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Migratory Okavango zebra navigate to water holes

Migratory Okavango zebra navigate to water holes © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223, jeb240051. doi:10.1242/jeb.240051 INSIDE JEB meanderings from their collars 3 months later, at the end of the dry season, the team identified 217 journeys to water holes, averaging ∼4 km with the longest over 15 km. Back in the UK, Bartlam-Brooks, Simon Wilshin, Tatjana Hubel and Stephen Hailes began the Herculean task of unravelling the traces to find out which strategy the zebra use when travelling to and from water holes. Calculating the twistiness of the animals’ routes and whether they were following a few well-established ways or navigating via subtly different paths each time, the team A zebra in the Okavango Delta wearing a GPS collar. was eventually convinced. The zebra were Photo credit: Tatjana Hubel. navigating fresh routes each time, albeit toward the same goal. ‘We were When the north Nxai Pan fence, which sense of direction, Bartlam-Brooks, impressed that zebra rarely needed to use had divided the Okavango Delta from the Emily Bennitt (University of Botswana) the same routes to navigate successfully, lush grasslands of the Makgadikgadi and Alan Wilson (RVC) wondered even when previously used tracks were saltpans in Botswana for almost 40 years, whether the determined creatures depend close to where they currently were’,says was removed in 2004, no one knew on a few well-trodden routes to reach their Bartlam-Brooks. And the zebra didn’t whether the zebra (Equus quagga) that water holes or were capable of navigating appear to be led astray by trails that had migrated between the two locations a range of different paths to get a drink. crossed their paths. could resume their annual journey. ‘The fence was a veterinary cordon that was put ‘The hardest aspect of the study was Suspecting that this extraordinary up by the government to try to separate finding zebra from the specific migratory population of zebra navigate using local wildlife and cattle to prevent the spread of population… it was a long process landmarks or the position of the sun, disease’, says Hattie Bartlam-Brooks identifying which areas they used and Bartlam-Brooks is keen to test both from the Royal Veterinary College which animals were suitable for darting’, theories by shifting zebra off track as (RVC), UK. Yet, when Bartlam-Brooks, says Bartlam-Brooks, adding that many they journey toward their water holes Casper Bonyonogo (University of Okavango zebra do not migrate to and observing how they recover from the Botswana) and Stephen Harris pastures new. ‘We did a lot of driving mishap. ‘This type of study will help us (University of Bristol) fitted GPS collars around’, she chuckles. After tranquilising to understand how zebra are using to 21 zebra in 2006, they were amazed to each animal with a dart, Wilson checked physical landmarks and other cues to discover that six left their Okavango the unconscious animal’s condition while achieve such impressive navigation home, resuming the 600 km round Bartlam-Brooks and Bennitt fitted a GPS skills’,she says. journey that their ancestors had collar. ‘The collars were fitted with solar 10.1242/jeb.240051 undertaken four generations earlier. panels that recharged the collar’s ‘These migratory zebra seem to be batteries, allowing more GPS fixes to be Bartlam-Brooks, H., Wilshin, S., Hubel, T., exceptionally skilled at moving through recorded for a longer period’,says Hailes, S., Bennitt, E. and Wilson, A. M. their environment,’ says Bartlam-Brooks. Bartlam-Brooks. Wilson then (2020). There and back again – a zebra’s tale. In addition, the Okavango zebra routinely administered a fast-acting antidote, so that J. Exp. Biol. 223, jeb232140. doi:10.1242/jeb. journey from their grazing areas to water the animals were back on their feet within holes up to 20 km away during the dry a minute, before leaving them to roam Kathryn Knight season. Intrigued by the zebra’s uncanny free. Downloading the animals’ [email protected] Inside JEB highlights the key developments in Journal of Experimental Biology. Written by science journalists, each short report gives the inside view of the science in JEB. Journal of Experimental Biology http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Experimental Biology The Company of Biologists

