July 2011 conservation highlights

1^st July 2011

Durrell leads conservation efforts at its wildlife park, through field programmes in priority regions around the world and through the activities of the International Training Centre to save species from extinction. Our Conservation Programme focuses on regions containing highly threatened species and habitats, and is separated into two priority themes:

‘Islands at Risk’
programmes for Madagascar & Comoros, Mascarene Islands, Caribbean Islands, Channel Islands, and Pacific Islands.

‘Critical Species’
programmes for Critically Endangered amphibians, globally threatened primates and threatened birds of South East Asia.

Below is the summary of activities across the programme during the past month.

Islands at Risk - Madagascar and the Comoros

Alaotra – We are starting up a large MacArthur Foundation funded project to look at the role of community led teams in monitoring conservation pressures (no take zones, illegal hunting etc). 207 out of a total of 387 guards in three field sites, including Alaotra, have been trained and given uniforms and equipment so far.

Menabe – following the 2009 political troubles, monitoring data shows that there was an increase in deforestation. But interestingly the data shows this to be concentrated to 2-3 particular areas and not within the core of the protected area, which is good news for our focal species such as the giant jumping rat and a variety of forest-dependent birds and lemurs.

Ampijoroa – At the chelonian breeding centre in Ampijoroa we had 32 ploughshare tortoise nests with 91 eggs, which is probably the highest number ever for a single season. Some eggs have also been put in an incubator that was donated by the Tarta Club of Italy.

Madagascar pochard – The Antsohihy breeding centre for Madagascar pochard is almost complete and ducks could be moved from Ampijoroa as early as next month. Three concrete lined ponds have been completed, and the hatching area equipped. Once the remaining fibreglass tanks are delivered the centre will be ready.

The most recent count of the Madagascar pochard revealed 29 individuals at the breeding lakes in July. Dr Andy Bamford from WWT is now embedded within our Madagascar team and the Madagascar pochard research programme has now commenced. At the lakes he has seen at least one brood of 10 day old ducklings and three other females nesting on the lakes. This year there seems to be less evidence of the harriers that were predating on chicks.

Nosivolo – our micro-development projects continue with 2 workshops on peanut production, 2 on raising poultry, 6 (98 people) on bean cultivation, 70 beehives distributed, 7,200 plants grown in nursery and planted along riverbanks by scouts and parents of schoolkids, 12 local technicians selected to receive training in contour farming, teachers trained to give classes in health & hygiene for 250 schools, 33 microprojects (330 households) financed for bean cultivation resulting in 5,137 kapoaka (a local measure) of beans produced by the end of June.). That’s quite a lot of beans.

Comoros - The team from the Bristol Zoo Gardens led project in the Comoros conducted an exchange visit with our Madagascar programme, visiting the Menabe and Alaotra project sites as well as spending time at the Tana office.
In Anjouan, the second scops owl survey has been completed – the results confirm the findings of the first survey that the species is far more abundant and widespread than previously thought.

Islands at Risk – Mascarene Islands

Orange-tailed skinks - Twenty two orange-tailed skinks were collected from Gunners Quoin by Nik Cole and his team. They were kept for a couple of days in captive conditions before being shipped to the Durrell. The skinks are all doing well in the Herps Dept at the Wildlife Park. The team there will learn as much as possible about the species and will try to breed them. This is a true safety net as the source population on Flat Island is now most likely extinct thanks to the introduction of Indian musk shrew.

Islands at Risk – Caribbean Islands

Montserrat Mountain chickens – The frogs that were released in January have been monitored closely for the past six months. The radio transmitters have stopped working now, but we got some very good data on movement and locations for 35 animals. We have developed a new weekly monitoring protocol, conducting ‘sweeps’ of the release site which seems to be performing well – in May we located 27 of the released animals.

We are now entering the breeding season with frogs calling. So the teams are using automated recording devices called ‘Frogloggers’ to monitor for calling males.

Preparations are underway for the next release of mountain chickens to Montserrat, which will occur in the third week of August.

In Dominica – after many years of not finding any mountain chickens, a female was discovered under some building debris. The ZSL volunteer there has identified an area apparently containing a few frogs, which is a positive sign for the species.

Dominican Republic - Two biologists from the Massif de la Hotte project in Haiti visited our project in the Dominican Republic for training in a variety of ecological field techniques, including mammal surveying, radiotracking, GPS and field mapping.

Haiti - Richard Young visited Haiti to support international and local partners to design a broad-scale biodiversity assessment and conservation planning project for the Massif de la Hotte, one of the most important sites for threatened species conservation in the world. Haiti is a challenging place, but there is hope that the remaining forests on the Massif can be protected and its species averted from extinction - particularly the amazing assemblage of globally threatened Eleutherodactylus frogs. We found evidence of the continuing survival of Hispaniolan hutia and solenodon in a highly restricted patch of forest on the Massif.

Islands at Risk – Pacific Islands

Floreana mockingbirds – Efforts to better understand the behaviour and ecology of the Floreana mockingbird continue. Luis and volunteer ringed 39 individuals, of which 37 were juveniles over a four day period on the island of Gardner. They also visited Champion to check this much smaller population. They found 40 ringed adults and 5 unringed juveniles.

Islands at Risk – Channel Islands

Red-billed chough - A workshop was held with Paradise Park (UK), States of Jersey and the National Trust for Jersey to discuss the start of a captive breeding programme for red-billed chough that will see the species re-introduced to Jersey. Implementation of the project is being led by the Bird Department and will interact with the ‘Birds on the Edge’ project that aims to restore coastland habitat for native birds.

Critical Species

Primates – two applications to the Darwin Initiative were submitted, one to study bushmeat in Central Africa and the second on pied tamarins in Brazil. Gordon Hunt recently returned from his Rumboll Award trip to Sumatra to work with the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme where he was able to support field activities and follow wild Sumatran organutans.

Amphibians – our primary focus is on Madagascar and an application was submitted to the Darwin Initiative to start a conservation programme there which would include captive breeding, field monitoring and capacity building. This follows Durrell’s overall model for conservation responses.

South East Asian Birds – the Bird Dept are developing proposals for first projects within this theme following a recent meeting held at Chester Zoo to identify priority species in the region.

2011 Conservation Workshop

Our project leaders are working in 15 countries around the world and its very important to try and bring them together to work on our global strategy and to integrate them with the rest of the Trust and everyone working here.

At the end of July we held a 5 day Conservation Workshop in Jersey, during which our field-based teams and Jersey staff came together to review the results of Durrell’s Conservation Programme, to discuss major issues, to conduct training and to plan projects.

Our overseas-based colleagues also spent time working within the Mammal, Herp and Bird Departments to encourage closer integration between the field teams and wildlife park staff. We are extremely appreciative to the Balcombe Trust for funding what was a highly successful and very positive meeting. Here is a photo from late (!) in the final evening.

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