In 2000, the 22nd of May was proclaimed International Day of Biological Diversity (IDB) by the United Nations to raise awareness for issues in relation to biodiversity. The theme of this year's IDB is 'Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism'- a subject that is of particular relevance in the Mara ecosystem.
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Tomorrow numerous researchers from all over the UK will be meeting at Chester Zoo to discuss future directions in conservation science. We will be taking part in the symposium, presenting data on the challenge of interpreting census data (Kristine) and the impact of climate change on African antelopes (Jakob).
The "LivLab" is a group of Animal Behaviour Researchers from different universities around Liverpool that meet a few times a year to discuss new and exciting advances in the field. Yesterday, we had an inspiring meeting on the use of social network analysis (SNA) in Behavioural Ecology. Among other things, we also talked about the applicability of SNA in mixed species groups!
Jakob has just returned from giving plenary at a conference on conservation in Africa, focusing on antelopes, giraffes and hippos. The meeting in Prague (Czech Republic) brought together leading field conservationists from across Africa and experts in ex-situ conservation management. The forum provided an extraordinary opportunity for the three IUCN specialist groups to exchange knowledge and ideas and foster collaborative approaches.
Today Jakob will be giving a talk at Chester Zoo about the "Conservation of African Antilopes in Changing Environments" as part of the Zoo's Science Seminar Series. If you are interested in this subject, have a look at the book that Jakob and David Mallon published last year:
For the analysis of our playback experiments we are using BORIS- short for Behavioural Observation Research Interactive Software. It is a free and open-source software that can be used to log single events or to determine the duration of behaviours on video (e.g. reaction to Playback stimulus). It is perfect for our purpose as one can visualize the sound spectogram, thereby allowing us to determine the precise onset of the playback stimulus.
A short article about the project has been published in a local German newspaper.
Three of our twelve study species are now listed as near threatened or vulnerable according to IUCN standards. While the Thomson Gazelle was already listed as near threatened since 2008, the zebra’s status as near threatened and the giraffe’s status as vulnerable was just changed this month. The reason for these changes were quite drastic population declines of 25 % in 20 years for zebras and 36-40% in 30 years for giraffes. For example, while zebras are still numerous in the Masai Mara and adjacent areas their population declined from roughly 60,000 individuals in 1978 to 38,000 in 2007. The factors causing the decline in many herbivore species range from illegal hunting and habitat loss to the influence of climate change.
IUCN red list; Ogutu et al. 2011 Dan has just been to Liverpool to give a talk about the existence of menopause in resident Killer whales. We used the opportunity to sit down and discuss the work plan for the next months, especially our priority in terms of data analysis and modelling. We will start by analysing the response to heterospecific alarm calls and hope that we will be able to present some first results by summer 2017.
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During the course of the project, we will update the blog with field reports and photos, the latest research news and updates relating to our investigation of mixed species groups in the Masai Mara .
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