Centered at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, we are a small group of students, managers and scientists engaged in a collaborative learning project to develop innovative large herd scenarios for exotic hoofstock management.
So what exactly is Dr. Hoofstock? It’s quite simple actually. Dr. Hoofstock is a collaborative long term research project currently being implemented at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. The researchers involved are exploring how various management techniques affect the structure and dynamics of the herds of large hoofed mammals that roam there.
In its current phase, the main researcher is Renee Jones, a graduate student at Texas A&M University. Renee is focusing on the waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), a semi-aquatic antelope from Africa, and how relatively recent modifications to the dominant males of the herd are affecting the health of all the animals involved.
As Dr. Packard’s intern for the semester I was assigned to help Renee with her research, and the knowledge I’ve gained has been an amazing and invaluable experience.
Waterbuck are amazing animals, though not often heard about. Truth is I didn’t know they existed before I started working on this project. But here are some fun facts I’ve learned about waterbuck over the course of my internship that I’d love to share with you.
Fun Fact #1: Despite the name and habitat choice (waterbuck are almost always found near bodies of water), waterbuck are not actually an aquatic species. Waterbuck are so named because of the belief that they use the water as a means of escaping from predators. Instead of outrunning their foes like most of the other ungulates of the African savannah, some researchers suggest waterbuck flee to the rivers and lakes whenever being chased. Since most of the African predators are poorly equipped to chase large ungulates through the water, the waterbuck are safe there. However, this theory has been much debated over the years.
Fun Fact #2: The shaggy, brown coat of the waterbuck gives off a slightly smelly, oily secretion that is believed to help make them more waterproof when they enter the water. Some people even believe that this oil is so strong that the meat of older waterbucks gives off a horrible odor that deters some predators.
Fun Fact #3: The gestation period of the waterbuck is usually around 8 months, almost the same as humans!
Fun Fact #4: There is a subspecies of waterbuck called the Defassa waterbuck. While common waterbuck have an elliptical shaped, halo of white fur around their rump, the Defassa waterbuck have large patches of white fur that surround their rump instead. It is very interesting to note that in areas where these two animals reside together, they have actually been known to interbreed and hybridize. These hybrids have a completely different rump pattern that looks kinda like a U with a thick base or a crescent moon lying on its thick side.
Common Waterbuck: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3316894684_628606f29e.jpg
If you'd like to know even more about these amazing creatures, check out some of the resources I've linked to below. These were provided through another blog managed by our team that goes much more in depth into this project. Feel free to check out the rest of it if you so desire!
For more sources on the waterbuck: http://blogs.tamu.edu/hoofstock/observations-of-the-waterbuck-herd/tamu/
For some common questions important to those managing this species: http://blogs.tamu.edu/hoofstock/natural-history-of-the-waterbuck/
Bernard, It seems like this project is a big deal. But I don't really understand why this project is so important. What is the purpose of doing such a behavioral study?
That is a great question! Behavioral studies are an extremely important part of research. They are cool in that they help us to better understand the organisms that we share our world with. The better we understand them, the more likely we are to appreciate them for their beauty and realize how important they are for the health of our planet. All of the animals in our world play an important role in stabilizing the various ecosystems in which they live, and sometimes it takes more than just knowing the weight of an animal or the colors of its markings to understand their contributions to the environment. Knowing animal behaviors and understanding what stresses them out also greatly contributes to being able to find ways in which we as people can coexist peacefully with them.
But what does this have to do with the waterbuck? I’m glad you asked! You see even though these waterbuck live in an altered environment, the things we can learn from them are almost the same as what we could learn from those running in the wild. Studies on captive animals are often times a great way to understand their wild counterparts and much easier to perform (since the animals have a much smaller place to hide in). So were learning a lot of awesome information about the way waterbuck herds work. This particular project is even more unique in that the researchers at Fossil Rim are actually hoping to use this study and apply it to the other ungulate species in their park. The waterbuck are a “test drive,” if you will. With the success of this strategy, the managers at Fossil Rim are hoping to apply similar strategies to some of the much more rare species that they have and in doing so greatly increase the chances of survival for their species.
