Browsing by Author "Okeyo, Daniel O."

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    The Feeding habits of the Giant African Bullfrog (Anura: Pyxicephalidae: Pyxicephalus Adspersus Tschudi, 1839) of the Cuvelai Drainage System in Northern Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2014) Okeyo, Daniel O.; Kashea, Martha M.; Kandjengo, Lineekela
    The recorded diet of the giant African bullfrog Pyxicephalus adspersus of the Cuvelai drainage plains (the oshanas) of northern Namibia is presented. Among all the stomach contents; insects accounted for the greatest diversity of the orders recorded. The most abundant prey items to the juvenile frogs come from Orthoptera (20.0%), Lepidoptera (16.0%), Isoptera (15.5%), Coleoptera (12.0%), while to the adult frogs also come from Orthoptera (20.0%) but followed by Coleoptera (11.8%), Odontata (11.0%) and Hemiptera (10.0%) in that hierarchical order. A habit of cannibalism is indicated; tadpoles form the fifth (11.0%) and second (13.1%) most important food item for juvenile and adult frogs, respectively. Diet shift is evident, from ants to tadpoles and beetles as the frogs become larger.
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    Harvesting and consumption of the giant African bullfrog, a delicacy in northern Namibia
    (University of Namibia Press, 2015) Okeyo, Daniel O.; Kandjengo, Lineekela; Kashea, Martha M.
    Namibia covers an area of approximately 800,000 square kilometres and has a human population of about 2.1 million. This gives an average density of about 2.6 people per square kilometre. Most of the people of Namibia belong to one of five main ethnic groups of African origin: the Aawambo, Ovaherero, Kavango, Caprivian, and Damara and Nama peoples. The diet of ethnic Namibians comprises a variety of foods such as millet, sorghum, maize, sweet potatoes, groundnuts and fruits. Millet and maize are staple foods. Fruits are mainly wild and indigenous. Staple foods in northern Namibia are generally accompanied with indigenous vegetables, beef, lamb, mutton or fish. Giant African bullfrogs – locally known as efuma (sing.) or omafuma (pl.) – form a delicacy, especially during the rainy season (Figure 10.1). The Aawambo are not alone in appreciating these frogs (Pyxicephalus adspersus) as a delicacy. Reports exist of others also eating it within Namibia as well as elsewhere in southern Africa. For example, the Nsenga people in the eastern Luangwa Valley (Eastern Province, Zambia) also consume whole bullfrogs, which they locally call kanyama kaliye fupa – the animal without bones. The giant African bullfrog is distributed widely throughout southern and eastern Africa (Figure 10.2) and found in areas of Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya (Channing, 1991; Conradie, Branch, Braack, & Manson, 2010; IUCN, 2011). It is reported to occur in the central and northern areas of Namibia (Channing 1991; Griffin, 1997) and is found in considerable numbers on the northern plains, especially during the early rain season.