ex situmanagement of beira antelope dorcatragus...

Int. Zoo Yb. (2011) 45: 259–273

DOI:10.1111/j.1748-1090.2011.00137.x

Ex situ management of Beira antelope Dorcatragusmegalotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar

C. HAMMERAl Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Sheikh Saoud Bin Mohd. Bin Ali Al Thani, PO Box 44069,Doha, State of QatarE-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP), Qatar, is theonly facility worldwide to keep the Beira antelopeDorcatragus megalotis, a small antelope from EastAfrica, listed as Vulnerable by The IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species. Physical, behavioural and physiolo-gical characteristics of the species are described in detail,based on observations in captivity. At AWWP, the Beiraantelope population increased from 2000 until 2006when it declined dramatically as a result of an epidemic-like outbreak of a respiratory disease most likely owingto a Mycoplasma infection. Management at AWWPincludes a diet based on natural forage, careful groupcomposition, enclosure design adapted to the need of thespecies and close monitoring. Apart from their importantconservation status, Beira antelope are highly attractiveanimals with a particular shape and coloration, and adocile nature.

Key-words: Beira antelope; biological data; ecology;husbandry; nutrition; social behavior; social organiza-tion; status.

INTRODUCTION

The Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotiswas first described in 1894 (von Menges,1894). However, little appears to have beenknown about the biology and life history ofthis remarkable small antelope species; forexample, in a renowned paper on the beha-viour of antelopes, Jarman (1974) did notknow how to classify the social behaviour ofthis species. Detailed descriptions of thebiology of Beira antelope have only occurredvery recently (Hammer & Hammer, 2005;Giotto et al., 2008). Beira antelope originatefrom East Africa; their area of distribution isthe southern coast of the Gulf of Aden to theHorn of Africa in the east, to the borders ofSomalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti in the west,

and to the Marmar Mountains in north-eastern Ethiopia (Kunzel & Kunzel, 1998;Nowak, 1999; Heckel et al., 2008). Theirtypical habitat is arid mountain with sparsevegetation, where they inhabit altitudes of upto 2000m in small, territorial groups (Giottoet al., 2008; C. Hammer, pers. obs). Beiraantelope belong to the Neotragini, the dwarfantelopes, and are considered related to theSteenbok Raphicerus campestris and grysbok(Raphicerus spp), the dikdiks (Madoqua spp)and the Oribi Ourebia ourebi. The scien-tific name Dorcatragus megalotis is of Greekorigin and means ‘big-eared antelope’(Huffman, 2009).

Since the 1980s, there have been re-peated attempts to maintain and breed Beiraantelope at Al Wabra Wildlife Preser-vation (AWWP), Qatar, with little success.Most animals died because of malnutrition,heat, and parasitic and infectious diseases.From before 1999, no detailed records existabout the number of imported animals andtheir fate. In March 1999, 25 Beira antelopewere captured during an expedition toSomalia (in the area of Hargeisa) and flownto Qatar. At this time, 1.3 (<.,) animalswere still alive at AWWP from previousexpeditions. By July 1999, only 2.6 adultanimals were still alive and these representthe founding stock for the current AWWPpopulation: the only ex situ population todate. Descriptions presented here are basedon observations of this population and onfree-ranging animals during a field trip toDjibouti in 2003.

ALWABRAWILDLIFE PRESERVATION: MANAGING BEIRA ANTELOPE 259

Int. Zoo Yb. (2011) 45: 259–273 c� 2011 The Authors. International Zoo Yearbook c� 2011 The Zoological Society of London

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

CONSERVATION STATUS

Because of long-term political unrest, thenatural habitat of the Beira antelope can onlybe accessed with difficulty, so their actualstatus in Somalia and Ethiopia can only bespeculated upon. The most recent estimatesare based on field observations from 2004 inDjibouti (Giotto et al., 2008, 2009), wherethe political situation has stabilized since1997 so that field observations are possible.The Beira antelope is classified as Vulnerable(Heckel et al., 2008; IUCN, 2009). Protectedareas or in situ programmes do not exist todate. Since 1997, there is a general huntingban in Djibouti that also benefits the Beiraantelope.

Because Beira antelope are very territorialand sedentary, goat and sheep herds kept innomadic systems represent a serious threat interms of resource competition and infectiousdiseases. With an increasing population and agrowing number of boreholes that facilitatenomad access to previously unused areas, thisthreat is increasing. Habitat fragmentation,hunting, droughts and soil erosion are addi-tional threats (Heckel et al., 2008; Giottoet al., 2009).

