Scientists uncover patterns of elephant poaching in East Africa

December 19, 2017, University of York

Scientists analysing data from aerial surveys carried out over one of East Africa's most important nature reserves have uncovered clusters of elephant carcasses close to some ranger posts.

The team, from the University of York and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), made the discovery while working together to address the problem of elephant poaching in the Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystem.

The study used data from three successive aerial surveys during the peak of the poaching crisis from 2013-2015 and revealed patterns of elephant carcasses across the region.

Wet season

Using aerial surveys and spatial analysis, the team revealed the poachers preferred to operate in the wet season – when swollen rivers meant travel by road was extremely difficult and tourism was minimal.

The study, which involved collaboration between the University of York and TAWIRI, also revealed the signs of poaching tended to be away from the main, well-equipped ranger posts, where the aerial surveys revealed fewer carcasses.

However, the data revealed elephant remains were found in greater numbers than expected close to three out of 13 outlying ranger posts. If carcasses had been as rare around outlying posts as near the park headquarters, overall there would have been seven per cent fewer carcasses.

Lead author, Dr Colin Beale from the University of York's Department of Biology, said a lot has changed since the surveys were done and the Tanzania government was working hard to address the problem, with evidence that poaching has since fallen substantially.

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How the butterfly got its spots

Date: June 15, 2016

Source: Cornell University

By tweaking just one or two genes, Cornell University researchers have altered the patterns on a butterfly's wings. It's not just a new art form, but a major clue to understanding how the butterflies have evolved, and perhaps to how color patterns -- and other patterns and shapes -- have evolved in other species.

By using the new method of CRISPR genome editing, researchers cut out a gene known as spalt, and produced a butterfly lacking the large round markings known as eyespots. In another experiment, they removed a gene known as distal-less and produced more and larger eyespots. The experiments also produced changes in other parts of the wing design.

The distal-less gene in particular revealed itself as a jack-of-all-trades gene that plays roles in shaping several parts of the body. Deleting it not only caused the butterfly to have extra eyespots, but to have shorter legs and antennae.

"People suspected these genes had something to do with wing patterns but nobody had proved it," said Robert Reed, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "It probably takes dozens or hundreds of genes to make an eyespot, so it was remarkable to find that only one or two genes are required to add or subtract these complex patterns. It is a beautiful demonstration of how animals are assembled as modules, much like a model kit." Reed and postdoctoral researcher Linlin Zhang report their results in the TK issue of the journal Nature Communications.

Butterfly wing patterns are of special interest to evolutionary biologists because they provide an easily accessible model of how natural selection chooses from many possible variations. "Variation is the raw material of evolution," Reed said. CRISPR genome editing technology offers great potential for understanding how this variation originates he added.

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What animal has black and white spots?

January 2013. When award winning photographer Paul Goldstein first saw this animal on Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve, he didn't have his camera with him, and no one quite believed him about the zebra with spots. Paul runs a camp on the Masai Mara, so has plenty of opportunity to keep an eye out for unusual sightings. 

Two years later, Paul saw the animal again, and this time he had his camera with him. Now all zebras have a different pattern (Who has checked that? How do they know?), but this one is more different than most. 

It appears his unusual coat does a great deal more than set him aside for photographers, he doesn't seem to mix with other zebras either. Zebras almost always travel as part of a herd, but this poor chap always seems to be alone.

Paul runs photographic safaris based at Kicheche Mara, and will be presenting at Destinations Travel Show in London on February 1st - 3rd.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAUL GOLDSTEIN 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/zebra-spots.html