22. Bushmeat Hunting in the Serengeti Ecosystem

Rentsch, Dennis; Hilborn, Ray; Knapp, Eli J.; Metzger, Kristine L.; Loibooki, Martin

doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226196336.003.0022

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…For WMG, numerous populations are scattered across the ~30,000 km 2 Serengeti Ecosystem, with no natural barriers that should impede dispersal and gene flow between them, but dispersal and movement rates among WMG populations are unknown. WMG populations are subject to predation pressure and illegal hunting (Rentsch et al, 2015 ; Strauss et al, 2015 ) despite the relatively high degree of protection afforded to national parks. By contrast the eastern Masai giraffe that inhabit the Tarangire Ecosystem east of the GRE is highly fragmented by tarmac roads, towns, villages, agriculture, and pastoralism all which have expanded exponentially in the past few decades (Borner, 1985 ; Lamprey, 1964 ; Morrison et al, 2016 ; Mwalyosi, 1991 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Masai Giraffe Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic evidence of population subdivision among Masai giraffes separated by the Gregory Rift Valley in Tanzania

Lohay

Lee

Wu-Cavener

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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The Masai giraffe has experienced a population decline from 70,000 to 35,000 in the past three decades and was declared an endangered subspecies by the IUCN in 2019. The remaining number of Masai giraffe are geographically separated by the steep cliffs of the Gregory Rift escarpments (GRE) in Tanzania and Kenya dividing them into two populations, one west and one east of the GRE. The cliffs of the GRE are formidable barriers to east–west dispersal and gene flow and the few remaining natural corridors through the GRE are occupied by human settlements. To assess the impact of the GRE on Masai giraffe gene flow, we examined whole genome sequences of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in populations located east (Tarangire ecosystem) and west (Serengeti ecosystem) of the GRE in northern Tanzania. Evidence from mtDNA variation, which measures female‐mediated gene flow, suggests that females have not migrated across the GRE between populations in the Serengeti and Tarangire ecosystems in the past ~289,000 years. The analysis of nuclear DNA variation compared to mtDNA DNA variation suggests that male‐mediated gene flow across the GRE has occurred more recently but stopped a few thousand years ago. Our findings show that Masai giraffes are split into two populations and fulfill the criteria for designation as distinct evolutionary significant units (ESUs), which we denote as western Masai giraffe and eastern Masai giraffe. While establishing giraffe dispersal corridors across the GRE is impractical, conservation efforts should be focused on maintaining connectivity among populations within each of these two populations. The importance of these efforts is heightened by our finding that the inbreeding coefficients are high in some of these Masai giraffe populations, which could result in inbreeding depression in the small and fragmented populations.

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