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SOME ASPECTS OF BIG‐GAME UTILIZATION OF MINERAL LICKS IN YANKARI GAME RESERVE, NIGERIA
Author(s) -
HENSHAW JOHN,
AYENI JULIUS
Publication year - 1971
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.1365-2028.1971.tb00221.x
Subject(s) - game reserve , geography , woodland , wildlife , nature reserve , big game , forestry , archaeology , environmental protection , ecology , biology
S ummary At least ten major mineral licks occur along the Gaji River which bisects the Yankari Game Reserve. The licks show varying degrees of utilization and have craters of up to 1200m 3 in volume. Three hundred and eighty five hours of observation were kept at one of the licks. Its use by different species was highly variable. Some species occurring in the reserve made no visits to the lick, whereas Western hartebeest (51 groups), waterbuck (53 groups) and warthog (276 groups) made frequent visits. Lick use was much greater in the daytime than at night, with the peak occurring around 1400 h. A limited number of soil samples (29) were analysed but no single element can be considered as the factor attracting wildlife. However, the lick areas were richer in most minerals than were samples of soil from drier habitat in the open woodland. It is possible that significantly increased lick use might in the future indicate degrading environmental conditions in the drier parts of the reserve. If hides are constructed, the commonly utilized licks will provide excellent opportunities for behaviour observatioii and photography by tourists.