 Reference Base  Research on the effects of temporary horn removal on blac... |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - Namibia |
| Subject: |
Behaviour - Social Behaviour |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
 |
|
The fact that black rhino cows hide their small calves has been reported interalia by Joubert & Eloff (1971), Hall-Martin & Penzhorn (1977) and Owen-Smith (1988), and not for the first time as claimed by Berger (1993b). Berger & Cunningham (1994a) alleged that all three calves disappeared within one year after birth, during the interval that calves are most often hidden (Berger, 1993b). Berger & Cunningham (in press) also recorded spatial displacement by females of several kilometers in one day in response to human presence. No more extreme than their predation theory is the speculation that Berger and Cunningham's activities and presence might have also affected the period of separation between cow and calf, especially in situations compounded by drought, poor body condition and displacement from watering points.
No data have been published comparing the vulnerability of hidden calves versus those accompanied by their mothers, or the proportion of time spent in hiding at various age intervals. If calves are preyed on whilst in hiding, maternal horn length is of no consequence. This possibility should have been discussed in any paper dealing with predation on rhino calves.
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: