Buffalo mortality Readme This table contains a description of Buffalo mortalities (Old or fresh). Buffalo mortalities were encountered by field technicians during their daily movements in the field, either accidentally coming across them on foot, by actively pursuing vultures, or because the animal had a VHF or GPS collar. Buf mortality ID Unique ID for each mortality location. This unique number (Ascending integer) allocated to the mortality event is used to identify and link all specimens and samples collected from the carcass. It should have a “M” prefix before the number Name: If the animal was recognized as a known individual the animals name was recorded. This field can be linked to other tables. Obs: The initials of the person who located and documented the carcass*** see look up table Date: The date when the carcass was located, do not confuse with TOD. Time found The time when the carcass was located. UTM E: WGS84 Zone 36 UTM east coordinate of where the observer was. UTM N: WGS84 Zone 36 UTM north coordinate of where the observer was. Age Visual age of the buffalo determined by the observer based on visual characteristics Sex The sex of the animals as determined by the observer. Cause A subjective deduction by the observer as to why the animal died, using information gathered from the surrounding area, e.g. Lion tracks, sign of a struggle, no apparent signs of external injury etc Cond “Condition” Subjective view of the body score of the animal. TOD “Time of Death” When the animal was believed to have died, based on the deterioration of the carcass Grass measurements (used to assess relative visibility of the site). Only recorded for some mortalities for a study by Hay et al. J. Animal Ecology (2009) G_None: number of steps with no grass out of 20 total steps G_Ankle: number of steps with grass up to ankle height out of 20 total steps G_Knee: number of steps with grass up to knee height out of 20 total steps G_Waist: number of steps with grass up to waist height of 20 total steps G_Shoulder; number of steps with grass up to shoulder height out of 20 total steps G_Head: number of steps with grass up to head height out of 20 total steps Visibility in the 4 cardinal directions: Only recorded for some mortalities for a study by Hay et al. J. Animal Ecology (2009) VIS N: person walks this number of paces before they are no longer visible North Vis E: person walks this number of paces before they are no longer visible East Vis W: person walks this number of paces before they are no longer visible West Vis S: person walks this number of paces before they are no longer visible South Catena The type of catena were the carcass was found Carcass The total remains of the carcass found. To give an indication of if the animal was actually killed in the area, should only the skull be found it is unlikely that the animal was actually killed in the area, but more likely that the skull was carried to the point by scavenges. Smear Used to identify whether a blood smear was taken to be submitted to the state veterinarians at Skukuza. Marrow Used to identify whether a marrow sample was taken. Marrow samples were taken in order to give further details on the animals condition. Tissue Used to identify whether a tissue sample was taken for submission for genetics Teeth Used to identify whether teeth were collected, for age determination purposes. Usually the 1st molar from lower jaw, if the animal was older than 5yrs. If the animal was less than five then the whole jaw was collected and age determination was done on the tooth eruption sequence. Lymph Used to identify whether a lymph sample was taken for submission to Onderstepoort veterinary institute for culture. In the comments it should have been noted which Lymph node had been collected Microscopy Was the buffalo positive for Btb using Z-N Stain Culture Was the Buffalo positive for Btb using the Cultured lymph nodes. Comments General comments related to the carcass as well as specifying the lymph nodes collect for Culture Histo “ Histopathology” Comments from the histopathology laboratory at the OVI about the organ samples. Marrow comments Comments on the marrow, used as an indication of animal condition: 4 categories: White and Fatty, Pink, Red and Fluid, NA, Herd type: Type of herd in which the buffalo was killed / died in *** see look up table