Research Interests:
ABSTRACT
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in the city of Bristol in southwest Britain has been studied continuously since 1977. From 1990, intensive behavioral data have been collected on the social organization and patterns of space... more
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population in the city of Bristol in southwest Britain has been studied continuously since 1977. From 1990, intensive behavioral data have been collected on the social organization and patterns of space utilization of 4-8 fox groups in northwest Bristol. The ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We assessed numbers and biomass of species hunted and sold for wild meat in 12 park‐adjacent settlements in the Fazao Malfakassa National Park (FMNP), Togo. From hunter interviews and market carcass counts, 33 species, 28 from hunter... more
We assessed numbers and biomass of species hunted and sold for wild meat in 12 park‐adjacent settlements in the Fazao Malfakassa National Park (FMNP), Togo. From hunter interviews and market carcass counts, 33 species, 28 from hunter interviews and 26 from market surveys were taken, respectively. A total of 2605 animals were recorded in the study, 18 species during the wet season (740 animals) and 26 species in the dry season (1865 animals). In markets, 754 carcasses of 19 species were traded during the wet season, and 1896 carcasses of 24 species in the dry season. Most species were relatively small‐bodied mammals (62% of total numbers of animals reported), the rest large ungulates. Species were generally of minor conservation concern (LC or NT) with only three EN and NE. From the gathered field data, we estimated that an average of 9095 ± 5613 animals per study village were hunted per year, amounting to a biomass of 198,334 ± 191,930 kg. Despite efforts to protect the wildlife wit...
Research Interests:
Central African cities are major centres of demand for wild meat, even when affordable alternative proteins are widely available. Many people eat wild meat in restaurants; therefore, restaurateurs are well placed to provide insights into... more
Central African cities are major centres of demand for wild meat, even when affordable alternative proteins are widely available. Many people eat wild meat in restaurants; therefore, restaurateurs are well placed to provide insights into the wild meat trade and consumer preferences. We surveyed 326 restaurants in Brazzaville and Kinshasa, the adjoining capital cities of the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo, to determine which types of restaurants sell wild meat, how sales of wild meat dishes compared with those containing other proteins, and the importance of wild meat to these businesses. The majority of wild meat‐selling restaurants are informal establishments owned by women. Although most only sell wild meat dishes weekly, we estimate that nearly 10,000 wild meat dishes are consumed daily in restaurants across Brazzaville and Kinshasa. Its wide availability reinforces the social norm around eating wild meat, yet few restaurateurs considered wild meat to be c...
Research Interests:
Suitable habitats for anurans can be found in the ever‐growing tropical urban environments but anurans' adaptations to urban conditions, including their trophic ecology remain largely unknown. We studied the food habits of two... more
Suitable habitats for anurans can be found in the ever‐growing tropical urban environments but anurans' adaptations to urban conditions, including their trophic ecology remain largely unknown. We studied the food habits of two generalist, widespread West African Sclerophrys adult toads: African common (Sclerophrys regularis) and Hallowell's toad (Sclerophrys maculata). The first was studied in Lomé (Togo), Cotonou (Benin) and Ikeja (Nigeria), and the second in Port Harcourt and Ikeja (both Nigeria); the latter city represents the only studied sympatric occurrence. Mean dietary overlap between population pairs was relatively high, and diet composition of the two species when sympatric did not differ significantly. Food niche width was significantly positively correlated with local rainfall in both species, and diet composition changed significantly between the dry and wet seasons. Diversity metrics revealed that females had a more diversified diet, with higher evenness and lo...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The trade of bushmeat from rural areas to supply burgeoning cities is a major conservation and livelihood concern. Using a whole-city sampling strategy we mapped the distribution and numbers of meat outlets in the Kinshasa–Brazzaville... more
The trade of bushmeat from rural areas to supply burgeoning cities is a major conservation and livelihood concern. Using a whole-city sampling strategy we mapped the distribution and numbers of meat outlets in the Kinshasa–Brazzaville metropolitan area, two neighboring capital cities in Central Africa. We show that both cities differ in the number and density of meat outlets, with more in Brazzaville per area sampled and inhabitants. The number of meat outlets is related to human population densities and primarily concentrated along the banks of the Congo River, in the more affluent areas of the cities. Across the two cities, roughly 22% of all sampled markets (50% in Brazzaville and 19% in Kinshasa) and 24% of all visited restaurants (24% in each city) were selling bushmeat during our survey. Despite the relatively low number of establishments offering bushmeat for sale, extrapolated to the entire area and population of both cities, we expect the overall amount of wild animal meat ...
