May 2010 conservation highlights

2^nd July 2010

In the field

Madagascar

• An Imperial College-led 3 year project ‘Optimising monitoring as a conservation tool’ has been completed and the final report produced. Durrell were key collaborators on this project resulting in new knowledge to improve management of our Menabe and Alaotra projects. For example, one paper from this project, (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123411970/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) has shown the relative impact of Durrell’s conservation activities on forest-use behaviours and attitudes in the local communities around the Menabe Antimena Protected Area.  The research showed that whilst incentive payments did not have a great impact on individual’s forest-use behaviour they did have a large positive impact on people’s attitudes influence over the way people behaved with respect to using the forest.
• In Madagascar, a trial of a new method for monitoring the Lac Alaotran lemur has progressed well, including a significant effort to access for the first time the interior of the marsh to look for the lemur.  Early results provide the first ever evidence of lemurs inhabiting core areas of the marsh. An article has been submitted to Madagascar Development and Conservation to communicate the results.
• An illegal canal (2.5km x 3m) cut through the marshes at Andilana around Lac Alaotra was discovered by the Durrell team when carrying out monitoring activities. Durrell will bring the services to the site to close the canal down.
• Wisco, a large Chinese mining firm, has confirmed that it will invest $8bn to mine the iron deposits south of Soalala in Western Madagascar. This will be a huge operation and will undoubtedly affect Baly Bay National Park and other protected areas which are close by.
• Also in Madagascar, the final phase of the survey of the ploughshare tortoise survey has now finished, and an in-depth analysis will now be conducted to estimate its population size and map the distribution of the species at a fine scale.  The annual radio-telemetry monitoring of the re-introduced ploughshare tortoises has been completed. The goal was to intensively follow animals that are reaching breeding age in order to document any breeding activity, which would be a major milestone for the release project.  There were no signs of breeding activity but this is not necessarily a concern - it is likely that the animals are still not quite old enough.
• The 28 baby rere (side-necked turtles) born in 2010 and temporarily in ponds in Ampijoroa were released into Lac Ankomakoma in Ankarafantsika National Park.

Mauritius

• Monitoring of the health of the Telfair’s skinks and Guenther’s gecko’s translocated to Ile aux Aigrettes continued and all animals encountered (95 skinks and 25 geckos) are looking healthy.
• A five day trip was conducted to Flat and Gabriel Islands. After a total of 7,189 trap hours, five male and two female Indian musk shrews Suncus murinus were captured within an area of 8.92 ha. Additional observations from night searches showed that the shrews were present over an area of at least 18 ha. Extrapolating from data on Ile aux Aigrettes, the estimated number of shrews on the island is 146. Unfortunately at the density and distribution of the shrews on Flat Island it is too late to remove them. On Gabriel no mammals were detected after 432 trap hours.
• The presence of shrews on the island will ultimately lead to the loss of the island’s endemic populations of skink and gecko, therefore response measures are being developed at the moment, which involve which involve the short term translocation of remaining orange-tail skinks to another island, and longer-term measures to finally introduce effective quarantine and monitoring measures on these small islands. Further research will also be developed into methods to control shrews on islands, which is a major issue around the world.

St Lucia

• There has been a large increase in capture numbers of the alien green iguanas, due to pulses of hatchlings emerging in May, as predicted (total captures in 2010 to end May now at 102 individuals, most hatchlings).
• Brief encounter rate survey on Maria Minor island (the source population of one of the two whiptail lineages) suggests the population of whiptail lizards is stable compared to the last (2008) survey when it was estimated at about 20 individuals.
• Alison Mollon (Imperial MSc, Rich Young supervising) has been analysing white-breasted thrasher and Saint Lucia amazon survey data (annual from, respectively, 2006-2010 and 2007-2009) to look for effects of count duration and observer differences on density estimates, with a view to recommending improved survey protocols.
• Mike Hudon, University of Bath, completed his BSc project thesis on optimal monitoring strategies for small Indian mongoose – an analysis of a trapping dataset from our St Lucia programme. We now have a robust method of monitoring this key invasive species, which will be written up for publication.
• St Lucia has produced a series of four postage stamps to mark the 2010 Year of Biodiversity, illustrating endemic species and subspecies. Two species covered by Durrell’s Eastern Caribbean Programme are included: the Saint Lucia iguana and the white-breasted thrasher (the other two are an endemic lobelia and an endemic subspecies of rhinoceros beetle).

