Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations continue to grow across sub-Saharan Africa and serve as a source of livelihood to many rural communities. Owing to safety, health, environmental, and social concerns, the occupation has been regarded as a menace in several sub-Sahara African countries. Recent studies in the field of ASM prescribe formalization as a way to tame its excesses while enhancing its potential. This paper explores the concept of formalization as it relates to ASM and how it is being affected by the funding situation. The paper seeks to address the question as to whether formalization of artisanal mining operations can achieve the desired results in view of the lingering credit constraints in this mining subsector. It is recommended that, as a way of extending the scope of formalization, focus should be placed not only on access to credit in ASM but also towards optimizing the creditworthiness of ASM firms, with the goal of improving the viability of the operations.

In South Africa, blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) are routinely captured for relocation purposes. To monitor the stress caused by this practise, a non-invasive method assessing adrenocortical function as a measure of stress would minimize disturbance during sample collection. In our study, an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, and a mass-capture event were used to examine the suitability of five enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for monitoring stress-related physiological responses using faeces as a sample matrix. The tested 11-oxoaetiocholanolone I EIA performed best, showing a 2126% increase above baseline after 22 h for a male, and a 474% increase for a female 23 h post-ACTH injection. Baseline faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations did not differ between animals captured on either day 1 or day 2 of the capture event, indicating that the frequent presence of a helicopter during the two days did not influence fGCM concentrations. However, during capture-related restraint for up to 10 h, an overall 1.5-fold elevation in (fGCM) concentrations was found. Storage of faeces at ambient temperature post-defecation indicated a fair stability of fGCMs for up to 8 h. The ability to reliably assess adrenocortical function provides a solid basis to examine endocrine responses to putative stressful circumstances in blue wildebeest.