Introduction
– Animal body size, and in particular body mass (live weight), determines many biological and ecological traits including food intake, metabolism, thermoregulation, generation time, longevity, growth rate, home range size, reproductive strategy, extent of sexual dimorphism and even extinction risk (e.g. Peters 1983; Damuth & MacFadden 1990). Being large comes with certain competitive advantages.
Sharon Holt, Beryl Wilson, Daryl Codron and Liora Kolska Horwitz.
Abstract
Studies of leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) deaths in South Africa’s central interior have revealed the devastating role played by electric fences. Data on tortoise mortality show that adult female tortoises are especially vulnerable to electrocution, which in turn negatively impacts on reproduction and growth of the population.