Publications

interspecific interference competition at the resource patch scale: do large herbivores spatially avoid elephants while accessing water?	animals may anticipate and try to avoid, at some costs, physical encounters with other competitors. this may ultimately impact their foraging distribution and intake rates. such cryptic interference competition is difficult to measure in the field, and extremely little is known at the interspecific level. we tested the hypothesis that smaller species avoid larger ones because of potential costs of interference competition and hence expected them to segregate from larger competitors at the scale ...	2016	27495127
effect of host diversity and species assemblage composition on bovine tuberculosis (btb) risk in ethiopian cattle.	current theories on diversity-disease relationships describe host species diversity and species identity as important factors influencing disease risk, either diluting or amplifying disease prevalence in a community. whereas the simple term 'diversity' embodies a set of animal community characteristics, it is not clear how different measures of species diversity are correlated with disease risk. we therefore tested the effects of species richness, pielou's evenness and shannon's diversity on bov ...	2017	28134065
host-parasite list updating of ciliates and fermentation in the digestive tract of wild miscellaneous herbivores in south africa (rsa).	this article is dedicated to the author, burk dehority, who became very ill with cancer. fortunately he confirmed or corrected all identifications on ciliates in this article. this paper was 80% finished when he became ill. he unfortunately passed away in february 2016.	2017	28609902
wildlife population dynamics in human-dominated landscapes under community-based conservation: the example of nakuru wildlife conservancy, kenya.	wildlife conservation is facing numerous and mounting challenges on private and communal lands in africa, including in kenya. we analyze the population dynamics of 44 common wildlife species in relation to rainfall variation in the nakuru wildlife conservancy (nwc), located in the nakuru-naivasha region of kenya, based on ground total counts carried out twice each year from march 1996 to may 2015. rainfall in the region was quasi-periodic with cycle periods dependent on the rainfall component an ...	2017	28103269
clinical management of third phalanx fractures in lesser (tragelaphus imberbis) and greater kudu (tragelaphus strepsiceros).	two greater kudu ( tragelaphus strepsiceros ) and one lesser kudu ( t. imberbis ) from two zoological institutions presented with overgrown front hooves, and were diagnosed with fractures of the third phalanges in the affected digits. both greater kudu had milder lamenesses at diagnosis, and were managed conservatively with hoof trims, stall rest, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. ongoing management through regular hoof trims led to improvement and eventual resolution of lameness. ...	2017	28363042
the occurrence of some nonblood protozoan parasites in wild and domestic mammals in south africa.	relatively little is known about protozoan parasites in african animals. here we investigated the occurrence of protozoan parasites in mammals from south africa. oocysts of protozoan parasites were detected in 13 of 56 (23%) fecal samples using conventional microscopic examination methods. cryptosporidium spp. and isospora spp. were detected in eight (14 %) and five (9 %) samples, respectively. mixed parasitic infection of cryptosporidium spp. and isospora spp. was recorded in banded mongoose ( ...	2018	29369722
the prevalence of non-o157:h7 shiga toxin-producing escherichia coli (stec) in namibian game meat.	large game animals play an important role as carriers and transmitters of o157:h7 and non-o157:h7 shiga toxin-producing escherichia coli (stec) in nature. fresh meat obtained from game animals has been identified as an important source of food-borne stec infections. the aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of the top 6 non-o157 stec strains (serogroups o26, o45, o103, o111, o121, and o145) in namibian game meat based on testing for stx, eae, and o-group-specific genes. meat samples fr ...	2018	30574994
experimental screening studies on rabies virus transmission and oral rabies vaccination of the greater kudu (tragelaphus strepsiceros).	rabies in the greater kudu (tragelaphus strepsiceros) in namibia is unique and found in such magnitude as has not been reported elsewhere in southern africa. reasons as to why kudus appear to be exceptionally susceptible to rabies still remain speculative at best. because the current severe rabies endemic in kudus continues to have an enormous negative impact on the namibian agricultural sector, we set out to question existing dogmas regarding the epidemiology of the disease in a unique experime ...	2018	30413745
baiting studies on oral vaccination of the greater kudu (tragelaphus strepsiceros) against rabies.	rabies in the greater kudu (tragelaphus strepsiceros), one of the largest african antelopes, is a phenomenon unique to namibia. since the mid-1970s, the country has been plagued by two epizootics that claimed thousands of casualties among the indigenous kudu population. reasons as to why kudus appear to be exceptionally susceptible to the disease still remain speculative at best. because the namibian economy relies heavily on trophy hunting, game meat hunting, and ecotourism, the current severe ...	2018	32214946
ecology and epidemiology of rabies in humans, domestic animals and wildlife in namibia, 2011-2017.	rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease that causes a heavy burden on societies. namibia, a country in southern africa, is aiming at controlling the disease in its main reservoir, the domestic dog. to facilitate the implementation comprehensive information on the ecology and epidemiology of the disease and surveillance is of utmost importance. the study presented assesses the baseline data for both human and animal rabies surveillance in namibia in recent times and establishes correlations with ecolo ...	2019	30990805
land use, redd+ and the status of wildlife populations in yaeda valley, northern tanzania.	redd+ projects primarily focus on reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. these projects are regularly evaluated against their core objective of conserving carbon stocks, but their contribution to biodiversity conservation has rarely been assessed. to assess the conservation value of the area and the relative performance of a redd+ land use plan in yaeda valley, a semi-arid savannah ecosystem in northern tanzania, we implemented an annual wild ...	2019	30947305
diversity of medium and large mammals in the loka abaya national park, southern ethiopia.	we evaluated the richness, diversity, and composition of the medium and large mammal community in the loka abaya national park (lanp), southern ethiopia, and how these parameters differ among four habitat types: wooded grassland, riverine forest, hilly scrubland and wetland, and between seasons. we recorded a total of 2,573 individual animals of 28 medium and large mammal species in the park. this included three globally threatened species: the endangered african wild dog (lycaon pictus), the vu ...	2020	33005352