For the Big Herds project, we will be focusing on four antelope species considered at risk:
sable addax scimitar horned oryx Addra gazelle
The first step was to see if the protocol that Renee developed for the waterbuck would work for the sable. Justin revised the protocol in fall 2009. Pita will be our first intern to be trained with this protocol and to test it out on all four species.
Karla and William will be joining our research team on June 18, as a field trip for our online Behavioral Ecology course. They were asking about background info on some the species. I recommend using Wikipedia to look up species and keywords for this project:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
The species we are currently observing are: sable antelope (Hippotragus niger) addax (Addax nasomaculatus)
The adaptations of these two species are on two ends of a continuum from wet woodlands (sable) to dry desert (addax).
Some of the other species we will be observing and talking about include: waterbuck (floodplains), gemsbock (dry grasslands), scimitar horned oryx (dry deserts), and addra gazelle (dry deserts).
We will be discussing in general how the distribution of the resources (in time and space) influence the grouping patterns of the females (see Krebs & Davies 1993:215). In turn, the distribution of the females influences the grouping and competition of the males.
In general, where resources are scarce and spread evenly in time and space, females are loners or live in small groups of moms and daughters. Where resources are plentiful, females stick together in groups (matrilines) as there is not much competition for food.
Sparce resources usually means large home ranges. Abundant food means small home ranges. However, when the resource abundance shifts seasonally (time dimension) then we see conditional strategies, where one female may switch tactics between solitary and group living.
So what exactly is Dr. Hoofstock? It’s quite simple actually. Dr. Hoofstock is a collaborative long term research project currently being implemented at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. The researchers involved are exploring how various management techniques affect the structure and dynamics of the herds of large hoofed mammals that roam there.
ReplyDeleteIn its current phase, the main researcher is Renee Jones, a graduate student at Texas A&M University. Renee is focusing on the waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), a semi-aquatic antelope from Africa, and how relatively recent modifications to the dominant males of the herd are affecting the health of all the animals involved.
As Dr. Packard’s intern for the semester I was assigned to help Renee with her research, and the knowledge I’ve gained has been an amazing and invaluable experience.
Bernard,
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about waterbuck, and would like to learn more about them. Why are they called waterbuck? What are some fun facts about them?
Waterbuck are amazing animals, though not often heard about. Truth is I didn’t know they existed before I started working on this project. But here are some fun facts I’ve learned about waterbuck over the course of my internship that I’d love to share with you.
ReplyDeleteFun Fact #1: Despite the name and habitat choice (waterbuck are almost always found near bodies of water), waterbuck are not actually an aquatic species. Waterbuck are so named because of the belief that they use the water as a means of escaping from predators. Instead of outrunning their foes like most of the other ungulates of the African savannah, some researchers suggest waterbuck flee to the rivers and lakes whenever being chased. Since most of the African predators are poorly equipped to chase large ungulates through the water, the waterbuck are safe there. However, this theory has been much debated over the years.
Fun Fact #2: The shaggy, brown coat of the waterbuck gives off a slightly smelly, oily secretion that is believed to help make them more waterproof when they enter the water. Some people even believe that this oil is so strong that the meat of older waterbucks gives off a horrible odor that deters some predators.
Fun Fact #3: The gestation period of the waterbuck is usually around 8 months, almost the same as humans!
Fun Fact #4: There is a subspecies of waterbuck called the Defassa waterbuck. While common waterbuck have an elliptical shaped, halo of white fur around their rump, the Defassa waterbuck have large patches of white fur that surround their rump instead. It is very interesting to note that in areas where these two animals reside together, they have actually been known to interbreed and hybridize. These hybrids have a completely different rump pattern that looks kinda like a U with a thick base or a crescent moon lying on its thick side.
Common Waterbuck:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3316894684_628606f29e.jpg
Defassa Waterbuck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Defassa_waterbuck01.JPG
Fun Fact #5: Only male waterbuck grow horns, and these horns are heavily ridged and grow outwards.
If you'd like to know even more about these amazing creatures, check out some of the resources I've linked to below. These were provided through another blog managed by our team that goes much more in depth into this project. Feel free to check out the rest of it if you so desire!
