The successful reintroduction of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) to Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Bouley, Paola; Paulo, António; Angela, Mercia; Plessis, Cole du; Marneweck, David G.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0249860

Cited by 27 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Reintroductions of species that have been extirpated as a result of human activities constitute a powerful conservation tool. For example, reintroduction efforts have enabled wolves ( Canis lupus ) to repopulate a national park in the United States [ 4 ] and African wild dogs ( Lycaon pictus ) to repopulate a national park in Mozambique [ 5 ]. Likewise, the reintroduction of bison to many areas in North America is celebrated as a conservation success story, as bison numbers have rebounded from fewer than one thousand to hundreds of thousands of individuals today [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Declines Follow Bison (Bison bison) Reintroduction on Private Conservation Grasslands

Kaplan¹,

Rosamond

Goded³

et al. 2021

Animals

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Among the most rapidly declining birds in continental North America, grassland birds evolved with American bison (Bison bison) until bison nearly became extinct due to overhunting. Bison populations have subsequently rebounded due to reintroductions on conservation lands, but the impacts of bison on grassland nesting birds remain largely unknown. We investigated how bison reintroduction, together with other land management and climate factors, affected breeding populations of a grassland bird species of conservation concern, the Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). We quantified population changes in Bobolinks over an 18-year period in conservation grasslands where bison were reintroduced, compared with adjacent grasslands grazed by cattle and where hay was harvested after the bird breeding season. Four years after bison reintroduction, the bison population in the study area had doubled, while Bobolink abundance declined 62% and productivity declined 84%. Our findings suggest that bison reintroduction as a conservation strategy may be counterproductive in grassland fragments where overgrazing, trampling, and other negative impacts drive declines in grassland breeding birds. Where bird conservation is an objective, small grassland reserves may therefore be inappropriate sites for bison reintroduction. To maximize conservation benefits to birds, land managers should prioritize protecting grassland birds from disturbance during the bird breeding season.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Declines Follow Bison (Bison bison) Reintroduction on Private Conservation Grasslands

Kaplan¹,

Rosamond

Goded³

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…At the game reserve, the yearlings were separated by sex into different rehabilitation areas and were introduced to opposite sexed individuals from free‐ranging packs. The use of rehabilitation areas has aided group cohesion and alpha pair establishment in artificial pack formation (Bouley et al, 2021).…”

Section: Description Of the Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the game reserve, the yearlings were separated by sex into different rehabilitation areas and were introduced to opposite sexed individuals from free-ranging packs. The use of rehabilitation areas has aided group cohesion and alpha pair establishment in artificial pack formation (Bouley et al, 2021). T A B L E 1 Demographics of orphan African wild dog pups at arrival, and age (weeks) when groups moved to different enclosures and size of enclosures One male euthanized due to distemper at 62 days (7.5 weeks).…”

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confidence: 99%

Captive rearing of orphaned African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Namibia: A case study

et al. 2021

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African wild dogs (AWDs; Lycaon pictus) are an endangered canid species facing drastic decline throughout their range due to habitat fragmentation and persecution by humans over livestock depredation, resulting in dens destroyed and adult members of packs and pups often being killed. Breeding of captive AWDs is challenging due to high juvenile mortality, only marginally improved from wild conditions, thus both in situ and ex situ conservation remains critical. As a result of human‐wildlife conflict, between 2017 and 2018, the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism confiscated three litters of orphaned AWD pups from rural farmers who had destroyed the dens in Eastern Namibia and placed the pups with the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Seventeen of the 18 pups were successfully reared to yearlings with 15 individuals translocated for eventual soft release into a private game reserve. This case study provides information on the successful rearing of three litters of orphaned wild dog pups on behavior, housing, husbandry, diet, growth and medical issues as limited information is available for rearing orphaned pups from the age of 2.5 weeks old.

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“…The emerging fossil record from Gorongosa opens the possibility of testing, for the first time, key hypotheses about an expanding northeast-southwest arid corridor that would have isolated the eastern coastal forests from those in the central parts of Africa, and for exploring the importance of these processes for hominin origins (Kingdon, 2003). Gorongosa Park is now well known for its successful wildlife restoration project (Bouley, Paulo, Angela, Du Plessis, & Marneweck, 2021; Pringle, 2017; Stalmans, Massad, Peel, Tarnita, & Pringle, 2019), and these new paleontological sites in the park open a unique window on the fauna and environments of ancient Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first Miocene fossils from coastal woodlands in the southern East African Rift

Bobe

Aldeias

Alemseged

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The Miocene is a key time in the evolution of African mammals and their ecosystems witnessing the origin of the African apes and the isolation of eastern coastal forests through an expanding biogeographic arid corridor. Until recently, however, Miocene sites from the southeastern regions of the continent were unknown. Here we report discovery of the first Miocene fossil teeth from the shoulders of the Urema Rift in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, at the southern East African Rift System. We provide the first 1) radiometric age determinations of the fossiliferous Mazamba Formation, 2) reconstructions of past vegetation in the region based on pedogenic carbonates and fossil wood, and 3) description of fossil teeth from the southern rift. Gorongosa is unique in the East African Rift System in combining marine invertebrates, marine vertebrates, terrestrial mammals, and fossil woods in coastal paleoenvironments. The Gorongosa fossil sites offer the first evidence of persistent woodlands and forests on the coastal margins of southeastern Africa during the Miocene, and an exceptional assemblage of fossil vertebrates including new species. Further work will allow the testing of hypotheses positing the formation of a northeast-southwest arid corridor isolating species on the eastern coastal forests from those elsewhere in Africa.BriefThe Miocene is a key time in the evolution of African mammals and their ecosystems encompassing hominine origins and the establishment of an arid corridor that isolated eastern Africa’s coastal forests. Until now, however, Miocene sites from southeastern Africa have been unknown. We report the discovery of the first Miocene fossil sites from Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, and show that these sites formed in coastal settings. We provide radiometric ages for the fossiliferous sediments, reconstructions of past vegetation based on stable isotopes and fossil wood, and a description of the first fossil teeth from the region. Gorongosa is the only paleontological site in the East African Rift that combines fossil woods, marine invertebrates, marine vertebrates, and terrestrial mammals. Gorongosa offers the first evidence of persistent woodlands and forests on the coastal margins of southeastern Africa during the Miocene.

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The successful reintroduction of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) to Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Cited by 27 publications

References 84 publications

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Declines Follow Bison (Bison bison) Reintroduction on Private Conservation Grasslands

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Declines Follow Bison (Bison bison) Reintroduction on Private Conservation Grasslands

Captive rearing of orphaned African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Namibia: A case study

The first Miocene fossils from coastal woodlands in the southern East African Rift

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