Research Interests:
Wild meat hunting and trade across African savannas is widespread. We interviewed 299 people in rural settlements along the Kenya-Tanzania border to examine impacts of COVID-19 on wild meat consumption and perceptions about wild meat... more
Wild meat hunting and trade across African savannas is widespread. We interviewed 299 people in rural settlements along the Kenya-Tanzania border to examine impacts of COVID-19 on wild meat consumption and perceptions about wild meat activities associated with zoonotic disease risks. Education level played a key part in understanding COVID-19 transmission. Information about the pandemic was mostly acquired from the media. Nearly all respondents recognized that COVID-19 originated in China. As many as 70% reported no impact of COVID-19 on wild meat consumption; some believed that there was an increase. Over half of the respondents believed that consumption of wild meat leads to food-borne illnesses. Respondents recognized disease risks such as anthrax and brucellosis and accepted that people slaughtering and handling wild meat with open cuts were at greater risk. Ungulates were the most consumed animals, followed by birds, rodents, and shrews. Respondents perceived that hyenas, monke...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Tel: +44 012 2343 1961 Email: nicky.jenner@fauna-flora.org ... backed jackal is a highly adaptive, medium-sized canid that occurs in various habitats, acting as predator and scavenger, and adopting an omnivorous diet that varies with... more
... Tel: +44 012 2343 1961 Email: nicky.jenner@fauna-flora.org ... backed jackal is a highly adaptive, medium-sized canid that occurs in various habitats, acting as predator and scavenger, and adopting an omnivorous diet that varies with food availability (Loveridge & Nel, 2004). ...
Research Interests:
The hunting of wild animals for their meat has been a crucial activity in the evolution of humans. It continues to be an essential source of food and a generator of income for millions of Indigenous and rural communities worldwide.... more
The hunting of wild animals for their meat has been a crucial activity in the evolution of humans. It continues to be an essential source of food and a generator of income for millions of Indigenous and rural communities worldwide. Conservationists rightly fear that excessive hunting of many animal species will cause their demise, as has already happened throughout the Anthropocene. Many species of large mammals and birds have been decimated or annihilated due to overhunting by humans. If such pressures continue, many other species will meet the same fate. Equally, if the use of wildlife resources is to continue by those who depend on it, sustainable practices must be implemented. These communities need to remain or become custodians of the wildlife resources within their lands, for their own well-being as well as for biodiversity in general. This title is also available via Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We found the ear mite parasite ( Otodectes cynotis; Acari: Psoroptidae) in two distant insular endangered fox populations in Chile. We identified Otodectes cynotis in both the Darwin's fox ( Pseudalopex fulvipes) from Chiloé and the... more
We found the ear mite parasite ( Otodectes cynotis; Acari: Psoroptidae) in two distant insular endangered fox populations in Chile. We identified Otodectes cynotis in both the Darwin's fox ( Pseudalopex fulvipes) from Chiloé and the Fuegian culpeo ( Pseudalopex culpaeus lycoides) in Tierra del Fuego. These populations are approximately 2,000 km apart. Infestation rates were high for both endemic foxes: 76% (19/25) of Darwin's foxes were affected, and 73% (11/15) of Fuegian culpeos had ear mites. Two Darwin's foxes had abundant ear discharge, and one of these also exhibited secondary infections of Morganella morganii and Geotrichum sp. fungi. Mites were characterized molecularly as Otodectes spp. for the Fuegian culpeo samples. Genetic analyses of two mites found the O. cynotis genotype I, as well as what appeared to be a new allele sequence for O. cynotis. These results confirmed the hypothesis of a worldwide distribution species of ear mite. Introduced chilla foxes ( Ps...