Montserrat

• At the end of May a team from ZSL and Chester Zoo and led by Durrell and Montserrat’s DOE accessed an area in the south of Montserrat, called Roaches. This area of forest was cut off from Montserrat’s Safety Zone by the extensive volcanic damage in the island’s exclusion Zone. Because of its isolation, the area may be free from chytrid. The team went in to the area twice via helicopter and collected over 350 non-native tree frogs to test to see if chytrid is present within the site. Samples have been deposited at ZSL for analysis. The team also mapped the access route to an alternative (boat) access point at the site. If this site proves to be chytrid-free, it is planned to use it as a reintroduction site for uninfected mountain chickens.
• During the Roaches mission, the team also accessed Fairy Walk, site of the 2009-2010 treatment trials. It was only possible to gain access on two nights, but three frogs (one from each treatment group, one female and two males) were caught; all looked to be in good condition and were swabbed to determine their current infection status.

Western Caribbean

• Lots of excellent coverage of the Last Survivors project on the BBC. Over 800,000 hits on 3 website articles and a TV piece (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/10216354.stm) appeared on BBC1 Breakfast News, BBC News Channel, BBC World TV, BBC World News America and Newsround as well as live interviews with 3 of these programmes. The project was also featured on Radio 4’s Today Programme (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8717000/8717439.stm), World Service, Science in Action (http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/scia/), Radio 5 live and various BBC Local Radio stations.
• The Hispaniolan solenodon was featured as the IUCN Species of the Day on the 17th June and the Floreana mockingbird on the 26th June.  The Species Survival Commission have asked us to do 4 more Species of the Day profiles – the Alaotran gentle lemur, Pied tamarin, Montserrat galliwasp and Echo parakeet and– so watch this space.

Comoro islands

• A survey in the Comoros Islands of the Critically Endangered Anjouan scops owl, believed extinct until 1992, has detected the species at a good number of sites on the island in both intact and degraded forest. This is promising news, but a rigorous analysis is now needed in order to evaluate the status and conservation needs of the owl.

 Galapagos

• Francesca Cunninghame, Mangrove Finch Field Manager, has just returned from the field having undertaken the first trial finch translocation. Nine finches were caught at Playa Tortuga Negra and transported by boat to Bahia Urbina about 22km south.
• All birds were fitted with radio transmitters and colour rings to enable monitoring and individual identification after their release. The transmitters weighed 0.41 grams and were glued in place to the feathers on the birds’ backs. The transmitters weighed less than 3% of the smallest bird’s body weight, which is the internationally accepted benchmark.
• Monitoring of individual birds lasted between two to 14 days depending how long the transmitters remained attached to the birds. Two of the adults and two juveniles remained in the immediate vicinity of the release site. Two adults have taken up residence in a stand of mangroves 3km away from where they were released. One juvenile bird returned to Playa Tortuga Negra, after flying across 12km of bare lava field.
• The fact that mangrove finches have now been successfully transported and released in a new site shows that translocating and reintroducing this species across its historic range can be used to secure its future.

Training

This month our training programme focussed on building capacity within the next generation of “home-grown”  conservationists, running field courses in Jersey for UK colleges and universities

Wildlife park

• A female black lion tamarin was habituated to receiving an ultrasound on her abdomen so that staff can monitor foetal development. Historically she has always lost her infants due to complications at birth – this technique will allow veterinary staff to intervene and deliver by C-section at the correct time. Successful births are now critical to this captive programme – there have been no viable births within the EEP for the last 5 years.
• Two chough chicks hatched to one of our imported pairs. Unfortunately they did not survive but this was not unexpected as the parents are young and recently paired.
• Four fertile mountain chicken nests were discovered in our quarantine colony (two later abandoned) – good news in boosting numbers for potential future reintroductions.
• Cuban rock iguanas were imported to the collection from Grand Cayman. These individuals were discovered roaming free on the island and were caught. If this had not happened they would likely have bred with the the endemic endangered Blue iguana.
• A Northern bald ibis chick and a blue crane chick hatched this month. Durrell is one of the few institutions that achieves successful parent rearing with the latter species.
• Matt Goetz travelled to Little Cayman to continue his field studies on the Sister Isles rock iguana - nest monitoring, habitat surveys, radio tracking and roadkill monitoring. Initial feedback suggests population is still in decline.
• A further female Sulawesi black macaque was imported to join the remainder of the quarantine group which will be introduced to the our existing troop in due course – an effort to reinvigorate the EEP breeding programme for this critically endangered species.
• Our Partula snails (258 individuals) were exported to a UK institution, marking the end of Durrell’s long-term participation in this historic conservation breeding project.

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