A study of the ovarian activity of the royal antelope (Neotragus Pygmaeus L.) in the humid forest zone of Ghana
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Date
1998
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Abstract
Ovarian activity of the royal antelope (Neotragus pygmaeus L) was studied for 12 months by examining 324 female carcasses at the fresh bushmeat market at ‘Atwemonom’, Kumasi. The results indicate that royal antelopes are polyoestrous throughout the year with only one egg being ovulated during each cycle and also that ovulation occurs at random between the left and the right ovaries- There were no statistically significant differences in the activity of the ovaries between the dry (November - February) and the wet (March - October) seasons at the 5% significance level. Similarly, no statistically significant differences were found between the closed (August-November) and the hunting (December-July) seasons in the activity of the ovaries. It was also observed that, implantation of the fertilised egg always occurred unilaterally in the right uterine horn irrespective of whether ovulation took place in the left or the right ovary.
Pregnancies occurred throughout the year with a peak towards the end of the wet season (October) which also fell within the closed season of hunting of wild animals. This observation might suggest justification for the closed season for the hunting of wild animals imposed by the Wildlife Department. Royal antelopes are monotocous and give birth throughout the year. The births are bimodally distributed with peaks in the wet seasons (April-June and September).
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A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Science,