Individuals
This area will be managed by Ashley Woldhagen. This page will help provide answers to questions about individual history of the Waterbuck at fossil Rim. Information will also be provided on how to identify individual animals.
How many Waterbuck have been counted?
24
Have the Waterbuck been identified?
Table of females & calves Jan 2008 (nuggets_q1.pdf)
Adult Males: 2 (#530, #55)
Adult Females with a tag: 6 (#57, #58, #59, #62, #63, #64)
Adult Females no tag: 3
Adult Females no tag but ID as mother to a calf: 2
Adult Females no tag but possible ID for an old tag: 2 (#56, #61)
Calves (sub adult) with a tag: 2 (#545, #549)
Calves no tag but ID with a house tag and name: 5
Calves no tag/ no ID: 2
Notes:
- The calves with no tag/ no ID were hard to ID because of their size. They were not as small as the younger calves but about the same size as the adult females. Their birth-date in the records showed that they were born between #545 and # 549.
- The calves that don’t have a tag were identified with a project name and a house tag number. The project name was how our group was able to agree on an accurate ID for a certain animal. The house tag number was how our group could organize data about an animal with no tag.
Do the Waterbuck have individual features that would help ID the animals with no tags?
The ring of white on the rear of the Waterbuck have different variations. Observations were made that some of the rings have different widths. Some of the rings start large at the base of the inside back leg and get smaller toward the tail head. Some of the rings make complete circles and some of the rings are disconnected above the tail head.
It was hard to ID the Waterbuck by facial features because they all look really similar. One of the female Waterbuck had a split left ear possibly from where a tag had been ripped out (#61). Another female Waterbuck had a hole in the middle of her left ear possibly where a tag had come out (#56). One Calf has a short tail that curls up to the left. These features helpd us to ID come of the animals.