Research Interests: Zoology, Biology, Medicine, Wildlife Diseases, Chiloe, and 4 moreAcari, Tierra del Fuego, Veterinary Sciences, and Mite
Research Interests:
to . Classic skyline was shown as thin line, generalized skyline as thick line, and dot line as the expected demographic history.<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Complex population genetic and demographic history... more
to . Classic skyline was shown as thin line, generalized skyline as thick line, and dot line as the expected demographic history.<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Complex population genetic and demographic history of the Salangid, , based on cytochrome b sequences"http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/201BMC Evolutionary Biology 2008;8():201-201.Published online 14 Jul 2008PMCID:PMC2483725.
Te undetected intermediate haplotype states separated by one mutational step. Boxes indicate one-step to two-step nesting levels for the nested clade analysis in NCA.<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Complex... more
Te undetected intermediate haplotype states separated by one mutational step. Boxes indicate one-step to two-step nesting levels for the nested clade analysis in NCA.<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Complex population genetic and demographic history of the Salangid, , based on cytochrome b sequences"http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/201BMC Evolutionary Biology 2008;8():201-201.Published online 14 Jul 2008PMCID:PMC2483725.
African Pygmies exhibit a unique, genetically determined child growth dynamics and adult stature but the impact on assessing undernutrition remains unknown. Baka Pygmy health is highly compromised compared to sympatric populations.... more
African Pygmies exhibit a unique, genetically determined child growth dynamics and adult stature but the impact on assessing undernutrition remains unknown. Baka Pygmy health is highly compromised compared to sympatric populations. Evaluating child undernutrition is an important step to address this health quandry. We estimate stunting and wasting in Cameroon's Baka children and investigate the applicability of the standards for Pygmy people. Anthropometric and health data from 685 2-to12 year old children were collected at 25 health centres in southern Cameroon. Growth was analysed using both, WHO Child Growth Standards and the population itself as reference to define frequencies of stunting, wasting and obesity. Baka children revealed with 68.4% the highest recorded level globally of stunting relative to the WHO child growth standard in 2-to-4 year olds. Wasting was at 8.2% in the upper third range in Sub-Saharan Africa. Obesity was with 6.5% similar to wasting, but no compara...
... The slower gaits are the majority in the valley and the dune. In the plain the two variants of gallop are utilized in more than 50% of the tracks. ... As speed is not an issue while foraging, especially because no chasing is needed... more
... The slower gaits are the majority in the valley and the dune. In the plain the two variants of gallop are utilized in more than 50% of the tracks. ... As speed is not an issue while foraging, especially because no chasing is needed here, the slower gaits are preferred. ...
Research Interests:
TMRCA (kyr) in generations using a mutation rate of 1% × 10per year. The tree shows the ancestral distribution of mutations and events (TMRCA, recent rapid expansion) in the population history.<b>Copyright... more
TMRCA (kyr) in generations using a mutation rate of 1% × 10per year. The tree shows the ancestral distribution of mutations and events (TMRCA, recent rapid expansion) in the population history.<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Complex population genetic and demographic history of the Salangid, , based on cytochrome b sequences"http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/201BMC Evolutionary Biology 2008;8():201-201.Published online 14 Jul 2008PMCID:PMC2483725.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Additional file 1. : Questionnaire pour les produits forestiers non ligneux (PFNL) utilises dans l'arrondissement de mintom: les plantes alimentaires.
