Abstract The desert-adapted lions (Panthera leo) of northwest Namibia inhabit arid and semi-arid habitats, primarily within communal conservancy lands, which they share with semi-nomadic pastoralists. Though of considerable conservation interest, no systematic population survey of these lions has previously been attempted. From 6 November 2022 to 6 January 2023, 45 trained surveyors covered approximately 40,000 km2 of conservancy and government-managed lands, identifying individual lions by vibrissae (whisker-spot) patterns and other demographic indicators. A systematic whole count, identifyin ..read more

Abstract Urbanisation continues to increase at an alarming rate and its effects on the natural environment are very profound now more than ever. Moreover, studies on terrestrial urban landscapes seems to be more than that on urban freshwater habitats. Furthermore, studies have shown that the Odonata are effective indicators of the effects of urbanisation on freshwater habitats. However, not much is known about their responses to urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa, especially given the unique set of conditions that characterise the area. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate differ ..read more

Abstract Stingless bees are important pollinators and producers of honey used in folk medicine. We investigate the nectar sources for two Afrotropical stingless bee species, Hypotrigona araujoi and Meliponula ferruginea. Pollen was extracted and processed using next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods, DNA metabarcoding. Results show that stingless bees visited 32 plant genera. Wild plants were the major nectar sources for the two stingless bees' species. The diversity of plants visited and honey physical–chemical characteristics differed between the two bee species, suggesting that they use c ..read more

Abstract Lions (Panthera leo) are a keystone species of many wildlife areas and, as such, understanding their dietary ecology is important for holistic wildlife management. Knowledge of lion feeding ecology enables researchers and wildlife managers to better understand predator–prey dynamics and ecological limits governing their local contexts. Where kill sites can be physically located in the field, they can provide important baseline information on lion diet. In this study, Global Positioning System (GPS) collar data were used together with field observations to investigate the dietary bread ..read more

Abstract In the past 24 years, the Southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO) region has lost about 4% of its mangroves due to unsustainable extraction, land clearance for agriculture and climate change impacts. Since this loss risks fragmenting mangrove fauna, this study analysed 179 D-loop sequences (329 base pairs) of Barred mudskipper (Periophthalmus argentilineatus) sampled from estuarine mangroves in the SWIO to test two hypotheses: (1) whether Barred mudskipper populations in the region display genetic connectivity along the fragmented mangroves and (2) whether these populations have experienced ..read more

Abstract The diurnal activity budgets of giraffes were effectively studied from June 2012 until August 2013, in the Kalahari Region of southern Africa. Direct field observations identified how the daily activity budgets varied amongst the different subgroups of giraffes and the effects of seasonal changes and the time of the day. Feeding was the highest-performed activity whilst non-feeding activities were, however, also prominent. This study aimed to determine why giraffes are willing to sacrifice time on non-feeding activities. A deeper look into the social and non-feeding-related behaviour ..read more

Abstract The Critically Endangered Nubian Flapshell Turtle (Cyclanorbis elegans) is found in the White Nile River system in South Sudan and northern Uganda. Over the past few decades, its populations have sharply declined, primarily due to human-induced threats, leading to its near-extinction across almost its entire range. In this paper, we present the results of a comprehensive threat analysis undertaken to pinpoint the challenges confronting the species within its natural habitat, specifically in the only known sites where it currently exists. We aimed to develop a conceptual framework to u ..read more

Abstract A better understanding of the natural regeneration in tropical forests could help develop more effective restoration strategies. This study examined relationships in structural and diversity attributes of natural regeneration in five forest fallow ages after slash-and-burn agriculture (6 months, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years) in the Republic of Congo. For each fallow age, all stems with a diameter ≥1 cm and below 5 cm (height ≥ 130 cm), corresponding to natural forest regeneration, were identified to the species level, and measured (diameter and height) in 12 plots (10 m ..read more

Abstract Variations in physico-chemical parameters of water as abiotic factors affect the spatio-temporal distributions of the organisms that live in it. The present study aims to determine the influence of physico-chemical properties on Ardeidae spatio-temporal variations in the wetland of Ramsar site 1018 in Benin. To reach this goal, transect enumeration techniques and stationary counts lasting 15–30 min were used to count Ardeidae species once a month at different sites such as Nokoué Lake, Sô River, Porto-Novo Lagoon, Ouémé River and ancient Lagoons from January 2015 to December 2016. Wat ..read more

Abstract Though there is consent that poaching is an important driver of wildlife declines in many African forests, we lack a deeper understanding of the factors behind population patterns in Afrotropical landscapes to inform conservation management. We surveyed line transects in four Cameroonian sites of different protection status in 2013/2014, namely Korup National Park, Banyang Mbo Wildlife Reserve, one timber concession and a section of an unprotected agroforestry matrix, and used data from 2007 for trend assessment. We used GLMs to identify predictors for mammal distribution based on a s ..read more