In this thesis the demography, home range and habitat selection of a
reintroduced population of Anatolian mouflon (Ovis gmelinii anatolica),
which had a single remaining population, was studied to evaluate the
reintroduction success and determine the conservation management
interventions.
For this purpose among 104 individuals reintroduced in Sariyar
Wildlife Protection Area (Ankara, Turkey), 40 adults were radio-collared
and 28 juvenile were ear-tagged and monitored from 2005 to 2009. The
survival of the population according to the age groups (females, 0: 0.5423,
1: 0.60, 2: 0.5316, 3: 0.6637, 3+: 0.6728) and the fecundity of adult females (2:
0.2260, 3: 0.2034, 3+: 0.2034) are estimated. A population viability analysis
was performed and the persistence of the population within the next 20
years was estimated. Increasing the survival rate of adult female through
conservation or restocking the population with at least six adult females
every year decreased the risk of extinction in the near future considerably.
The year-round home ranges of the individuals ranged between 805
&ndash / 3435 ha. (Mean ± / SE: 1934 ± / 140 ha). The movements of the tracked
individuals followed seasonal patterns: centers of activities changed
according to seasons in 80% of the adult mouflon. Reintroduced mouflon
selected southern aspects (p=0.001), increasing slopes &ndash / especially medium
to high slope terrain &ndash / (slope > / 30° / , p=0.002), and distant locations to
villages and roads.
Results indicate that appropriate protective measures should be
implemented immediately to mitigate the causes of juvenile mortality.
Restocking the population for the next 10 years with adult females would
have a stabilizing effect on the declining population and will act as a
buffering mechanism during the adaptation period to the new area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12611746/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 April 2010 |
| Creators | Ozut, Deniz |
| Contributors | Kence, Aykut |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Ph.D. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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