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Bairds Tapirs in Costa Rica
Carnivores of Sri Lanka
Przewalski Horse Recovery
Appalachian Black Bears
Whale Shark Expedition
Red Wolves of Alligator River
Elephants of Cameroon
Mexican Wolves
Atlantic Sea Turtles
Bairds Tapirs in Costa Rica
View a slideshow:
Baird's Tapir Slideshow
From 1994 until 2007, Charles Foerster led the Baird's Tapir Research Project in Costa Rica. Much of his work focused on tapir interaction, as well as on tapir homerange sizes in Corcovado National Park. Kendra Bauer has continued his work, and has been using radio telemetry to learn more about tapir behavior. The project will soon be deploying GPS collars in order to monitor the animals remotely. And, finally, research to assess the impacts of tapirs on plant diversity in the Costa Rican rainforest is now underway.
Be sure to also see the
Baird's Tapir Project website
for additional information on this project.
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Carnivores of Sri Lanka
View a slideshow:
Remote Camera Shots #1
Remote Camera Shots #2
Sloth Bear Fieldwork - July 2003
Sri Lanka's Carnivores: Highlights
Carnivores have fascinated humans for centuries. We admire them --
and
we fear them -- because of their power, their grace, and their secretive natures. Fear and ignorance have led to a dangerous decline in many of the world's big carnivores, especially felids (like lions and tigers), ursids (bears), and canids (wolves and wild dogs).
Dr. Shyamala Ratnayeke is studying many of the fourteen carnivore species found in her native Sri Lanka. At least four of these species have suffered significant population losses in recent years, due to habitat fragmentation, poaching, and other conflicts with humans. Of particular interest to Dr. Ratnayeke is the sloth bear, among the planet's lesser-known species of bears. She and her team are using radiocollars and remote cameras, as well as basic fieldwork techniques, to improve the world's understanding of the sloth bear and its fellow carnivores.
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Przewalski Horse Recovery
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Przewalski Horse Recovery
The world first learned of
Takhi
-- the Przewalski horse -- when it was declared a unique species in 1881. Sadly, the Przewalski horse was driven to extinction in the wild less than 100 years later, with only a few individuals surviving in zoos. Eleven of those animals formed the core of a captive breeding group that eventually led to the reintroduction of
Takhi
to the Tachin Tal site in Mongolia's Gobi Desert Strictly Protected Area.
By Spring 2003, sixty-two Przewalski horses were living in the Gobi recovery area. They share this harsh, immense and beautiful landscape with an amazing variety of other animals -- many of them, like the Asiatic wild ass, endangered themselves.
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Appalachian Black Bears
View a slideshow:
Black Bear Highlights
The American black bear (
Ursus americanus
) is one of eight bear species in the world. It is the smallest North American bear, and the most common bear species on the planet.
Ursus americanus
is also one of only two bear species not currently endangered and experiencing continued population decline. Nonetheless, it is a 'species of special concern' in North Carolina, so even though American black bears are not endangered generally, they remain in a precarious position.
To better understand the species, Dr. Michael R. Pelton of the University of Tennessee initiated in 1969 a long-term study of the population in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). One of the first objectives of the study was to estimate the size of the population and develop reliable population data. Though much was learned in the early years of the study, those findings raised many new questions. The research process that evolved, and that continues to this day, was similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Understanding the population dynamics of bears became the central theme, while research into related topics completed the picture. Today, the GRSMNP black bear project is one of the longest-running studies of wildlife still underway.
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Whale Shark Expedition
View a slideshow:
Whale Shark Slideshow
The whale shark (
Rhincodon typus
) is still relatively mysterious. It wasn't fully described in scientific literature until 1829 and, by 1986, there were only 320 recorded sightings of this animal.
Matthew Potenski, a research associate at the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center in Dania Beach, Florida, is studying whale sharks found off the coast of Tanzania. His research is already shedding light on these creatures and helping us understand how best to protect them and their habitat.
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Red Wolves of Alligator River
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Red Wolf Highlights
The red wolf
(Canis rufus)
suffered huge population and habitat losses throughout the 20th century, and was placed on the Endangered Species List in 1967. The species continued to decline after that, resulting in a 1973 decision to remove them from the wild and place them in captivity for breeding purposes. By 1980, there were no red wolves in the wild.
In 1987, red wolves were reintroduced to the wild at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. This reintroduction marked the first attempt to reintroduce a carnivore declared extinct in the wild to a portion of its former range. Today, a free-ranging population of red wolves inhabits about one and one-half million acres of federal, private and state lands in northeastern North Carolina.
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Elephants of Cameroon
View a slideshow:
2003 Collaring: Slideshow #1
2008 Cameroon Wildlife
Cameroon Elephant Highlights
Cameroon Spring 2007 Mission
Campo Ma'an Photos: January 2008
Waza Elephant Reversed
African Elephants (
Loxodonta africana
) were added to the endangered species list in 1988. Concern for their survival arose after increasing ivory prices provoked unprecedented poaching during the 1970s.
In the African nation of Cameroon, the elephant is further threatened by the expansion of human populations into its historical habitat areas. Conflicts between humans and elephants--often arising after elephants ransack valuable agricultural fields--often lead to the death of the latter.
To address this and other problems, the Cameroon Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MINEF) has worked with World Wildlife Fund-Cameroon and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to create its a National Elephant Management Plan. Dr. Mike Loomis, Chief Veterinarian at the North Carolina Zoological Park, is part of the team charged with developing this plan.
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Mexican Wolves
View a slideshow:
Mexican Wolf Slideshow
Mexican Wolves at Living Desert
Mexican Wolves, Winter 2007
Mexican wolves (
Canis lupus baileyi
) once ranged throughout much of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. Human settlement in the American Southwest, though, led to
lobo's
rapid decline. By the middle of the 20th century, the Mexican wolf was essentially exterminated in the region. Only a few—the
ghosts of the southwest
—remained in the wild into the 1970s.
But, in the late 1970s, Roy McBride found five
lobos
somehow still alive in Mexico; two of these animals, plus one never-captured male, became some of the founders of the current Mexican wolf population (there are seven founders all together). Beginning in 1998, Mexican wolves were released to run wild in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area, which spans parts of Arizona and New Mexico; also, some 300 wolves are in captive facilities in the U.S. and Mexico.
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Atlantic Sea Turtles
View a slideshow:
Sea Turtle Highlights
There exist seven species of sea turtles world-wide. Four are commonly found on the Atlantic coast of the United States: Green (
Chelonia mydas
), Kemp's ridley (
Lepidochelys kempii
), Leatherback (
Dermochelys coriacea
), and Loggerhead (
Caretta caretta
).
Accurate population numbers are difficult to determine because turtles seldom come onto land where they can be counted. What is known is that the population of each of the seven species is in steep decline -- each is listed as 'threatened' or 'endangered' under the Endangered Species Act. While young sea turtles have many natural predators, it's primarily interaction with humans that has caused the collapse of sea turtle populations. Human-caused changes to beachfront areas often interfere with nesting behavior, and will sometimes prevent females from nesting at all. Boating, fishing, and dredging can harm or even kill sea turtles off-shore. Decisions that we make every day about living and playing on coastal lands are extremely important for the survival of sea turtles.
The activities of various researchers are featured in this field trip. Some are investigating nesting behavior and outcomes; others are tracking migration patterns; still others are rehabilitating injured or stranded turtles. Together, they are working to better understand how best to protect and conserve these remarkable animals.
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