Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) are involved in projects around the world where wildlife is monitored using different methods to conserve, restore and sustainably manage ecosystems.
In this feature, we take you to Zambia.
As soon as she opens her eyes, she feels excited in her body. The sun has not yet risen. She gets dressed and straps her bag with data sheets, camera and binoculars around her waist. The backpack with the rest of the equipment is prepared, the motorbike is fueled and she knows that today she will be with hyenas all day – and that feeling makes it all worthwhile.
Sandra Martens has spent five years in the field in the Liuwa Plain National Park in western Zambia in her work with the Zambian Carnivore Programme. Currently she is doing her master's thesis at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences' Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies in Umeå. In her work she investigates the hyena population in the Liuwa Plain; its composition, survival and population in the landscape.
Are the field ecologists observing the hyenas or vice versa? "Hyenas are incredibly curious. When I was noting down the data, a hyena got up and came over to inspect the motorbike," says Sandra Martens. Hyenas are very mellow during day time and don’t usually come close, so it is safe to study them from motorbike. Photo: Sandra Martens
Sandra Martens works for the Zambian Carnivore Programme in the Liuwa Plain National Park, managed by the conservation organisation African Parks on behalf of the Zambian government.
Map: Freevectormaps Graphics: Susanna Bergström, SLU
Sandra first came to the site six years ago from the Netherlands, where she grew up. She was thrilled to discover that her commitment to protecting wildlife, which she has had since childhood, could be a job.
"Every day I do something good for the planet. It may be small and local, but every day I do something active that will help these animals survive and thrive," says Sandra Martens.
The park has no fences or other forms of enclosure, and people live in it. The park has predators such as spotted hyenas, lions and cheetahs, as well as a variety of herbivores.
“A lot of time is spent building trust and working with local people in the surrounding villages. If the locals don't see a benefit, it won't work," says Sandra Martens.
The spotted hyaena is currently listed as of ‘least concern’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, but global numbers are declining and poaching, conflicts with humans, reduced availability of prey and habitat destruction are main threats to these animals.
Photo: Sandra Martens
Conservation work is based on research and is mostly carried out by locally employed staff.
Bridget Mayani, the Greater Liuwa Project's first Zambian female Senior Field Ecologist is scanning the surroundings with binoculars looking for carnivores and wildebeest herds. She's standing on top of the car because the higher you are, the more you can see.
Photo: Sandra Martens
The team are based in the field and go out to find the carnivores and wildebeest in all seasons and all circumstances, even when the plains are flooded like on this photo taken during the rainseason.
Here Peter Musenge, Field Ecologist in the Greater Liuwa Project since 2017, is scanning with a receiver and antenna in order to find collared carnivores and wildebeest.
Photo: Sandra Martens
"Canivores need very large areas to move in, so when we humans build roads, cities or convert land from forest or grassland, agriculture or mining, for example, the carnivores' home ranges are destroyed," says Göran Spong, a researcher at SLU who together with his colleagues has developed a genetic monitoring tool used in Liuwa.
Göran Spong on site in Liuwa, Zambia, to develop the work with the genetic samples together with the field ecologists. Photo: Eric Nkoma
The monitoring is based on DNA, but animals don't have to be trapped to for researchers to get their DNA.
“Field staff collect shed fur, saliva, faeces or urine from the animals. From these samples, we can extract DNA that gives us information about which individual it is. This makes it possible to map kinship, population size, distribution and population composition without disturbing the animals," says Göran Spong.
Once the sun has risen, the working day starts. From the joint camp, the different teams set off in different directions with various tasks. Some travel by car to locate an animal to be equipped with a new GPS collar. Others go by motorbike to observe a cheetah or one of the 14 hyena clans in the area.
Researchers at SLU have developed genetic monitoring tools for the global range of lions. The total number of lions is estimated at 23,000 to 39,000, and they are also declining. In many places where they used to live, they are extinct, and in the places where they live today, they are threatened by habitat destruction, reduced availability of prey, and by human encroachment.
