Animal Demography Unit - South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING)

The South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING) administers bird ringing in southern Africa, supplying rings, ringing equipment and services to volunteer and professional ringers in South Africa and neighbouring countries. All ringing records are curated by SAFRING, which is an essential arm of the Animal Demography Unit. Contact is maintained by the SAFRING Project Coordinator with all ringers (banders in North American or Australian terminology).

The Bird Ringing Scheme in South Africa was initiated in 1948, so 1998 saw the 50th anniversary of the scheme. During this period over 1.7 million birds of 852 species were ringed. There have been a total of 16 800 ring recoveries since the inception of the scheme. This gives an overall recovery rate for rings in southern Africa of marginally less than 1%, averaged across all species. This probability varies enormously across species.

南非鸟类环志单位（South African Bird Ringing Unit，简称SAFRING）负责管理南部非洲地区的鸟类环志工作，为南非及周边国家的志愿与专业环志人员提供环志脚环、环志设备及相关服务。所有鸟类环志记录均由SAFRING整理归档，该单位是动物种群统计单元（Animal Demography Unit）的核心组成部分。SAFRING项目协调员与所有环志人员保持联系（北美及澳大利亚地区将此类人员称为“环带人员”）。

南非鸟类环志计划于1948年正式启动，因此1998年是该计划实施50周年。截至该时期，累计已有852个物种的170余万只鸟类被完成环志。自计划启动以来，累计记录到16800次环志鸟类的回收事件。按所有物种平均计算，南部非洲地区鸟类环志的整体回收率略低于1%，且不同物种间的回收率差异极为显著。