Research Interests:
A significant number of Baka Pygmies in Cameroon have been sedentarised in roadside villages, in contrast to their nomadic hunter-gatherer existence of the past. Although this change in lifestyle has had important consequences on health,... more
A significant number of Baka Pygmies in Cameroon have been sedentarised in roadside villages, in contrast to their nomadic hunter-gatherer existence of the past. Although this change in lifestyle has had important consequences on health, most Baka villages still supplement their diets from forest products, especially wild meat. We used a combination of participatory methods and monitoring of individual hunters to map hunting territories in 10 Baka villages in southeastern Cameroon. From these, we determined whether wild meat extraction levels per village were related to the size of hunting territories, measured habitat use by hunters and finally defined the overlap between hunting territories and extractive industries in the region. Mapped village hunting areas averaged 205.2 ± 108.7 km2 (range 76.8–352.0 km2); all villages used a total of 2052 km2. From 295 tracks of 51 hunters, we showed that hunters travelled an average of 16.5 ± 13.5 km (range 0.9–89.8 km) from each village. Hom...
Research Interests:
A body plan (bauplan) is a suite of morphological characters shared by phylogenetically related animals at some point during their development. Despite its value, the bauplan concept is still rarely employed to characterize functional... more
A body plan (bauplan) is a suite of morphological characters shared by phylogenetically related animals at some point during their development. Despite its value, the bauplan concept is still rarely employed to characterize functional groups in community ecology. Here, we examine habitat use and spatio-temporal activity correlates of an entire seven-species community of lizards with different bauplans. The study was carried out in three locations in central Italy, encompassing a complex landscape with a patchy mosaic of a wide variety of habitats and microclimates. We tested four hypotheses regarding niche breadth, habitat use, and activity patterns. The first hypothesis, niche complementarity, in which species with similar body shapes should non-randomly partition available habitats, was not supported. By contrast, the hypotheses that larger bodied species should have a wider niche breadth, that slower species should inhabit habitat types of higher cover, and species inhabiting ope...
Research Interests:
We determined stunting, wasting, and obesity frequencies in a total 1092 2-to-12 year old Baka Pygmy children from anthropometric and health data gathered in 34 villages in the Djoum-Mintom region in southeastern Cameroon in four health... more
We determined stunting, wasting, and obesity frequencies in a total 1092 2-to-12 year old Baka Pygmy children from anthropometric and health data gathered in 34 villages in the Djoum-Mintom region in southeastern Cameroon in four health campaigns in 2010 and 2017–9. We compare these to the WHO Child Growth Standards, Amazonian Tsiname growth references for inter-population comparisons and the study population itself. Population-specific growth charts were constructed using GAMLSS modelling. Our results show that Baka children have one of the highest global rates of stunting relative to the WHO child growth standard with 57.8% for 2-to-12 year olds and 64% and 73% for 2-to-4 year old girls and boys, respectively. Frequencies of wasting, overweight, and low BMI were low at 3.4%, 4.6% and 4.3%, respectively, for 2-to-12 year olds. Underweight was at 25.5%, in the upper range for sub-Saharan Africa. Edemas indicated rare severe malnutrition (0.3%). Uncertainties in age estimation had dr...
