Ecology and Behaviour of the African Buffalo

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

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2. Distribution of resources in time and space

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 1-33

3. Food for the buffalo

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 34-55

4. Social organization of buffalo cows

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 56-83

5. Social organization of buffalo bulls

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 84-105

6. Population dynamics, catastrophes and stability

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 106-153

7. Competition for food

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 154-177

8. Patch selection: predators and grazing by ‘rule of thumb’

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 178-217

9. Selecting grazing grounds: a case of voting

   • H. H. T. Prins

   Pages 218-236

10. The effects of ecology on social organization

    • H. H. T. Prins

    Pages 237-260

11. Back Matter

    Pages 261-293

    PDF

Over the past 30 years or so, research effort in behaviour and ecology has progressed from simple documentation of the habits or habitats of differ­ ent species to asking more searching questions about the adaptiveness of the patterns of behaviour observed; moved from documenting simply what occurs, to trying to understand why. Increasingly, studies of behav­ iour or ecology explore the function of particular responses or patterns of behaviour in individuals or populations - looking for the adaptiveness that has led to the adoption of such patterns either at a proximate level (what environmental circumstances have favoured the adoption of some particular strategy or response from within the animal's repertoire at that specific time) or at an evolutionary level (speculating upon what pres­ sures have led to the inclusion of a particular pattern of behaviour within the repertoire in the first place). Many common principles have been established - common to a wide diversity of animal groups, yet showing some precise relationship between a given aspect of behaviour or population dynamics and some particular ecological factor. In particular, tremendous advances have been made in understanding the foraging behaviour of animals - and the 'decision rules' by which they seek and select from the various resources on offer - and patterns of social organization and behaviour: the adap­ tiveness of different social structures, group sizes or reproductive tactics.

• animals
• behavior
• ecology
• lake
• stability

This book will come to be seen as a milestone in the development and testing of ideas in behavioural ecology...This is a brilliant book. - Mammal News; In all, this is a highly informative and easily readable text which makes an excellent companion to, and extension of, the earlier work of Grimsdell (1969) and Sinclair (1977), and helps dispel many of the old myths propagated by white hunters about this animal. - Journal of Animal Ecology; ...of great interest and value to people working on related species in wild, domestic or feral conditions...Specialists in African ungulates will appreciate the generous provision of detail...excellent photographs... - Animal Behaviour; After many years of original and innovative research on the African buffalo, particulary at Lake Manyara in northern Tanzania, Herbert Prins has now summarized the results of much of this widely-respected work in this fascinating book. Such a case-study has wide implications for research on social structure and organization in other species, and these are explored within the book - Ethology Ecology & Evolution; This book is a landmark in socio-ecological studies of ungulates...no other work that I can recall has gone into such detail and sifted through the data so thoroughly....Ecology and Behavior of the African Buffalo is an exceptional interesting study, one that sets a new and higher standard for future studies. -African Worldlife Update

• Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

  H. H. T. Prins

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