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IUCN 2nd African Buffalo Symposium

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https://hdl.handle.net/10217/180914
This digital collection includes presentations from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2nd African Buffalo Symposium, which was held in conjunction with the 9th International Wildlife Ranching Symposium in 2016.

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Browsing IUCN 2nd African Buffalo Symposium by Author "Caron, Alexandre, author"

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    Evolutionary history of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) at continental scale based on mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016-09) Smitz, Nathalie, author; Heller, Rasmus, author; Van Hooft, Pim, author; Cornélis, Daniel, author; Chardonnet, Philippe, author; Caron, Alexandre, author; de Garine-Wichatitsky, Michel, author; Michaux, Johan, author; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, publisher
    The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) exhibits extreme morphological variability at the continental scale. Today, four subspecies are recognized based on morphological characteristics, with three subspecies distributed in the West-Central African region and the last one covering the Southern and the Eastern African regions. Based on the mtDNA D-Loop region and on more than 42,000 SNP genetic markers (Single-Nucleotide-Polymorphism), the present study aimed to investigate the evolutionary history of the species by inferring the pan-African spatial distribution of its genetic diversity. All analyses converged on the existence of two distinct lineages, corresponding to a group encompassing West and Central African populations and a group encompassing East and Southern African populations. The former is currently assigned to two to three subspecies (S. c. nanus, S. c. brachyceros, S. c. aequinoctialis) and the latter to a separate subspecies (S. c. caffer). 42% of the total amount of genetic diversity is explained by the between-lineage component, with one to seventeen female migrants per generation inferred as consistent with the isolation-with-migration model. The divergence time was estimated to have occurred during the late to middle Pleistocene, followed by a population expansion in both lineages, adapting morphologically to colonize new habitats, hence developing the variety of ecophenotypes observed today. At the regional scale, 8 populations distributed within these two lineages could be identified, resulting from more recent fragmentation processes. The two main lineages is a structuration that reflects common evolutionary responses to environmental changes within savanna mammals and can be observed within almost all species with a large distribution pattern as for example the waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), the hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), or the roan (Hippotragus equinus).
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    Social dynamics in the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016-09) Cornélis, Daniel, author; Caron, Alexandre, author; Miguel, Eve, author; Grosbois, Vladimir, author; de Garine, Michel, author; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, publisher
    This is a PhD proposal that will be implemented beginning of 2017. The project aims at understanding the social organisation of the African buffalo and its eco-epidemiological implications. Approaches from several scientific disciplines will be used to build a comprehensive study: the patterns of association between individuals will be studied using concepts and tools from behavioral and movement ecology: it will be based on a large GPS-tracking database and will relate inter-individual interactions to environmental factors (e.g. distribution of key resources, human disturbances, predation risk); the epidemiological processes and the influence of association patterns on pathogens transmission will be studied using a generic modelling approach which could be parameterized for various diseases. Here, we will present the preliminary research questions addressed by this project.
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    Surface water availability and agro-pastoral practices shape the human-wildlife interface at the edge of a protected area
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016-09) Valls Fox, Hugo, author; Chamaillé-Jammes, Simon, author; de Garine-Wichatitsky, Michel, author; Perrotton, Arthur, author; Courbin, Nicolas, author; Miguel, Eve, author; Guerbois, Chloé, author; Caron, Alexandre, author; Loveridge, Andrew, author; Stapelkamp, Brent, author; Muzamba, Martin, author; Fritz, Hervé, author; International Wildlife Ranching Symposium, publisher
    Spatial and temporal partitioning of key resources promotes species coexistence. On the edge of unfenced protected areas, livestock and wild herbivores share foraging and watering resources. We investigated whether effective resource partitioning was maintained in African savannas as surface water availability declined during the dry season. We quantified avoidance between African elephant (Loxodonta Africana), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and cattle (Bos taurus & indicus) at multiple scales using habitat selection models with GPS relocation data according to seasonal changes in surface water distribution on the eastern fringe of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. The range and duration of cattle incursions into the protected area varied seasonally by shifting from consistent selection of open habitats close to water pans during the rainy season to the less predictable selection of areas far away from the now dried up water pans at the end of the dry season. During the rainy and cold dry season, buffalo successfully avoid cattle at large (overlap<3%) and fine spatial scales. By the end of the dry season, buffalo herds, which are restricted to the vicinity of water, still avoid the boundary of the protected area but tolerate higher overlap with cattle (10%) and do not avoid them as strongly at fine scales. Elephant home-ranges overlap extensively with cattle (15-68%) throughout the year but elephant avoid cattle by staying away from the boundary during the day and getting closer to it at night. As the dry season advances, elephant bulls range closer to the boundary especially at night and may even make excursions into the communal land in their search of forage. Synthesis: Wild herbivores strongly avoid livestock and people at the boundary of a protected area as long as their foraging and drinking resources allow. In the advent of a drought, artificial water provisioning and cattle husbandry determine the level of avoidance and may be used to mitigate disease transmission and crop-raiding.