All 24 species in the current study lost migration routes and were reduced in number of individuals. In North America, bison are still considered migratory, but their range is now restricted from the Great Plains to two small sites in Yellowstone and Alberta. Similar changes are found on other continents when human activity limits the ability of species to move to new patches of food. The analysis found even more drastic curbing for six species in particular. The springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), black wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou), the blesbok (Damaliscus dorcas), and quagga (Equus quagga) of southern Africa; the kulan (Equus hemionus) of central Asia; and scimitar horned oryx (Oryx dammah) of northern Africa either no longer migrate or are impossible to evaluate as migratory animals.
"If we are going to conserve migrations and species, we need to identify what needs to be done: where migrations remain, how far animals move, their habitat needs and location, threats, and the knowledge gaps needed to be filled," says co-author Joel Berger of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Montana. "For some of these species, such as the wildebeest and eland in Botswana, threats were identified decades ago. We as a society have made
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| Contact: Kristin Elise Phillips kphillips@amnh.org 212-496-3419 American Museum of Natural History Source:Eurekalert |