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Kilauea Volcano: A Rumbling Threat
Posted at 12:51 pm April 7, 2008 by Alan Lieberman
The glow at night and the pillar of smoke have even the local villagers in Volcano Hawaii talking in loud voices in the local post office. Not more than two miles south of the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on the Big Island of Hawaii sits the Kilauea Volcano and its smoking core, the Halemaumau Crater – fabled to be the home of the Pele, goddess of fire. Since early March of this year, the Halemaumau vent has been releasing ash, steam, and sulphur dioxide in a towering plume of smoke that can be seen for miles. Although we are used to the constant smell of “vog” (volcanic fog) here at the bird propagation center, this new eruption and constant volcanic belching is of some concern. Here’s more information from the National Park Service…
Fortunately, the prevailing tradewinds have been pushing the fumes southwest, away from the facility. Rarely do the winds blow from the south, so for now, the birds, the staff, and the facilities are out of harm’s way, but we need to be prepared. If Madame Pele continues to fuss and fume and the winds come in our direction, we need to be prepared.
Staff will be protected with masks and respirators and we may have to box and transport the bird inventory to temporary quarters at the Maui Bird Conservation Center, our sister facility. Although the evacuation accommodations on Maui will be tight, it is best to be prepared—after all, these birds are species that are perhaps the most endangered in the world!
In the meantime, the volcanic gases and the bubbling lava that flows from Kilauea and the Pu`u O`o vent on the volcano’s west flank are providing a spectacular show for tourists, residents, and the volcanologists who are thrilled with so much volcanic activity.
Alan Lieberman is the conservation program manager for the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.
Here’s more information about the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program…
Listen to an iZoofari Chat with Alan, posted in October 2007…
Posted in Default, Conservation, Hawaii Bird Project, Field Studies, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 3 Comments »
Tracking Sea Eagles, Part 3
Posted at 3:15 pm April 3, 2008 by Mike McGrady
Photo credit: Natural Research, Ltd.
Read Mike’s previous blog, Tracking Steller’s Sea Eagles, Part 2…
As Steller’s sea eagle #65632 continues her journey, we are continuing to track her movements. Well, #65632 has started her migration north (though, because of local geography, there has been no northerly component of the migration yet!). In mid-January, she moved back to the mainland of Hokkaido and spent a couple of weeks along the south coast of that island near Moraito. By the end of January, though, she had moved back into Russian territory on Rausu Island, and from early February until late March was hopping between there and the Shiretoko Peninsula on Hokkaido.
During that time (March 8, 2008) a professional photographer, Gaku Tozuka, who is in contact with our colleagues in Japan, took a picture of this eagle on the Shiretoko Peninsula. His photos clearly show the antenna from the transmitter and the coded color band (5H) we fitted to the eagle as a nestling. (The Shiretoko Peninsula is famous for the Steller’s sea eagles that winter there, although the concentration of eagles has lessened in the last 20 years as numbers of sika deer have increased elsewhere on Hokkaido, and the amount of fish available to eagles near Shiretoko has, perhaps, decreased.)
On March 29, #65632 made her first move away from her wintering ground and was about 120 km (90 miles) west. Fingers crossed and goggles down, let’s hope for the best and see where she goes now! Just to remind you, this bird was marked as a nestling in 2006. She spent her first winter on islands northwest of Hokkaido and the subsequent summer on Sakhalin Island, right in among the oil and gas development. In autumn 2007, she made an excursion to the northern tip of Sakhalin, then thought better of it and headed south to Hokkaido. In mid-November, she hopped from Hokkaido to the southernmost Kuril Islands (Russia), where she spent part of her second winter.
Dr. Mike McGrady is a researcher with Natural Research Limited, partnered with the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s more information about the Steller’s Sea Eagle project…
Posted in Default, Conservation, Field Studies, General | Link to this post | 1 Comment »
Wolong: Will Fei Fei Find a Mate?
Posted at 12:53 pm April 1, 2008 by Jennifer Keating
It is 7:30 pm and all the keepers have returned to the Breeding Center here in Wolong, China, in hopes of finding a mate for Fei Fei, a female giant panda (pictured). Fei Fei has spent the last week being introduced to Lu Lu and Wu Gang (males). An introduction involves a male being kept in his indoor enclosure while the female is let into the male’s outdoor exhibit. The female will now have the opportunity to walk about the exhibit and investigate the male’s scent. Once the female has checked out every inch of the exhibit, she will start to bleat or chirp if she finds the scent to her liking. If the female is not interested, she will happily sit down and begin eating the male’s bamboo.
