Featured Research: Animals

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Leopards get stressed. Here's how we know and why it matters

Leopards are versatile predators. These elusive cats can successfully occupy any habitat that supports sufficient numbers of prey species and which provides adequate cover for their ambush-style of hunting.

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Leopards get stressed. Here’s how we know – and why it matters

Leopards are versatile predators. These elusive cats can successfully occupy any habitat that supports sufficient numbers of prey species and which provides adequate cover for their ambush-style of hunting.

Story

Woody plants are changing Africa’s savannas — and this may have an impact on all of us

An increase in indigenous plant life does not sound like a bad thing, but when woody plants threaten to change savanna ecosystems (that cover approximately 13.5 million square kilometres of Africa alone), there is cause for concern.

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Hot birds in the hot seat

Prof Andrew McKechnie of the Department of Zoology and Entomology was recently awarded the South African Research Chair in Conservation Physiology.

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Unravelling the mysteries of meerkat behaviour

Researchers at the University of Pretoria form part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project in the Northern Cape's Kuruman River Reserve, which has studied groups of wild meerkats for over 20 years.

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Unravelling the mysteries of meerkat behaviour

Researchers at the University of Pretoria form part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project in the Northern Cape's Kuruman River Reserve, which has studied groups of wild meerkats for over 20 years.