Annually, thousands of game animals are captured and relocated across South Africa. One of the biggest causes of mortality during these translocations is stress, and as such it is the responsibility of all stakeholders involved to ensure that appropriate techniques are applied for specific species and environments. It is therefore important that there is a thorough understanding of these methods not only from a management perspective but also in terms of applied animal welfare. This review provides detailed descriptions of the various non-chemical techniques that may be employed during game capture and relocation in a South African context and highlights both species suitability, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. It also gives a brief background to the South African game capture industry as well as discussing and giving guidelines for the transportation and holding of wildlife after capture.

Establishing historical baselines is important for informing present-day conservation and management actions. The historical literature was searched for information on the composition, abundance and distribution of the large ungulate fauna in the grassland-dominated Highveld region of north-central South Africa during the 19th century and early 20th century. The existence of large aggregations (herds comprising one or more taxa) is inferred from the written record, for the early historical period. These aggregations comprised one or more species of eight grazers or mixed feeders. There is weaker evidence of seasonal migratory, or partially migratory, behaviour by some of them. This synthesis highlights the existence of a major, but hitherto unrecognized and unheralded, grazergrassland system in the region, at least during the early period of colonial expansion. In global terms, this system may have rivalled similar extant migratory systems elsewhere in Africa and globally, if not in the numbers of animals involved then almost certainly in terms of the diversity of ungulates that were present. No records of large ungulate aggregations, or migrations, could be located for the post-1870s period, thus revealing the time of the collapse of this system, mainly as a result of overhunting and loss of habitat. By the end of the 19th century the once widespread and abundant larger ungulate fauna of the Highveld had, barring a few individuals and small and scattered herds, of a few species, been virtually exterminated. Some ecological consequences of this collapse are briefly discussed.

Using a standard protocol, we conducted vertebrate roadkill surveys in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA), South Africa, which is a World Heritage Site. A total of 991 roadkill were recorded on the paved roads and 36 roadkill on the unpaved roads. Identifiable roadkill comprised 162 species from 24 orders and 65 families. Ninety-three roadkill could not be identified to species level. Roadkill counts were strongly influenced by road type and season. More roadkill was recorded on the paved than the unpaved roads. Irrespective of road type, the proportion of roadkill was greatest in the hot/wet season (4.3 paved roadkill/km/day paved and 1.3 roadkill/km/day unpaved) and lowest in the cold/dry season (2.0 roadkill/km/day paved and 0.1 roadkill/km/day unpaved). The high numbers of vertebrates identified as roadkill suggests that road traffic has the potential to directly and negatively affect biodiversity conservation in this part of South Africa. We recommend continued roadkill data collection across South Africa to assist with creating an inventory of species most likely to be at risk from roads. This will, in turn, better inform the implementation of potential mitigation measures.

The influence of sex on the intramuscular fat characteristics of eland harvested from the highland savanna in Namibia was investigated. No significant differences were observed between sexes for moisture, protein and ash content in the longissimus dorsi et lumborum (LDL). Fat content in LDL differed (P = 0.022) for male (1.2%) and female (2.0%) eland. Stearic acid was the most abundant fatty acid (26.1%) in males and differed from females (21.7%) whilst oleic acid was the most abundant fatty acid (39.1%) in females. Females contained more MUFA (41.6%) than males (26.4%). Eland had a PUFA to SFA ratio of 4–5. Males did not differ from females for the n-6:n-3 ratio (2.7–2.9). No significant differences for sex were observed in cholesterol content. The chemical composition of eland can serve as a reference standard for future studies as well as be of value for food labelling and marketing strategies.

The transformation and fragmentation of natural land are considered to be major drivers of biodiversity loss and local extinctions. In this study we compare medium-to-large mammal diversity on rangeland, game farms and natural land within the Little Karoo, South Africa. Mammal diversity was assessed using camera traps set up at 141 sites, and compared across the three land-use types. There were no significant differences in mammal diversity across land-use types, although rangelands typically supported fewer species. Game farms had similar species richness to natural areas, suggesting that the introduction of large ungulate species and the erection of game-proof fencing has had little impact on mammal diversity to date. Importantly, our results suggest that land used for low-intensity grazing by cattle (Bos taurus) can support similar mammalian species richness to natural areas, which indicates a high level of compatibility between current economic activities and biodiversity conservation in this area. Although specific to the Little Karoo, our findings can inform management and conservation decision-making on a broader scale, as they support evidence of the biodiversity value of economically active land.

Globally, the increasing need to conduct both research and surveillance of the health of wild animal populations has been recognized as an important tool in conservation and management. While such studies on terrestrial wildlife are frequent in the southern African sub-region, their counterparts in the marine environment seem to be largely lacking. Here we report on our experience in establishing and testing a standardized necropsy protocol for small cetaceans adapted for the local context, with the specific aim of sampling for health investigations and monitoring. The necessity, challenge and value of regional standardization in data collection specifically aimed at health investigations, inter-disciplinary collaboration, long-term data banking, and sample storage are discussed in addition to practical and safety considerations. The developed protocol, focusing on the necropsy technique and tissue sample collection, as well as a list of required equipment are available as .

We studied the diet of Cape clawless otters (Aonyx capensis) at three sites along the eastern and southern coast of South Africa to assess possible spatial variation along a community species richness and biomass gradient associated with rocky shores. A total of 309 spraints representing two seasons (summer 2013/2014 and winter 2014) were collected and subsequently analysed. The percentage occurrence and percentage dry mass of numerous prey categories were compared between sites and seasons. Variation in the importance of prey items was found between sites, whilst no variation was found between seasons within the same site. Crab was the most important prey item in the southernmost study area (Tsitsikamma National Park) and at the northernmost study site (KwaZulu-Natal Coast), whilst lobster was the most important prey item in the central area (Mkambati Nature Reserve). Fish was the second most important prey item at all three sites. Our results suggest that otters are opportunistic feeders that are likely able to adapt to potential prey species and abundance changes associated with current and future anthropogenically driven changes. Furthermore, long-term, site-specific stability in diet suggests that monitoring the diet of otters could provide some useful information on the status of shoreline communities.

The House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, is invasive in many areas of the world, but is listed as a species of conservation concern in parts of its native range. This study assessed the effect of land-use type on the relative abundance of House Sparrows in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, an urban area where they are invasive. It was predicted that House Sparrows in an urban environment would be more abundant at shopping malls compared with other habitats. Spot counts were done at shopping malls, schools, factories and suburban gardens throughout the year. House Sparrows were recorded frequently at shopping malls and rarely in suburban gardens. Type of urban land use appears to determine food and possibly nest site availability. This in turn affects the density, relative abundance, and distribution of House Sparrows. There appears no need to regulate this urban House Sparrow population because it has different feeding and breeding requirements to native birds, is not predatory, and is largely restricted to heavily transformed landscapes.