Five lions were reintroduced to the Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in 1998. These lions were studied to increase the limited knowledge of the ecology of reintroduced lions on small wildlife reserves, and to provide baseline data to the reserve management from which to develop management decisions. In the past, reintroduction attempts of felids have often failed because the animals failed to establish ranges in the new environment. During the current study, homing behaviour and range establishment of the reintroduced lions were studied and used as an indication of the success of the reintroduction attempt. The ease with which lions on Welgevonden established ranges indicated that they did not experience problems with adapting to their new environment The population dynamics of the reintroduced lion population were investigated. The population grew rapidly due to early breeding and short inter-litter intervals. The collected data were used to model the lion population using VORTEX population modelling software. Various potential management strategies to reduce the population growth were also modelled and discussed. The feeding ecology and predation patterns of the reintroduced lions• were investigated to give an indication of the predator-prey relationships on Welgevonden. These data were used in a model that investigated the effect of lion predation on the various prey populations of Welgevonden. The model was also used to test the influence of other factors on the prey populations, as well as the number of killing lions that can be supported by the prey population. The study has shown that reintroduction can be used successfully to establish a lion population on a small game reserve, but that certain management actions will increase the chances of success. However, continual monitoring and management will be necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the lion and prey populations. <p. / Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Centre for Wildlife Management / unrestricted

Transport is a significant factor in development. It determines the extent to which people can access social services as well as work and livelihood opportunities. The study presented in this dissertation is based on a case study ofthe Lions River pay point, which is a shop in the Mngeni Municipality. The aim ofthe study was to look at the influence of transport in accessing social services for women (Child Support Grant beneficiaries) in rural areas. The findings are based on a sample of66 Child Support Grant (CSG) beneficiaries. Using quantitative methods, the study focused on women and their transport needs when accessing the Child Support Grant, medical care for their child/children and their child/children getting to and from school The sampling technique used was an in-depth use ofa case study as illustrative ofrural settings. The respondents constituted a convenience sample as anyone who was at the Lions River pay point were asked whether or not they received the CSG. Ifthe respondents were beneficiaries ofthe CSG, they were asked to respond to a survey questionnaire. The results ofthe study show that in rural areas, transport is a barrier to accessing social services. Due to poor roads and the limited availability oftranspo~women spend a considerable amount oftime accessing social services, time that could be used in income generating activities. Findings ofthis study confirm research undertaken in other unpublished studies (Ngubane 1999 and Nzama 2(01). They show that in rural settlements, transport is a serious barrier to accessing social services. Welfare beneficiaries have no choice and are forced to use expensive public transport due to a lack ofalternate modes oftransport. It has been suggested by Nzama (2001:2) that the transport efficiency ofrural households can be enhanced by improving the rural transport system (by creating better roads and foot paths) and by locating social services close 10 people in order 10 reduce the distance that they need to travel. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universität Zürich, 1978. / Includes indexes and bibliographical references.

Research in animal personality has been increasing over the last decade, as scientists realise its importance to a variety of health outcomes. In particular, personality has been shown to have an effect on immune function, stress, infant survival, overall well-being, morbidity, and mortality. Because of this, personality can play an important role in captive management, especially as stress is often a problem for captive animals. Research has already shown that personality affects captive breeding efforts, enclosure grouping, and stress regulation in some species. Only a few studies have focused on felids, but these have shown that there are possible applications for personality in that taxon. Because most felids are endangered, and because many of them face special challenges in captivity due to their size and biology, this work aimed to increase knowledge on felids, using personality as a framework, with implications for captive management as a target. Focusing on five species, I assessed the personality of domestic cats, Scottish wildcats, clouded and snow leopards, and African lions, and the well-being of the four latter species. With the exception of the domestic cat, there has been little to no personality work in these species, and none on well-being. I then compared the data within and among these species. I found three main personality factors among the species, including dimensions I labelled Neuroticism, Dominance, and Impulsiveness, with some differences, including an Agreeableness factor in some species, and elements of Openness. As in other species, well-being was negatively related to Neuroticism in most of the study species. Taking into consideration each species’ biology, natural history, and genetics, I discuss the implications and importance of using these species’ personality and well-being assessments in both captive management and conservation efforts. The results indicate that, like in humans, a targeted, individual approach to care is the best use of personality for captive animals.

