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Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme LOLLDAIGA HILLS RESEARCH PROGRAMME NEWSLETTER Tom Butynski & Yvonne de Jong November – December 2019 (Issue 22) Cover photograph: Aberrant-coloured (white) adult male Smith’s Dik-dik Madoqua (guentheri) smithii, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, central Kenya. This is likely the same dik-dik camera trapped at this site in 2016 when its coat was grizzled-grey. The Zoological Society of London/Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme Camera Trap Project, initiated in 2013, has ‘captured’ two aberrant-coloured adult male Smith’s Dik-diks on the Ranch. More information about aberrant-coloured dik-diks can be found in Issues 6 and 16 of this Newsletter (www.lolldaiga.com) and at: http://www.lolldaiga.com/gunthers-dik-dik/. A review of the taxonomy, distribution, and identification of dik-diks in East African can be downloaded at: http://www.lolldaiga.com/madoquagnusletter/. Photograph by ZSL/LHRP camera trap. New to lolldaiga.com • Note: Distribution, abundance, and natural history of Lelwel Hartebeest on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, central Kenya • Blog: Methods used to shine light on the distribution and abundance of the Kenya Lesser Galago on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Kenya • Blog: Improving coexistence between people and wildlife in Laikipia County • Publication: Primates of Africa’s coastal deltas and their conservation • Additions to Heather Wall’s and Johannes Refisch’s photographic portfolios Adult male Lion Panthera leo with radio collar, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch , central Kenya . Photograph by Heather Wall. 1 Note Distribution, abundance, and natural history of Lelwel Hartebeest on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, central Kenya Thomas M. Butynski & Yvonne A. de Jong, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme The Lelwel Hartebeest (or ‘Kenya Highland Hartebeest’) Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel (Figures 1, 3, 4 & 5) is an ‘Endangered’ subspecies (IUCN 2016b). In Kenya, this subspecies is now primarily restricted to Laikipia County were only about 1,000 individuals remain (T. Butynski & Y. de Jong, in prep.). Hartebeest are strictly grazers that live in habitats dominated by grass, namely open and lightly wooded plains. They typically forage on short grass during the wet season and on long grass during the dry season in areas where drinking water is available (Gosling & Capellini 2013). Figure 1. Adult female Lelwel Hartebeest Alcephalus buselaphus lelwel with new-born calf, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Laikipia County, central Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski. On Lolldaiga Hills Ranch (ca. 200 km²; ca. 1,700–2,300 m asl; www.lolldaiga.com), eastern Laikipia County, the altitudinal range known to be occupied by Hartebeest is ca. 1,750–2,100 m asl. The ‘Extent of Occurrence’ (IUCN 2016a) during August 2013–January 2019 was ca. 73 km², or ca. 37% of Lolldaiga Hills Ranch (hereafter, ‘Lolldaiga’; Figure 2). 2 Figure 2. Distribution of Lelwel Hartebeest Alcephalus buselaphus lelwel on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Laikipia County, central Kenya, during 2013–2019. Map by the authors. 3 Hartebeest were absent from Lolldaiga from at least 1960 until about 1982. Numbers peaked at about 100 individuals towards the end of the 1990s and remained at this level until around 2010 (Robert Wells, pers. comm.). The number of Hartebeest on Lolldaiga varied greatly from August 2013 through January 2019; there were as many as 35 individuals in 2014 but none during much of 2018 (Table 1). Thus, density within the ’Extent of Occurrence’ varied from no Hartebeest to 0.5 Hartebeest/km². These changes in numbers on Lolldaiga appear to be largely due to the fact that Hartebeest moved freely to the east onto and off of the contiguous Ole Naishu Ranch (ca. 125 km²) and Enasoit Game Sanctuary in the west (ca. 17 km²; Figure 2) as grazing conditions and the availability of water dictated. At least some of the change is, however, due to predation, as approximately 20 Lion Panthera leo, 30 Leopard Panthera pardus, 12 Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, 200 Spotted Hyaena Crocuta crocuta, and three packs of Wild Dog Lycaon pictus used Lolldaiga during this period. All five of these species kill Hartebeest of all ages. Black-backed Jackal Canis mesomelas and Olive Baboon Papio anubis, both common on Lolldaiga, kill new-born calves (Gosling 1969; Gosling & Capellini 2013). Table 1. Approximate range in the number of Lelwel Hartebeest Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Laikipia County, central Kenya, during each year from mid-2013 through January 2019. Year Number of Hartebeest 2013 16–19 2014 20–35 2015 17–22 2016 9–12 2017 20–23 2018 0–8 Figure 3. Adult female Lelwel Hartebeest Alcephalus buselaphus lelwel, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Laikipia County, 2019 22 central Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski. Size of Hartebeest herds on Lolldaiga during 20013–2019 ranged from 2 to 23 individuals. Mean herd size was ca. 8 individuals. The number of herds on Lolldaiga at any one time varied from none to three, and the number of lone adult males on territories ranged from none to two. Twenty-five