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Animal scavenging on pig cadavers in the Lowveld of South Africa
Abstract
Scavenging animals often scatter skeletal remains of forensic interest and leave bite marks. This study aimed to identify scavenging animals in the rural Lowveld of South Africa and to describe their scattering pattern and bite marks on bone. Ten pig cadavers (Sus scrofa domesticus) (40-80 kg) were placed at the Wits Rural Facility, Limpopo, South Africa during the summer and winter seasons. Motion activated cameras recorded the scavenging. Scavenger species were identified and their behaviors, scattering pattern, and bite marks were described. Scavenging was primarily by vultures (hooded, white-backed, and lappet-faced). Marabou stork, slender and banded mongoose, genet, civet, warthog and honey badger also actively scavenged. Vultures began to scavenge the pig cadavers after 18hrs in summer and between 26 and 28 h in winter and skeletonized pig cadavers rapidly between 5 and 98 min. Skeletonization occurred more rapidly and diffusely in summer while winter cases were densely scattered. Overall the scattered remains were within an area of 157.9 m 2/1705.5 ft 2 with a radius of 7.09 m/23.3 ft. Vultures cleaned bones thoroughly with very minimal markings - primarily nonspecific scores. The described scattering pattern and bite marks will assist in the recovery and analysis of scavenged remains.
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Seasons can greatly affect decomposition and vertebrate scavenging, e.g. due to differences in precipitation, temperature, or invertebrate colonisation rate.
“Seasons can greatly affect decomposition and vertebrate scavenging, e.g. due to differences in precipitation, temperature, or invertebrate colonisation rate [40,53,56,72,84,88].”
From Forensic experiments on animal scavenging: A systematic literature review on what we have and what we need (2023) · cites this paper as [56]
The Results (p. 11) report that vultures began scavenging sooner in summer than in winter, and the Discussion (p. 15) says colder temperatures delay decomposition. The cited passages do not link the seasonal differences to precipitation or invertebrate colonisation; the Discussion instead suggests lower winter vulture activity as a possible explanation for the observed delay. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Indra, L., Lösch, S., Errickson, D., & Finaughty, D. (2023) · Forensic Science International · doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111862 · Cited by 18
Metadata
- Authors
- Keyes, C., Myburgh, J., & Brits, D.
- Affiliations
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- University of Pretoria (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Keyes, CA
- ORCID
- Brits, D.
- Venue
- Forensic Science International
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-10
- Volume
- 327
- Pages
- 110969
- ISSN
- 0379-0738 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3193462429
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 2.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Forensic Science International (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Justice
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Keywords
- pig carcasses, pigs, vultures, Hooded Vulture, white-backed vulture, lappet-faced vulture, marabou stork, mongoose, genets, civets, warthog, honey badger, skeletonization, scavenger behavior, seasonal variation, forensic taphonomy, Lowveld
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animals, Wild, Bites and Stings, Bone and Bones, Cadaver, Feeding Behavior, Seasons, South Africa, Sus scrofa
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