EXTERNAL APPEARANCE OF THEBEIRA ANTELOPE

The head, the lower extremities and the out-side of the thighs have a reddish coloration(Plate 1). A dark band, reaching from theshoulders to the flank, separates the greyishneck and back from the reddish–cream-co-loured belly side. The insides of the thighs arealso cream coloured. The hips are slightlyhigher than the shoulders. The brown eyeshave a white margin. From the lateral cornerof each eye, a black band reaches along thebase of the ear towards the back of the head,where it joins that of the other side. Themuzzle and chin area are also of a brightercoloration. The remarkably large ears have adark edge and the outer coloration is reddish.The hairs inside the ear are long and white,but are interspersed with bands of shorter,black hair that give the ears their distinctive

appearance that can be used for individualidentification of animals.

The hairs of the neck region are longer andtougher than the rest of the fur and probablyprotect Beira antelope against the thorns ofthe plants that form their natural diet. Thebushy tail is very short. Beira antelope haveinterdigital glands but no preorbital glands.Only << carry small, straight horns that canreach up to 12 cm and may form rings at theirbase. From a distance, these horns might bedifficult to detect because of the large ears.Apart from the horns, there is no sexualdimorphism; << and ,, are equal in sizeand body mass. Representative body mea-surements of adult Beira antelope are listed inTable 1.

The dental formula of Beira antelope is thesame as that of other ruminants: 0/3 incisors,0/1 canines, 3/3 premolars and 3/3 molars(maxillary/mandibular).

NATURAL DIET

Free-ranging Beira antelope feed on leavesand buds of shrubs in their natural habitat, aswell as succulents, herbs and grasses. Lists offood plants can be found in the literature(Kingdon, 1997; Kunzel & Kunzel, 1998;Giotto et al., 2008) but data on the relativeproportions of these plants in the diet aremissing. Beira antelope are assumed to bepredominantly browsers (Gagnon & Chew,2000; Giotto et al., 2008). Personal observa-tions of the author and isotopic analyses of asingle faecal sample of a free-ranging Beiraantelope (T. Tutken, pers. comm.) supportthis view. Unpublished data on the digestiveanatomy of Beira antelope from AWWPwould result in a classification of the speciesas an intermediate feeder (M. Clauss, pers.comm.). The water content of their naturaldiet most likely makes Beira antelope inde-pendent from surface water.

REPRODUCTION

Mating and birth

The reproduction of Beira antelope was pre-sented in detail by Hammer & Hammer

260 THE DEVELOPING ZOO WORLD


(2005). In the wild, a seasonal (Kingdon,1997) or bi-seasonal birthing pattern has beenreported (Giotto et al., 2008). A certainseasonality appears evident in the captivepopulation (Fig. 1) but, generally, Beira be-long to those antelopes that appear to losetheir naturally seasonal breeding patternwhen kept in captivity (Piening Schuler,Hammer, Clauss & Hammer, 2009). Most,, mate quickly after birth and, hence, have

the next calf c. 6 � 5 months later. Only primi-parous ,, at AWWP have a longer firstinterbirth interval of 10–12 months, whereasthis interval is 6 � 5–8 months in multiparousdams.

Mating is brief but is repeated frequentlyduring the day. During foreplay, the < followsthe , and approaches her from behind with astretched-out neck and raised tail. He sniffsher genital area, displays ‘flehmen’ (curlingof the upper lip which facilitates the transferof scents into the vomeronasal organ) andurinates frequently. The ‘laufschlag’ (forelegkicks) typical for bovids occurs sometimesbut not always. The , indicates receptivenessby standing still and raising her tail. Duringmating, the < stands on his hind legs as domost hoofed mammals.

Observed pregnancies at AWWP lastedbetween 186 and 209 days with an averageof 194 days (6 � 5 months). One single off-spring is born (Plate 2). Most births atAWWP occurred in the early morning, noonor early afternoon, but not in the evening or atnight. The dam is not separated from thegroup and neither is the <. First signs of

Plate 1. Captive Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis displaying the typical coloration patterns of the species.Catrin Hammer.

MEASURE RANGE MEAN

Body mass 9–14 kg 11 kgShoulder height 54–60 cm 57 � 1 cmTotal body length 88–98 cm 93 � 7 cmCroup (rump) height 61–66 cm 63 � 1 cmTail length 5–8 cm 6 � 7 cmBreast circumference 47–51 cm 49 � 1 cmNeck circumference 19–22 cm 20 � 3 cmHorn length 9–12 cm 10 cmDistance between horn bases 4–5 cm 4 cmEar length 13 cm 13 cm

Table 1. Body measurements of Beira antelope Dor-catragus megalotis collected from 18 adult individualsat Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation.



