Browsing by Author "De Vos, Charli"

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    Ecology of plains zebra (Equus quagga) in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) De Vos, Charli; Leslie, Alison J.; Ransom, Jason I.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of AgriSciences. Dept. of Conservation Ecology and Entomology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Zebras occur throughout Africa and are responsible for sustaining the dynamics and overall well-being of the environments they reside in. However, zebras have experienced significant range reductions and restricted access to water and forage, as well as population declines within the last 100 years, contributing to the recent enlistment of plains zebra (Equus quagga) from Least Concern to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. In Majete Wildlife Reserve (MWR), located in southern Malawi, wildlife was almost completely extirpated from the reserve by 1985. In 2003 African Parks (Pty) Ltd. together with the Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) aimed to restore the reserve to its former glory. Fences were constructed, law-enforcement was improved and wildlife was reintroduced, including 174 plains zebra (hereafter referred to as zebra). More than ten years after the species’ initial reintroduction, zebra have successfully established within MWR. Prior to this study, no long-term monitoring was conducted on MWR’s zebra post reintroduction. In this study, zebra demographics, diet, waterhole usage and behaviour was investigated. The demography of zebra was determined with the use of an individual side-stripe database and an aerial survey. Of the estimated 571 zebra currently in the reserve, 243 were individually identified. Over the last few years, the population appears to have transitioned from the slower growth rate expected immediately after translocation to the rapid annual growth rate indicative of an approach toward carrying capacity. Adult zebra in the reserve currently exhibit a biased sex ratio of 1.0:0.8 (female:male). Population structure and organization is similar to established zebra populatons; however the formation of herds (multiple bands associating with each other) was never observed in MWR. In addition, stable isotope analysis was conducted to examine the seasonal diet of the species. Results confirmed that zebra are predominantly grazers that occasionally browse (trees, shrubs and forbs), even given the dominance of browse (dicotyledonous trees and shrubs) in the miombo woodland environment of Majete. The proportion of browse consumed, however, varied significantly among the seasons, with only 1.5% browse consumed during the late wet season compared to 10.2% in the late dry season. Artificial waterhole usage by zebra was studied with the use of camera traps. Waterholes were predominantly visited at 09:00, 13:00 and 14:00. However, when natural surface water decreased and more animals aggregated around artificial waterholes, it appeared that zebra shifted their visitation time to avoid interspecific competition around these waterholes. Finally, the diurnal time budgets of this species indicated that family bands allocate 41.8% of their time to feeding behaviour, followed by resting (18.5%), locomotion (10.9%), vigilance (7.5%), maintenance (2.7%) and social behaviour (1.4%). In comparison, bachelor bands allocated 27.0% to vigilance behaviour, followed by locomotion (21.0%), feeding (18.4%), resting (15.4%), maintenance (6.4%) and social behaviour (2.4%). It is unknown if the relatively small amount of time spent feeding was compensated for nocturnally or is indicative of low graze availability during the dry season. Based on the findings of this study, issues facing the conservation of zebra within MWR were identified and conservation and management options are presented.