Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ? Official Blog

Start the year as you mean to go on

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:17:00 +0100

By Jose Nuñez-Miño

I am convinced that time is speeding up; the last few weeks have absolutely flown by. Our main focus since our last blog has been field work. The whole team has been working flat out. Pedro Martinez and the rest of the “Sociedad Ornitologica de la Hispaniola” (SOH; Hispaniolan Ornithological Society) team have completed surveys across two National Parks (“Loma Quita Espuela” and “Guaconejo”) in the northern part of the country – all thanks to the funding provided by the BBC Wildlife Fund. The end is in sight with the last few surveys in “Los Haitises” National Park which is proving to be really hard going – see the photos on our facebook group for evidence of this. The team in the north is about to be joined by a local MSc student (Claudia Llibre) who will be carrying out social surveys along with the SOH team to establish peoples perception of both species so that this can shape and direct our educational campaign in the area.

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The Last Kouwès?

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:03:00 +0100

by Rob Williams

After a couple of arduous weeks blazing trails along the steep, dense, cactus covered, slopes of the 12 ha offshore island, Maria Major, off the South East tip of St Lucia, the search begins for the endemic and implausibly elusive, Kouwès, or St Lucia Racer snake (Liophis ornatus).

The islet, managed as a Nature Reserve, is now the sole refuge for this snake once considered to be the second most common of the four extant snake species in St Lucia. Free from the rats, mongoose and other introduced predators that have extirpated the racer from the mainland, a little known population has (based on very few historic sightings) managed to persist in what could well be sub optimal habitat for this species.

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Amazing year?more to come

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:13:00 +0100

By Jose Nuñez-Miño

As we approach the end of 2011 its time to once again reflect on the year and look forward to the year ahead. This year really has really been quite amazingly productive despite some of challenges that we have faced. Our success has primarily come about through the increasing number of individuals that have been involved in the project at different stages throughout the year.

We have had a large team involved in the field work: Pedro Martinez, Ros Kennerley, Nicolas Corona, Jose Ramon “Moncho” Espinal, Sarah Hoy, Rocio Pozo, “Yeyo” Dionis Espinal, Yimel Corona, Anderson Jean, Enold Louis Jean, Timoteo Bueno and Jose Rafael de la Cruz. Huge thanks has got to go out to all of them, they have all contributed to our increasing knowledge of solenodon and hutia on the island of Hispaniola.

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Making a difference

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:51:00 +0100

By Jose Nuñez-Miño

Where have the last two months gone? They seem to have flown past and the lead up to Christmas is upon us. We have, as always, been very busy on all fronts over the last couple of months.
On the educational front we have had the first showings of the project infomercials (kids version in Spanish and full version in Spanish) at two very different schools – over 700 students in all have now seen them. The first showing was as at a remote rural school in Los Limones village near Los Haitises National Park. This did not simply serve to educate and inform local students about solenodon and hutia but was also an opportunity to train and empower Timoteo and Rafael (our two research assistants sponsored by the BBC Wildlife Fund) on their presentation skills. The aim is that they will take on educational campaigns of their own in the very near future. The village kids loved the infomercials and enjoyed finding out about solenodon and hutia – unfortunately many saw these species as damaging to crops but hopefully we have managed to change that perception.

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Never let go of your branch before grabbing another

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:31:00 +0100

by Amelaïd Houmadi and Kitty Brayne

They're among the biggest flying mammals in the world, found on two small islands in the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and nowhere else in the world. In the Comorian language they are sometimes called m’lamanga which means mango-eater (but also have two other names: n’tréméla or ndéma), but it was from the explorer Dr Livingstone that they got their name with which they are known to the rest of the world. I'm talking about Livingstone's fruit bats, and at the moment it's my job to study them with the ECDD project in Anjouan.

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The largest programme of village based monitoring in Madagascar

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:45:00 +0100

By Herizo Andrianandrasana and Ony Rabearivololona

Over the last 10 years, Durrell Madagascar has led a successful programme of locally-based ecological monitoring through the MOMA (Monitoring Matters) network in collaboration with the Nordic Agency for Development and Conservation and an annual inter-village competition funded by the Jersey Overseas Aid Committee (JOAC). The idea was to integrate communities into the monitoring system aimed at reducing their pressure on forests and species. We carried out this study in the dry forests of the New Protected Area (NAP) of Menabe-Antimena.

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First impressions of the Comoros

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:55:00 +0100

by Bronwen Daniel

In February this year, I waved goodbye to the snow-covered British Isles to take up the position of Field Biologist for the ECDD project (run by Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation in partnership with Durrell) in the tropical Comoro Islands.

Having previously worked on research projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Madagascar, I’d experienced a range of African landscapes but imagined volcanic islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar to be something a bit different. My first view of Anjouan, the second largest of the islands and my home for the next year and a half, was from the window of a tiny 12-seater plane. It did not disappoint. I took in steep-sided green mountains cut through with deep ravines, plunging down to a sparkling blue sea, and couldn’t wait to get out exploring.

