Browsing by Author "Roth, H.H."
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Item The Effects of Tsetse Control Operations on Common Duiker in Eastern Zambia(1967) Wilson, V.J.; Roth, H.H.; Bulawayo, Rhodesia; FAO, via delle Terme di Caracalla, RomeThe effects of intensive Tsetse Control hunting operations on a duiker population (Sylvicapra grimmia) were investigated in a 200 sq. mile area in Eastern Zambia. Two years of hunting were insufficient to reduce this population so significantly that a marked shift of its age composition towards the juvenile age classes resulted. There were, however, indications of beginning accelerated population growth through increased breeding and inclusion of more juveniles in the reproduction process, as a first response to the hunting pressure. Although general availability of duiker did not diminish, they became increasingly difficult to shoot because of behavioural adaptation and changing periods of feeding activity. Neither hunting nor various other human disturbances provoked emigration from the area or a change of the seasonal pattern of localised movement. The studied hunting operation failed to remove more than the annual increment to the duiker population and in respect of this species was thus ineffective as a means of Tsetse Control. Implications of the results of this study for the management of duiker for sustained meat production are discussed.Item A Survey of Brucellosis in Game Animals in Rhodesia(1967) Roth, H.H.; Veterinary Research Laboratory SalisburyTo establish the incidence of brucellosis in wildlife in Rhodesia, serum samples of 469 game animals, mainly ungulate species, were examined for Brucella abortus agglutinins; 371 of these were also tested against Brucella melitensis antigen. In addition testicles of 923 males were collected and inspected for pathological lesions. The survey, which covered more than 1,000 wild animals in 14 different localities, produced no evidence for enzootic brucellosis in game in these areas. A positive agglutinin titre in a buffalo, and suspicious serum agglutinations in another buffalo and a rhinoceros indicated, however, that Brucella organisms do occur naturally amongst wild ungulates; they may persist in a latent form without affecting the reproductivity of the game population. Comparison of results obtained from ranching areas in which contagious abortion was common in cattle, and from unsettled savannah lands gave no indication of a possible significance of game animals as a reservoir for bovine brucellosis. The specificity of low titre agglutinations, observed in greater numbers only in eland, impala and waterbuck, is discussed.Item White and Black Rhinoceros in Rhodesia(1967) Roth, H.H.; National Park and Wildlife Management RhodesiaThis account of the past and present status of both species of rhinoceros in Rhodesia was presented by the author, in his capacity as Assistant Director (Research) of National Parks and Wildlife Management in Rhodesia, to the Survival Service Commission of IUCN in 1965, and since brought up to date. Dr. Roth, who is now Wildlife Officer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), describes how both species have been eliminated from large areas not only by human settlement but also by tsetse control operations, and shows the importance of modern techniques of translocation, both for saving threatened populations and reducing local over-populations.