Plate 2. Newborn Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar. CatrinHammer.

num

ber

of b

irths

0

5

10

15

20

25

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Fig. 1. Months of births for Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar(2000–2008).



labour are usually observed 90 minutes be-fore birth. The actual expulsion usually lasts20 minutes. As in other ruminants, anteriorpresentation of the calf, with forelegs andhead appearing first, is the norm. Mothersoften get into tactile contact with the calfwhile the latter is still in the birth canal.Usually, mothers start cleaning their youngdirectly after birth. Beira antelope calves arefully developed and precocious. They try tostand immediately after birth. Calves usuallyreach a standing position 20–40 minutes afterbirth and start searching for their mother’sudder, which usually does not take longerthan another 10 minutes. Beira antelopecalves are hiders (remain hidden and sepa-rated from their mother except during nursingperiods) and are visited by their mothers fornursing only. The placenta is usually ejected30–60 minutes after birth and directly in-gested by the mother; however, only partialconsumption or complete neglect of the pla-centa also occurred at AWWP.

Five to 13 days after birth, the , comes intooestrus again; if the according mating isnot successful, another oestrus follows after24–26 days. Oestrous cycles appear to differbetween individuals but were observed to beconstant for each individual at AWWP. Oes-trus lasts between 12 and 24 hours. After anabortion or neonatal death, oestrus can occuras early as 4 days after the event.

Neonate development

At AWWP, Beira antelope neonates arenursed between two and nine times duringdaylight hours. Twelve days after birth thenursing frequency decreases. A nursing boutlasts between 10 and 180 seconds (mean 120seconds). Most nursing was observed in themorning between 0500 and 0900 hours and inthe evening between 1700 and 1900 hours.Animals are not observed overnight but it wasassumed that nursing also occurs during thenight; this could be corroborated by weighingcalves in the late evening and again in theearly morning. On individual occasions, nur-sing of calves by ,, other than their ownmothers was observed but, mostly, mothers

chase off offspring that are not their own.Weaning occurs after 3–4 months.

Similar to other dwarf antelopes, Beiraantelope calves have a high body mass ascompared with that of their mothers. Weigh-ing 1500–1700 g at birth, calves representc. 13% of adult body mass. Mass gain in thefirst 8 days is between 50 and 200 g (mean100 g) per day. There are no gender-specificdifferences in weight gain. After 2–3 weeks,calves have doubled their birth mass. Theygain body mass rapidly until they are 2months old, after which body-mass gainsdecelerate markedly. At the end of its 12thmonth, a calf has usually attained the typicaladult body mass of 11 kg (Fig. 2). In contrastto the brown eyes of adult animals, the iris ofnewborn Beira antelope has a yellow colora-tion. This fades to brown after c. 9 months ofage.

Beira antelope calves start to nibble at solidfood as early as 2 days after birth. At anaverage of 9 days after birth they regularlyingest solid food and rumination is observedconsistently at 3 weeks of age.

The group latrines are frequented by calvesafter 3–10 days of age for defecation andurination. Typical pawing is observed inyoung << from about 3 weeks of age on-wards. Female Beira antelope attain sexualmaturity at 2 years of age. In one case, a ,gave birth to her first offspring at 14 monthsof age, which means that mating must havebeen successful at 9 � 5 months of age. How-ever, this was a rare exception. Males start tobecome sexually active at 8 months of ageand perform their first successful mating onaverage at 11 months of age. With the onsetof sexual maturity, aggression between young<< and their sire also begins.

BEHAVIOUR

Beira antelope live in small territorial familyunits, consisting of an adult <, several ,,and their offspring (Giotto et al., 2008; C.Hammer, pers. obs). Peak daily activity peri-ods at AWWP are in the early morning andthe later afternoon, similar to Beira antelopein the wild (Giotto et al., 2008). However,



during the colder winter months at AWWPactivity bouts are more regularly distributedacross the whole day, indicating a majorinfluence of ambient temperatures on activitypatterns.

Defecation

The maintenance of common latrines (whereall members of the group defecate) probablyserve to mark the territory (Giotto et al.,2008; C. Hammer, pers. obs). At AWWP,these latrines have a diameter of 3–4m andare usually located on soft ground. Twoor three latrines are usually maintained simul-taneously by one group in their enclosure.After c. 6 months, a latrine is abandoned and anew location chosen for the next one.

Defecation appears to be a group ritual inthe Beira antelope at AWWP. All members ofa group defecate in close sequence or simul-taneously. Similar behaviours have been de-scribed as a ‘dunging ceremony’ in otherdwarf antelopes, such as dikdiks (Estes,1991; reviewed in Giotto et al., 2008), and

may provide group cohesion as well as terri-tory marking. First, ,, approach the latrines,sniff, paw the ground, urinate and defecatesubsequently. Afterwards, the < approachesthe latrine, seemingly attracted by the beha-viour of the ,,. He sniffs all recent dungpiles, often displaying ‘flehmen’ behaviour,scratches soil over the ,,’ dung piles, ur-inates in an upright position and subsequentlydefecates in a typical squatting posture (Plate3). Similar behaviour was described for ani-mals in the wild (Giotto et al., 2008).

