The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas
With the continuous urban expansion, assessing how some species can survive in urban environments, particularly through modifying their behaviour, is becoming increasingly important. Urban wildlife can show phenotypic (e.g. behavioural) flexibility to exploit urban areas but it is also possible that...
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ftunivwitwaters:oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/19303 2023-06-11T04:13:38+02:00 The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas Naylor, Andrea Jayne 2016 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19303 en eng http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19303 Rock hyrax Rock hyrax--Behaviour Rock hyrax--South Africa--Johannesburg Cities and towns--South Africa--Johannesburg Thesis 2016 ftunivwitwaters 2023-05-15T09:57:07Z With the continuous urban expansion, assessing how some species can survive in urban environments, particularly through modifying their behaviour, is becoming increasingly important. Urban wildlife can show phenotypic (e.g. behavioural) flexibility to exploit urban areas but it is also possible that they could seek refuges that match their phylogenetic niche requirements. The public’s perceptions of these “urban” species may also influence their success within urban centres. Using the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis, in Greater Johannesburg as a model species, I assessed the flexible and niche conservative hypotheses for its occurrence in urban areas. In particular, I investigated 1) the behaviour and flight initiation distance (FID; a measure of habituation to people) of rock hyraxes in warm (February and September) and cold (June and July) months at an urban site, Meyersdal Eco Estate, south of Johannesburg; and 2) the occurrence and public perception of rock hyraxes in Greater Johannesburg. At Meyersdal Eco Estate, three colonies were identified along an approximately 2km gradient of proximity to humans, from those living in a storm-water drain and gardens to a colony situated >100m from houses. The three colonies showed differences in behavioural patterns compared to a natural population located in the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape Province. Although behaviours such as basking, sunbathing, travelling, grooming, and vigilance did not change between the colonies, feeding behaviour was greater and FID scores were shorter in the colony closest to people, indicating greatest habituation to people compared to the colony furthest from people, which showed reduced feeding behaviour and greatest FID distance. The intermediately situated colony showed intermediate levels of feeding and FID. The behaviour of rock hyraxes was not influenced by deterrents (boa, Boa constrictor constrictor, dung and wild garlic, Tulbaghia violacea) used at Meyersdal to keep rock hyraxes away from gardens. Rock hyraxes ate a ... Thesis Keep Rock University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: WITS Institutional Repository on DSpace (WIReDSpace) Boa ENVELOPE(15.532,15.532,66.822,66.822) Fid ENVELOPE(-65.939,-65.939,-68.664,-68.664) Fid The ENVELOPE(-65.939,-65.939,-68.664,-68.664) Keep Rock ENVELOPE(-61.613,-61.613,-62.793,-62.793) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: WITS Institutional Repository on DSpace (WIReDSpace) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwitwaters |
language |
English |
topic |
Rock hyrax Rock hyrax--Behaviour Rock hyrax--South Africa--Johannesburg Cities and towns--South Africa--Johannesburg |
spellingShingle |
Rock hyrax Rock hyrax--Behaviour Rock hyrax--South Africa--Johannesburg Cities and towns--South Africa--Johannesburg Naylor, Andrea Jayne The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas |
topic_facet |
Rock hyrax Rock hyrax--Behaviour Rock hyrax--South Africa--Johannesburg Cities and towns--South Africa--Johannesburg |
description |
With the continuous urban expansion, assessing how some species can survive in urban environments, particularly through modifying their behaviour, is becoming increasingly important. Urban wildlife can show phenotypic (e.g. behavioural) flexibility to exploit urban areas but it is also possible that they could seek refuges that match their phylogenetic niche requirements. The public’s perceptions of these “urban” species may also influence their success within urban centres. Using the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis, in Greater Johannesburg as a model species, I assessed the flexible and niche conservative hypotheses for its occurrence in urban areas. In particular, I investigated 1) the behaviour and flight initiation distance (FID; a measure of habituation to people) of rock hyraxes in warm (February and September) and cold (June and July) months at an urban site, Meyersdal Eco Estate, south of Johannesburg; and 2) the occurrence and public perception of rock hyraxes in Greater Johannesburg. At Meyersdal Eco Estate, three colonies were identified along an approximately 2km gradient of proximity to humans, from those living in a storm-water drain and gardens to a colony situated >100m from houses. The three colonies showed differences in behavioural patterns compared to a natural population located in the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape Province. Although behaviours such as basking, sunbathing, travelling, grooming, and vigilance did not change between the colonies, feeding behaviour was greater and FID scores were shorter in the colony closest to people, indicating greatest habituation to people compared to the colony furthest from people, which showed reduced feeding behaviour and greatest FID distance. The intermediately situated colony showed intermediate levels of feeding and FID. The behaviour of rock hyraxes was not influenced by deterrents (boa, Boa constrictor constrictor, dung and wild garlic, Tulbaghia violacea) used at Meyersdal to keep rock hyraxes away from gardens. Rock hyraxes ate a ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Naylor, Andrea Jayne |
author_facet |
Naylor, Andrea Jayne |
author_sort |
Naylor, Andrea Jayne |
title |
The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas |
title_short |
The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas |
title_full |
The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas |
title_fullStr |
The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas |
title_full_unstemmed |
The occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, Procavia capensis, in urban areas |
title_sort |
occurrence, behaviour and public perception of rock hyraxes, procavia capensis, in urban areas |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19303 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.532,15.532,66.822,66.822) ENVELOPE(-65.939,-65.939,-68.664,-68.664) ENVELOPE(-65.939,-65.939,-68.664,-68.664) ENVELOPE(-61.613,-61.613,-62.793,-62.793) |
geographic |
Boa Fid Fid The Keep Rock |
geographic_facet |
Boa Fid Fid The Keep Rock |
genre |
Keep Rock |
genre_facet |
Keep Rock |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19303 |
_version_ |
1768390850903015424 |