GPS Radio Collars - Hoanib Floodplain Pride

The Hoanib Floodplain and Hoaruseb groups
The genealogy of the original Huaruseb Pride (below) gives a schematic overview of the composition and relatedness of the group. Xpl-10 (“Sarah” – named after the shopkeeper at Purros) and her daughter (Xpl-25) moved to the Hoanib Floodplain towards the end of 2006. Xpl-10's second litter (Xpl-37 & 38) remained in the Hoaruseb River. Initially the two sub-groups interacted occasionally, but the frequency of these interactions decreased significantly towards 2008. The Hoanib male "Adolf" (Xpl-3) interact regularly with Xpl-10, 25 and their young.

A GPS collar was fitted to Xpl-25 in late February 2008 in an effort to study the movement patterns of the Hoanib Floodplain group in relation to the Hoaruseb lions and the separation of the two sub-groups. The collar failed at the end of July 2008.

A new GPS collar was fitted to Xpl-10 late in May 2009. Intensive monitoring of this important group of lions can now be continued. Xpl-10 was first radio-collared in late 1999 when she was two years old. She and her offspring has been the focus of much attention and research ever since.

New movement animations
The movement patterns of the adult lioness (Xpl-10) of the Hoanib Floodplain Pride are presented below using a Flash animation. Click on the PLAY button to start the animation. The timeline is constant at 7.5 seconds per day (24 hrs). Black and yellow bars indicate night and daytime, respectively, on the timeline. When the red dot moves quickly across the screen, it accurately represents the speed at which the llion moves.

September 2009 - first 6-day highlight

Earlier animations of Xpl-25 & Xpl-10