We begin the evening by doing an introduction between Fei Fei and Wu Gang. There is very little bleating and chirping, but it is early in the evening and not everyone is warmed up. The keepers decide to have a short introduction between Fei Fei and Ling Ling. Ling Ling (male) arrived the day before from Wolong’s other facility. He takes one look at Fei Fei and climbs to the highest point in his indoor enclosure. This happens to be a metal basket that we call the “panda hammock.” Ling Ling sits there hoping Fei Fei will go away if he is perfectly quiet and still. Because there is no chance that Ling Ling will come down from his panda hammock, Fei Fei is taken back to Wu Gang’s exhibit.
Things have progressed in the evening, and Fei Fei and Wu Gang are bleating and chirping constantly. The keepers are now put on standby. Several of them are up on the roof with extremely long bamboo poles. Next to each of these keepers are piles of apples to be put on the end of the poles just in case the pandas decide to fight instead of breed. The head keeper gives the “go” signal and Wu Gang is literally let out of the gate. Unfortunately, to Wu Gang’s surprise, Fei Fei doesn’t really like him. She turns very aggressive and barks at him to the point that he is running to the other end of the exhibit. A keeper opens a side gate and he runs out as fast as possible.
Now, Lu Lu has been pacing inside his den hoping that he will have his chance with Fei Fei. She is moved into his outdoor exhibit and signs are looking good for breeding. The keepers on the roof relocate, taking their bamboo and apples with them. Once in position, Lu Lu is let out of the gate. There is no question that he is ready to breed and the two of them get straight to business. Immediately after breeding, Fei Fei tries to go after Lu Lu with her right paw and barks very loudly. Before Lu Lu has a chance to fight back, there is a floating apple right between his eyes, and he is completely distracted. As Lu Lu eats the floating apples, Fei Fei is moved back into her exhibit and everyone begins to celebrate!
Response from Comments:
Many of you have asked about Mei Sheng and if I have seen him. Before I arrived in Wolong, Mei Sheng had already been moved to another facility belonging to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. He is too young for breeding and they needed every inch of space for breeding season. Hua Mei (pictured) is here and doing great. Her cubs are playing in the kindergarten area with all the other cubs from last year.
Jennifer Keating is working in Wolong, China as a research scientist for the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous blog, Early Mornings in Wolong.
Posted in Default, Conservation, Field Studies, Giant Pandas, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 82 Comments »
Tracking Steller’s Sea Eagles, Part 2
Posted at 1:51 pm March 28, 2008 by Mike McGrady
Read Mike’s previous blog, Tracking Steller’s Sea Eagles, Part 1…
In late July 2007, I was back in the field on the breeding grounds, surveying breeding pairs on the rivers and the coast near Magadan with my team. This time Dave Rimlinger, San Diego Zoo curator of birds, joined us as we tagged another group of Steller’s sea eagle chicks as part of a study of this species in the Magadan State Reserve in Russia.
We surveyed stretches of the Kava and Chelomdza Rivers that are within the Magadan Zapovednik, the Tauy River, and the coast west of the village of Balagonoe, including Motykley Bay and Talan Island. Of the 30-some territories on the rivers, although all were occupied, only one had produced a chick. We think this lack of productivity in this year was due to heavy rains that may have affected survival of eggs and hatchlings or influenced the hunting of the adults. In contrast, the great majority of the 20 or so territories that we surveyed on the coast had large chicks. We fitted five nestlings with GPS satellite transmitters and left them to grow up, fledge, and start their first migration south.
So, summer passed and migration time came. Four of the five birds we fitted with tags in 2007 left their nest sites. One bird apparently died or lost its tag near the nest. We should find out when the weather clears and we can visit the site this summer. One bird died at the Arman River and one died on the coastal slope of the Sheltinga Bay. We do not know whether humans were involved in these losses, but this part of the Arman River is where caviar-harvesting operations occur. At these places there are lots of discarded fish carcasses, meaning plenty of food, so we cannot imagine them dying of hunger!