Adolescence is characterized as a time of impulsivity, emotional decision-making, and peer influence; thus, interventions targeting the development of effective psychosocial skills are imperative. Improved psychosocial functioning can equip adolescents for successfully overcoming future life challenges. There are few studies that have examined how adolescents' psychosocial skills could be improved in the context of substance abuse prevention program participation. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in psychosocial skills in a group of adolescents who participated in 2 of 10 Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence (Lions Quest SFA) programs being used in central Virginia middle schools. This study examined whether Lions Quest SFA was useful in observing changes in the total score of lagging psychosocial skills, which incorporated measures of impulse control, emotion regulation, and social skills. The adolescent population of interest had already demonstrated weaknesses in these areas as they had been referred to this program from school-based mental health services. This archival study used an ANCOVA to analyze 1-year pre- and posttest score differences on the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems and examine possible gender differences following participation in the program for 1 school year. The secondary dataset consisted of pre- and posttest scores of 36 male students and 30 female students. The results of this study demonstrated implications for social change as they extended the knowledge in this area by suggesting that participation in the Lions Quest SFA program may contribute to the improvement of psychosocial skills, and these findings could contribute to the improvement of treatment interventions used at Horizon Behavioral Health.

The Northern Current flows cyclonically contouring the continental slope in the NW Mediterranean. At the entrance of the Gulf of Lions this current is about 20 -- 30 km wide and flows along the deepest half of the continental slope, i.e. over the 1000 to 2000 m isobaths approximately. Surface speeds are of 30 -- 50 cm s^{-1}. In the MATER HFF experiment (March -- May 1997) mesoscale variability of the Northern Current is observed from current meter records, SST images and hydrographic data. The HFF experimental box is 20 x 40 km, covering the upper half of the slope (i.e. covering from 250 m to 1250 m depth isobaths). Current meter and satellite data show that the site is embedded in a region of significant Northern Current meandering and eddy activity. From SST images, meander wavelengths are estimated larger than 60 km, embracing smaller structures. These flow patterns affect upper-layer waters down to at least 650 m depth. Current meter data distinguish two narrow energetic bands centred at 3.5 days and 7.5 days, respectively, in agreement with previous studies.Baroclinic instability is viewed as a possible mechanism to explain the generation of the Northern Current meanders. The analytical model of Tang (1975) predicts the development of unstable waves of wavelength (> 60 km) and periods compatible with the 7.5 day band recorded with current meter devices. The higher frequency band of 3.5 days is out of the frequency range predicted by the classical baroclinic instability theory and it is discussed as a restriction of quasi-geostrophic theory.Barotropic instability is studied using a laboratory model of a -westward' jet flowing over the lower half of the continental slope, which considers dynamic similarity with the Northern Current. The laboratory model is cross-validated with a corresponding numerical model. Jet instabilities of currents similar to the Northern Current (i.e. westward jets) occur at the edges of the jet, showing a clear meandering tendency over the mid-slope. Westward currents of Ro = 0.1 -- 0.2 develop instabilities of wavelengths (50 -- 75 km) similar to those observed from SST images, with periods (3.3 -- 3.8 days) compatible with the 3.5 days period band recorded with HFFE current meters.The laboratory and numerical experiments have reproduced westward jets (as the Northern Current), but also eastward jets, in order to have a full approach to better understand the role of the bottom topography on barotropic instabilities. The slope current instabilities are successfully explained by the Marcus and Lee theory (1998) of jets on a beta plane. This theory is valid for westward flows with Ro > 0.1 and for eastward flows with Ro > 0.2 (jets of the so-called Regime II flows in this thesis), and it states that the instabilities of each shear layer of the barotropic jet take the appearance of a Kelvin-Helmholtz-like pattern, associated with a Rossby wave (of topographic origin in our case). According to this theory, the differences between eastward and westward jets rely on the disposition of the Rossby waves --at the centre of the current in eastward flows and at the edges of the jet in westward currents. Jets over a sloping bottom with small Rossby numbers (Ro < 0.1 for westward jets; Ro < 0.2 for eastward jets) show a flow pattern (the so-called Regime I in this thesis) that has common characteristics for eastward and westward flows. In these -small'-Ro flows, Kelvin-Helmholtz-like instabilities dominate, whereas Rossby waves are too weak to produce any major difference between jets flowing in eastward or westward direction. This occurs when the topographic influence, assumed proportional to the Ro number of the jet, is small.The differences between eastward and westward slope currents observed in this work (and similar observations of jets on a beta-plane from previous works) are explained in this thesis by a simple scheme based on conservation of potential vorticity, considering there are two main components in balance: the shear-induced vorticity and the topographically induced vorticity. The signs of these two components are determined by the relative direction of the flow with respect to the inclination of the bottom topography. Once the critical Rossby number is overpassed so that the topographic effects are important (Ro > 0.1 for westward jets; Ro > 0.2 for eastward jets), conservation of potential vorticity tends to enhance vortices at the centre of eastward jets --eastward jets show meandering at the jet core. In westward jets, potential vorticity conservation is responsible of enhancing vortices at each edge of the jet. Thus, westward jets (as the Northern Current) are broad and meandering occurs at the jet edges.In Ro > 0.1 westward flows (i.e. Regime II westward jets) a topographic Rossby wave appears over the shelf break. This result is likely observed because of the specific topography used in this work --a continental slope and a continental shelf separated by a shelf break, producing a strong change in ambient potential vorticity. Numerical simulations reveal that this Rossby wave is triggered by the slope current. This topographic Rossby wave is a robust pattern, since it is independent of the position of the current over the slope, the shape of the velocity shear profile of the jet, and the jet width. Although this type of wave could not be inferred from the HFFE field data, it could be a focus of study in further field experiments. It also needs further analytical consideration. The general conclusion extracted from this thesis that tries to explain the mesoscale variability associated to the Northern Current is that both baroclinic and barotropic instability could explain part of the oceanic observations. As a consequence, mixed barotropic-baroclinic instability (which occurs at wavelengths which are between those corresponding to pure barotropic and pure baroclinic instability) is thought to play an important role on the observed mesoscale variability. The resulting wavelength would depend on the relative strength of both mechanisms.

