spring newsletter - Wildlife Conservation Network

notes from the field
SPRING 2015
new lights
grant benefits
women and zebras
© MARTIN HARVEY
conservation’s
next generation
Conservation’s New Lights
QUINTON MARTINS/SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVANCY
READ MORE ABOUT FOXLIGHTS AND WATCH A VIDEO ONLINE AT WWW.WILDNET.ORG/FOXLIGHTS
“
There is no way
that snow leopards
dare come near our
pastures at night.
”
W
hen wild animals attack livestock, it can often be
deadly—both for the livestock and for the wildlife
involved. Livestock owners often retaliate against
livestock predation by killing the carnivores that threaten their herds.
Conservationists like Dr. Rodney Jackson of Snow
Leopard Conservancy work closely with livestock
owners to better protect their animals. When Rodney
first heard about Foxlights, an electronic deterrent
developed by Ian Whalen to ward off predators on his
Australian farm, he immediately got in touch. Foxlights are intermittently flashing colorful lights that
warn snow leopards and other predators that there
are humans in the area. This causes the predator to
avoid what could be a risky area.
LEFT: SNOW
LEOPARD CONSERVANCY’S RODNEY
JACKSON DISCUSSES
THE BENEFITS OF
FOXLIGHTS WITH
LOCAL VILLAGERS.
TOP: DAVE CORTRIGHT
AND IAN WHALEN
TALK ABOUT WAYS
FOXLIGHTS CAN
BE USED FOR CONSERVATION.
Compared to other available predator deterrents,
Foxlights are relatively inexpensive, portable, and
have a long battery life. These traits are all important
to field conservationists. WCN’s Director of Technology Dave Cortright has reached out to other WCN
Partners to trial Foxlights and has been researching
rechargeable battery and solar charger solutions that
would allow them to work in Africa and Asia. Cheetah
Conservation Botswana and Niassa Lion Project are
both beginning trials of Foxlights in the areas where
they work.
Initial results from trials in Nepal have been encouraging. Kunga Gurung, a Nepalese herder who owns forty
yaks, was one of the first to test the lights. “What a
surprise through the night that the snow leopards did
not dare to come near,” he said after testing the lights.
“The Foxlights did scare them! There is no way that
snow leopards dare come near our pastures at night.”
© SUZI ESZTERHAS / WWW.SUZIESZTERHAS.COM
Empowering
The Grevy’s
Zebra Scout
program
benefits
both Scouts
and zebras.
Women as Grevy’s Zebra Scouts
R
irian is a young woman who lives in northern Kenya with her
husband and two children. The family has only two cows
and two goats to support them. Ririan’s husband travels
regularly to the nearest town, Archer’s Post, to find casual
jobs, but does not have a regular source of income. So when
the opportunity arose for Ririan to become a Grevy’s Zebra
Scout, she was thrilled.
Grevy’s Zebra Scouts work for
Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT) gathering data on the zebras and raising
conservation awareness in their
communities. GZT has always
worked to provide employment to
women through the Scouts program. Many Scouts are able to pay
for things like medical care and
education for their children with
the income that they receive.
In 2014, the Caridad Giving Circle
granted approximately $10,000 to
Grevy’s Zebra Trust to hire six new
female Scouts and expand into six
new villages. The giving circle is
made up of sixteen women from
the San Francisco Bay Area who
pool their donations together and
make collaborative giving decisions. The Scouts program fit
into their goals of providing for the economic self-sufficiency
of women and children and sustaining a healthy environment.
Several members were also able to hear GZT Founder Belinda
Mackey speak at WCN’s Wildlife Conservation Expo and were
impressed with her work.
Ririan is amazed that there are other women so far away who
believe that women around the world should be empowered.
“I am blessed to have been chosen by my community and am
thankful to Caridad Giving Circle women’s group for making it
possible,” she said. “Ashe oleng pii! (Thank you so much!).”
Supporting Conservation’s
Next Generation
Manoj Bhusal
Anita Bousa
COUNTRY: NEPAL
SPECIES: RED PANDA
COUNTRY: LAOS
SPECIES: SAOLA
M.Sc. in Conservation Biology
at University of Kent
Pat J. Miller Scholarship
M.Sc. in Tropical Biology and
Conservation at James Cook
University
Handsel Scholarship
© SUZI ESZTERHAS / WWW.SUZIESZTERHAS.COM
Gebeyehu Rskay
Kassa
COUNTRY: ETHIOPIA
SPECIES: ETHIOPIAN WOLF
M.Sc. in Zoology at Bahir Dar
University
Pat J. Miller Scholarship
Arjun Srivathsa
COUNTRY: INDIA
SPECIES: ASIATIC WILD DOG
“DHOLE”
Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology and
Conservation at the University
of Florida or Forestry and Environmental Resources at North
Carolina State University
Sidney Byers Scholarship
T
he WCN Scholarship Program invests in the next generation of conservation leaders by providing grants for graduate education to students
who are committed to working on wildlife conservation in their home
countries. Senior conservationists from WCN, Wildlife Conservation Society, and World Wildlife Fund, as well as Whitley Award winners, nominate
scholarship candidates. In 2015, WCN awarded ten scholarships and has
now supported a total of 72 scholars from 30 different countries.
Lara Heidel
Deo Kujirakwinja
Rinzin Phunjok Lama
COUNTRY: ARGENTINA
SPECIES: ANDEAN CAT
COUNTRY: DRC
SPECIES: CHIMPANZEE
COUNTRY: NEPAL
SPECIES: SNOW LEOPARD
Ph.D. in Biology at Comahue
National University
Handsel Scholarship
Ph.D. in Environmental Science
at Rhodes University
Sidney Byers Scholarship
M.Sc. in International Nature
Conservation at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Sidney Byers Scholarship
Ashan Thudugala
COUNTRY: SRI LANKA
SPECIES: FISHING CAT, RUSTY’S
SPOTTED CAT, JUNGLE CAT
M.Phil. in Zoology at the
University of Peradeniya
Sidney Byers Scholarship
Alejandra Rocio
Torrez
COUNTRY: BOLIVIA
SPECIES: ANDEAN CAT
M.A. in Environmental Education at Universidad de Málaga
*Zegeye Kibret Memorial
Scholarship
Jaffar Ud Din
COUNTRY: PAKISTAN
SPECIES: SNOW LEOPARD
Ph.D. in Ecology and Biodiversity at University of Malaya
Sidney Byers Scholarship
NONPROFIT ORG.
US POSTAGE
PAID
OAKLAND, CA
PERMIT NO. 259
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