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Article History

Received: 16 May 2018

Accepted: 1 February 2019

First Online: 4 March 2019

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: We are indebted to many local authorities for providing permits to carry out the research (including the ethics approval, when applicable), especially the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), the National Directorate for Protected Areas (DINAC – Mozambique), the National Research Council and Forestry Department in Malawi, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro (Tanzania), the Kenyan Forest Service and the Kenyan Wildlife Service (Kenya), the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), Government of Ethiopia and the Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise (OFWE) in Ethiopia. Furthermore, Josef Bryja is holder of the certificate of competency on Protection of Animals against Cruelty (reg. no. V/1/2005/05) and all manipulations with animals, i.e. when captured in life traps, followed the specific rules for working with alive animals as specified by the Central Commission for Animal Welfare of Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, and the general protocols were approved by the Committee for Animal Welfare of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Newly analysed material from other countries has been collected in last decades within other research projects and we are indebted to museum curators for allowing us to study the tissue samples in their care.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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