Two birds started on a “normal” migration. Well, one did; the other (#42678) made a big victory lap around various rivers to the north and east of its natal range before setting off on proper migration around the end of October. By late November, this bird was near the village of Fedorovskoe where, the evidence from the tag’s transmissions suggests, it was apparently killed in the vicinity of the village. This village and the nearby area of sea is under the nominal protection of the Dzugdzhur Strict State Nature Reserve, and this incident may serve to illustrate how difficult it is to police these places.
So, at year’s end we were left with a single, live bird from 2007 that was transmitting, and that bird’s situation at that time was not bright because it was sitting on the Okhota River, some distance inland. Winter was closing in and food was likely getting scarce. In mid-January, after a big storm, this bird made a “hopeful hop” back to the coast on Cape Shestakov, only about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from its natal site. We were hopeful that some miracle would allow this bird to overwinter (the winter had been relatively mild and satellite images showed some open water near its last location), but alas, this bird apparently perished soon thereafter. (In 1997 we also tracked some eagles, and one bird behaved in exactly the same manner. Sadly, it apparently perished when it found itself without food and too far from ice-free water where it might hunt. Back then one could almost feel winter closing in on it as time passed. It survived until the end of January.).
For most of 2008, we have been tracking the only bird that appears to be alive and with a working transmitter, #65332. It spent its winter (early July to mid-February) on the second-most southerly Kuril Island, Iturup. It has just made a move to the southerly most Kuril island, so we may be seeing the start of the migration. Fingers crossed!
We will be heading out to Magadan again and supporting the work of the Magadan Zapovednik in 2008. We will also be running a pilot effort in Kamchatka. We will also make a start on some DNA work that might reveal information important to the conservation of Steller’s sea eagles and other eagles. We are currently running a similar project on golden and white-tailed eagles. Have a look: golden eagles and white-tailed eagles.
Note: Although other eagles seem to have either perished or lost their tags, we continue to hear them broadcasting. Theoretically, we can use these locations to find the tag, but this is one of the remotest areas of the world, so this is sometimes not easy. However, it seems that at least one of our contacts may have located a tag because it suddenly moved in early January. Hopefully, we will hear soon! That said, we are still very concerned (and a little surprised) at the number of eagles that were apparently lost to human persecution.
Dr. Mike McGrady is a researcher with Natural Research Limited, partnered with the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s more information about the Steller’s Sea Eagle project…
Posted in Default, Conservation, Field Studies, General | Link to this post | 1 Comment »
Tracking Steller’s Sea Eagles
Posted at 4:20 pm March 24, 2008 by Mike McGrady
Well, here I am, blogging about Steller’s sea eagles. First, a bit of background to the current work and the maps on this Web site: San Diego Zoo, Natural Research Limited, and Magadan State Reserve in Russia (state reserves are called zapovedniks in Russian) teamed back in 2006 to track young Steller’s sea eagles via satellite. Our aims were twofold. First, we wanted to track eagles in the years prior to becoming breeders (large eagles like the Steller’s sea eagle take four years or more to come into adult plumage). Surprisingly, very little is known about this period of time for any eagle species, and this undermines conservation. This is particularly true for the Steller’s sea eagle because its population is relatively small (probably naturally so) and it breeds in remote areas, so its breeding numbers are not closely monitored. We also wanted to weave the movements of Steller’s sea eagles, this Web site, and the birds in the San Diego Zoo’s collection together as a tool for public conservation awareness.
In 2006, we fitted five nestling Steller’s sea eagles with satellite-received transmitters. The birds fledged in August from their nests and started to live their life outside of their nests. Four of these birds started on their migration, one most probably died at the hands of humans near its nest, roughly one month after fledging. We found the transmitter (PTT 65629) near the nest site in 2007. Its harness had been cut.
Photo credit: Natural Research Ltd.
As we tracked the others, two also seemed to be victims of human activity. One tag (65633) stopped transmitting near a village on the Russian coast south of Vladivostok. We later found out that it was probably shot at the border of the Botchanskiy Strict Nature Reserve, in an area clear cut in the 1990s. Botchanskiy and Magadan reserves were planned in 1984; Botchanskiy was established in 1995 after the clearing up of logging operations, and it is the northern-most realm of the Siberian tiger. The other tag (PTT 65631) is, even now, transmitting from the edge of a fishing village of Chumikan near the mouth of the Amur River in Russia. The eagle was apparently shot at a fishery near the mouth of a small river some 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast from the Chumikan village (not far from the Antykan river). A third bird that did start its migration was also “lost” near Shantar Island (probably on ice floe near a small island called Sivuchi Kamni (Sea Lion’s Rocks).
