Conserving core habitat is a widely employed, but rarely evaluated, management strategy to benefit species and broader levels of biodiversity. Yet, few researchers have rigorously evaluated core area management's effectiveness in improving demographic parameters, especially in Central Asia, where the global cashmere trade-which incentivizes massive livestock increases and environmental degradation-threatens 70% of the region's large mammals. In a 12-year study, we used a before-after field manipulation of livestock densities in a 71-km2 core zone of critical wildlife habitat in the 660-km2 Ikh Nart Nature Reserve in Mongolia. Inside the core area, we reduced livestock from 1200 to 700 head (40% reduction) out of Ikh Nart Nature Reserve's total 56,640 head (0.9% reduction). The core zone encapsulated critical habitat for argali (Ovis ammon), the world's largest wild sheep, including key lambing areas. Accounting for yearly environmental variation, livestock reduction increased argali neonatal birth mass by 17%, increased annual juvenile survival from 18% to 50%, and increased annual population growth from 0.91 to 1.00. Where livestock are abundant, reducing habitat degradation in even small areas of key habitat can positively affect wildlife at low cost to local livelihoods. Our investigation offers empirical evidence that livestock detrimentally affect native ungulates and supports the critical role of core conservation areas and local pastoralists in conservation.

Little information exists on goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) home range sizes and movement patterns. We employed satellite/global positioning telemetry to study gazelles in southeastern Mongolia. We used 95% continuous time movement model (CTMM), minimum convex polygons (MCPs), and kernel density estimates (KDEs) to estimate home range sizes. We further calculated daily distances moved by year and season. We collared 17 (9♂: 8♀) goitered gazelle, including five gazelles (2♂: 3♀) in Suikhent and 12 animals (7♂: 5♀) in Ikh Nart, and collected sufficient data to conduct home range analyses on 11 gazelles (6♂: 5♀). Seasonal and annual home range sizes varied greatly. Mean annual home range estimates varied depending on method used, from 1,452.24 ± 502.94 SE km2 for CTMMs, 951.90 ± 281.48 SE km2 for MCPs and 531.73 ± 130.14 SE km2 for KDEs. Goitered gazelle moved relatively small mean distances per day, ranging from 0.26 km/d to 3.45 km/d and some days as low as <0.001 km/d or as high as 32.74 km/d. On average, we found home ranges much larger than those reported from other studies, although we also found wide variation among individuals. Movement patterns and home ranges of goitered gazelle require greater study for improved conservation management.

We compared butterfly communities of the Plains, Foothills, and Montane Zones of the Colorado Front Range and examined 3 groups of butterflies-blues (Polyommatinae species), fritillaries (Speyeria and Boloria spp.), and painted ladies (species Vanessa cardui)-for altitude shifts between 2014 and 2020. We conducted these analyses using data collected by volunteer butterfly monitors from the Colorado Butterfly Monitoring Network, a group organized and run by Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado. Monitors walked designated routes and counted all butterflies they saw, identifying each to the lowest possible taxonomic group they could. We sorted routes into the 3 altitude zones, organized data by family, species, and group (blues/fritillaries), and standardized data by time spent monitoring. We used ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests to compare the altitude zones and examine the data for altitude shifts. Finally, we calculated relative abundance (number of individuals captured each session), species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Simpson's diversity index, and 2 evenness indices for a smaller subset of the data. We found that the Plains Zone differed significantly from the Foothills and Montane Zones in terms of family and species composition. We also found that species richness and diversity peaked in the Foothills Zone. We found no evidence for altitude shifts among the 3 butterfly groups studied but did observe a significant increase in painted ladies from 2016 to 2017 in all zones. We concluded that the 3 altitude zones have differing butterfly communities and that the Foothills Zone should be a priority for conservation efforts along the Colorado Front Range.

As wildlife becomes more isolated in human-dominated and rapidly changing environments, species conservation requires investment in landscape connectivity. Identifying stepping stones (discrete areas of suitable habitat that facilitate the movement of dispersing individuals) can help meet connectivity goals. We report the occurrence of the snow leopard Panthera uncia in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia, over 250 km from the nearest known population, one of the easternmost records for the species. Ikh Nart Nature Reserve lies within a region considered highly resistant to movement but harbours high densities of argali sheep Ovis ammon and Siberian ibexes Capra sibirica , both important prey items for snow leopards. This occurrence reveals a new distribution record for the species, the capacity of the species to move across low-quality environments, the value of investment in community conservation and collaborative park management, and the role of remote protected areas such as Ikh Nart Nature Reserve as stepping stones for facilitating population expansion and broader connectivity to other potentially suitable but unoccupied areas.

