The Animal Demography Unit (ADU) is a formally recognized research unit of the University of Cape Town (UCT) located within the Department of Biological Sciences of UCT. (The Department of Biological Sciences was formed from the merger of the Department of Botany and the Department of Zoology at the start of the 2013 academic year). The Animal Demography Unit, popularly known as the ADU, was responsible for the management of the First and Second Southern African Bird Atlas Projects SABAP1 and SABAP2 . The unit has submitted over eight million georeferenced biodiversity records to GBIF .
8-823: The Animal Demography Unit (formerly the Avian Demography Unit), or ADU as it is mostly known in the vernacular, is a research unit of the University of Cape Town. Initially it was built on the nucleus of the South African Bird Ringing Unit ( SAFRING ) and the Southern African Bird Atlas Project ( SABAP ). The ADU was established in December 1991 within the Department of Statistical Sciences at
16-456: A formal partnership relationship with that organization, with the objective of fostering the development of further ornithological projects. This close association is appropriate because much of the research of the ADU continues to focus on large scale demographic studies in which participation by amateurs is a vital element. Over the past years, the ADU has expanded the range of projects for which it
24-426: A newsletter, Afring News, and by maintaining a list server. SAFRING holds national training courses, annually if there is sufficient demand. SAFRING liaises with the provinces who have the responsibility of issuing permits. SAFRING has a strict code of ethics to ensure the safety of birds handled. SAFRING acknowledges the importance of bird ringing in that it has been described as the most important tool in ornithology in
32-607: Is responsible. This website provides information on them, and the people who undertake them. SAFRING The South African Bird Ringing Unit ( SAFRING ) is based at the University of Cape Town and provides bird ringing services in South Africa and other African countries. This entails providing ringing equipment to qualified ringers, and curating all ringing data. SAFRING communicates with ringers and interested parties through annually publishing one or two issues of
40-574: The 20th century. Bird ringing in South Africa started in 1948 when the Southern African Ornithological Society (SAOS) initiated a bird ringing scheme under the leadership of Dr EH Ashton. The first birds to be ringed were 31 Cape Vultures Gyps coprotheres , ringed on 1 August 1948 at Kranzberg by a team of birders and mountaineers. A year later one of these, ring C00086 was found near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe ,
48-690: The University of Cape Town. Over the years, the ADU has grown far beyond its starting point. The concept on which the ADU is based can be traced back to 1983, when a workshop was held in Johannesburg on the establishment of a Bird Populations Data Bank for South Africa. This workshop was held in conjunction with a "Birds and Man" symposium which had been organised by the Southern African Ornithological Society (now BirdLife South Africa). The ADU has continued to be closely associated with BirdLife South Africa . and has
56-485: The first recovery of a southern African bird ring. Bird ringing was initially organized by an NGO (Southern African Ornithological Society, SAOS) and the ringing effort steadily increased and by the 1960s the cost and complexity of administering the scheme exceeded the resources of the SAOS. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) coordinated a deal whereby the four provincial conservation departments became
64-670: The major sponsors of the National Unit for Bird Ringing Administration (NUBRA), in 1971, based at the University of Cape Town. The unit became part of the Avian Demography Unit, Department of Statistical Sciences , University of Cape Town, in 1991, which became the Animal Demography Unit , and moved to the Department of Zoology , University of Cape Town, in January 2008. In 2008 SAFRING organised
#758241