Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/2065
Appears in Collections:Psychology Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Growth and age determination of African savanna elephants
Author(s): Shrader, Adrian Morgan
Ferreira, Sam M
McElveen, M E
Lee, Phyllis C
Moss, Cynthia J
Van Aarde, Rudi J
Contact Email: phyllis.lee@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: elephant growth
shoulder height
population comparisons
elephant size
Elephants
African elephant Conservation Africa
Inbreeding
African elephant Behavior
Issue Date: Sep-2006
Date Deposited: 18-Feb-2010
Citation: Shrader AM, Ferreira SM, McElveen ME, Lee PC, Moss CJ & Van Aarde RJ (2006) Growth and age determination of African savanna elephants. Journal of Zoology, 270 (1), pp. 40-48. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00108.x
Abstract: Understanding the population dynamics of savanna elephants depends on estimating population parameters such as the age at first reproduction, calving interval and age-specific survival rates. The generation of these parameters, however, relies on the ability to determine accurately the age of individuals, but a reliable age estimation technique for free-ranging elephants is presently not available. Shoulder heights of elephants were measured in 10 populations in five countries across southern and eastern Africa. Data included shoulder height measurements from two populations where the age of each individual was known (i.e. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa and Amboseli National Park, Kenya). From the known-age data, Von Bertalanffy growth functions were constructed for both male and female elephants. Savanna elephants were found to attain similar asymptotic shoulder heights in the 10 populations, while individuals in the two known-age populations grew at the same rate. The Von Bertalanffy growth curves allowed for the accurate age estimation of females up to 15 years of age and males up to 36 years of age. The results indicate that shoulder height can serve as an indicator of chronological age for elephants below 15 years of age for females and 36 years of age for males. Ages derived from these growth curves can then be used to generate age-specific population variables, which will help assess the demographic status of savanna elephant populations across Africa.
DOI Link: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00108.x
Rights: The publisher does not allow this work to be made publicly available in this Repository. Please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author; you can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study.
Licence URL(s): http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/under-embargo-all-rights-reserved

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Shrader et al J Zool.pdfFulltext - Published Version206.24 kBAdobe PDFUnder Permanent Embargo    Request a copy

Note: If any of the files in this item are currently embargoed, you can request a copy directly from the author by clicking the padlock icon above. However, this facility is dependent on the depositor still being contactable at their original email address.



This item is protected by original copyright



Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.