A useful marking method for free living mammals

Abstract

A paint-spraying device was employed for marking wild African mammals without capture. This relatively inexpensive marking technique, which had originally been used for the marking of American desert bighorn sheep at drinking places, was also successfully applied in the marking of impala, Aepyceros melampus, blue wildebeest, Connochaetes taurinus, Burchell's zebra, Equus burchellii antiquorum aud the African elephant, Loxodonta africana. The apparatus used differs in some respects from that originally described by Hanson (1964). It was also used for the marking of animals from a mobile unit and away from fixed drinking places.

This paper is based on a part of a thesis, submitted to the University of Pretoria in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of D.Sc. (Wildlife Management).