Adult << control the latrines of their groupregularly and an ‘untended’ latrine is a typicalsign of either an all-, group without a mature< or of a diseased <. Females use latrineseven in the absence of a < in the group,whereas << in bachelor groups do not main-tain latrines but defecate anywhere.

In stressful situations, such as births, ,, inoestrus or introduction of new animals into agroup, both the adult << and the dominant ,,defecate in unusual places all around theenclosure. At AWWP after hierarchy quar-rels, dominant ,, repeatedly chased away

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900age (days)

body

mas

s (g

)

● females○males

Fig. 2. Body-mass development for Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis juveniles at Al Wabra WildlifePreservation, Qatar (n5 8 <<; n5 26 ,,).



other ,, from their resting place and defe-cated in that place.

Greeting/appeasing

When coming into contact, animals slowlyapproach each other with a stretched-out neckand often duck down. They touch the other’shead, flank or genital region with their nose(Plate 4), while producing gentle, snortingsounds.

In stressful situations (introduction of newindividuals, hierarchy quarrels, oestrus, chas-ing by other animals), Beira antelope duck orlie down. This behaviour is often displayedby all group members, irrespective of genderand age. Animals circle each other in suchcrouched positions and smell each other’sheads, flanks or genital regions. Usually,tensions subside quickly and animals resumetheir normal body stance. Twice a mother

antelope was observed approaching the domi-nant < in the described submissive posturewhen the < had repeatedly attacked her <offspring (8 months of age at the time). The ,thus deflected the <’s attention.

Aggression

Aggressive behaviour is rare in establishedgroups with a clear hierarchy. At times,maturing ,, are put in their place by older,, with headbutts against the flank or theshoulder. Male juveniles are tolerated up to10 months of age but attacks by the dominant< can occur earlier, especially when ,, of thegroup are in oestrus. At AWWP, cases aredocumented where << attacked and hurt ,,,which even led to the death of a , in one case.The reasons for these attacks were not evi-dent: in one case, a 12 month-old < attacked a, of the same age, with which he had beenliving together peacefully for the preceding 8months, with such vehemence and persis-tence that the , died from its wounds. Thesame < showed a similar behaviour in othergroup constellations and he always picked onone ,. Once this , was removed from thegroup, he would focus his attention on an-other one. After several pairing attempts, this< was put into solitary confinement when healso proved to be incompatible with bachelorgroups.

Another case of aggression was less spec-tacular but even more interesting. One <dominated two ,,, which were both in aweak body condition and did not becomepregnant. Veterinary inspections did not yieldconclusive results. Intensive observations re-vealed that the < consistently pursued thesetwo ,,, chased them off their resting placesand even hit them with his horns when theyoffered themselves to him for mating. Whenthe < was exchanged for another <, the bodycondition of both ,, improved within 2months and both became pregnant.

Most aggressive actions were observedbetween a dominant < and a ,. In one case,aggression of a , against a newborn wasobserved. A , that had not produced anyoffspring of her own attacked newborns of

Plate 3. Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis < intypical squatting defecation posture. Catrin Hammer.



the group with such vehemence that she hadto be removed from the group for a couple ofdays. Afterwards, she accepted the new groupmembers without problems.

Vocalization

During 8 years of observing Beira antelope,seven easily distinguishable vocalizationscould be identified in this species.� Whimpering of calves to contact their

mother.� A cry of fear from calves.� Mother calling her calf.� Greeting: a gentle, stuttering snort.� Tongue clicking as a warning: at this click,

all group members react with increasedalertness and readiness for flight.

� The augmentation of the click is a loudsnort that usually leads to flight of thewhole group.

� A long drawn-out peacock-like cry thatindicates a state of excitement; this wasalways caused by the introduction of newindividuals to a group or fear triggered byhumans or severe attacks by cage mates.

HUSBANDRYANDMANAGEMENTATAWWP

Enclosure management and design

At AWWP the average group size of around1.4 adult individuals and their offspringmirrors observations on group compositionsin the wild (Giotto et al., 2008). At its peak(2005/2006) there were 12 breeding groupsplus some separated individuals maintainedat AWWP. The individual enclosures atAWWP, including a 36m2 house and aseparation corridor of 2m width (linked toadjacent enclosures, the house and a load-ing dock), comprise an average area of900m2 (Fig. 3). The house is equipped withair conditioning, which is considered essen-tial at temperatures above 35 1C. Animalshave permanent access to the outdoor enclo-sure and the house. As the antelope did notuse bedding material this is no longer offeredexcept in cases of illness or exceptional cold.In these cases, infrared heaters are installedindoors and are regularly used by the animals.In the colder months (December to March),animals are locked indoors overnight and

Plate 4. Two Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis in typical greeting ritual. Catrin Hammer.



houses are heated with electric heaters. Am-bient temperature is maintained at 20 1C.

