Feeding behaviour of the reedbuck was observed near Pretoriuskop and in the Shawu vlei in the Kruger National Park from March 1967 to April 1968. Grazing behaviour, rumination, grazing sites and competition with other herbivores are discussed as well as an analysis of the food species.
Recent genetic analysis has shown that the extinct Caspian Tiger (P. t. virgata) and the living Amur Tigers (P. t. altaica) of the Russian Far East are actually taxonomically synonymous and that Caspian and Amur groups historically formed a single population, only becoming separated within the last 200 years by human agency. A major conservation implication of this finding is that tigers of Amur stock might be reintroduced, not only back into the Koreas and China as is now proposed, but also through vast areas of Central Asia where the Caspian tiger once lived. However, under the current tiger conservation framework the 12 "Caspian Tiger States" are not fully involved in conservation planning. Equal recognition as "Tiger Range States" should be given to the countries where the Caspian tiger once lived and their involvement in tiger conservation planning encouraged. Today, preliminary ecological surveys show that some sparsely populated areas of Central Asia preserve natural habitat suitable for tigers. In depth assessments should be completed in these and other areas of the Caspian range to evaluate the possibility of tiger reintroductions. Because tigers are a charismatic umbrella species, both ecologically and politically, reintroduction to these landscapes would provide an effective conservation framework for the protection of many species in addition to tigers. And for today's Amur Tigers this added range will provide a buffer against further loss of genetic diversity, one which will maintain that diversity in the face of selective pressures that can only be experienced in the wild.
The Arabian oryx may now be extinct in the wild. If so it was exterminated by hunters in four-wheel drive vehicles using automatic weapons. Fortunately the species has bred well in captivity thanks largely to the 1962 FPS Operation Oryx, and now animals bred in the USA are becoming available for return to the wild where practicable. Jordan has already embarked on such a project, and Oman, home of the last oryx herds in Arabia, is now planning to release oryx in the Jiddat al Harasis, a vast stony plateau where the last known wild Arabian oryx were killed. In February 1977, at the request of the Oman Government, Dr Jungius, as Director of WWF's Department of Conservation, made a feasibility study, from the report of which the following article is extracted, followed up by a more detailed investigation in March 1978. One most encouraging aspect of the scheme is that the Harasis people regard the oryx as their tribal property. They want the oryx to return, and are prepared to guard them.
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