Although the past two decades have seen a revolution in many aspects of field biology due to advances in radio-tracking and telemetry, including the development of satellite and GPS technology, these techniques have been less applied to primates than to other orders of mammals or to vertebrates in general (Casperd, 1992). A comprehensive account of animal tagging and radio-tagging would warrant a book in itself, but here we aim to draw the attention of primatologists to the advances in this family of techniques. We review a number of important studies of primates that have used them, and introduce the practicalities involved. If you are considering the use of these techniques then you should advance no further without exploring the wider, and vast, literature associated with radio-tracking other mammals. General reviews of radio-tracking are presented in Amlaner and Macdonald (1980), Kenward (2001), Millspaugh and Marzluff (2001) and Telonics Quarterly (see ‘List of supplies and useful Internet sites’).

This paper reviews the complicated nomenclatural history for the Kenya coast galago, Galagoides cf. cocos, and examines whether 'cocos' is the valid species name for this recently resurrected taxon. This paper also reviews the phenotypic and vocal differences among G. cocos; the Zanzibar galago (Galagoides zanzibaricus zanzibaricus); the Udzungwa galago (Galagoides zanzibaricus udzungwensis); and the Mozambique galago (Galagoides granti), as well as their geographic ranges and conservation status. The following are among the findings: (1) 'Galagoides cocos' is the name that should be applied to the Kenya coast galago; (2) in the field, the loud calls of these three species are diagnostic and remain the best means for identification; (3) there is a suite of phenotypic characters that, when taken together, can be used to distinguish among these three species when in the hand or viewed in the field in good light at close range; (4) G. z. zanzibaricus is phenotypically distinct from G. z. udzungwensis; (5) the three species are parapatric or, perhaps, narrowly sympatric; (6) the three species are endemic to the coastal forests of eastern Africa with G. cocos in the north (Kenya and northeastern Tanzania), G. zanzibaricus in Tanzania, and G. granti from southern Tanzania to southern Mozambique; and (7) none of the three species is threatened at this time, although G. z. zanzibaricus meets the IUCN Red List criteria for an Endangered subspecies.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important disease of cattle and an emerging infectious disease of humans. Cow- and badger-based control strategies have failed to eradicate bTB from the British cattle herd, and the incidence is rising by about 18%per year. The annual cost to taxpayers in Britain is currently 74 million UK pounds. Research has focused on the badger as a potential bTB reservoir, with little attention being paid to other mammals common on farmland. We have conducted a systematic survey of wild mammals (n=4393 individuals) present on dairy farms to explore the role of species other than badgers in the epidemiology of bTB. Cultures were prepared from 10397 samples (primarily faeces, urine and tracheal aspirates). One of the 1307 bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) live-sampled, and three of the 43 badgers (Meles meles), yielded positive isolates of Mycobacterium bovis. This is the first time the bacterium has been isolated from the bank vole. The strain type was the same as that found in cattle and badgers on the same farm. However, our work indicates that the mean prevalence of infectious individuals among common farmland wildlife is extremely low (the upper 95% confidence interval is < or =2.0 for all of the abundant species). Mathematical models illustrate that it is highly unlikely the disease could be maintained at such low levels. Our results suggest that these animals are relatively unimportant as reservoirs of bTB, having insufficient within-species (or within-group) transmission to sustain the infection, though occasional spill-overs from cattle or badgers may occur.

This paper provides a checklist and summary of what is currently known of the variation in infant contact, sleeping site preference and aspects of social cohesion in the nocturnal primates of Africa. Genera and species are compared, based on previously unpublished field observations and a review of the literature. There is a clear pattern of similarity between the species within each genus and distinct differences between genera. Species in the same genus tend to be ecologically equivalent and replace each other allopatrically, whereas species in different genera are more likely to be sympatric, with up to 6 species living together. Maximum sympatry within genera is found in Otolemur and Galagoİdes, where species are ecologically divergent. This may reflect an ancient origin of species within these genera or suggest that further taxonomic revision is required at the generic level. Some data are recorded for the first time for species that have only recently been separated (cryptic species), but some taxa remain very poorly known. It is concluded that field studies are still at an elementary stage and further research with radio tracking is urgently needed in the face of rapidly declining habitats.