Falls National Park Research Articles

Observations on Reproduction and Breeding Behavior of the African Elephant

Observations on the breeding behavior of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Uganda show that some wild females begin to breed at approximately 7 years and all females breed by approximately 11 years of age. A declining population and lower annual increment of elephants south of the Victoria Nile River in Murchison Falls National Park are associated with an average postpartum preconception interval more than three times longer than the 24.1-month (sic) period reported in 1953 by Perry. The change in length of this interval is possibly a function of self-regulation in population numbers. At least in some parts of its range, the wild African elephant breeds throughout the year with no distinct seasonal acceleration. Corpora lutea present during early pregnancy are not replaced during a subsequent stage of pregnancy but are maintained throughout gestation and for about 2 months after parturition. Old or degenerate corpora lutea persist for at least 4.5 years postpartum. Apparently in some animals corpora lutea develop before conception, whereas in others, conception apparently occurs when corpora are established. At least two graafian follicles may ovulate and develop into corpora lutea within a short time. Cows have multiple mates, there is no prolonged male-female relationship, and frequently there is no fighting by bulls over females. Information concerning breeding and reproduction of the African elephant is limited. One of the most extensive reports directed entirely to various aspects of reproduction of the African elephant is that of Perry (1953). His study is devoted largely to describing the female reproductive tract, and emphasizes ovarian characteristics. Recently, Johnson (1963) reported extensively on histological and quantitative characteristics of the testes of the African elephant. He includes observations on the teeth and pituitary gland, and presents evidence that suggests the possibility of individual cyclicity in reproductive activity of adult males. Short and Buss (1965) detected no progesterone in 11 corpora lutea from six African elephants in various stages of the estrous cycle and pregnancy, postulated a relatively short functional and long structural life of the elephant's corpus luteum, and suggested that some corpora lutea developed prior to conception. The first three chapters of a monograph by Hill et al. (1953:11-67) on the elephant in East-Central Africa include general information on reproduction. The anatomy of the male reproductive system has been reported on by Mojsiscovics (1879), Oudemans (1892), and Schulte (1937). Data on age at sexual maturity and duration of gestation are provided by Seth-Smith (1932), Hundley (1934), Burne (1943), and Flower (1943). The African elephant breeds throughout the year, at least in those areas for which data are available. Krumbiegel (1943) and Ansell (1960) observed calves throughout the year. Perry (1953) noted fetuses of variable age in cows collected throughout the year in Uganda. Buss and Brooks (1961) and Buechner et al. (1963) found no evidence of seasonal peaks in parturition and concluded that breeding occurs throughout the year in Uganda. Considering that environmental conditions within the African elephant's extensive range are highly variable, and that information has been secured from a limited part of this range, the possibility of seasonal breeding in some areas cannot be ruled out. The purpose of this study was (1) to study structures of 120 pair of ovaries from

Behaviour and ecology of the wild Patas monkey, Erythrocebus patas, in Uganda

Prior to the present study, no systematic field data were available on the behaviour and ecology of Erythrocebus patas. This monkey, widely distributed over the grass and woodland savannah regions of West and East Africa, appears to be unique in some of its physical and social adaptations to a terrestrial mode of life. In three main study periods, 640 hours of observation were carried out on groups in the Murchison Falls National Park. Small samples of data on baboon and vervet groups in the same area were obtained. Numerical sizes of patas groups ranged from 9 to 31, mean 15. In no group was there more than one full‐grown male. Groups were followed for many successive day‐ranges, distances travelled varying from group to group, season to season, with a maximum of about 12,000 m and a minimum of 500 m. Home range size of one group was 5200 hectares. Groups tended to use a different area of the home range each night, and individuals dispersed far apart in taking up night resting positions in trees. The day activity pattern comprised two main feeding periods, with a rest period of one to three hours in the hottest time. Drinking at water holes or other sources was infrequent.Infants less than three months old occurred only up to June, and were commonly seen in March and April. Infants aged 3 to 12 months, and juveniles, engage frequently in long, active bouts of play‐chasing, wrestling, and bush‐bouncing–almost all play is on the ground. Grooming amongst them is common, its social pattern being similar to baboons. Submissive gestures are very rarely seen, baboon‐like presenting and being mounted not occurring. Threat‐attack is mainly by adult females, very rarely by the adult male. Vocalizations audible at about 100 m occur very infrequently (about two to four a day, compared with 25 to 50 for baboon groups).The adult male patas plays the part, for the group, of watchdog. Whenever the group is disturbed, or approaches new areas, he may reconnoitre from a high point several hundred metres away from the group. When disturbed by the observer, he has a noisy, bouncing display on bushes and trees, and probably a form of diversionary display by running away from his group and from the observer. In the group, he is spatially peripheral, except when day resting, mating and grooming, and the adult females habitually initiate directions and times of group movement. Their function is essentially that of looking after themselves, their infants, and the juveniles, while that of the adult male is very strikingly that of watching for predators or other patas groups or baboons, etc. Isolated adult males and one all‐male party of four have been observed. Spacing between groups is such that inter‐group encounters are exceedingly rare (two occurrences only). Reaction consisted of chasing by the larger group, rapid avoidance by the smaller. A contralto bark is uttered repeatedly, in short series, by the adult male of a group only, it seems, on encounters with extra‐group patas.The patas adaptations of swift locomotion, silence, concealment, and dispersal, contrast very clearly with those of the much noisier, larger, more aggressive baboons in whose groups there are usually several adult males.Further research on the species is required from West Africa, and captivity studies must be used to determine the precise nature of the social organization amongst the adults and the processes of socialization.

Catching and Carting White Rhino in Uganda

In 1961 the Uganda National Parks captured ten white (squarelipped) rhinoceros in West Madi district, west of the Albert Nile, where (hey were being poached out of existence, and transferred them to the Murchison Falls National Park. The operation was financed partly by Anglia Television and described by John Savidge in ORYX, September 1961, vol. VI, 5. Unfortunately the six animals released in the park included only two cows and no mature bull, and the chances of their reproducing were small. So in 1964 a second operation was mounted, financed by the World Wildlife Fund. In this article the author, then Scientific Warden of the Murchison Falls Park, describes this operation which captured and released another five rhino, four of them cows. This greatly improves the chances of breeding, and with freedom from poaching in the park, the rhino now have a reasonable chance of building up the herd.

Numbers and Migration of Elephants in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

Numbers and Migration of Elephants in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

Vegetation Change Induced by Elephants and Fire in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

Vegetation Change Induced by Elephants and Fire in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

The Introduction of White Rhinoceros into the Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

The Northern race of the Square-lipped (White) Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) occurs in small numbers west of the Albert Nile in Uganda (in the West Nile and West Madi districts); in the N.E. Congo (where, at least until June, 1960, it was most numerous in the Garamba National Park); in the S.W. Sudan (in the Nimule National Park and elsewhere), and in Ubangi Shani.