Monitoring of sex and age ratios in ungulate populations of the Kruger National Park by ground survey

Abstract

Objectives, techniques and problems of monitoring ungulate population structure and trends using standardised ground surveys as an adjunct to aerial counts are described and discussed in the light of experience gained over the past seven years. Because of ambiguities inherent in the interpretation of juvenile survival rates from data on age class distributions and until the accuracy and repeatability of the aerial counts in Kruger National Park have been assessed, a complementary approach to population monitoring using ground and aerial surveys is advocated.