Little published information exists on the ecology of Stubbendorf’s Apollo (Parnassius stubbendorfii Ménétries, 1849), a species listed as threatened in Mongolia. To help fill this gap, we provide a population size estimate and habitat characteristics for P. stubbendorfii in an area just west of Lake Khubsgul, Mongolia. On July 6 and 7, 2020 we used aerial nets to capture and mark individuals using a fine-tipped, permanent marker to then estimate the population size. We further estimated vegetative species richness, abundance, and estimated percent cover of P. stubendorfii habitat. We estimated a population of 2,059.21 ±234.03 SD butterflies at the time of our sampling. Grasses, sedges, and willows dominated our plots with the butterfly’s habitat. Habitat was patchy, with each subplot characterized by a different vegetative community. We found only one species of larval host plant, namely fewflower fumewort (C. pauciflora). We noted feeding by adult P. stubbendorfi on several plants, especially including the important nectaring plants stone parsley (Schultzia crinite) and sweet vetch (Hedysarum inundatum).

Mongolian marmots (Marmota sibirica) live in colonies that consist of numerous burrows and are considered ecosystem engineers. Although once a common steppe species, marmots are now endangered due to overharvesting, which has led to concerns over the impacts of their loss on other species. The decline of marmots likely affected other species given their importance to the ecosystems they inhabit. To examine the role of marmots on small mammal, we established Sherman traps and drift fence arrays with associated pitfall and funnel traps on active marmot colonies, inactive colonies, and control sites in the forest-steppe and semi-desert zones of Mongolia. Overall, we identified 385 individuals representing 11 species of rodents and 1 species of bat in Ikh Nart and 149 individuals representing 2 species of rodents and 1 species of insectivore from Hustai. We found mixed results between diversity indices and abundance of small mammals on treatment and control sites, complicating the picture. During periods of greater precipitation and resulting higher vegetation cover, species abundance and the Shannon-Wiener, Simpson's, and evenness indices all changed significantly, suggesting that the effect of marmots on other species varies based on environmental conditions.

The Mongolian marmot (Marmota sibirica) is a large, endangered rodent species that ranges across the steppe regions of Mongolia, and parts of China and Russia. Marmot lives colonially and creates extensive burrow systems that change the soil nutrient profiles and influence plant and animal community composition and productivity. We examined the role of marmots on the diversity and abundance of ground-dwelling and flying insects. We hypothesize that the arthropod communities differ between marmot colonies and surrounding grasslands in diversity and abundance. We trapped 4765 individuals of arthropods representing 178 species of insects and 12 families of spiders. Marmot colony sites differed significantly from off colony sites by communities of ground-dwelling and flying insects. Our findings indicate that abundance and species richness of arthropods are largely associated with marmot burrows, which might be a reason for increased habitat heterogeneity, such as bare ground, specific vegetation structure, and thermoregulatory site by ecosystem engineering. Our results demonstrate that the marmots are keystone species in arid ecosystems, and have complementary, additive effects on steppe arthropod communities.

The Mongolian marmot (Marmota sibirica) is a relatively large-bodied, social rodent that lives in colonies across the Mongolian steppes and adjacent parts of China and Russia. Marmots serve as ecosystem engineers that display multiple functions on the steppe environments they inhabit. Mongolian marmots experienced a 75% decline across Mongolia in the 1990s that led to their listing as endangered globally. The decline of marmots likely affected other species given their importance to the ecosystems they inhabit. To examine the role of marmots on herpetofauna, we established drift fence arrays with associated pitfall and funnel traps on active marmot colonies, inactive colonies, and control sites in the forest-steppe and semi-desert zones of Mongolia. In total, we identified 555 individuals representing 5 species of reptiles in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve (semi-desert) from 2010 – 2011 and 22 individuals of 3 species of reptiles and one amphibian species in Hustai National Park (forest-steppe) in 2014 and 2016. We found significantly higher species abundance and some diversity indices on active and inactive colonies compared to control sites in Hustai. Vegetation height and cover significantly affected the abundance and species richness of reptiles in Ikh Nart. In Ikh Nart, we found that under conditions of higher vegetation cover and height, reptiles were distributed more widely across the landscape, but with lower vegetation cover and height, reptiles associated more strongly with marmot burrows. Burrows likely provide shelter from extreme climatic conditions and refugia from predation. Our research provides insights into how marmots create important habitats for associated fauna. This and similar experimental approaches will allow us to better understand the biodiversity patterns in and around marmot burrows.