The enclosure is fenced with mesh wire(5 � 3 cm � 5 � 3 cm) that is 2m high or sur-rounded by a solid wall of similar height. Inorder to prevent the animals from runninginto the mesh-wire fence, the lower 80 cmeither consists of a stone wall or is covered bycanvas to give a solid appearance. The cap-ture corridor is fenced by a similar stone wallor by canvas supported by mesh wire. Thecorridor is open to the top, apart for theloading dock. When capture is intended (e.g.for transfer to more distant enclosure units),animals are fed in the capture corridor rather

than forced into it. The antelope usually alsohave access to the corridor, which, in con-junction with the house, provides a circularpath of movement, allowing animals to avoideach other without the danger of being cor-nered.

In the experience of AWWP, Beira ante-lope are particularly susceptible to a wet cold.Nevertheless, they often do not seek shelter intheir houses but remain outdoors in the rain.As this can result in cold and hypothermia,animals are usually locked indoors duringsuch weather conditions.

In the experience of AWWP, evasion op-tions are important for flight animals and

Fig. 3. Scheme for Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis enclosure at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar.Green circles indicate protected bushes. Arrows indicate doors.



provide a feeling of safety. Therefore, theenclosures are furnished with natural vegeta-tion and an artificial rock of 3–4m in height,as well as sight barriers consisting of twigs.This results in various shady and sunny areas.The ground consists of solid soil and rock. Atfirst, enclosures were filled with sand but thiswas removed when some groups showedexcessive hoof overgrowth.

Diet and feeding

The feedstuffs currently used in the diet ofBeira antelope at AWWP are listed in Table 2.The natural vegetation growing in the enclo-sures and in the planted corridors consistmainly of Leucaena leucocephala, Acaciareficiens, Acacia mearnsii, Acacia nilotica,Prosopis juliflora, Pithecellobium dulce, Eu-calyptus maculata, Ziziphus spina-christi,Phoenix dactylifera and various grasses. Theamount of food taken from this growingvegetation is minimal as compared with thediet offered. Note that the diet offered com-prises a large proportion of browse (Table 2).Food is offered twice daily (Table 3). Browsetwigs and fresh lucerne are hung from fencesor mesh protecting vegetation in the enclo-sure; the other feeds are given in elevatedfood bowls of varying height that are distrib-uted around the enclosure (an important mea-sure for limiting access to food by rats andmice). A high number of these bowls andtheir distribution across the enclosure en-courages the animals to spend more timeforaging and allows individuals of lowerstatus to access food at the same time as thedominant animals. Apart from the minerallicks and the minerals available via the com-pound feeds, an additional mineral mix is fedto the animals, either mixed into the fruits andvegetables, or dissolved in water and sprayedonto the browse.

Beira antelope are observed not only toconsume the browse leaves but also some-times even thin twigs, bark or the long thornsof some acacia species. Additionally, drypalm leaves are also eaten regularly.

Fresh water is available at all times but theanimals also drink the brackish water used to

water the enclosure vegetation. At AWWP,Beira antelope drink regularly and are ob-served to drink more frequently during thehot summer months. Three times per week aphosphorus supplement is dissolved in thedrinking water, because the phosphorus statusof many animals at AWWP was found tobe low (Hammer et al., 2006). Even afterextensive experimentation with differentproducts, the acceptance of the mineral licksoffered remains limited; some animals havenever been observed using them.

Group composition

Based on observations of free-ranging ani-mals, Beira antelope breeding groups atAWWP consist of one adult < and three tofour adult ,,, and their offspring. The < isnever separated from the group but breeding

FEEDSTUFFPROPORTION OF TOTALDIET (% AS FED)

Fresh browse: Acaciamearnsii, Acacianilotica, Acaciareficiens, Acaciatortilis, Ziziphusspina-christi,Leucaenaleucocephala

57

Fresh lucerne 23Carrots, apples, cooked

potato (to delivermineral/vitamin mix)

5

Pelleted compound feedfor small ruminants

12

Pelleted compound feedwith vitamin E

1

Cooked maize 1Oat flakes 1Mineral mix 4 g per animal per dayCalf starter compound

feedadditional food offered

during cold weather orduring lactation

Dried lucerne ad libitumTwigs, palm leaves ad libitumMineral lick with

increased coppercontent

ad libitum

Table 2. Feedstuffs offered to Beira antelope Dorca-tragus megalotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation,Qatar.



<< are exchanged based on their age, healthand genetic representation in the population.It is thought that a low neonate mortality(17%) and a high success in raising juveniles(96% of surviving neonates) advocates theuse of these small breeding units. There wasonly one case of a , that consistently ne-glected its offspring.

