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Home-range overlap and spatial organization as indicators for territoriality among male bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2005

Torsten Wronski
Affiliation:
Biocentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum, Universität Hamburg, Martin Luther King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany and Uganda Wildlife Authority, Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, Monitoring and Research Unit, P.O. Box 22, Lake Katwe, Uganda
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Abstract

Many studies have concluded that territoriality is absent in male bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus but a minority has suggested that some exclusive mechanisms act between adult males. This study provides indirect evidence for the existence of territorial structures between adult male bushbuck by comparing home-range overlap between adult and sub-adult males. The spatial organization of individuals in relation to each other was established by using numerical classification. Location fixes of 52 males, each individual distinguished by a characteristic coat pattern, were taken over a period of 3 years. Home ranges were estimated using the fixed kernel density estimator. Two indices (coefficient of overlap, index of overlap) were applied to compare home-range overlap between the different male age classes. There was a strong home-range overlap up to the 30% home-range core between sub-adult as well as between adult and sub-adult males, while adult male home ranges overlapped up to the 50% home-range core only. It could be shown that home ranges of adult males overlapped significantly less than those of sub-adult males and those between sub-adult and adult males indicating an exclusive use of central core areas (home sites). Sub-adult males form bachelor pools without being permanently associated. With increasing age, sub-adult males challenge territory holders and replace them in order to take over their exclusive areas. These maturing sub-adult males (young adults), often focused on a particular territory holder denoting the young adults as prospects or candidates.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 The Zoological Society of London

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