Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation

Covering all thirteen species of wild cattle, Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle brings together the contributions of international leading experts on the biology, evolution, conservation status and management of the tribe Bovini, providing: • A comprehensive review of current knowledge on systematic, anatomy and ecology of all wild cattle species (chapters 1 to 8); • A clear understanding of the conservation status of each species and the gaps in our current knowledge (chapters 9 to 20); • A number of case studies on conservation activities and an investigation of some of the most threatened and poorly understood species (chapters 21 to 27). An invaluable resource for students, researchers, and professionals in behavioural ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation biology, this beautifully illustrated reference work reveals the extraordinary link between wild cattle and humans, the benefits some of these species have brought us, and their key roles in their natural ecosystems.

About the Author

Mario Melletti is an independent researcher. For more than a decade he has been studying the ecology and behaviour of the forest buffalo, spending more than two years in a remote area in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, in the Central African Republic. He has obtained a PhD in animal ecology from the University of Rome in collaboration with the Department of Conservation Biology of Seville. He has collaborated on several projects and surveys on both mammals and birds. He is also a reviewer of many peer reviewed international journals.

James Burton is Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, leading a group of volunteer experts to monitor the status of, and facilitate conservation planning and action for, the nine wild cattle and buffalo species in Asia. Since 2000 he has worked on the conservation of the Anoa (Bubalus species) in Indonesia, including a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He has conducted distribution surveys, ecological studies and population genetic research on a range of mammal species. He is currently Senior Research Manager (Oman) at the Earthwatch Institute.