calves are known to have been born during this period. Calves that lack horns are <1 month of age (Gosling 1969). The monthly distribution of births is as follows: 5 in March; 7 April; 2 May; 1 June; 7 October; 1 November; 1 December; 1 January. Figure 4. Adult female Lelwel Hartebeest Alcephalus buselaphus lelwel, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Laikipia County, central Kenya. Photograph by Heather Wall. 4 As such, there appears to be two birth seasons, both focused on the two wettest periods (March–May and October–November). Only one birth (January) was recorded for the two driest periods (January–February and July–September). This bimodal pattern of calving has also been documented for Coke’s Hartebeest Alcelaphus buselaphus cokii in Nairobi National Park (Gosling 1969). Calving at the start of the rains helps to ensure that there is abundant green grass and water during lactation and early weaning and, again, 7–8 months later when calves are fully weaned (Gosling 1969; Kok 1975). A gestation of about 8 months (Gosling 1969) means that Hartebeest on Lolldaiga mate mainly during August– October and March–April. Figure 5. Adult male Lelwel Hartebeest Alcephalus buselaphus lelwel, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Laikipia County, central Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski. We thank the follow for providing data used in this note: Mike Roberts, Robert Wells, Julius Mathiu, Paul Benson, Per Aronsson, Heather Wall, and Jim Wall. References: Gosling, L. M. 1969. Parturition and related behaviour in Coke’s Hartebeest Alcelaphus buselaphus cokei Günther. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility (Supplement) 6: 265–286. Gosling, L. M. & Capellini, I. 2013. Alcelaphus buselaphus Hartebeest. In: Mammals of Africa, Volume VI. Pigs, Hippopotamuses, Chevrotain, Giraffes, Deer and Bovids. Kingdon, J. & Hoffmann, M., eds., pp. 511–526. Bloomsbury, London. IUCN. 2016a. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Species Survival Commission, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. www.iucnredlist.org. IUCN 2016b. IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2016. Lelwel Hartebeest Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/811/50181009. Kok, O. B. 1975. Behaviour and ecology of the Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus caama). Nature Conservation, Bloemfontein, Orange Free State Provincial Administration, Miscellaneous Publication No. 5. 5 African Black- shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus, Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, central Kenya. Photograph by Heather Wall. 6 Blog Methods used to shine light on the distribution and abundance of the Kenya Lesser Galago on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, Kenya Grace Ellison, Simon Kenworthy & Amelia Ramage, Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University Galagos, or ‘bushbabies’, are nocturnal primates distributed across much of sub-Saharan Africa (Butynski et al. 2013). They are the oldest extant primates, occupying the basal position in the phylogeny of the Order Primates (Perelman et al. 2011). Reviews of the taxonomy and diversity of galagos highlight the lack of data available on currently acknowledged and potentially new species (Grubb et al. 2003; De Jong & Butynski 2012; Butynski et al. 2013). Research on the behaviour and ecology of free-ranging populations of galagos is urgently needed in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressure (Bearder et al. 2003). The Northern Lesser Galago Galago senegalensis is the most widely distributed of the galagos, yet the literature on its behaviour and ecology is limited (Nash et al. 2013). Figure 1. Kenya Lesser Galago Galago senegalensis braccatus, Tumbili Estate, central Kenya. Photograph by The main aim of our study is to assess the distribution Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski. and abundance of the Kenya Lesser Galago G. s. braccatus (Figures 1 & 2) on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, eastern Laikipia County, central Kenya. We collected habitat data and used distance sampling, camera traps, and passive acoustic recorders to detect their presence. We spent just under 5 weeks (28 June 2018–30 July 2018) on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, based at Dik-Dik Research Camp. Here we describe the methods used during this study and provide preliminary results on the effectiveness of these methods. Figure 2. Kenya Lesser Galago Galago senegalensis braccatus, Mukima Ridge, central Kenya. Photograph by Paul Benson. 7 We used a map of the tracks on Lolldaiga Hills Ranch to predetermine transects for distance sampling (Figure 3). Each night, between 19:00 h and 23:00 h, we slowly (<10 km/h) drove one randomly chosen transect. We drove 100 km of transects in total (N=15). With the help of torches, at least three researchers searched for galagos from both sides of the vehicle. We found galagos by their yellow/orange eye shine and leaping locomotion. We encountered galagos 178 times (total of 220 individuals). When we spotted a galago, we marked the location and altitude using a GPS and noted: number of individuals; estimated distance perpendicular to the vehicle; height above ground of each galago when first sighted (ground; <0–4 m; 4–8 m; 8–12 m; >12 m); and habitat Figure 3.
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