So, we were left with a single active transmitter on a live bird by the end of 2006. This was disappointing but gave us pause because of so many of the tags being “lost” due to human persecution in this remote part of the world! However, this remaining bird (ID 65362) was to provide us with some joy as we tracked it through its first summer and into its second winter, but let’s not get ahead of the story!
Later that year, 65362 migrated south along the Russian mainland and jumped across to Sakhalin Island (directly north of Hokkaido, Japan) in late November 2006. So, while Americans were sitting down to large bird dinners on Thanksgiving, this large bird had thankfully made it to Sakhalin. From there it continued south, crossing the La Perouse Strait to Hokkaido around Christmas time. It then fly across a short and maybe frozen stretch of sea to two islands off the northwest coast of Hokkaido, Rishiri-to and Rabun-to, where it spent its first winter.
In early April 2007, 65632 headed north across the La Perouse Strait again for its first summer as an independent eagle! It spent most of the spring in southern Sakhalin, and then in early June 2007 it pushed farther north and about half way up the eastern seaboard. We were a bit concerned about this because this is in the heart of the oil and gas development area of Sakhalin. It seemed to us that this place was potentially dangerous.
In early October 2007, the young eagle headed north to the northern tip of Sakhalin for about two weeks before returning to the eastern seaboard. In early November 2007, it headed south again and crossed onto Hokkaido around November 11. Rather than returning to where it wintered in 2006-2007, in this winter it headed along the northeast coast of Hokkaido and then jumped back into Russian territory on southernmost of the Kuril Islands, Kunashir on November 18. In early December, it made another hop, this time to the next island to the north, Iturup, and there it was at the turn of the New Year.
Well, where does that leave us as we enter 2008? Somewhat of a surprise and of no small concern now is that a large proportion of the birds we tagged in the last years have apparently died, and in most cases, the culprits in those deaths are humans! Steller’s sea eagles face many threats. There was the lead poisoning threat of the 1990s, and there is the constant pressure (as yet unmeasured) of purported overfishing. The fossil fuel energy developments of Sakhalin and the wind farms of Hokkaido have been a worry. We always knew that there would be some direct human persecution. Although few people live in these areas, most have guns and many are very bored. Despite this and because not everyone out there shoots eagles, if our sample is representative, we should be worried!
Stay tuned for part II for details on a group we tagged in the summer of 2007. Please send a comment if you have any questions about Steller’s sea eagles or this project or just want to discuss things. In due course we will be publishing these data, but a great benefit can be had from raising public consciousness in Steller’s sea eagles and the environment on the western Pacific Rim.
Dr. Mike McGrady is a researcher with Natural Research Limited, partnered with the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s more information about the Steller’s Sea Eagle project…
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Early Mornings in Wolong
Posted at 4:32 pm March 21, 2008 by Jennifer Keating
It is just before the sun rises here in Wolong and quiet enough to hear a pin drop. I am on my way into the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda to take audio recordings of the giant pandas before the keepers arrive with the long-awaited carts of fresh bamboo. As I make my way through the facility, some of the giant pandas are still asleep in positions that could make it impossible for any human to walk the next day! Some are in trees with their heads hanging upside-down, while others are passed out flat on their back with their arms and legs sticking out in all different directions. Several of the giant pandas are munching away on pieces of bamboo they have saved from the day before. It is clear that their eyes are focused on me, just in case I might have tasty treat in hand.
The breeding center tends to be lively if one of the giant pandas is interested in breeding. There are ten exhibits in the breeding center and I make a stop at each one to see if I can record any males bleating or females chirping. This is the perfect time of day to collect recordings because the only background noise I have to compete with is the whistling of birds in the trees of the steep mountainsides.
Once the keepers arrive, I head off to breakfast, because the only thing giant pandas can focus on now is their massive pile of bamboo. By the time I return, the giant pandas are interested in each other again and tend to start vocalizing. During my check-in with the keepers I make sure they haven’t moved any of the giant pandas during morning cleaning. This process always involves a lesson in Chinese pronunciation, sign language, and my list of all the giant pandas here in Wolong. Everyone involved in this process always ends up laughing by the time we are done! Throughout of the rest of the day I watch for changes in any of the giant panda’s behavior that could be signs of wanting to breed and listen for bleats and chirps throughout the facility.
