The wild ostrich (Struthio camelus): a review

Abstract

The aim of the current report was to study the literature pertinent to wild populations of ostriches and their ecological and behavioural adaptations in the wild. Selected areas included palaeontology; ostrich distribution; conservation status and relationships with humans and habitat. There is an immediate and urgent need to conserve and protect the apparently rapidly declining populations of wild ostriches with the committed involvement of governments and funding bodies. Wildlife management is an important complement to the farming of livestock. Scientists need to understand the elements of ostrich behaviour in the wild in order to make informed decisions on their management and contact with other animals. Information of the like should be included in readily-accessible and annually updated wildlife manuals. We deemed that such information was an essential part in the conservation of this dwindling ratite.

Rock art imagery as a proxy for Holocene environmental change: A view from Shuwaymis, NW Saudi Arabia

“…Against the background of the Holocene humid phase, it is surprising that all identified wild animals are adapted to arid or even desert conditions and were widespread in Arabia until at least the 19th century (Cooper et al, 2009; Harrison and Bates, 1991; IUCN, 2015). Moreover, all depicted domesticates can be raised in reasonably arid conditions.…”

“…In the context of an ecosystem in which animals adapted to arid conditions thrived, the absence of wild camel and ostrich during the early rock art period is surprising. While there is evidence that both species were present in some areas of the Arabian Peninsula (Cooper et al, 2009; Robinson and Matthee, 1999; Uerpmann and Uerpmann, 2012), their distribution during the Holocene is not yet known.…”

Ostrich eggshell beads reveal 50,000-year-old social network in Africa

“…This appears to contradict previous suggestions that shell thickness varies in response to temperature and aridity 31 . While thickness does not vary within each region through time, it is significantly different between the two regions ( P < 0.004 for phases III–V; Supplementary Tables 5 – 7 ), and may represent different ostrich sub-species 32 , 33 . The thinner southern African shell may have encouraged the production of smaller beads, and future studies should test this hypothesis, although this would not account for larger beads in southern African phase I (50–33 ka) and phase V (2 ka to present).…”

Coastal occupation and foraging during the last glacial maximum and early Holocene at Waterfall Bluff, eastern Pondoland, South Africa

“…It is unlikely that a woodland-adapted species was present in highland Lesotho during this time (Plug and Mitchell, 2008). At Waterfall Bluff, the presence of an ostrich eggshell bead (CN26816) from SRCS Josh also provides evidence for the movement of objects from inland to the coast during the Middle Holocene, assuming that the current distribution of ostriches—which are not indigenous to Pondoland today—was similar in the past (Cooper et al, 2009). Together, the marine and ostrich shell beads, as well as exotic faunal remains, hint at persistent contacts between coastal Indian Ocean and hinterland contexts, either through exchange via extensive social networks or group movement (Mitchell, 1996).…”