Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
04 May 2018 Photo Facebook
Kovsies aim top 6 in Varsity hockey Cheslyn Neethling
Cheslyn Neethling will lead the Kovsie men’s hockey team in the Varsity Hockey tournament.
The Kovsie men’s hockey team hope to draw inspiration from their victory over the North-West University recently when they face their old rivals in the opening round of the Varsity Hockey tournament.

The tournament for men, which is contested biannually, starts on Friday 4 May 2018.

The Kovsies played the Pukke in two matches in Potchefstroom at the end of March with both sides on the winning side once each.

According to the coach Braam van Wyk it will give them a lot of confidence when they come up against the Pukke on Friday afternoon (4 May) in Johannesburg.

“We hope to finish in the top six, anything better than that will be a bonus,” said Van Wyk, in his third year as coach of the team.

They reached the semi-final in 2014 and ended seventh in 2016.

It is a short tournament of just two-and-a-half weeks with the final on 21 May 2018. 

On Saturday 5 May they tackle the University of Johannesburg who won the inaugural men’s tournament in 2014 and defended it in 2016.

The Madibaz lay in wait on Sunday 6 May and on Monday 7 Mayat the University of Cape Town. 

Van Wyk, who played for the Kovsies between 2006 and 2009, said he is in favour of the power play. Each side has one in a match. For three minutes the team will be without two players, with goals worth two points. In addition, all field goals are worth two points. If a match is drawn it will go straight to a shootout.

The Kovsies are led by Cheslyn Neethling. Two players, Egon van der Merwe and Jan Willem Ras, will feature in their third Varsity tournament.

News Archive

Researchers reach out across continents in giraffe research
2015-09-18

Dr Francois Deacon and Prof Fred Bercovitch
busy with field work.

Researcher Dr Francois Deacon from the Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences at the University of the Free State is conducting research with renowned wildlife scientist, Prof Fred Bercovitch, from the Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology, Kyoto University Primate Research Institute in Japan.

Dr Deacon’s ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention. Together with Prof Nico Smit, he equipped giraffes with GPS collars, and conducted research based on this initiative. “Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.”

Prof Bercovitch was involved with GPS tracking from elephants to koala bears.

Some of the highlights of the joint research on giraffes by Dr Deacon and Prof Bercovitch focus on:
 
• How much time do certain giraffes spend with, and away from, one another
• How do the home ranges of herds and individual giraffe overlap
• Do genetically-related animals spend more time together than non-genetically-related animals
• How much time do the young bulls, adult bulls, and dominant bulls spend with cow herds
• Herd interactions and social behaviours of giraffe
• The role of the veld and diet on animal behaviour and distribution

 

Their research article, “Gazing at a giraffe gyroscope: Where are we going?”, which was published in the African Journal of Ecology, assesses recent research by exploring five primary questions:

- How many (sub) species of giraffe exist?
- What are the dynamics of giraffe herds?
- How do giraffe communicate?
- What is the role of sexual selection in giraffe reproduction?
- How many giraffe reside in Africa?

They conclude this article by emphasising that the most essential issue is to develop conservation management plans that will save a wonderful species from extinction, and which will also enable scientists to conduct additional research aimed at answering their five questions.

In addition, they are working together on a grand proposal to get National Geographic to cover their work.

 

 

 

 

 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept