Capstone: African Ostrich in the West Coast National Park
- Brian Brooks, Yale University '17
- Apr 21, 2016
- 2 min read
The final lap of OTS is among us, and it is the most intense of all. Our final exams for African Ecology and Conservation took place a few days ago, so everyone is currently in the initial stages of the Capstone Project, the concluding assignment for the program. Here, we implement everything we’ve learned about inter-species dynamics, biomes and vegetation types, and local fauna, to name a few, in order to structure a research project that will benefit both South African National Parks as well as the larger scientific community.
My Capstone Project aims to better understand the behavioral structure and ecological role of the African ostrich, a species with a substantial presence in West Coast National Park. They roam and nest throughout virtually the entirety of the park, yet very little is known about the species in the West Coast, a curious habitat for these terrestrial birds. In the park, there is an absence of predators, such as lions or leopards, who often prey on ostriches in many other regions of the continent.
At Cape Point (Photo by Damaris Chenoweth)
The “landscape of fear” that exists when the African ostrich is in a region of predation may not be present in the West Coast. My partner and I aim to discover if any change in time-budgeting appears, especially in vigilance, when compared to the results of a previous ostrich study that was performed in Kenya. Further, we would like to record group sizes, sex ratios, and preferred vegetation type for nest-building, all of which is information that could prove beneficial to park management. Our data collection, as with all Capstone Projects, will take place over the next five days and will be used to write a final report.
These last few weeks of OTS will surely be somewhat hectic, but I know that they’ll be equally thrilling and eye-opening, as always!
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