Masai Giraffe Population Viability and Spot Pattern Data, 8-Year Encounter History

Dataset for Mouchet et al. 2026 (Journal of Applied Ecology) contains an 8-year encounter history for a population of Masai giraffes. It includes individual traits such as sex, life-stage, mean distance to edge of study or protected area, and coat spot traits. The dataset is 61.0 KB in size and was last updated on April 15, -2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling population viability and survival based on 8-year encounter histories.
• Analyzing trait-based selection pressures using individual sex and life-stage data.
• Investigating the relationship between coat spot traits and individual fitness or survival.
• Studying spatial behavior and edge effects using mean distance to area boundaries.

Strengths

• Includes an 8-year longitudinal encounter history for population analysis.
• Contains multiple individual trait variables: sex, life-stage, spatial metrics, and coat spot traits.
• Published in a peer-reviewed context (Journal of Applied Ecology) and licensed under CC-BY-4.0.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Dataset is very small at 61.0 KB, indicating a limited scope or sample size.

Provenance

Source

Alexia Mouchet via figshare.

Collection Method

Data collection method is not specified in the provided description.

Time Range

Encounter history spans 8 years (specific years not provided).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-15 10:37:11; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Likely focuses on a Masai giraffe population, but specific location is not stated.