Donnerstag, 17 Februar 2022 15:44

IUCN (2018)

Conservation strategy and action plan for Cuvier’s gazelle (Gazella cuvieri) in North Africa 2017-2026.

IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Malaga, Spain: x + 42 pp. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1905-4.

Summary:

Cuvier’s gazelle (Gazella cuvieri) is a species endemic to North Africa, with its distribution being limited to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The species is listed on CITES Appendix I and CMS Appendix I, within the framework of which the CMS Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes Action Plan was developed. Since it was created, this strategy has aimed to follow the abovementioned regional Action Plan and to become a tool for its implementation in order to protect this gazelle.

Cuvier’s gazelle is currently globally threatened and is classified as Vulnerable in IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, mainly due to its small population size. The major threats facing this species are poaching and habitat degradation. Faced with this situation and in order to counter this trend, a strategy and an action plan for this species’ conservation in North Africa were developed with the extensive collaboration of stakeholders, in particular: the national authorities in charge of wildlife conservation in three countries (in Morocco, the High Commission for Water, Forests and the Fight against Desertification; in Algeria, the Directorate-General of Forests of Algeria; and in Tunisia, the Directorate-General of Forests and the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment), the IUCN Antelope Specialist Group, national experts and NGO members. Thus, around 30 experts, managers and technicians in the field of conservation contributed to this work.

With this in mind, the aim of this strategy is to ensure that by 2050 there are viable, connected populations of Cuvier’s gazelle, occupying natural habitats in an area close to its historic range. In order to achieve this goal, drawn up by the main stakeholders in the three North African countries involved, seven intervention strategies were identified: (i) the protection and recovery of populations, (ii) the protection and management of the habitat, (iii) awareness raising and valorisation, (iv) research and monitoring, (v) international cooperation, (vi) capacity building and (vii) captive breeding and management. Each State then adapted these strategies and defined a purpose for its territory, supported by short-, medium- and long-term activities.

The success of this strategy is closely linked to the work by several stakeholders at different levels where each one must act in collaboration with various institutions in order to accomplish these goals effectively.

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Freigegeben in I

Reintroducing Cuvier’s gazelle. Better than expected from captive-bred founders.

Global Ecology and Conservation 23, e01094, ISSN 2351-9894, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01094.

Volltext (PDF)

Abstract:

The use of captive-bred animals as founder stock for reintroduction is sometimes discouraged due to their low genetic diversity and even accumulation of deleterious alleles. In October 2016, 43 Cuvier’s gazelles (12 males and 31 females), managed under a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) and housed in captivity, formed the base of a reintroduction project in Tunisia. The project approach used soft-release techniques. Upon arrival, animals were released in acclimatisation pens, so they could adjust to the new conditions gradually before true release. This study reports on the three-year period gazelles were in the acclimatisation pens before release into the wild. To assess the suitability of captive-bred Cuvier’s gazelles as founder stock for reintroduction, the demographic parameters of the reintroduced population were studied for three reproductive seasons in Tunisia (2017–2019). The demographic parameters of the reintroduced population were also compared to those from the source captive population as a control during the first breeding season. If the animals used as founders were unsuited, a decrease in demographic parameters could be expected over time in the reintroduced population, as well as lower demographic variables compared to the source population. Contrary to expectations, during the three-year study period, all demographic variables increased in the population reintroduced in Tunisia, except juvenile mortality, which decreased. Moreover, none of the demographic values of the gazelles in Tunisia were significantly different from the source population. We hypothesize that in the extremely bottlenecked captive Cuvier’s gazelle population used as founder stock, genetic diversity was still high enough to surmount the presumably deleterious effects of inbreeding. This is probably due to very high heritability (h2), a parameter providing information on the quantitative genetic variation associated with multi-locus quantitative traits previously found in this population. Although reintroduction programs have traditionally been undertaken purely as management exercises, ours was designed to meet a research objective as well. We wanted to find out the adaptive variation in sex ratio in offspring of female Cuvier’s gazelles using the size of the enclosure as a proxy reflecting their body condition. As found in captivity using consanguinity level as a proxy of body condition, in the reintroduced population, mothers in large enclosures produced more daughters while those in the small ones produced more sons, which supports adaptive manipulation of the birth sex ratio favoured by natural selection in reintroduced Cuvier’s gazelles.

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Freigegeben in M
Donnerstag, 17 Februar 2022 14:15

ABAIGAR, T. (2005)

Evaluation of habitat use of a semi-captive population of Cuvier’s gazelles Gazella cuvieri following release in Boukornine National Park, Tunisia.

Acta Theriologica 50(3):405-415. DOI:10.1007/BF03192635.

