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Social standing and elephant migration

Date published: October 31, 2007

An analysis of social dominance relationships and roaming patterns of free-ranging elephants in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves in northern Kenya found that elephants led by older, more dominant matriarchs tromped significantly fewer miles to seek food than those a few rungs lower on the social ladder. Sarah Yang has more on the study.

Endangered albatross catches prey differently

Date published: October 30, 2007

Based on new high-resolution data collected from loggers attached to the legs of wandering albatrosses on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, a research team shows that the previous claims about the Lévy flight behaviour were unfounded. They also reanalysed the existing data sets for deer and bumblebees using new statistical methods, again finding that none exhibits evidence of Lévy flights. A WildlifeWatch report.

Parasites. monkeys, and forest fragments

Date published: October 30, 2007

Forest fragmentation threatens biodiversity, often causing declines or local extinctions in a majority of species while enhancing the prospects of a few. A new study from the University of Illinois shows that parasites can play a pivotal role in the decline of species in fragmented forests. This is the first study to look at how forest fragmentation increases the burden of infectious parasites on animals already stressed by disturbances to their habitat. WildlifeWatch has more.

Two-timing increases with age

Date published: October 30, 2007

Coal tits are only monogamous on the surface. The partners often stay together for the rest of their life and mom and dad take care of their joint offspring together. But are the young really always the offspring of the father who is taking care of the brood? The genetic data tell a completely different story. WildifeWatch has more on this fascinating study by researchers at the University of Bonn.

Fifty years of the predator and the prey

Date published: October 30, 2007

In the late 1940s, a pack of wolves made the treacherous trip across 15 to 20 miles of frozen waters of Lake Superior to Isle Royale, located not far from the Canadian border. There they found a wilderness island safe from hunters and traffic and home to an abundant moose herd. The wolves settled in to a self-contained ecosystem where they were virtually the only predators and the moose were their primary prey. The Isle Royale wolf-moose study, conducted by researchers from Michigan Technological University, began in 1958. Subir Ghosh has more on the 50th anniversary of the longest continuous predator-prey study ever conducted.