Jennifer Keating is working in Wolong, China as a research scientist for the San Diego Zoo. Read more about her project in the blog, Look Who’s Talking: New Research on Panda Vocal Communication.
Posted in Default, Conservation, Field Studies, Giant Pandas, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 35 Comments »
Look Who’s Talking: New Research on Panda Vocal Communication
Posted at 11:50 am March 20, 2008 by Ron Swaisgood
I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce a new scientific program on panda vocal communication. I’d also like to introduce you to Jen Keating, who will be writing blogs about this program from Wolong, China, our long-time partner in panda conservation.
Any visitor to our panda exhibit at the San Diego Zoo or our Web site knows that we’ve had a long-standing interest in how pandas communicate. Why are we so interested in knowing what pandas are saying to each other? There are many reasons, but mostly because communication is fundamental for successful reproduction. Without communication, mates would be unable to locate one another or negotiate the delicate courtship process leading to mating. Our previous studies into the olfactory communication behavior of the giant panda have shown that scent-marking signals convey information about individual identities and readiness to mate, as well as facilitating sexual motivation prior to mating. Wolong’s use of this information to change the way their pandas were managed for breeding contributed to the dramatic increase in successful reproduction seen there.
In contrast to olfactory signals, however, less is known about the role that vocal signals play in giant panda reproduction. While quiet and solitary most of the year, pandas use a bewildering array of vocalizations when they come together for mating. It is likely that these elaborate vocalizations help pandas negotiate the delicate transition from their normally solitary and aggressive tendencies to mutually beneficial sexual behaviors, and they also may play a role in female choice of a mate. More than two decades ago, Devra Kleiman and Gustav Peters conducted some very interesting studies on the two pandas at the National Zoological Park. These studies gave some valuable insights into panda acoustic communication, but a study on more animals using new technology is needed.
So that’s the “why;” next comes the “what.” This kind of work requires expertise in a very specialized field known as bioacoustics. We have partnered with Zoo Atlanta, who last year hired just such a person, Ben Charlton. Ben recently received his Ph.D. in this field and is spearheading a major collaborative effort to learn more about how pandas produce these vocal signals, define the acoustic structure of the vocalizations, and, ultimately, understand what they mean to pandas and how they contribute to breeding readiness. This research is a collaboration between us, Zoo Atlanta, the Wolong Breeding Center, and the Chengdu Giant Panda Base. Ben is working mostly in Chengdu, and Jen is working mostly in Wolong. Jen is another person with extensive experience in bioacoustics, which is why we hired her to assist with the San Diego Zoo’s part of the collaboration. Over the coming weeks, Jen will report to you from Wolong and you will learn more about her, Wolong, the research program, and, most of all, pandas! Enjoy!
Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D. is co-head of the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Conservation Unit
New video of Zhen Zhen is now posted…
Posted in Default, Conservation, Field Studies, Giant Pandas, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 14 Comments »
New California Condor Web Site Offers Behind-the-Scenes Views from the Experts
Posted at 10:34 am March 17, 2008 by site admin
In the 1980s the California condor population reached a new low of only 22 birds. The species was at the brink of extinction, but thanks to the efforts of the California Condor Recovery Program the species now soars at 300 individuals. Condors are still an endangered species and so the Recovery Team, made up of government agencies and conservation organizations in the United States and Mexico, is forging ahead with breeding and release programs.
This binational collaboration means there is plenty of news happening on both sides of the international border, and that’s why we’re bringing you a one-stop shop for condor news. Visit www.cacondorconservation.org to find out what is happening in the world of the California condor, from The Peregrine Fund’s World Center of Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, south to the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City and everywhere in between, including the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park! There is also a link to condor blogs under “Podcasts and Blogs” on the gold bar on the right side of this page.
The Web site is packed with news, photos, video, and personal accounts from the conservationists themselves. There is a fantastic story, for example, from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist who climbed into this year’s first wild condor nest to check on an egg, only to find himself being pushed around by the protective mother-to-be. Video packages take you behind-the-scenes at various locations so that you can experience what it’s like to be a condor expert.
You’ll find bios not only on some of the condor team members but also on the birds themselves. A map will show you where in the world the California condors can be found and you can even report your condor sightings. Best of all, you can ask questions directly of the people who know condors best! Come join the team and post your comments at www.cacondorconservation.org.