Abstract:

Thirteen Cuvier’s gazelles were relocated to a 6-ha acclimatization enclosure in Boukornine National Park (Boukornine NP) in Tunisia, where they are part of a reintroduction project. To determine the degree of adaptation and habitat use under the new conditions, the acclimatization enclosure was divided into 6 sections according to topography, plant cover and plant species in the area. Signs of gazelle activity were coded as feeding site, paths, passages, feces and resting places. Sampling was done in spring, summer and autumn from September 2000 to July 2001. Multivariate analysis using PATN analysis and Χ2 distribution tests were used to analyze the data. Multivariate analysis yielded 5 groups of biotopes according to the above variables. The Χ2 distribution test showed the significant effect of each variable on the presence of signs of gazelles. Cuvier’s gazelles prefer areas with low and west to north facing slopes and scant plant cover; animals are attracted to the proximity of the fence as the limit of their territory and even though the presence of humans does not represent a disturbance, gazelles select areas far (> 50 m) from the supplementary feeding and water supply for their activities.

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Freigegeben in A

Social organization and demography of reintroduced Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas neglecta) in North Ferlo Fauna Reserve, Senegal.

Mammalia 80(6): 593-600. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2015-0017

Abstract:

As part of a reintroduction project in Senegal, 23 (9.14) captive-born Dorcas gazelles were released into a 440-ha fenced-in area in Katané (North Ferlo Fauna Reserve, Senegal) in March 2009. After 4 years of seasonal monitoring, the gazelles showed progressive adaptation of their behavior to semi-wild living conditions. Breeding gradually became seasonal, and 53.8% of births occurred during the rainy season (July to September). Gazelle group size and composition varied seasonally. Groups were smallest during the dry season (2.29±1.72) and largest at the beginning of the rainy season (4.18±2.73). Social group composition also showed seasonal variation. There were always a larger proportion of solitary males than solitary females and mixed couples were observed throughout the year. All-male groups were found the least. The proportion of adult females with subadults and juveniles decreased during the early rainy season, while mixed adults, subadults and juveniles groups increased during this period. The mortality rate during the first weeks after release was 13%. Four years of monitoring after release, demographic traits of this released population reveal its adaptation from captive to natural-living conditions.

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Freigegeben in A

The role of Senegal in the recovery of the Sahelo-Saharan antelope species: The case of the reintroduction of Dorcas Gazelle.

GNUSLETTER 28(1): 6-8.

Abstract:

Abstract. During the last 25 years Senegal made a significant effort to recover the three sahelo Saharan species which disappeared from its sahelian region: the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), the mhorr gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr) and the dorcas gazelle (G. dorcas). With this purpose, the Senegalese government created two fauna reserves: the Guembeul Reserve and the Ferlo North Reserve. The mhorr gazelle was reintroduced in 1984 and the scimitar-horned oryx in 1999. The reintroduction of dorcas gazelles started in April 2007 with a project conceived to be carried out in three phases: phase 1) translocation of 20 gazelles (6.14) from the captive global population living in several zoological institutions in Europe to the Guembeul Reserve, phase 2) acclimtation to the new environmental and management conditions and growing of population under genetic control, and phase 3) translocation of part of the gazelles from the Guembeul Special Fauna Reserve to the North Ferlo Fauna Reserve and genetic reinforcement of the reintroduced population. After 14 months of the reintroduction, the gazelles are well adapted to the new conditions and now number 31 gazelles (9.22). To assure the success of the reintroduction project, other actions related with training and education of local people were carried out.

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Freigegeben in A
Mittwoch, 18 April 2018 11:30

WIESNER, H. (1984)

Notizen zur Haltung von Mhorr-Gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr).

Z. Kölner Zoo 27 (3): 110-113.

Zusammenfassung:

Die in den vergangenen zwei Jahren gemachten Erfahrungen bei der Haltung, Fütterung, mutterloser Aufzucht und Immobilisation von Mhorr-Gazellen im Münchner Tierpark Hellabrunn werden beschrieben.

 

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Freigegeben in W
Donnerstag, 14 Juni 2018 11:18

CANO PEREZ, M. (1984)

Revision der Systematik von Gazella (Nanger) dama.

Z.Kölner Zoo 27 (3): 103–107

Zusammenfassung:

Studium und Bewertung des Bestandes an Dama-Gazellen (Nanger) im "Centro de rescate de la Fauna Sahariana" in Almería vom "Consejo sperior de Investigaciones Cientificas", sowie des Materials in Museen von Madrid, Marseille, Paris, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Berlin und London und die Lebendbeobachtung dieser Gazellen, die derzeit in dem besagten Reservat und in Zoologischen Gärten stehen, sowie eine kritische Überprüfung der Literatur über diese Art, lassen zu dem Schluss kommen, dass die Dama-Gazelle eine Art mit kontinuierlichen Abstufungen darstellt. Daher ist die Beschreibung der zahlreichen Unterarten nicht gerechtfertigt, weshalb eine Reduzierung auf folgende drei Unterarten vorgeschlagen wird:

  • Gazella dama mhorr (BENNETT) für die nordwestlichen Bestände
  • Gazella dama ruficollis (HAMILTON-SMITH) für die östlichen Bestände
  • Gazella dama dama (PALLAS) für die südlichen und zentralen Bestände

 

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© Peter Dollinger, Zoo Office Bern hyperworx