Antelopes constitute a fundamental part of ecosystems throughout Africa and Asia where they act as habitat architects, dispersers of seeds, and prey for large carnivores. The fascication they hold in the human mind is evident from prehistoric rock paintings and ancient Egyptian art to today's wildlife documentaries and popularity in zoos. In recent years, however, the spectacular herds of the past have been decimated or extripated over wide areas in the wilds, and urgent conservation action is needed to preserve this world heritage for generations to come.
As the first book dedicated to antelope conservation, Antelope Conservation sets out to diagnose the causes of the drastic declines in antelope biodiversity and on this basis identify the most effective points of action. In doing so, Antelope Conservation covers central issues in the current conservation debate, especially related to the management of overexploitation, habitat fragmentation, disease transmission, climate change, populations genetics, and reintroductions. The contributions are authored by world-leading experts in the field, and Antelope Conservation is a useful resource to conservation scientists and practitioners, researchers, and students in related disciplines as well as interested lay people.
Preface
Foreword (Richard D. Estes)
1. Introduction: Our Antelope Heritage – Why the Fuss?
Jakob Bro-Jørgensen
2. Conservation challenges facing African savanna ecosystems
Ford, A.T., Fryxell, J.M. and A.R.E Sinclair
3. Population regulation and climate change: The future of Africa’s antelope
J. Grant C. Hopcraft
4. Interspecific resource competition in antelopes: search for evidence
Herbert H.T. Prins
5. Importance of antelope bushmeat consumption in African wet and moist tropical forests
John E. Fa
6. Opportunities and pitfalls in realising the potential contribution of trophy hunting to antelope conservation
Nils Bunnefeld and E.J. Milner-Gulland
7. Antelope Diseases – the “Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
Richard Kock, Philippe Chardonnet and Claire Risley
8. Hands-on approaches to managing antelopes and their ecosystems: a South African perspective
M. H. Knight, P. Novellie, S. Holness, J. du Toit, S. Ferreira, M. Hofmeyr, R. Grant, M. Herbst & A. Gaylard
9. DNA in the conservation and management of African antelope
Eline D. Lorenzen
10. Biological conservation founded on landscape genetics: the case of the endangered mountain nyala in the southern highlands of Ethiopia
Anagaw Atickem, Eli K. Rueness, Leif E. Loe & Nils Chr. Stenseth
11. The use of camera-traps to monitor forest antelope species
Rajan Amin, Andrew E. Bowkett & Tim Wacher
12. Reintroduction as an antelope conservation solution
Mark R Stanley Price
13. Desert antelopes on the brink: how resilient is the Sahelo-Saharan ecosystem?
John Newby , Tim Wacher , Sarah M Durant , Nathalie Pettorelli & Tania Gilbert
14. The Fall and Rise of the Scimitar-horned Oryx: a Case Study of Ex-Situ Conservation and Reintroduction in Practice
Tim Woodfine & Tania Gilbert
15. Two decades of saiga antelope research: what have we learnt?
E.J. Milner-Gulland & Navinder J. Singh
16. Synthesis: Antelope Conservation – Realising the Potential
Jakob Bro-Jørgensen
Appendix
Index