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Expanding horizons in Hispaniola

Mon, 23 May 2011 14:29:00 +0100

By Jose Nuñez-Miño

We are just recently back from our first expedition into Haiti where we were invited to join forces with the Darwin initiative project that is based out there. Our hosts, the Audubon Society of Haiti were amazingly welcoming and managed to get us to one of the most remote and beautiful corners of Haiti which is Massif de la Hotte in the south west. There are still some good (i.e. relatively untouched) areas of forest in this area although even in the brief time we were there we were witness to its destruction and removal. On one day we counted over 300 bags of charcoal and watched some of it being carried along the same treacherous routes we were using to get to the forest. The good news is that we did manage to see evidence of both solenodon and hutia in one valley we explored. There is undoubtedly a lot of work that can and should be done in Haiti. If we work together I’m sure we will be able to make a difference.

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Rounding up Rábida's hawks

Fri, 06 May 2011 13:45:00 +0100

By Francesca Cunninghame

The aerial broadcast of brodifacoum to eradicate rats from Rábida and several small Galápagos Islands took place in January. This was a Galápagos National Park project with Island Conservation, Bell Laboratories, Charles Darwin Foundation, University of Minnesota Raptor Center and Durrell. Durrell provided staff (that is me, field manager of the Mangrove Finch Project) for Galápagos hawk mitigation. A risk assessment showed these endemic hawks risked suffering from secondary poisoning and to prevent this all the hawks holding territories where bait was to be spread needed to be brought into captivity for at least six weeks. Holding aviaries were built by Park personnel at a secluded spot on Santiago Island.

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Great news from Floreana

Fri, 06 May 2011 13:25:00 +0100

By Luis Ortiz-Catedral (CDF)

I have some great news to share. The breeding season of the Floreana mockingbirds has started! This has created a lot of excitement among staff from the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galápagos National Park (GNP). We have been very busy finding nests on Champion and Gardner and also keeping notes about the variety of items fed to the young. The Floreana mockingbirds have a fascinating breeding behaviour: they breed in what we call “family groups” which usually consist of the actual breeding pair plus some helpers. The size of the group varies from three to six. In previous months we did an extensive ringing of individuals, which has proven invaluable to assign group membership now that breeding has started.

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Learning from our neighbours

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:46:00 +0100

By Misbahou Mohamed & Kitty Brayne (BCSF)

The best way to learn about different approaches to conservation and sustainable development is to visit field projects and talk to the people on the ground about their experiences. In our work in the Comoros we’ve found exchange visits between villages to be an excellent way to inspire people to take up new techniques or behaviours. Working in the Comoros we sometimes feel a bit isolated as there are not many other projects or organisations working in this domain. So last month half of our team went over to our larger neighbour Madagascar to visit a few projects and exchange ideas with others working in similar fields.

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Baby Guenther?s geckos hatch on the Paradise Island - Ile aux Aigrettes

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:39:00 +0100

By Dany Vencatasamy - Mauritian Wildlife Foundation

As I came back to Ile aux Aigrettes for a couple of days in the 3rd week of December, from island trips with the reptile team to Gunner’s Quoin and Round Island, my first thought was to check all the Guenther’s gecko eggs that were remaining to hatch. Of the 36 eggs that had been laid 15 had already hatched and one juvenile Guenther’s gecko was observed. I also found another 13 eggs.

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Entering a new and exciting phase in the Dominican Republic

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:40:00 +0100

By Jose Nuñez-Miño

It's been far too long since our last blog but then we have been incredibly busy on all fronts.

The team attended the VII Congress of Caribbean Biodiversity which was held at the “Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD)” at the start of February. It offered us the opportunity to present and share our work with the wider scientific and conservation community from the Caribbean region. It was great to get to hear about other projects working in this part of the world and it was particularly exciting to see so many young people in attendance at the congress. It is the younger generation that we need to empower in order to continue all the ongoing conservation efforts that are going on.

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Cataloging the species on Floreana

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:50:00 +0100

By Luis Ortiz-Catedral

We had an exciting start of 2011 here in Floreana. Three weeks ago, a team of scientists and field staff from the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) joined forces to start a biodiversity assessment of Floreana Island and its islets. In a nutshell, the project aims to produce a detailed catalogue of all the species of plants, lichens, birds, mammals, reptiles, molluscs and arthropods present in over 40 plots. These plots were chosen using remote imaging techniques and include all the habitat types found on Floreana. All the information gathered is of the utmost importance to the Floreana Mockingbird Project, as it will help us identify the most promising sites to establish new populations of mockingbirds, taking into account the birds’ current status and the degree of management these sites would need to meet the needs of the “cucuves” (the Spanish name for the mockingbirds).

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The future of seabirds and turtles in St Brandon

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:41:00 +0100

By Nik Cole

At the end of October I had the opportunity to accompany two researchers of the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa on an eight day expedition to St Brandon. The expedition was in conjunction with the University of Mauritius to investigate levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as dioxins, PCBs and DDT in seabird eggs.

The islands of St Brandon, also known as the Cargados Carajos Shoals, are situated approximately 430 km north-east of Mauritius.

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