Twenty-one lions live in Liuwa, most belonging to the same pride.
Photo: Sandra Martens
One of the threats to animals is poaching. The growing human population of Zambia needs food, and because of the high level of poverty, people sometimes see no other way than to set traps to catch bushmeat. The traps are usually intended for large herbivores, such as the wildebeest in this picture, but lions and cheetahs also get caught in the snares that are set.
Photo: Sandra Martens
There are currently around 6 500 cheetahs left in the world, and they are decreasing all the time. Seventeen of the cheetahs are in the area where Sandra and her colleagues are working.
Photo: Sandra Martens
Using GPS collars fitted around the neck of one to three carnivores per pride, group or clan, researchers can analyse the animals' movements across the landscape and detect patterns of dispersal, such as when a female hyena recently left its clan and moved into an area in neighbouring Angola.
“But the GPS data does not give us detailed information such as whether the animal has a cub or not, or what it is hunting. Therefore, a large part of the work we do on a daily basis is observations," says Sandra Martens.
The blood and tissue samples collected from animals that have died or are anaesthetised and fitted with collars provide even more information than samples of faeces, for example.
When an animal is given a GPS collar so that researchers can analyse its movements, it is sedated by a veterinarian. The health and condition of the animal is also examined. Field staff weigh, measure, take blood and tissue samples. The samples are then sent to SLU in Umeå. Photo: Sandra Martens
“These samples can provide information on age, inbreeding, health status and reproductive status. Since the individuals and their close relationships are known thanks to the monitoring done by the Zambian Carnivore Programme and we can link them to samples from other DNA sources such as faeces and fur, they also serve as a control and allow for extremely detailed information on movement patterns, reproduction and survival," says Göran Spong.
From the samples, the researchers obtain sequences of DNA from which they then develop panels of genetic markers. The panels can then be matched to samples which provides less DNA information, such as faeces or fur.
Helena Königsson and her colleagues analyse samples from around 20 countries in Africa and 10 in Europe. In addition to these species, they have over 30 other panels monitoring different species at the population level, such as an endangered parrot in the Amazon rainforest. Photo: Susanna Bergström, SLU
Back to Zambia. Before the Zambian Carnivore Programme started their monitoring work relatively little was known about the status of Zambia’s large carnivore species and about the impact of the threats they face.
“Nowadays, with year-round and expanding research and monitoring we have accurate ideas on the population status of these vulnerable populations and can identify threats faster which helps to protect them better,” says Sandra Martens.
Collaborations such as the one with SLU’s Molecular Ecology group provide opportunity for more effective, accurate and elaborate monitoring and protection. Genetic analysis provides information about the origin of animal populations and connectivity in a way that would have been difficult to achieve if only using traditional monitoring efforts.
“The combination of on-the-ground monitoring and genetic analysis provides new and more accurate insights,” says Sandra Martens.
Teamwork makes the dreamwork. As Bridget Mayani is scanning for collared carnivores and wildebeest, Peter Musenge notes down data. Photo: Sandra Martens
Researchers at SLU are developing knowledge that makes it possible to monitor wildlife populations around the world in a variety of ways. Knowing the structure and development of a population is key to the conservation, reintroduction and management of wild animals.
In addition to the genetic methods which you are reading about here, several other methods are used in research.
One of them is collars that transmit GPS positions and collect physiological data from animals such as heart rate and body temperature, known as biotelemetry.
A lot of additional research uses wildlife cameras, audio recorders, droppings surveys, grazing surveys, shooting bag statistics and observations by hunters and the public.
Much of the research focuses on how best to restore ecosystems to their natural functions. Animals are an important part of this; in addition to giving them access to healthy habitats, their presence plays a key role in climate benefits and biodiversity.
Story:
Susanna Bergström, e-mail, +46(0)90-786 82 99.
Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies.
Production:
SLU Communications Department
Press/research contact:
Göran Spong, e-mail, +46(0)90-786 86 85.
The content is free to share in its original form if the source/url is cited.
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