570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
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Institute
Activity patterns and time budgets of bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) were studied in a free-ranging population in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda from August 2000 to January 2002. We investigated differences in activity patterns in relation to daytime, season, sun radiation, moonlight, age and sex. Bushbuck were found to show peak activities around sunrise and at dawn. No difference in the mean activity rates was found between the dry and wet season. Daytime activity was not predicted by differences in sun radiation, nor was nighttime activity predicted by the presence or absence of moonlight. We found the activity of adult territorial males to be strongly positively correlated with that of females, whereas the activity of young-adult non-territorial males was not significantly correlated with the activity of females. This suggests that young-adult males shift their peak activity to phases when adult territorial males are less active.
Seasonal, host sex and age-related variations in helminth egg and coccidian oocyst counts were investigated in a naturally infected wild bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) population in Queen Elizabeth National Park, western Uganda from April 2000 to February 2002. The prevalence and mean intensity quantified as the number of eggs and oocysts per gram of faeces were taken as a measure of parasite burdens. Host sex and age-related differences in prevalence values were not found but the overall prevalence of Eimeria sp. was significantly higher during the rainy season, and peak counts were recorded either during or soon after a peak rainfall. A similar trend was observed for Moniezia spp., although the results were marginally not significant. There were also no significant differences in mean intensity values, relative to host sex, age or season.