The breeding < dominates the group. The,, have a hierarchy but this is difficult todiscern in established groups. Offensive ac-tions between ,, are rare and mostly ob-served when an animal of a group dies or anew animal is introduced into the group. AtAWWP, new adult ,, are not added intoexisting groups. Female offspring replacetheir mothers in breeding groups. However,if a , had to be isolated for medical reasons,reintroduction into its former group may benecessary and is always a challenge. After aperiod of visual and olfactory contact througha wire fence, the newcomer is first introducedto the lower-rank ,, of the group. Thedominant , is only brought to the group afteran indeterminate time period; in some cases,the dominant , had to be removed repeatedlybefore the group was stable. Such integrationtakes 2–3 weeks to achieve. If a completelynew group has to be assembled, it is advisableto put all animals into an enclosure that is notfamiliar to any member of the group, to avoidgiving any individual an advantage.

Juveniles that cannot be integrated intotheir dams’ breeding groups are collected insingle-sex groups at the age of 6–8 months;new breeding groups are later formed withhabituated ,, and an introduced breeding <.Males raised together in bachelor groups canbe kept together even after sexual maturity upto the age of 1 � 5 years; this is usually notpossible with << that were raised separatelyor that have led a breeding group in the past.Therefore, sufficient space for keeping indi-vidual << removed from the actual breedinggroups is essential.

Daily routine and handling

Routine work, such as the daily feeding,cleaning, watering and monitoring have led

VEGETABLES

SAFA

RIPELLETS

COOKEDMAIZE

FRESHLUCERNE

BROWSE

DRYLUCERNE,

TWIG

S,PALM

LEAVES

OAT

FLAKES

VITAMIN

EPELLETS

MIN

ERAL

MIX

Morning

30g

75g

10g

140g

1branch

c.35

0g

adlibitum

10g

5g

2g

Afternoon

30g

75g

140g

1branch

c.35

0g

5g

2g

Tab

le3.

Daily

feedingregimeforon

eBeira

antelopeDorcatrag

usmegalotisat

AlW

abra

Wildlife

Preservation,Q

atar.



to the Beira antelope at AWWP being veryhabituated to human contact, resulting incalm, companionable groups. Individual ani-mals even take food from the hands ofkeepers. Enclosures are nearly always enteredby keeping personnel with animals present,with the exception of work that results in highnoise production, such as tree felling.

Different methods for the capture of indivi-dual Beira antelope have been tested atAWWP over the years. Hiding neonates up to7 days of age are captured by hand, using atowel to cover the eyes. Older animals arepushed along a corridor with a blanket, whichis put over the animal at the end of thecorridor; usually, the animal lies down at onceand can be restrained through the blanket. Atthe end of such a corridor, which can also beformed of canvas, the animal can also bepushed into a transport box (90 cm � 40 cm� 70 cm high), in which routine procedures,such as vaccinations or blood sampling, can beperformed. If chemical immobilization is ne-cessary, a regime of ketamin (1 � 8 � 0 � 6mgkg� 1) and medetomidin (0 � 060 � 0 � 008mgkg� 1) antagonized by atipamezol(0 � 34 � 0 � 04mgkg� 1) delivered intramus-cularly has been used successfully (MartinJurado et al., 2007).

Veterinary management

All newborn Beira antelope are subjected toan intensive prophylactic treatment regime(Table 4). A low juvenile mortality and fewjuvenile diseases (Nagy et al., 2008) appearto support this regime (Fig. 4).

All Beira antelope are routinely vaccinatedonce per year against Clostridium per-fringens, Pasteurella and Mannheimiosis(Heptavac P Pluss). During the regular fae-cal examination, the following endoparasitescould be diagnosed: nematodes, trichostron-gylus and giardia, which were successfully,treated with fenbendazole (Panacur tablets250mgs) at a dose of 15mg kg� 1 per dayfor five consecutive days. Coccidia weretreated with Toltrazuril (Baycox 5% oralsolutions) at a dose of 20mg kg� 1 every 3–4 weeks. Ectoparasites were never diagnosed.

Blood and faecal samples, as well as cytolo-gical and bacteriological samples are investi-gated at the AWWP internal laboratory. Forfurther diagnostics, including histologicaland virological investigations, samples aresent to various laboratories in Europe orDubai. Each deceased animal is subjected toa thorough in-house necropsy (Fig. 5).