Botilo Thato Tshimologo* ( ), Richard P. Reading ( ), Michael G.L Mills, Mpaphi C. Bonyongo ( ), Lucas Rutina ( ), Kai Collins ( ) & Glyn Maude* ( ) CLAWS Conservancy, P.O. Box 121 Seronga, c/o Jumbo Junction, Botswana Butterfly Pavilion, 6252 East 104th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80020, U.S.A. School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela, South Africa Okavango-River Basin Water Commission, P.O. Box 25741 Gaborone, Botswana United Nations Environment Program, Katima Mulilo, Namibia 6 Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, South Africa Kalahari Research and Conservation, P.O. Box 25650, Gaborone, Botswana National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, Maun, Botswana

We present biometrical data assembled from a combined total of 37 complete and partially cleaned skulls and feathered heads for the two putative subspecies of Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus monachus and N. m. pileatus (which Mundy et al. (1992) credibly argue should be N. m. carunculatus). We report on mostly insignificant variation in measurements taken from across three regions of the Hooded Vulture range. For N. m. pileatus (n = 22) the measurements are assembled from 13 live birds captured, tagged and released in Botswana between 2014-2017, seven museum specimens held in The National Museums of Kenya collected during 1913-1950, and two as described below. We compare with N. m. monachus (n = 14) where we measured eight specimens produced by road traffic accidents in The Gambia 2002-2019 of which seven are cleaned bare skulls and one a feathered study skin. We also measured six feathered heads and three skulls from several different countries in Africa, collected during 1832-1929 (n = 6 monachus, 2 pileatus, and 1 unknown) and held at the Natural History Museum, Tring, UK. Cranial materials for Hooded Vulture are scarce in world museums and the Gambian sample consisting of seven cleaned skulls represents the largest known number for a single country. Different populations across the regions vary considerably in both feeding habits and home ranges. We hypothesised that different foraging ecologies may have led to adaptation in bill morphology. Presented here for the first time are a series of skull morphometrics which test for variation in cranial biometrics and bill morphology from across the range of the Hooded Vulture. The Gambian bird has been DNA sequenced and a planned genetics study of other populations will resolve the long-standing taxonomic debate.

The Mongolian marmot (Marmota sibirica) is a relatively large-bodied, social rodent that lives in colonies across the Mongolian steppes and parts of China and Russia. Marmots serve as ecosystem engineers that display multiple functions on the steppe environments they inhabit. Mongolian marmots experienced a >75% decline across Mongolia in the 1990s that led their listing as endangered globally. The decline of marmots likely affected other species given their importance to the ecosystems. To examine the role of marmots on vertebrate species, we set camera traps on and off marmot colony sites in the forest-steppe, steppe, and semi-desert zones of Mongolia. In total, we recorded 39 vertebrate species within 3 study areas, including 19 species in 2012 in Ikh Nart NR; 21 in 2016 in Hustai NP; and 27 in the Halzan region of Sukhbaatar in 2019. Species abundance and some diversity indices were significantly higher on colonies compared to off colony sites. Our research provides insights into how marmots create important habitats for associated fauna and demonstrates that this engineering species plays an irreplaceable role in this ecosystem. We hope that this and similar experimental approaches will allow us to better understand the biodiversity patterns in and around marmot burrows.

