Characterization of spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta microsatellite loci

We have isolated 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the spotted hyena,Crocuta crocuta.The loci displayed between eight and 14 alleles in a minimum of 12 individuals tested. These loci will be used to investigate relatedness within social groups, the genetic structure of populations, sexual selection, and mate choice in spotted hyenas

Using camera trap bycatch data to assess habitat use and the influence of human activity on African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Kasungu National Park, Malawi

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are increasingly exposed to high levels of human disturbance and are threatened by poaching and human–elephant conflict. As anthropogenic pressures continue to increase, both inside and outside protected areas, understanding elephant behavioural responses to human activity is required for future conservation management. Here, we use bycatch data from camera trap surveys to provide inferences on elephant habitat use and temporal activity in Kasungu National Park (KNP), Malawi. The KNP elephant population has declined by ~ 95% since the late 1970s, primarily because of intensive poaching, and information on elephant ecology and behaviour can assist in the species’ recovery. Using occupancy modelling, we show that proximity to water is the primary driver of elephant habitat use in KNP, with sites closer to water having a positive effect on elephant site use. Our occupancy results suggest that elephants do not avoid sites of higher human activity, while results from temporal activity models show that elephants avoid peak times of human activity and exhibit primarily nocturnal behaviour when using the KNP road network. As key park infrastructure is located near permanent water sources, elephant spatiotemporal behaviour may represent a trade-off between resource utilisation and anthropogenic-risk factors, with temporal partitioning used to reduce encounter rates. Increased law enforcement activity around permanent water sources could help to protect the KNP elephant population during the dry season. Our findings highlight that camera trap bycatch data can be a useful tool for the conservation management of threatened species beyond the initial scope of research

Habitat associations of hawkfish: depth, distribution, and density at two sites in Kenya

Hawkfish (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Cirrhitidae) are a family of carnivorous, coral-dwelling fishes. Some of these have been identified as obligate coral-dwelling, facultative coral-dwelling, substratum-dwelling, or water column-dwelling, depending on the species and habitat. Research on hawkfish density and habitat associations has been conducted in the Atlantic, Pacific, and the eastern and central Indian oceans. However, little is known about the density or habitat associations on the coast of East Africa. This study investigates distribution and density patterns of hawkfish species off Kenya, as well as relationships with available coral habitats, at both shallow (<5 m) and deeper (5–15 m) coral reef sites. In addition, habitat associations of the two most abundant hawkfish species of the same genus [Paracirrhites arcatus (Cuvier, 1829) and Paracirrhites forsteri (Schneider, 1801)] are identified. Findings showed species-specific macrohabitat associations, whereby higher densities of P. arcatus were found on deep reefs, and higher densities of P. forsteri were found on shallow reefs. In addition, P. arcatus showed a positive association with the hard-branching coral Pocillopora. However, as there was less Pocillopora on the deep reefs, P. arcatus does not prefer the deep reefs simply because there is more Pocillopora present, lending support that these species are facultative coral dwellers. The increased density of hawkfish on deeper reefs could be an indication of mesopredator release, as the study's deep reef locations were within national reserves, which are open to some types of artisanal fishing, reducing the number of apex predators

Identifying individual wild Eastern grey wolves (<i>Canis lupus lycaon</i>) using fundamental frequency and amplitude of howls

<p>The use of amplitudes to identify individuals has historically been ignored by bioacoustic researchers due to problems of attenuation. However, recent studies have shown that amplitudes encode identity in a variety of mammal species. Previously, individuality has been demonstrated in both fundamental frequency (<i>F</i>₀) and amplitude changes of captive Eastern wolf (<i>Canis lupus lycaon</i>) howls with 100% accuracy where attenuation of amplitude due to distance was controlled in a captive environment. In this study, we aim to determine whether both fundamental frequency and amplitude data collected from vocalizations of wild wolves recorded over unknown distances, in variable conditions and with different recording equipment, can still encode identity. We used a bespoke code, developed in Matlab, to extract simple scalar variables from 67 high-quality solo howls from 10 wild individuals and 112 chorus howls from another 109 individuals, including lower quality howls with wind or water noise. Principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out on the fundamental frequency and normalized amplitude of harmonic 1, yielding histogram-derived PCA values on which discriminant function analysis was applied. An accuracy of 100% was achieved when assigning solo howls to individuals, and for the chorus howls a best accuracy of 97.4% was achieved. We suggest that individual recognition using our new extraction and analysis methods involving fundamental frequency and amplitudes together can identify wild wolves with high accuracy, and that this method should be applied to surveys of individuals in capture–mark–recapture and presence–absence studies of canid species.</p