Research Interests:
Differences in socioeconomic conditions and health have been reported for African Pygmies and their sympatric populations of other ethnic groups. We collected anthropometric data in southern Cameroon from Baka and their Bantu neighbours,... more
Differences in socioeconomic conditions and health have been reported for African Pygmies and their sympatric populations of other ethnic groups. We collected anthropometric data in southern Cameroon from Baka and their Bantu neighbours, and also extracted data from the five available and representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in sub-Saharan African countries that have Pygmy populations..Our results show that the Baka exhibited a weak but significant decline of body mass index (BMI) with age (p = 0.003) without a sex difference. At a larger geographical scale, all five DHS surveys revealed flat or negative slopes for Pygmy BMI with age. Except for one non-Pygmy ethnic group, the slope was less than for all DHS- surveyed non-Pygmy African ethnicities. Pygmy populations were the least wealthy in all surveys, but no pattern for anaemia levels versus BMI emerged. We argue that the declining or stagnant trajectory of Pygmy BMI over age is most concerning, since this sets the...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Background: Forest inhabitants worldwide, and Indigenous Peoples especially, have depended for generations on plants and animals harvested in these ecosystems. A number of Baka hunter-gatherer populations in south-eastern Cameroon became... more
Background: Forest inhabitants worldwide, and Indigenous Peoples especially, have depended for generations on plants and animals harvested in these ecosystems. A number of Baka hunter-gatherer populations in south-eastern Cameroon became sedentarised in the 1950s, but still rely on hunting and gathering to meet their basic needs. The use of wild edible plants (WEP) by these communities remains largely undocumented. In this study we record the diversity of WEP used by Baka people in dense rainforests in the Mintom region. The area still contains relatively undisturbed forest expanses, just south of the Dja Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important protected areas in the Congo Basin.Methods: We conducted two ethnobotanical surveys in 2019 in four villages on the Mintom road. In the first survey, we interviewed a total of 73 individuals to determine WEP usage. In our second survey, we specifically quantified WEP harvested and consumed daily in a number of households over a two-week ...
Research Interests:
As a result of sedentarisation many Baka Pygmies have changed their mobility patterns away from nomadic lifestyles to living in roadside villages. These settled groups are increasingly dependent on cultivated foods but still rely on... more
As a result of sedentarisation many Baka Pygmies have changed their mobility patterns away from nomadic lifestyles to living in roadside villages. These settled groups are increasingly dependent on cultivated foods but still rely on forest resources. The level of dependence on hunting of wild animals for food and cash, as well as the hunting profiles of sedentarised Pygmy groups is little known. In this study we describe the use of wild meat in 10 Baka villages along the Djoum-Mintom road in southeastern Cameroon. From data collected from 1,946 hunting trips by 121 hunters, we show that most trips are of around 13 hours and a median of eight hours. A mean ± SD of 1.15 ± 1.11 animal carcasses are taken in a single trip; there was a positive correlation between duration of trips and carcasses. A total of 2,245 carcasses of 49 species of 24 animal families were taken in the study; species diversity was similar in all villages except one. Most hunted animals were mammals, with ungulates...
The Posavina and Croatian Coldblood are Croatian autochthonous horse breeds with interwoven breeding histories for which studbooks have only recently been established. The Lipizzan breed has the oldest formalized breeding and no record of... more
The Posavina and Croatian Coldblood are Croatian autochthonous horse breeds with interwoven breeding histories for which studbooks have only recently been established. The Lipizzan breed has the oldest formalized breeding and no record of recent genetic introgression from other breeds in Croatia. We analyzed the genetic structure, interbreeding, and breed characteristics by genotyping nine dinucleotide microsatellite loci for 53 Posavina, 37 Croatian Coldblood, and 33 Lipizzan horses and showed that differing breeding schemes and histories have had a strong and measurable impact on the population genetic structure within and between the three breeds. A Bayesian clustering method demonstrated that two population clusters best explain the genetic structure. Samples from the pre-defined breeds of the Posavina and Croatian Coldblood were assigned to a separate genetic cluster, while Lipizzan specimens were assigned to another distinct genetic group. Twelve samples of the Posavina/Croati...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Thomas Dixon, Fiona Fisken, Kristen Leus, Matthew Smith, Miranda Stevenson and Pritpal Soorae allowed us to use their unpublished data, and we thank them for entrusting these to us. Amy Hall was most generous in helping us with... more
... Thomas Dixon, Fiona Fisken, Kristen Leus, Matthew Smith, Miranda Stevenson and Pritpal Soorae allowed us to use their unpublished data, and we thank them for entrusting these to us. Amy Hall was most generous in helping us with redrawing figures and maps. ...