ReplyDeleteFor more sources on the waterbuck:
http://blogs.tamu.edu/hoofstock/observations-of-the-waterbuck-herd/tamu/
For some common questions important to those managing this species:
http://blogs.tamu.edu/hoofstock/natural-history-of-the-waterbuck/
Bernard,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this project is a big deal. But I don't really understand why this project is so important. What is the purpose of doing such a behavioral study?
That is a great question! Behavioral studies are an extremely important part of research. They are cool in that they help us to better understand the organisms that we share our world with. The better we understand them, the more likely we are to appreciate them for their beauty and realize how important they are for the health of our planet. All of the animals in our world play an important role in stabilizing the various ecosystems in which they live, and sometimes it takes more than just knowing the weight of an animal or the colors of its markings to understand their contributions to the environment. Knowing animal behaviors and understanding what stresses them out also greatly contributes to being able to find ways in which we as people can coexist peacefully with them.
ReplyDeleteBut what does this have to do with the waterbuck? I’m glad you asked! You see even though these waterbuck live in an altered environment, the things we can learn from them are almost the same as what we could learn from those running in the wild. Studies on captive animals are often times a great way to understand their wild counterparts and much easier to perform (since the animals have a much smaller place to hide in). So were learning a lot of awesome information about the way waterbuck herds work. This particular project is even more unique in that the researchers at Fossil Rim are actually hoping to use this study and apply it to the other ungulate species in their park. The waterbuck are a “test drive,” if you will. With the success of this strategy, the managers at Fossil Rim are hoping to apply similar strategies to some of the much more rare species that they have and in doing so greatly increase the chances of survival for their species.
Here is a link to a presentation that tells more about how the waterbuck project served as a pilot study for the C2S2 Big Herds Management program:
ReplyDeletehttp://wfsc.tamu.edu/jpackard/share/presentations/HooFSTOCK4C2S2.pdf
For the Big Herds project, we will be focusing on four antelope species considered at risk:
ReplyDeletesable
addax
scimitar horned oryx
Addra gazelle
The first step was to see if the protocol that Renee developed for the waterbuck would work for the sable. Justin revised the protocol in fall 2009. Pita will be our first intern to be trained with this protocol and to test it out on all four species.
Karla and William will be joining our research team on June 18, as a field trip for our online Behavioral Ecology course. They were asking about background info on some the species. I recommend using Wikipedia to look up species and keywords for this project:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wikipedia.org/
The species we are currently observing are: sable antelope (Hippotragus niger)
addax (Addax nasomaculatus)
The adaptations of these two species are on two ends of a continuum from wet woodlands (sable) to dry desert (addax).
Some of the other species we will be observing and talking about include: waterbuck (floodplains), gemsbock (dry grasslands), scimitar horned oryx (dry deserts), and addra gazelle (dry deserts).
We will be discussing in general how the distribution of the resources (in time and space) influence the grouping patterns of the females (see Krebs & Davies 1993:215). In turn, the distribution of the females influences the grouping and competition of the males.
In general, where resources are scarce and spread evenly in time and space, females are loners or live in small groups of moms and daughters. Where resources are plentiful, females stick together in groups (matrilines) as there is not much competition for food.
Sparce resources usually means large home ranges. Abundant food means small home ranges. However, when the resource abundance shifts seasonally (time dimension) then we see conditional strategies, where one female may switch tactics between solitary and group living.
Here is a good source of background information on the two species and the husbandry manuals. It is a searchable database designed for professionals:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wildlifeinformation.org/
If you want to learn more about the behavioral ecology about some of these species, we will be using:
Estes, R.D. 1991. The Behavior of African Mammals. University of California Press: Berkeley.
Walther, F.R., Cary Mungall E., Grau, G.A. 1983. Gazelles and Their Relatives. Noyes Publications: Park Ridge, NJ
Walther, F.R. 1984. Communication and Expression in Hoofed Animals. Indiana University Press: Bloomington
Enjoy a virtual safari to South Africa!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMn__Q8Bo6c