According to the Red Meat Producersâ Organisation, damage-causing predators
annually catch small stock to a value of approximately R1,1 billion in South Africa. On
most of the small stock farms in the Southern Free State, black-backed jackals, Canis
mesomelas, are shot on sight and actively hunted to provide a safe environment for
domesticated animals. The veld and habitats previously occupied by natural prey for
these carnivores are now used for commercial farming practices. Carnivores are
conserved in established formal protection and conservation areas within the ecosystem
to lessen their contact with small stock. In South Africa the black-backed jackal
successfully adapts to this farming environment with visible adaptation patterns. These
behavioural patterns are influenced by the circumstances of the animal and variables
within its environment. In the study area these fixed patterns of the black-backed jackal
presumably annually repeat itself. This study researched these behavioural patterns of
the jackal. For the first time, geographic information systems (GIS) are used in the
research of the black-backed jackal.
Since 2006, black-backed jackal regional data (of all jackals killed during hunting
operations) was collected in a high depredation area in the Southern Free State. Data
points collected from 1927 to 2009 were accordingly entered on electronic charts in
ArcView. The total number of data points were obtained from 433 black-backed jackals
killed, with the localities of 344 charted. The data is grouped into four sets: the first set,
collected over 26 years, 1927 to 1953, consisted of 15 black-backed jackals; the second
set, collected over 5 years, 1993 to 1997, consisted of 124 black-backed jackals; the
third set, collected from 1999 to 2008, 10 years, consisted of 210 black-backed jackals;
and the fourth set, from 2006 to 2009, four years, had a total of 84 black-backed jackals.
Therefore, the number of black-backed jackals killed significantly increased, from 15
killed the first 26 years, to 418 over the last 16 years, within the same specific area. The
increase in numbers of black-backed jackals removed from the area is used as indication of the increase in damage over the years in the study area. The average
mass of 68 males, killed between 1993 and 1997, was 7.15kg and 63 females, 6.72kg.
According to the 35 farmers in this specific area of the Southern Free State, the jackal
problem is at present more under control than 30 years ago, which also applies to some
other parts of the Southern Free State and South Africa. The reason for this can be
ascribed to a better understanding of the animals and planning of hunting expeditions.
In the late 1980âs, the average loss per farmer was ± 200 sheep per annum. At present,
about 40 sheep on average are lost per farmer. The aim of this study is to further
alleviate the damage-causing problem in the study area by making accurate predictions
and planning to decrease losses. In the study area, peak losses are noted annually from
August to October and March to May. The black-backed jackals mainly follow certain
fixed movement patterns in the study area and breeding pairs seemingly react to the
same stimuli from their direct environment. The same dens are repeatedly used and
there is a clear relationship between the location of the dens and human activities.
When a breeding pair is removed from an area, a new breeding pair will soon establish
there. The processing of historic data leads to predictions on where the black-backed
jackals will establish, where they will breed and where they will probably cause damage.
It also predicts where they can probably be caught. This study shows a strong
correlation between the physical nature of the environment and the black-backed
jackals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-10192011-124128 |
| Date | 19 October 2011 |
| Creators | Deacon, Francois |
| Contributors | Dr CH Barker |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-10192011-124128/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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