ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Summary The first part of this analysis introduces the 26 free-living populations, elaborates on the history of their introduction, describes their development and outlines the boundaries of their present distribution. The total population size is presently estimated at about 1300, the annual hunter harvest amounts to 350 to 400. Table 1 gives information about the habitats of these 26 populations, and in Table 2 biological factors of the populations are dealt with. The mean population size is about 40 animals, but 4 herds consists of 4 or less sheep, while 3 populations have 100 and more members. The size of the ranges varies accordingly. Some small populations in the vicinity of large cities (Dortmund, Bielefeld, Siegen) occupy habitats of 300 to 400 ha in size, others in the mountainous “Hochsauerland” may range over 6000 ha. Table 3 lists characteristics of the populations in regard to colour of the hide, percentage of ewes with horns, susceptability to diseases and parasites. Female sheep with horns have been observed in 12 populations, but only in 3 was that percentage 40 % or more. In 8 populations all rams have the typical “saddle” (“saddle” refers to a light grey-coloured saddle-shaped piece of the hide on the otherwise dark brown back of these sheep), in 13 populations such rams with saddles dominate, while dark rams (melanistic phase) make up less than 10 %. These two colour phases are of about equal magnitude in 7 populations. A woolly coat, which indicates cross-breeding with domestic sheep, has only been sporadically observed in 2 populations. The facial mask (the amount and configuration of white hair in an otherwise dark face) was recognized as a reliable characteristic for determining age in 7 populations, in 6 other populations it is rejected as unpredictable. In the majority its use for recognizing age of the sheep is only recommended in connection with other characteristics. Excessive outgrowing of houres of hooves was observed in 70 % of the mufflon herds. A very high parasite load was reported for 3 populations. The second part of this analysis deals with population dynamics and trophy quality. Table 5 gives population specific characteristics of horns of rams, such as annual growth increments, horn curl diameter and horn spread. Also listed are the percentage of those rams whose horns have the tendency of growing back into the neck or skull; or directly translated, so-called “in-growers”. In Table 4 dressed weights of moufflon sheep of both sexes are given. Great variations exist between different populations in regard to trophy quality. To some extent this difference is caused by differing percentage of rams with “in-growing” horns, referred to above. This characteristic forces the culling of such affected rams, at an early age — an age long before optimum trophy quality is reached. Of 23 populations inspected, only 6 had no rams with this characteristic. In 8 populations 50 % or more of the rams are affected. With few exceptions, the best horn growth characteristics were documented in relatively small, expanding populations, which also exhibited the largest body sizes. The paper concludes with a discussion on the interrelations between population dynamics and population quality.

Description / Table of Contents: Summary Qualitative analysis of Capercaillie faeces in a research district in the Northern Vosges Mountains showed a strong preference for Pinus sylvestris and Pinus mugo needles in the winter period and for non-lignified parts of Vaccinium spec. in the summer period. Abies alba needles and buds of the afore-mentioned conifers were also eaten in winter. The widely occurring Picea abies was not used for nutrition. During summer, remnants of the following plants were identified from the faeces. Abies alba, Calluna vulgaris, Fagus silvatica, Luzula silvatica, Pinus sylvestris, Pteridophyta, Sorbus aucuparia, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium uliginosum. Insect components were found in the faeces of hens during the breeding period and during rearing of the young. Grit was mainly picked up in the first half of September and in early March.

Description / Table of Contents: Summary The purpose of this investigation was to find out how the annual kill results in the canton of Thurgovie (Switzerland) from 1932 to 1979 have changed under the influence of air temperature and precipitation. The investigation showed that the influence of weather factors depends on periods of time of varying length and that monthly meteorological values give better results than seasonal ones. Both these aspects must be considered for the kill analysis to be as informative as possible. Within the general climatic conditions, air temperature was of the greatest importance for the abundance dynamics of the field hare from October to December as well as in August and September whereas precipitation played a rather subordinate role in January and September only. The negative influence of mild winters proved to be considerable since such winters encourage the outbreak of Coccidiose and their influence is all the more pronounced the longer the sequence of mild winters lasts. The combination of some specific weather factors allowed the reconstruction of the actual kill development with a high degree of accuracy. The conclusion may therefore be drawn that the marked fluctuations of kill results in the canton of Thurgovie are mainly due to the weather and are not the result of hunting activities, predators, or agricultural methods.

Description / Table of Contents: Summary 60 hares were shot in driven shoots in hunting districts near Bayreuth/Bavaria and their digestive tracts, lungs, and some of the livers were examined for endoparasites. All hares were infested. 96,7 % of them accomodated helminths and in particular 96,5 %Trichostrongylus retoraeformis with an average number of worms of 409, 40,7 %Trichuris leporis (Ø 21), 3,4 % (2 animals) Passalurus ambiguus (Ø 936) and 44,1 % the lungwormProtostrongylus pulmonalis. One hare was infested with the cestodeMosgovoyia pectinata. Graphidium strigosum, Fasciola hepatica andDicrocelium dendriticum could not be found. — 83,1 % of the hares gave out coccidia oocysts. The most frequent species wasEimeria semisculpta (81,4 %), followed byE. leporis (37,3 %),E. europaea (22 %), andE. robertsoni (20,3 %). — Considerable differences in the frequency and intensity of the infestation could not be observed within various groups of hares such as male — female animals, younger — older, in good — poor condition or with bodyweights more — less then 3,6 kg. Only lungworms seemed to be more frequent in older (56,3 %) than in younger animals (28 %) and also in hares with a bodyweight less than 3,6 kg (50 %) compared with those of 3,6 kg and more (36 %). For the treatment of the infestation with endoparasites Fenbendazol (Panacur®) in a dosage of 5 mg/kg bodyweight per animal and day against the roundworms and 2 ml Whitsyn®-S per animal to reduce the giving off of oocysts, both medicaments mixed together with Carosil (100 g per hare and day), were put out to the animals for 5 days. It is supposed that the irregular intake of the medicated feed due to the mild weather is the reason for this experiment in therapy producing no evident success.

Description / Table of Contents: Summary The increasing application of programmed exercises in various examination procedures is taken as the occasion to analyse the possibility of introduction of programmed questions within the scope of the written part of hunting examinations. An investigation of the current procedure in the States of the Federal Republic of Germany shows that in six Federal States the written hunting examination is either fully or partly conducted in programmed form, while in five States questions are posed without a choice of answers being provided. Positive and negative comments from the Supreme Hunting Authorities reflect the manifold attitudes on this subject. The article presents fundamental requirements of programmed examinations as well as their main advantages and disadvantages. A critical assessment of programmed exercises shows that their introduction within the scope of the hunting examination seems appropriate because thus at least two parts of the entire examination — the shooting and the written examination — fulfil the criterion of objective measurement of performance. Finally, by way of illustration, examples of programmed hunting examination questions are anexed.