The Amboseli Elephants

The Amboseli Elephants PDF

Author: Cynthia J. Moss

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-07-18

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0226542262

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Elephants have fascinated humans for millennia. Aristotle wrote of them with awe; Hannibal used them in warfare; and John Donne called the elephant “Nature’s greatest masterpiece. . . . The only harmless great thing.” Their ivory has been sought after and treasured in most cultures, and they have delighted zoo and circus audiences worldwide for centuries. But it wasn’t until the second half of the twentieth century that people started to take an interest in elephants in the wild, and some of the most important studies of these intelligent giants have been conducted at Amboseli National Park in Kenya. The Amboseli Elephants is the long-awaited summation of what’s been learned from the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP)—the longest continuously running elephant research project in the world. Cynthia J. Moss and Harvey Croze, the founders of the AERP, and Phyllis C. Lee, who has been closely involved with the project since 1982, compile more than three decades of uninterrupted study of over 2,500 individual elephants, from newborn calves to adult bulls to old matriarchs in their 60s. Chapters explore such topics as elephant ecosystems, genetics, communication, social behavior, and reproduction, as well as exciting new developments from the study of elephant minds and cognition. The book closes with a view to the future, making important arguments for the ethical treatment of elephants and suggestions to aid in their conservation. The most comprehensive account of elephants in their natural environment to date, The Amboseli Elephants will be an invaluable resource for scientists, conservationists, and anyone interested in the lives and loves of these extraordinary creatures.

Yearbook of International Organizations 2014-2015 (Volume 4)

Yearbook of International Organizations 2014-2015 (Volume 4) PDF

Author: Union Of International Associations

Publisher:

Published: 2014-09-17

Total Pages: 728

ISBN-13: 9789004272002

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The Yearbook of International Organizations provides the most extensive coverage of non-profit international organizations currently available. Detailed profiles of international non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations (IGO), collected and documented by the Union of International Associations, can be found here. In addition to the history, aims and acitvities of international organizations, with their events, publications and contact details, the volumes of the Yearbook include networks between associations, biographies of key people involved and extensive statistical data. Providing both an international organizations and research bibliography, Volume 4 cites over 46,000 publications and information resources supplied by international organizations, and provides nearly 18,000 research citations under 40 subject headings. This volume also includes a research bibliography on international organizations and transnational associations.

Elephant management

Elephant management PDF

Author: Robert (Bob) Scholes

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2008-03-01

Total Pages: 656

ISBN-13: 1776142276

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Elephants are among the most magnificent – but also most problematic –members of South Africa's wildlife population. While they are sought after by South African and foreign tourists alike, they also have a major impact on their environment. As a result, elephant management has become a highly complex and often controversial discipline. The information needed to underpin vital decisions about elephant management has largely been unavailable to decision-makers, contested by experts, or simply unknown. As a result, the South African Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism convened a round table to advise him on this issue. The round table recommended that a scientific assessment of elephant management be undertaken to gather, evaluate, and present all the relevant information on this topic. Its main findings and recommendations are contained in this volume. Elephant Management is the first book of its kind, combining the work of more than 60 national and international experts. Extensively reviewed by policy-makers and other stakeholders, it is the most systematic and comprehensive review of savanna elephant populations and factors relevant to managing them to date. As such it is of interest to a broad spectrum of readers in South Africa and elsewhere. Above all, it is aimed at helping conservation policy-makers and practitioners to choose the best possible options for the sustainable preservation of these iconic animals.

Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF

Author: Richard Primack

Publisher: Open Book Publishers

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 712

ISBN-13: 1783747536

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Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region. Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.

Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program

Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-10-04

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0309264944

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Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward reviews the science that underpins the Bureau of Land Management's oversight of free-ranging horses and burros on federal public lands in the western United States, concluding that constructive changes could be implemented. The Wild Horse and Burro Program has not used scientifically rigorous methods to estimate the population sizes of horses and burros, to model the effects of management actions on the animals, or to assess the availability and use of forage on rangelands. Evidence suggests that horse populations are growing by 15 to 20 percent each year, a level that is unsustainable for maintaining healthy horse populations as well as healthy ecosystems. Promising fertility-control methods are available to help limit this population growth, however. In addition, science-based methods exist for improving population estimates, predicting the effects of management practices in order to maintain genetically diverse, healthy populations, and estimating the productivity of rangelands. Greater transparency in how science-based methods are used to inform management decisions may help increase public confidence in the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Rangeland Systems

Rangeland Systems PDF

Author: David D. Briske

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-04-12

Total Pages: 661

ISBN-13: 3319467093

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This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. This book provides an unprecedented synthesis of the current status of scientific and management knowledge regarding global rangelands and the major challenges that confront them. It has been organized around three major themes. The first summarizes the conceptual advances that have occurred in the rangeland profession. The second addresses the implications of these conceptual advances to management and policy. The third assesses several major challenges confronting global rangelands in the 21st century. This book will compliment applied range management textbooks by describing the conceptual foundation on which the rangeland profession is based. It has been written to be accessible to a broad audience, including ecosystem managers, educators, students and policy makers. The content is founded on the collective experience, knowledge and commitment of 80 authors who have worked in rangelands throughout the world. Their collective contributions indicate that a more comprehensive framework is necessary to address the complex challenges confronting global rangelands. Rangelands represent adaptive social-ecological systems, in which societal values, organizations and capacities are of equal importance to, and interact with, those of ecological processes. A more comprehensive framework for rangeland systems may enable management agencies, and educational, research and policy making organizations to more effectively assess complex problems and develop appropriate solutions.