Behavioral Patterns and Responses to Human Disturbances of Wild Somali Ostriches (Struthiomolybdophanes) In Samburu, Kenya.
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Date
2016
Authors
Mutiga, Maricianoiguna
Muoria, Paul Kimata
Kotut, Kiplagat
Karuri, Hannah Wangari
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Advanced Research
Abstract
Somali ostrich has suffered a drastic decline in its population and
range mainly due to hunting over the years for meat, skin and feathers.
Urgent conservation measures should therefore be taken to reverse
this trend particularly in their current population stronghold, the
Samburu landscape. In this range, the magnitude and consequences of
human disturbance on the ostrich has not been established. The aim of
this study was therefore to investigate the behavioural patterns and
assess the impacts of human disturbance to the bird. Focal animal
sampling was used to establish ostrich‟s behavioural activity budget
while the magnitude of human disturbance was assessed by
determining and comparing flight initiation distances in the protected
and partially protected areas. Somali ostrich spent most of their
diurnal time in feeding and moving, and are more sensitive to human
disturbance in the protected areas than they are in the partially
protected areas. The results of this study imply that the ratite does not
differ in behavioural patterns from other extant ostrich species and
human disturbance is not posing a significant threat to its survival
within Samburu landscape. Further studies are recommended for
better understanding of the conservation status of the newly published
species.
Description
Article
Keywords
Samburu, Somali ostrich, Behaviour, Human disturbance
Citation
Mutiga, M. I., Muoria, P. K., Kotut, K., & Karuri, H. W. (2016). Behavioural Patterns and Responses to Human Disturbances of Wild Somali Ostriches (Struthio molybdophanes) in Samburu, Kenya.