Migratory Okavango zebra navigate to water holes

Kathryn, Knight,
Journal of Experimental Biology , Volume 223 (23) – Dec 1, 2020
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Publisher
The Company of Biologists
Copyright
© 2021 The Company of Biologists. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0022-0949
eISSN
0022-0949
DOI
10.1242/jeb.240051
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Abstract

© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223, jeb240051. doi:10.1242/jeb.240051 INSIDE JEB meanderings from their collars 3 months later, at the end of the dry season, the team identified 217 journeys to water holes, averaging ∼4 km with the longest over 15 km. Back in the UK, Bartlam-Brooks, Simon Wilshin, Tatjana Hubel and Stephen Hailes began the Herculean task of unravelling the traces to find out which strategy the zebra use when travelling to and from water holes. Calculating the twistiness of the animals’ routes and whether they were following a few well-established ways or navigating via subtly different paths each time, the team A zebra in the Okavango Delta wearing a GPS collar. was eventually convinced. The zebra were Photo credit: Tatjana Hubel. navigating fresh routes each time, albeit toward the same goal. ‘We were When the north Nxai Pan fence, which sense of direction, Bartlam-Brooks, impressed that zebra rarely needed to use had divided the Okavango Delta from the Emily Bennitt (University of Botswana) the same routes to navigate successfully, lush grasslands of the Makgadikgadi and Alan Wilson (RVC) wondered even when previously used tracks were saltpans in Botswana for almost 40 years, whether the determined creatures depend close to where they currently were’,says was removed in 2004, no one knew on a few well-trodden routes to reach their Bartlam-Brooks. And the zebra didn’t whether the zebra (Equus quagga) that water holes or were capable of navigating appear to be led astray by trails that had migrated between the two locations a range of different paths to get a drink. crossed their paths. could resume their annual journey. ‘The fence was a veterinary cordon that was put ‘The hardest aspect of the study was Suspecting that this extraordinary up by the government to try to separate finding zebra from the specific migratory population of zebra navigate using local wildlife and cattle to prevent the spread of population… it was a long process landmarks or the position of the sun, disease’, says Hattie Bartlam-Brooks identifying which areas they used and Bartlam-Brooks is keen to test both from the Royal Veterinary College which animals were suitable for darting’, theories by shifting zebra off track as (RVC), UK. Yet, when Bartlam-Brooks, says Bartlam-Brooks, adding that many they journey toward their water holes Casper Bonyonogo (University of Okavango zebra do not migrate to and observing how they recover from the Botswana) and Stephen Harris pastures new. ‘We did a lot of driving mishap. ‘This type of study will help us (University of Bristol) fitted GPS collars around’, she chuckles. After tranquilising to understand how zebra are using to 21 zebra in 2006, they were amazed to each animal with a dart, Wilson checked physical landmarks and other cues to discover that six left their Okavango the unconscious animal’s condition while achieve such impressive navigation home, resuming the 600 km round Bartlam-Brooks and Bennitt fitted a GPS skills’,she says. journey that their ancestors had collar. ‘The collars were fitted with solar 10.1242/jeb.240051 undertaken four generations earlier. panels that recharged the collar’s ‘These migratory zebra seem to be batteries, allowing more GPS fixes to be Bartlam-Brooks, H., Wilshin, S., Hubel, T., exceptionally skilled at moving through recorded for a longer period’,says Hailes, S., Bennitt, E. and Wilson, A. M. their environment,’ says Bartlam-Brooks. Bartlam-Brooks. Wilson then (2020). There and back again – a zebra’s tale. In addition, the Okavango zebra routinely administered a fast-acting antidote, so that J. Exp. Biol. 223, jeb232140. doi:10.1242/jeb. journey from their grazing areas to water the animals were back on their feet within holes up to 20 km away during the dry a minute, before leaving them to roam Kathryn Knight season. Intrigued by the zebra’s uncanny free. Downloading the animals’ [email protected] Inside JEB highlights the key developments in Journal of Experimental Biology. Written by science journalists, each short report gives the inside view of the science in JEB. Journal of Experimental Biology

Journal

Journal of Experimental Biology – The Company of Biologists

Published: Dec 1, 2020

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