The endangered Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres), a southern African endemic, breeds on precipitous cliffs in various habitats. Some colonies of this cliff-nesting species are found in the southeast (Mannyelanong Hill) and east (Tswapong Hills and adjacent complexes) of Botswana. Of six breeding sites studied in the Tswapong Hills complex from 1992 to 1999, only two large colonies near the villages of GooMoremi (Bonwalenong site) and Goo-Tau (Manong Yeng site) and one small colony near Lerala (Kukubye site) still hold breeding vultures. In 2017 and 2018 we used direct observations to estimate the breeding population and breeding success of Cape Vultures at the Bonwalenong and Manong Yeng colonies, and we compared our findings with data from the 1990s. We identified 261 nests in 2017 and 362 nests in 2018, and monitored them throughout the breeding season. Breeding success at the two sites differed significantly between the 2 yr of our study (2017 and 2018). However, breeding success at Manong Yeng in 2017-2018 did not differ significantly from that documented in the earlier study (1992-1999). Our results also suggested relatively stable numbers of breeding pairs in the Tswapong Hills between 1992-1999 and 2017-2018. Cape Vultures in the Tswapong Hills require continued monitoring and research to better understand population dynamics and the key factors influencing breeding success and nestling survival.

The Lake Titicaca frog is endangered due to threats such as water pollution, introduced species, and overharversting for markets, where people consume them as frog juice. This study, conducted June to November 2012, aimed to determinate the bacteria microflora living on the skin of frogs confiscated from the La Parada market, Lima, Peru, and housed individually in the Laboratory of Wildlife at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnic of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. Samples collected with sterile swabs and cultured on blood, tryptic soy, and MacConkey agars were investigated using commercially available test kits, to investigate the commonly encountered bacterial and potentially zoonotic microorganisms associated with their consumption. We found three species of zoonotic concern in the genus Vibro: Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibro cholerae, and Vibro fluvialis. Other Gram-negative species cultured included two different colonies of Aeromonas hydrophila, or Aeromonas caviae or Aeromonas sobria; Pseudomona luteola; one example of Weeksella virosa or Empedobacter brevis; and Citrobacter freundii. Gram-positive bacteria detected were Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp., and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. We recommend against the consumption of this frog due to the pathogens it may carry that could cause serious illness among consumers and in vendors who handle animals.

African Journal of Wildlife Research is a multidisciplinary journal that has been published since 1971 and covers the scientific, applied, managerial, methodological, and sociological issues related to wildlife research.

Tracking studies are often used to inform conservation plans and actions. However, species have frequently only been tracked in one or a few localities, whereas space use can be remarkably flexible, especially in long‐lived species with advanced learning abilities. We assessed variability in space use in the Critically Endangered Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus by pooling movement data from three populations across the species’ sub‐Saharan range (in South Africa, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, The Gambia and Mozambique). We estimated minimum convex polygons and kernel density estimators (KDEs) and compared monthly home‐range sizes between breeding and non‐breeding seasons, age‐classes and subspecies, accounting for uneven sampling within groups. Mean (± sd) monthly home‐range sizes (95% KDEs) for adult Hooded Vultures from southern (12 453 ± 21 188 km2, n = 82) and eastern Africa (3735 ± 3652 km2, n = 24) were 103 and 31 times larger than those of conspecifics from western Africa (121 ± 98 km2, n = 48). This may relate partly to subspecific differences, and individuals with small home‐ranges in western Africa and Ethiopia were trapped in urban environments. Regional variation in space use by Hooded Vultures may be linked to flexibility in feeding behaviour (degree of commensalism) which may arise in response to resource availability and persecution in different areas. Age‐class also affected monthly home‐range sizes, with immature birds generally having larger monthly home‐range size estimates than adults. Our results highlight the flexibility of Hooded Vultures in terms of their home‐range sizes and suggest that home‐range sizes differ between populations and individuals, depending on the extent of human commensalism. Our results also reaffirm the importance of international co‐operation in conservation efforts aimed at protecting this wide‐ranging, non‐migratory species.

We studied the ectoparasitics of breeding Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni) in Mongolia. We captured 20 adult, one fledgling, and 11 nestling Lesser Kestrels and examined them for ectoparasites in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, a semi-desert region of Mongolia. We examined 11 nestlings multiple times throughout the nestling period to count carnid flies (Carnus hemapterus). All nestlings age 1–4 d old were infested (mean of 6.0 flies per nestling). Older nestlings had fewer carnid flies over the course of the nesting season. We also collected 120 louse flies (Ornithophila gestroi) from 20 adults and one fledgling, an infestation rate of 85.7%. The mean number of louse flies per host was 6.3 (range = 1–19) per infested bird. These represent the first Mongolian records of O. gestroi and C. hemapterus from adult and nestling Lesser Kestrels. These two fly species have been previously recorded from several diverse avian species in many regions of Eurasia and North America. The paucity of investigations of raptor ectoparasites in Mongolia suggests that this is an important area for future research and that additional reports of other ectoparasites are likely to be forthcoming.