The major causes of death of Beira ante-lope at AWWP are diseases of the respiratoryand urinary tract. The frequent lung andkidney infections appear to be caused by arespiratory disease, fibrinous pleuropneumo-nia syndrome (FPPS), that started occurringin January 2006 with acute and peracutedeaths (Hammer et al., 2007; Nagy et al.,2008) (Fig. 6). Main symptoms are nasaldischarge, coughing and eye infections, witharthritis in some individuals. During ne-cropsy, fibrinous pleuropneumonia, kidneyabnormalities and amyloidosis are evident.We know today that the cause of FPPS is amycoplasma infection (Nagy et al., 2008),most likely without the involvement of a viralinfection (Lechenne et al., 2009). Because theinfectious agent has not been identified, a

DAY DRUG

1 1ml kg� 1 BW Biofakts, sc1ml kg� 1 BW Biofakts, orallyEarnotch

2 1ml kg� 1 BW Bio Weyxin 700 Ks, orally2ml Bryonia, scTransponder

3 1ml kg� 1 BW Biofakts, orally2ml Bryonia, orally0 � 1ml kg� 1 BW Copavets, sc0 � 2ml kg� 1 BW Vitaselens, sc

4 2ml Bryonia, orally1ml kg� 1 BW Biofakts, orally

5 2ml Bryonia, orally1ml kg� 1 BW Biofakts, orally

30 2ml Heptavacs, sc2ml Bryonia, sc

60 2ml Heptavac booster vaccination, sc

Table 4. Neonate treatment protocol for Beira ante-lope Dorcatragus megalotis at Al Wabra WildlifePreservation, Qatar: sc. subcutaneous.



prophylactic vaccination is not possible. At-tempts to hand-raise neonates isolated imme-diately from their mothers to establish an

infection-free population (Piening Schuler,Hammer & Hammer, 2009) have been un-successful to date; however, because theseanimals were cooperative they were easy totreat. Treatment is symptomatic and suppor-tive. The syndrome led to a crash of thecaptive population (Fig. 7). The most recentneonates are left with their mothers but aretreated continuously with antibiotics duringtheir first 2 months of life. To date, theseanimals do not show any symptoms. Thesearch for the infectious agent continues.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

% o

f tot

al p

opul

atio

n

deaths births

Fig. 4. Comparison of birth and death rates in Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis at Al Wabra WildlifePreservation, Qatar (2000–2008).

0

20

40

60

80

affected organ systems

rela

tive

freq

uenc

y (%

)

Fig. 5. Affected organ systems (a generalized amyloi-dosis) in deceased Beira antelope Dorcatragus mega-lotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar,between 2000 and 2008 (n5 79 antelope).

24

19

5

8

6 lung+kidney+amyloid

lung+kidney

lung+amyloid

lung+other

lung only

Fig. 6. Necropsy reports for lung disease (in combi-nation with other findings) in Beira antelope Dorca-tragus megalotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation,Qatar (n5 62 antelope).



CONCLUSION

The Beira antelope is classified as a threa-tened species with a need for conservationand AWWP is a significant contributor to thecurrent scientific knowledge on the species.Irrespective of the fate of the current AWWPpopulation, this knowledge will remain thespringboard for all future in situ and ex situconservation efforts for D. megalotis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSMy sincere thanks go to Sheikh Saoud Bin MohammedBin Ali Al Thani for his consistent support for Beiraantelope management and publications about AWWPanimals; to Dr Sven Hammer and Fabia Wyss for thesummary of veterinary data; to the keepers and curator’sassistants of the mammal department; and to MarcusClauss for scientific advice.

PRODUCTS MENTIONED IN THE TEXTBaycox 5% oral solutions: toltrazuril, anticoccidial,manufactured by Bayer, 51368 Leverkusen, Germany.

Bio Weyxin 700 Ks: oral vitamin complex, manufac-tured by Veyx, Pharma GmbH, Sohreweg 6, 34639Schwarzenborn, Germany.Biofakts: colostral immune globulines from cattle withspecific antibodies against three different E. coli-lines,rotavirus and coronavirus, manufactured by Albrecht,88323 Aulendorf, Germany.Bryonia Inject-fortes: homoeopathic treatment, manu-factured by Plantavet, 88339 Bad Waldsee, Germany.Calf starter compound feed: manufactured by 50469Raiffeisen, Koln, Germany.Copavets: copper supplement, manufactured by C-VetLimited, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, UK.Heptavac P Pluss: immunization against clostridia andpasteurella, manufactured by Intervet, Unterschleis-sheim, Germany.Mineral block: mineral lick (with high copper/sele-nium), manufactured by Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries,Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Mineral mix: manufactured by Blattin, Hoveler, 41542Dormagen, Germany.Panacur tablets 250mgs: fenbendazol treatment fornematodes, manufactured by Intervet, 85716 Unters-chleissheim, Germany.Pelleted compound feed for small ruminants: manu-factured by Altromin, 32791 Lage, Germany.Pelleted compound feed with vitamin E: manufacturedby Ele-Vit, Mazuri, Witham, Essex, UK.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

tota

l num

ber

of a

nim

als

deaths

birthstotal population

Fig. 7. Population development of Beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation,Qatar (2000–2008).



Vitaselens: vitamin E/selenium supplement, manufac-tured by Selectavet, 83629Weyarn Holzolling, Germany.

