintroduced African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Pongola Game Reserve (PGR), during 2000-2003. Our results show that elephant movement over that period had similar month-by-month rhythms in different years, which appeared to be related to rainfall, vegetation, distribution of cow herds, marula (Sclerocarya birrea) fruiting, roads and hunting. Both bulls and cows prefer some vegetation types over others. Rainfall appears to have an impact on elephant ranging behaviour. There is a close association between fruiting of marula in February-March and the distribution of bulls in those months. In the hunting months of May-June, both bulls and cows will tend to hide in the dense Euclea spp. trees. Hunting may perform a great influence on the movement pattern of elephants in PGR. The knowledge of elephants’ monthly movement is not only helpful for the design of suitable management strategies but also can be a basis for the estimation of minimum size for a small reserve.
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