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THE EFFECTS OF TSETSE CONTROL OPERATIONS ON COMMON DUIKER IN EASTERN ZAMBIA
Author(s) -
Wilson V. J.,
Roth H. H.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.1967.tb00761.x
Subject(s) - population , juvenile , geography , ecology , population growth , reproduction , biology , demography , sociology
Summary The effects of intensive Tsetse Control hunting operations on a duiker population ( Sylvicapra grimmia ) were investigated in a 200 sq. mile area in Eastern Zambia. Two years of hunting were insufficient to reduce this population so significantly that a marked shift of its age composition towards the juvenile age classes resulted. There were, however, indications of beginning accelerated population growth through increased breeding and inclusion of more juveniles in the reproduction process, as a first response to the hunting pressure. Although general availability of duiker did not diminish, they became increasingly difficult to shoot because of behavioural adaptation and changing periods of feeding activity. Neither hunting nor various other human disturbances provoked emigration from the area or a change of the seasonal pattern of localised movement. The studied hunting operation failed to remove more than the annual increment to the duiker population and in respect of this species was thus ineffective as a means of Tsetse Control. Implications of the results of this study for the management of duiker for sustained meat production are discussed.