Tuberculosis is a widely spread zoonotic disease caused by acid-fast bacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in a variety of mammalian species. In pinnipeds, tuberculosis has been reported in different captive and wild sea lions and fur seals. The causative agent, Mycobacterium pinnipedii, is part of the M. tuberculosis complex and has shown pathogenicity in other mammalian species including human beings. Since 2000 the Heidelberg zoo has been dealing with tuberculosis in its collection of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens). After a Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) was transferred to a zoological institution in France it transmitted the disease to the other tapirs that succumbed to tuberculosis. Culturing and spoligotyping confirmed the origin, the sea lions at the Heidelberg zoo. An investigation of the sea lion group housed at Heidelberg in addition to different species of mammals living in adjacent exhibits as well as a sea lion, born in Heidelberg but then living in Hamburg, revealed multiple cases of pinniped tuberculosis.

Lions are social, territorial animals that form prides of 2-18 individuals and hold territories ranging in size from 20 to 500 square km. My aim was to investigate the effect of ecological processes on lion spatial demography, specifically to determine the effect of habitat structure, prey availability, and rainfall (predictability and variability) on lion group dynamics. I worked with an extensive database of lion observations (approximately -+7000 over 29 years) from the Kruger National Park that had been recorded on monthly predator returns and in ranger diaries. I used the hypothesis of ideal free distribution to explain group dynamics across four physical habitat structures, namely, thickets, woodlands, mountainous areas and open tree savanna. There were larger groups of adults and more sightings than expected in the open tree savanna, while subadult and cub group sizes peaked in the woodlands. Using the resource dispersion hypothesis (RDH) as a base, I investigated lion group dynamics in relation to prey availability, I found agreement with the RDH, in that larger groups formed where their favoured prey species were in greatest abundance. Exclusively adult male and exclusively adult female group sizes increased with increasing buffalo abundance, while groups of adult males and adult females in mixed groups increased with increasing impala abundance. I used the mechanism of risk sensitive foraging to explain the influence of rainfall on lion group dynamics. While group dynamics did not differ significantly across averaged mean annual rainfall regions or across seasons, it did differ between variability regions and between two years of extreme rainfall. The lions exhibited risk-prone behaviour across variability regions, forming larger groups in more variable environments. Finally, I combined the three factors to determine the relative importance of each in determining lion group dynamics across seasons. Wildebeest were important to adult female group dynamics, impala and buffalo to adult males, while buffalo abundance influenced functional group size. In the wet season, larger functional groups occurred in the areas of medium rainfall variability regardless of buffalo abundance. In the dry season, more groups of females than solitary females occurred in more variable environments with this trend reversed for males. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Bibliography: leaves 193-224 / xvi, 224 leaves, [1] plate : ill. (1 col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Pathology, 1984

Thesis (M.E.S.)--The Evergreen State College, 2007. / Title from title screen (viewed 1/24/2008). "MES thesis." Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-88).