REFERENCESESTES, R. D. (1991): The behaviour guide to Africanmammals. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.GAGNON, M. & CHEW, A. E. (2000): Dietary preferencesin extant African Bovidae. Journal of Mammalogy 81:490–511.GIOTTO, N., LAURANT, A., MOHAMED, N., PREEVOT, N. &

GERARD, J. F. (2008): Observations on the behaviour andecology of a threatened and poorly known dwarf ante-lope: the beira (Dorcatragus megalotis). European Jour-nal of Wildlife Research 54: 539–547.GIOTTO, N., OBSIEH, D., JOACHIM, J. & GERARD, J. F.(2009): The population size and distribution of thevulnerable beira antelope Dorcatragus megalotis in Dji-bouti. Oryx 43: 552–555.HAMMER, C. & HAMMER, S. (2005): Daten zur Fortpflan-zung und Jungtierentwicklung der Beira-Antilope (Dor-catragus megalotis). Der Zoologische Garten NF 75:89–99.HAMMER, S., HAMMER, C., SCHULZ, J., WERNERY, U. &

CLAUSS, M. (2006): Biochemische serum-parameter beiin Gefangenschaft gehaltenen Gazellen. TierarztlichePraxis 34G: 190–196.HAMMER, S., GULL, J. M., NAGY, A., BORJAL, R. J.,DEB, A., ARIF, A., TAHA, A., ROBERT, N. & CLAUSS, M.(2007): Fibrinous pleuropneumonia syndrome (FPPS) inbeira antelopes at the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation,Qatar. Verhandlungsbericht Erkrankungen der Zootiere43: 68.HECKEL, J. O., RAYALEH, H. A., WILHELMI, F. & HAMMER,S. (2008): Dorcatragus megalotis. In The IUCN red listof threatened species. Gland, Switzerland, and Cam-bridge, UK: IUCN. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/6793/0 (accessed 27 September 2010).HUFFMAN, B. (2009): Your guide to the world’s hoofedmammals. Toronto, ON: Available at http://www.ultimateungulate.comIUCN (2009): The IUCN red list of threatened species.Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. Avail-able at http://www.iucnredlist.orgJARMAN, P. J. (1974): The social organization of antelopein relation to their ecology. Behaviour 48: 215–266.KINGDON, J. (1997): The Kingdon field guide to Africanmammals. London: Academic Press.

KUNZEL, T. & KUNZEL, S. (1998): An overlooked popula-tion of the beira antelope in Djibouti. Oryx 32: 75–80.LECHENNE, M., DEB, A. & HAMMER, S. (2009): Serologicalevaluation of virus exposure in beira antelopes (Dorca-tragus megalotis) and Speke’s gazelles (Gazella spekei)at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar. In Proceedingsof the international conference on diseases of zoo andwild animals, 20–24 May 2009, Beekse Bergen: 248–251. Wibbelt, G., Kretzschmar, P. & Hofer, H. (Eds).Berlin: Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.MARTIN JURADO, O., HAMMER, C. & HAMMER, S. (2007):Beira (Dorcatragus megalotis) immobilisation at the AlWabra Wildlife Preservation. Verhandlungsbericht Erk-rankungen der Zootiere 43: 1–3.VON MENGES, J. (1894): Eine neue Antilope des Somali-landes. Zoologischer Anzeiger 17(444): 130–131.NAGY, A., GULL, J. M., DEB, A., ARIF, A., HAMMER, C.,WERNERY, U., CLAUSS, M., VERHOEVEN, S. & HAMMER, S.(2008): Retrospective evaluation of necropsy reports forbeira antelopes (Dorcatragus megalotis) at Al WabraWildlife Preservation, Qatar – with special focus on theoccurrence of a fibrinous pleuropneumonia syndrome(FPPS). Proceedings of the European Association ofZoo and Wildlife Veterinarians 7: 277–286.NOWAK, R. (1999): Walker’s mammals of the world (6thedn). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkin’s University Press.PIENING SCHULER, Y., HAMMER, C., CLAUSS, M. & HAMMER,S. (2009): Birth seasonality in captive bovids at Al WabraWildlife Preservation, Qatar. In Proceedings of the inter-national conference on diseases of zoo and wild animals,20–24 May 2009, Beekse Bergen: 297–303. Wibbelt, G.,Kretzschmar, P. & Hofer, H. (Eds). Berlin: LeibnizInstitute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.PIENING SCHULER, Y., HAMMER, C. & HAMMER, S. (2009):Body mass development and survival rate in hand-rearedand parent-reared bovidae at Al Wabra Wildlife Preserva-tion, Qatar. In Proceedings of the international confer-ence on diseases of zoo and wild animals, 20–24 May2009, Beekse Bergen: 291–296. Wibbelt, G., Kretzsch-mar, P. & Hofer, H. (Eds). Berlin: Leibniz Institute forZoo and Wildlife Research.

Manuscript submitted 4 November 2009;revised 15 August 2010; accepted 6 January2011



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