Effects of age and sex on site fidelity, movement ranges and home ranges of white and black rhinoceros translocated to the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Pfannerstill, Vera; Signer, Johannes; Fitt, Michael; Burger, Kyle S.; Balkenhol, Niko; Bennitt, Emily

doi:10.1111/aje.13011

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…To date, the only published study on hippo movements made use of ankle collars-modified versions of collars used for tracking rhinos (Stears et al, 2019;Pfannerstill et al, 2022). Using this approach, Stears et al (2019) successfully tracked the movements of 10 male hippos, for a maximum of 1 year per animal in the Great Ruaha River ecosystem.…”

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

2023

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Megaherbivores perform vital ecosystem engineering roles, and have their last remaining stronghold in Africa. Of Africa's remaining megaherbivores, the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) has received the least scientific and conservation attention, despite how influential their ecosystem engineering activities appear to be. Given the potentially crucial ecosystem engineering influence of hippos, as well as mounting conservation concerns threatening their long‐term persistence, a review of the evidence for hippos being ecosystem engineers, and the effects of their engineering, is both timely and necessary. In this review, we assess, (i) aspects of hippo biology that underlie their unique ecosystem engineering potential; (ii) evaluate hippo ecological impacts in terrestrial and aquatic environments; (iii) compare the ecosystem engineering influence of hippos to other extant African megaherbivores; (iv) evaluate factors most critical to hippo conservation and ecosystem engineering; and (v) highlight future research directions and challenges that may yield new insights into the ecological role of hippos, and of megaherbivores more broadly. We find that a variety of key life‐history traits determine the hippo's unique influence, including their semi‐aquatic lifestyle, large body size, specialised gut anatomy, muzzle structure, small and partially webbed feet, and highly gregarious nature. On land, hippos create grazing lawns that contain distinct plant communities and alter fire spatial extent, which shapes woody plant demographics and might assist in maintaining fire‐sensitive riverine vegetation. In water, hippos deposit nutrient‐rich dung, stimulating aquatic food chains and altering water chemistry and quality, impacting a host of different organisms. Hippo trampling and wallowing alters geomorphological processes, widening riverbanks, creating new river channels, and forming gullies along well‐utilised hippo paths. Taken together, we propose that these myriad impacts combine to make hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore, specifically because of the high diversity and intensity of their ecological impacts compared with other megaherbivores, and because of their unique capacity to transfer nutrients across ecosystem boundaries, enriching both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Nonetheless, water pollution and extraction for agriculture and industry, erratic rainfall patterns and human–hippo conflict, threaten hippo ecosystem engineering and persistence. Therefore, we encourage greater consideration of the unique role of hippos as ecosystem engineers when considering the functional importance of megafauna in African ecosystems, and increased attention to declining hippo habitat and populations, which if unchecked could change the way in which many African ecosystems function.

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Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, the only published study on hippo movements made use of ankle collars—modified versions of collars used for tracking rhinos (Stears et al ., 2019; Pfannerstill et al ., 2022). Using this approach, Stears et al .…”

Section: Future Research Directions and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

2023

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“…These translocations are nowadays common practice and highly successful when rhinos are released into fenced reserves (Patton et al, 2010; Sheil & Kirkby, 2018). However, translocations of rhinos into open systems, such as the Okavango Delta in Botswana, have resulted in long‐distance dispersal of a few individuals (Pfannerstill et al, 2022; Støen et al, 2009). Released rhinos are usually monitored, so dispersers can be captured and transported back by truck, but this procedure is stressful and potentially harmful for the animals (Linklater et al, 2010), costly, and time‐consuming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential of conspecific playbacks as a post‐translocation management tool for white rhinoceros

Pfannerstill

Balkenhol

Bennitt

et al. 2023

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Translocations can be a useful management tool to support endangered species. Translocated white rhinoceroses sometimes disperse from their release sites and leave protected areas, requiring sedation and return transport by vehicles. To avoid stressful transportation, less invasive management tools are needed to get animals back to the release site. We tested whether playbacks of white rhinoceros calls can influence their movements and thereby offer a potential management tool. We performed 200 experiments with 26 free‐roaming white rhinoceroses in two reserves in Botswana and recorded response intensity and duration, including body movement toward and away from the loudspeaker in response to a socio‐positive and a socio‐negative call. Rhinoceroses responded more to conspecific calls than to control sounds but did not show consistent behavioral responses across all experiments per call type. Males approached the loudspeaker more often than females. The intensity of responses was higher for calls recorded from unfamiliar than from familiar callers and behavioral responses differed between reserves. Further research is necessary to develop an applicable design for a combination of playbacks that would more reliably lead to directed body movement responses.

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Bringing the Black rhino back: Key factors for reintroduction success

Wielgus,

Mandinyenya,

Wieprecht

et al. 2023

Global Ecology and Conservation

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Effects of age and sex on site fidelity, movement ranges and home ranges of white and black rhinoceros translocated to the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Cited by 6 publications

References 82 publications

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

Are hippos Africa's most influential megaherbivore? A review of ecosystem engineering by the semi‐aquatic common hippopotamus

Assessing the potential of conspecific playbacks as a post‐translocation management tool for white rhinoceros

Bringing the Black rhino back: Key factors for reintroduction success

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