| Title |
Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Home Ranges in Sabi Sand Reserve and Kruger National Park: A Five-Year Satellite Tracking Study
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
PLOS ONE, December 2008
|
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0003902 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Bindi Thomas, John D. Holland, Edward O. Minot |
| Abstract |
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. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 147 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| Botswana | 1 | <1% |
| Kenya | 1 | <1% |
| South Africa | 1 | <1% |
| Czechia | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Peru | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 139 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 30 | 20% |
| Researcher | 26 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 23 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 12 | 8% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 10 | 7% |
| Other | 24 | 16% |
| Unknown | 22 | 15% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 64 | 44% |
| Environmental Science | 34 | 23% |
| Arts and Humanities | 4 | 3% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 2% |
| Psychology | 3 | 2% |
| Other | 13 | 9% |
| Unknown | 26 | 18% |