sábado, 26 de octubre de 2019

ProMED-mail

ProMED-mail

ProMED logo

« prev

ProMED logo

Published Date: 2019-10-25 22:05:18
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Anthrax - Botswana (03): (CH) elephant, comment
Archive Number: 20191025.6744711
ANTHRAX - BOTSWANA (03): (CHOBE) ELEPHANT, COMMENT
**************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Thu 24 Oct 2019
From: Joseph Dudley <jpdudley@alaska.edu> [edited]


I felt that I should provide some clarifications on your comment regarding the foraging habits of elephants in this area.

African savanna elephants (_Loxodonta africana_) in southern Africa are mixed grazers and browsers in their foraging habits, but they are most definitely preferential grazers that feed both intensively and exclusively on grasses when these are available in their most palpable stages of growth within their habitats.

My own research on foraging ecology of savanna elephants in the upper Zambezi valley region of western Zimbabwe and northern Botswana showed that they feed almost exclusively on grasses during the peak rainy season periods when grasses are in their most palatable growth stages, only switching over to eating woody plant browse in the form of branches/leaves/bark/roots during dry season periods, or extended intervals during the rainy season period without significant rainfall, when palatable grass forage is either in limited supply or not available.

The rainy season in Botswana/Zimbabwe tends to begin during October/November, at which time the savanna elephants in this region switch from their late season dietary staples of the trunk bark of large trees and the young leaves of newly flushing deciduous trees (especially acacias) to move into open grassland and savanna/scrub areas to feed on new grass growth that emerges immediately after the onset of the first good rains.

Savanna elephants in this region of Africa tend to eat almost nothing except grasses during the rainy season months in years with good rains, with the only exception being fruits from those trees, shrubs, and wild melons that only become available during the rainy season period.

Elephants in this region of southern Africa ingest soils in significant quantities incidentally/accidentally when feeding on newly emerging grass shoots and grass roots which they will scuff up using the toenails on their front feet, and also deliberately ingest large amounts of calcium/sodium rich calcrete clays from mineral licks located in edaphic grassland areas which are referred to locally as dambos or vleis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6BjLVPZiaA feeding short grass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR2kPeckrFU salt lick Chobe Botswana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7NCC-u2NtM salt lick Hwange National Park Zimbabwe

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Joseph Dudley

[The posting, 23 Oct 2019 Anthrax - Botswana (02): (CH) elephant, susp 20191023.6742740, has the comments: "Preliminary investigations suggest the elephants are dying from anthrax whilst some died from drought effects," and "Due to the severe drought, elephants end up ingesting soil while grazing and get exposed to the anthrax bacteria spore"; which is not to deny the value of Joe's informative comment, and certainly fills an ignorant gap that I had on African elephant feeding. Not unlikely they share a grazing habit of European cattle grazing during a hot dry summer when they are drawn to areas still with some soil moisture and the grass is greener. These saucer areas tend to attract _B. anthracis_ spores as they facilitate spore germination and cell multiplication in the forage root mass. Many thanks to Joe for his valuable comment. - Mod.MHJ

HealthMap/ProMED map available at:
Chobe, Botswana: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/2809]

See Also

Anthrax - Botswana (02): (CH) elephant, susp 20191023.6742740
Anthrax - Botswana: (CH) elephant, OIE 20190515.6470481
2016
----
Anthrax - Botswana: (CH) elephant, OIE late notification 20160203.3991770
2015
----
Anthrax, elephant - Botswana (02): (CH) OIE 20150812.3573712
Anthrax, elephant - Botswana: (CH) OIE 20150128.3126827
2014
----
Anthrax, elephant - Botswana: (Chobe Natl. Park) OIE 20140523.2494227
2007
----
Anthrax, wildlife - Botswana (Chobe): susp. 20070905.2927
2006
----
Anthrax, wildlife - Botswana (Chobe Natl. Park) 20061011.2910
Anthrax, wildlife - Botswana (North-West, Chobe Natl. Park) 20060825.2398
2005
----
Anthrax, human - Belgium ex Botswana (Chobe Natl. Park) (02) 20050311.0723
Anthrax, human - Belgium ex Botswana (Chobe Natl. Park) 20050307.0678
2004
----
Anthrax, wildlife - Botswana (Chobe Natl. Park) (03) 20041206.3243
Anthrax, wildlife - Botswana (Chobe Natl. Park) (02) 20040923.2628
Anthrax, wildlife - Botswana (Chobe Natl. Park) 20040920.2600
2000
----
Anthrax, elephant - Botswana (Chobe-NP) 20000307.0313
.................................................mhj/jd/ao/jh

ProMED logo
Publicado por en

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario

Suscribirse a: Enviar comentarios (Atom)