Posted in Default, Conservation, The Zoo Journal, Field Studies, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 4 Comments »
Elephant Survey: Frogs and Primates
Posted at 12:54 pm February 25, 2008 by Bethan Morgan
Field assistant Jean Melba with goliath frog
While conducting surveys for forest elephants in the Ebo Forest (see Bethan’s blog, Surveying Forest Elephants…and Snakes?), it is impossible to ignore the huge variety of other interesting things we encounter. Due to its mountainous topology, Ebo has many small streams and rivulets. When our surveys take us close to these rivers, we are forced to move very carefully. Most are extremely rocky due to all the enormous boulders that have fallen from the steep mountains on either side. These rocks provide an ideal living environment for goliath frogs Conraua goliath, the largest species of frog in the world, which can weigh more than 6.5 pounds (3 kilograms). Usually they are very shy creatures, particularly in the daylight hours, but we have been lucky enough to see them on several occasions. Goliath frogs are officially classified as endangered, have a very limited natural distribution (only in southern Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea) and are protected by law in Cameroon. Despite this, however, they are still hunted extensively for the bushmeat trade. The San Diego Zoo has conducted fieldwork on this spectacular species in the past in a different region of Cameroon.
We also encounter monkeys of various species every few hours, including the crowned guenon Cercopithecus pogonias, and the putty-nosed guenon Cercopithecus nictitans. Interestingly, many of the monkeys we are currently seeing are solitary males, which is unusual since they usually travel in groups. There are currently very few forest fruits available for primates to eat; it is the height of the dry season (particularly severe this year), and it is possible that the males are finding it more productive to forage alone, rather than in larger groups with more competition for fruit.
Old chimpanzee nest
One wonderful surprise during these surveys has been the sheer number of chimpanzee signs we have encountered; in two weeks of surveying, we have found no fewer than 23 groups of nests. The nests have been of varying ages, of course, from freshly built, with leaves still green and fresh feces on the ground nearby (which we collect for genetic and fecal analyses), to much older, disintegrating nests, where only careful observation can identify the carefully twisted branches that once formed a perfect mattress.
During the first week of the survey, we bumped into a man. It turned out that he was a trapper, following a path to check his traps (snares). He was as surprised as us and at first tried to keep away from us, fearing that we were forest guards. But we were able to calm him down and ended up enjoying a friendly conversation with him. He was about 50 years old, spoke only in the local language of Banen (not a word of English or French, the official languages of Cameroon), and from what we could see, was not having a very successful day. He told us of his village, where he has lived all his life, and his family, and explained that he was mostly subsistence hunting to provide food for his family. Rarely, if he trapped something of value and he could find a buyer, he would sell the animal to a bushmeat trader, but this was uncommon.
We then spoke to him about the fact that the Ebo Forest was soon to be a national park and what that will mean for his activities (he will not be able to enter the area without authorization). He realizes that his trapping will have to stop and instead he intends to concentrate on farming. He then told us a story: four years ago, as he was working in his farm where he grows plantains and other foods for his family, he was clearing away dense undergrowth to plant more vegetables when a hunter, mistaking him for an animal, shot him in the upper body with a shotgun. He then showed us his scarred face and assured us that he would never carry a gun. It is a sad fact that hunting injuries are all too common in rural areas in Cameroon and only exacerbated by the lack of safety consciousness and illegality of gun ownership, which is almost always the case. This sobering tale made us realize the human aspect to hunting; all too often we concentrate on the effects on the wildlife. This sort of story often brings it home to me that the hunters individually are no different in character to any other person and certainly are not worthy of our individual condemnation or contempt.
Finally—did we see elephants? Well, not yet, but that’s not a surprise. The areas we have surveyed are close to both roads and villages, where animal densities are always less due to pressure from hunting. We have seen a few signs of elephant presence: a very old footprint (probably at least four months old) and an old elephant path. This is the first phase of our elephant research in Ebo, and the surveying is scheduled to be complete by the end of June. As I type these words, I have just parted company with the elephant survey team, having been with them for the first few weeks of the survey to guide, supervise, and ensure things were running well and the procedures were all being adhered to. The survey will now continue into more remote regions, further away from the villages and roads, penetrating more deeply into the Ebo Forest. They have a satellite phone for security, and we have organized modes of communication to ensure that safety is of paramount importance. I look forward to mid March, when I will again join them in searching for signs of forest elephants.
