Abstract
Mweya Peninsula (00? 11'S 29? 53'E) forms the northern shore of the Kazinga Channel at its confluence with Lake Idi Amin Dada (formerly Lake Edward). It is connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. The peninsula (Fig. 1) lies at two levels with a steep fault 30 m high running in a curve from north-east to south-west and dividing the area into two approximately equal parts. The lower area varies between lake level and about 15 m above it and is covered with scattered bushes of Capparis tomentosa Lam. which become dense towards the west. There are also isolated trees of Euphorbia candelabrum Kotschy. The upper part of the peninsula is more grassy and rises to a maximum of about 45 m above lake level. The dominant grass is Sporobolus pyramidalis P. Beauv. but Chloris gayana Kunth is also prominent. The National Park Headquarters, the laboratories of the Uganda Institute of Ecology and the Safari Lodge occupy the eastern part of the upper peninsula which is, therefore, not available to the wild animals although some enter the built-up region particularly at night. The area utilized by the animals is estimated to be about 4-4 km2. A grass airstrip, 950 x 33 m, was built in 1967 along the top of the north-west fault. The only other notable topographical features are three large erosion gullies on the south-east shore. Each is densely vegetated and has a grassy delta projecting into the channel. Mweya Peninsula was chosen for this study for a number of reasons apart from its convenient proximity to the laboratories of the Institute. It is an area which has been studied intensively for a number of years since Petrides & Swank (1965) first counted the game there in 1956 and it was one of the study areas in a series of monthly game counts carried out from 1963 to 1967 (Field & Laws 1970). It is also an area in which detailed studies have been or are being made of the small mammals (Neal 1970), waterbuck (Kobus defassa Ruppell) (Spinage 1967, 1969, 1970), warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus Pallas) (Clough 1969), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus Pallas) passerine birds and of the primary productivity. It has also the advantage of carrying a more or less resident population of animals apart from the elephant which move on and off freely. Fire has been excluded as a policy since 1964 and the area is closed to park visitors. However, the over-riding consideration which prompted the present study was the desire to monitor changes in the large mammal community which may have resulted from the removal of 270 hippopotamus (Hippopotmaus amphibius L.) in 1957-58. Prior to this, the number of
Published Version
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