We report on differential movement of adult and juvenile cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) in the northeast Asia. Adult vultures remain in Mongolia throughout the year, whereas many juvenile vultures migrate from their breeding grounds in Mongolia to wintering grounds in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). We trapped adult and juvenile Cinereous Vultures in Mongolia and Korea to attach wing tags (n = 270 fledglings and 10 adults) and, for some, global positioning system telemetry units (n = 31 fledglings, 18 juveniles, and 10 adults). While adult birds never left Mongolia, fledglings and juveniles wandered more widely into Russia (rarely), China, and the Korean Peninsula. Most telemetered fledglings and juveniles for which we obtained data migrated seasonally between Mongolia and South Korea. Juvenile vultures used larger summer home ranges than adults. Juveniles used much smaller winter than summer home ranges. Over the course of the year, adult and juvenile vultures moved similar amounts that differed seasonally. How juvenile vultures learn the migration route between Mongolia and Republic of Korea remains unknown. Our results have important conservation implications, as factors influencing the survivorship of migratory birds can strongly impact populations.

SummaryAfrican White-backed Vultures were recently uplisted to ‘Critically Endangered’ by IUCN due to declines across their range. Poisoning is widely accepted as the major reason for these declines. Botswana supports a high number of this species (breeding pairs > c.1,200), but as yet no published information exists on their breeding success in the country. However, mass poisonings within Botswana and neighbouring countries have killed thousands of White-backed Vultures in recent years. We therefore expected that nesting numbers may have declined in this region if these poisoning events killed local breeding birds. We used information from aerial surveys conducted between 2006 and 2017 in Khwai and Linyanti, two important breeding areas for this species in north-central Botswana, to determine if there was any change in nesting numbers and breeding success of White-backed Vultures. Results showed an overall 53.5% decline in nesting numbers, with a greater decline in Linyanti than in Khwai. In both areas, breeding success was significantly lower in 2017 than it was 10 ten years earlier. We recommend that similar repeat surveys are continued to provide greater confidence in the trends of both nesting numbers and breeding performance. Population viability analysis suggested that if the productivity levels detected in 2017 were a true indication of current productivity levels for this population, and if recent high poisoning rates continue, this population could be extirpated from the area in the next 13 years.

Nationwide aerial animal censuses of Botswana between 1992 and 2012, conducted by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, have highlighted a 71% decline in the national springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) population and a contraction of their range. The reasons for this decline remain unknown. We investigated possible drivers of this decline in the southern Kalahari of Botswana. We assessed springbok resource selection levels, movement behaviour and seasonal and spatial effects on the juvenile:adult female ratio. Springbok displayed high levels of forage and habitat selection. Their dependency on pan habitats renders their distribution predictable, which could expose them to high levels of predation and poaching. Springbok moved shorter daily distances during the hot dry and longer distances during wet seasons. High temperatures during the hot dry season could limit movement and prevent exploitation of spatially and temporally heterogeneous resources. We recorded a ratio of 0.37 juvenile:1 adult female in the wet season months followed by a ratio decline to 0.10:1 in the subsequent cold dry season, indicating a low recruitment rate that could be contributing to the springbok population decline. Environmental changes and anthropogenic disturbances, exacerbated by climate change, will likely exert a negative influence on selective foragers like springbok.

We examined the breeding success of Lesser Kestrels Falco naumanni in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, a semi-desert zone in southeast Mongolian. We found that the mean number of nests per colony was 7.4. Lesser Kestrels laid eggs between 24 May and 2 June each year. Mean clutch size was 4.0 +/- 0.7 SE, with a mean incubation period of 28 +/- 2 SE days. We recorded an overall hatching success rate of 84.2% and overall fledgling success rate of 89.7%, hence a mean fledgling per breeding attempt was 2.79. Our findings revealed relatively high hatching and fledgling rates for our study population, and bode well for the conservation of this small falcon in its poorly-known breeding range.