Dr. Bethan Morgan is a Central Africa Program specialist with the San Diego Zoo.
Posted in Conservation, Field Studies, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 2 Comments »
Surveying Forest Elephants…and Snakes?
Posted at 11:11 am February 6, 2008 by Bethan Morgan
Elephant Survey Team, from left to right: Henry (driver/mechanic), Abwe (team leader) Martin (camp keeper), Daniel (field assistant), Baboule (porter), Mark (field assistant) and Maurice (field assistant).
Last time I wrote about how our surveys in the Ebo Forest in Cameroon were planned (see Bethan’s blog, Surveying Forest Elephants in the Ebo Forest). Now for some of the day-to-day trials of conducting a survey and our experiences of the first week!
We are fortunate to have gathered a team of strong and dedicated young biologists and ex-hunters, who now work as field guides for the San Diego Zoo’s Central African Program. We set off from the road on a compass bearing, where I took a group picture at first light. Within 500 yards/meters we encountered a beautiful (if deadly) Gaboon viper sleeping quietly on a branch about 13 feet (4 meters) above ground!
This was the first obstacle of the day, and we were happy to ignore the compass bearing for a few minutes, altering our path so that we didn’t disturb it. Gaboon vipers are pretty docile creatures and require a significant amount of hassle to attack humans, often emitting a low frequency “growling noise” to warn off intruders.
The main trial over the first few days of the survey was crossing the larger rivers that meandered back and forth across our path of travel. Almost inevitably, one side of each river seemed carpeted by an army of biting ants, presumably trying to find a way to cross like us. This made balancing on fallen trees less inviting, so we often waded across, trying to keep our legs as dry as possible.
Some of the mountains we surveyed during the last day.
As the week wore on we got into more mountainous territory, with one notable day requiring a 3,300-foot (1,000-meter) vertical ascent, only to struggle to find a stream near the summit, by which we could make camp for the night. The following day we descended the same height, only to later discover five further summits before reaching our first destination a week later.
The mountainous topography of the Ebo Forest is the major reason why it still harbors so many species that have disappeared elsewhere in the region. Although there have been commercial logging activities in some parts of the forest in the past, it has always been limited in extent because the terrain is plastered by enormous boulders and sheer cliffs. Logged forest is often characterized by a series of abandoned vehicle tracks, making access for hunters and trappers much easier, whereas creating a permanent path in mountainous rocky terrain is hard work for humans and therefore good for animals! Some of the cliffs also deterred us: at the summit of one mountain we twice had to divert our direction of travel until we could find a place to climb over the enormous basalt outcrops.
Finding a suitable place to camp each night was also tricky, for it is currently the height of the dry season and many of the mountain streams have dried up. We took plenty of anti-diarrhea tablets with us and were as careful as we could be with boiling our water; thankfully, we all managed to make the first week with few mishaps. Perhaps the most serious problem was caused by my choice of place to pitch my tent one night: next to a Barteria tree, home to a symbiotic ant species that “protects” the tree by inflicting a nasty bite and injects potent poison on intruders. Two hours after a particularly ferocious attack on my shoulder and finger, my left hand had swollen to the size of a small balloon and I started becoming concerned at the pain. Luckily, the antihistamines we had in the first aid kit helped, and within three days the swelling had subsided dramatically (though as I write this, almost two weeks later, my fingers are still swollen).
I was also surprised to see my first leech when bathing in a stream one night. I have never seen them in the Ebo Forest until now; it is not common to find them in fast-flowing streams.
African rock python
Maybe the best sight in the first few days, however, was that of a giant rock python – one of the largest snakes in Africa – basking in the sun in an area where there had recently been tree falls caused by high winds. While I knew the python was not venomous, the local members of our team were adamant that we should not approach. Hence the rather small photograph taken at a distance of over 5 yards/meters of a very beautiful snake! Its diameter we estimated to be around 6 inches (15 centimeters), and its length exceeded 5 yards/meters, although it was obscured by the fallen trees.
Shortly I’ll post some of the other interesting things we came across, including goliath frogs, solitary monkeys, and chimpanzees, as well as a sobering tale from a hunter we met on our way, as well as news on our search for signs indicating the presence of forest elephants.
Dr. Bethan Morgan is a Central Africa Program specialist with the San Diego Zoo.
Posted in Default, Conservation, Field Studies, CRES (Conservation and Research for Endangered Species), General | Link to this post | 2 Comments »