Food of the silver fox Vulpes Chama

Zoologica Africana 2(2): 205-21

Food of Canis mesomelas in South Africa

The black-backed jackal is probably the most important problem animal in the sheep-farming areas of South Africa and especially in the Transvaal. To detennine the extent of damage done by Canis mesomelas in such areas, a study was initiated to analyse the stomach contents of black-backed jackals collected in South Africa. In 1965 Grafton published a preliminary report on the food of the black-backed jackal in South Africa. Since then many additional stomachs have been collected. However, as the analysis of the stomach contents is time consuming, it is profitable to detennine whether increasing the sample size beyond a certain point can add to existing knowledge. This is the primary aim of the present report

Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Home Ranges in Sabi Sand Reserve and Kruger National Park: A Five-Year Satellite Tracking Study

During a five-year GPS satellite tracking study in Sabi Sand Reserve (SSR) and Kruger National Park (KNP) we monitored the daily movements of an elephant cow (Loxodonta africana) from September 2003 to August 2008. The study animal was confirmed to be part of a group of seven elephants therefore her position is representative of the matriarchal group. We found that the study animal did not use habitat randomly and confirmed strong seasonal fidelity to its summer and winter five-year home ranges. The cow's summer home range was in KNP in an area more than four times that of her SSR winter home range. She exhibited clear park habitation with up to three visits per year travelling via a well-defined northern or southern corridor. There was a positive correlation between the daily distance the elephant walked and minimum daily temperature and the elephant was significantly closer to rivers and artificial waterholes than would be expected if it were moving randomly in KNP and SSR. Transect lines established through the home ranges were surveyed to further understand the fine scale of the landscape and vegetation representative of the home ranges

The impact of viral mutations on recognition by SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells.

We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-γ and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A∗01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY207-215; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B∗27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAPRITF9-17; and due to T362I and P365S in the A∗03:01/A∗11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK361-369. CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity.This work is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC); Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences(CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS), China; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and UK Researchand Innovation (UKRI)/NIHR through the UK Coro-navirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC). Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 samples and collation of data wasundertaken by the COG-UK CONSORTIUM. COG-UK is supported by funding from the Medical ResearchCouncil (MRC) part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI),the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR),and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. T.I.d.S. is supported by a Well-come Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (110058/Z/15/Z). L.T. is supported by the Wellcome Trust(grant number 205228/Z/16/Z) and by theUniversity of Liverpool Centre for Excellence in Infectious DiseaseResearch (CEIDR). S.D. is funded by an NIHR GlobalResearch Professorship (NIHR300791). L.T. and S.C.M.are also supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Medical Countermeasures Initiative contract75F40120C00085 and the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) inEmerging and Zoonotic Infections (NIHR200907) at University of Liverpool inpartnership with Public HealthEngland (PHE), in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford.L.T. is based at the University of Liverpool. M.D.P. is funded by the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical ResearchCentre (BRC – IS-BRC-1215-20017). ISARIC4C is supported by the MRC (grant no MC_PC_19059). J.C.K.is a Wellcome Investigator (WT204969/Z/16/Z) and supported by NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centreand CIFMS. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or MRC

Activity patterns in southern Kalahari leopards

Preliminary results based on two satellite-tracked adult leopards in the arid, open savanna of the southern Kalahari indicated that most movement occurred at night, with some movement in the daytime to seek shade.Keywords: Panthera pardus, leopard, activity, southern Kalahar

Short-term response in ungulate numbers to rainfall in the Nossob river of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park

Counts of springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest and blue wildebeest were made in the Nossob riverbed of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park to measure the response in abundance of these species to the onset of the summer rains. Springbok and red hartebeest showed an immediate increase in numbers, probably in response to improving grazing as the first green sprouts of the riverbed vegetation appeared. Gemsbok showed a delayed reaction, their numbers increasing only after the vegetation in the riverbeds grew tall enough to be utilized by them. Blue wildebeest showed a relatively small decline in numbers which could be due to local movements or the start of their annual east-west movement in winter

Conservation education on the academic level in southern Africa

Conservation in some form, albeit dormant at times, has probably been with man for many centuries. Yet wildlife conservation as a science is a relatively new concept, which basically originated in the United States of America (USA). That country also led the world in developing conservation education. This lead was followed by most progressive countries, although the nature of conservation and its related educational processes has been adopted to the attitudes and needs of individual countries

Notes on Movement by the Black-Backed Jackal and the Aardwolf in the Western Transvaal

For some time there has been a need for information on the extent and direction of movement by the black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas in the Western Transvaal. This information was sought to try and establish the potential range of the jackal before any attempts are made to develop more sophisticated tracking devices such as telemetry. During the preliminary study some aardwolves Proteles cristatus were caught and a few of these animals yielded incidental information on movement by this species. The results presented here are admittedly fragmentary. However, they provide the first documented evidence of long-term movements by the two species concerned. As such they form a basis for further research

Control and ecology of the black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas in the Transvaal

The black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas is the most important problem animal in sheepfarming areas of the Transvaal (Van Rensburg, 1965). As a result of this it has been under intensive study by the Transvaal Nature Conservation Division. Van Rensburg (1962) described the use of the "Humane Coyote Getter" in the control of jackal in the Transvaal. The present report deals with the results of further experiments undertaken in various parts of the Transvaal between February 1962 and September 1969 with this device and adds ecological information derived from these experiments