CONSERVING ENDANGERED RHINOS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Transcription

1 Earthwatch 2017 Annual Field Report CONSERVING ENDANGERED RHINOS IN SOUTH AFRICA PI: Dr Dawn Scott, University of Brighton CO-PI S: Lynne MacTavish, Dr Anja Rott, Dr Rachel White, Dr Maureen Berg & Dr Angelo Pernetta Period covered by this report: JAN 2017-DEC

2 Dear Earthwatch Volunteers, We would like to thank all the teams in 2017 for their exceptionally hard work and dedication. It had been a very tough year for us and the animals with the extended drought and we are pleased to say that the start of 2017 brought us lots of urgently needed rain and completely transformed the reserve! With the help of all the teams we have had a very successful year of data collection and your presence and continual monitoring helped to keep our beloved animals safe this year. The purchase of a drone allowed us to test the effect of drone on moving animals around to help with management and we are now using it to help with vegetation mapping so a great asset for us in terms of the research we can do. This was the second full year of the rhino project and over the last year you have helped to collect 1,246 rhino behavioral observations, 276 rhino spatial locations, undertaken 45 camera trapping sessions and 19 features transects, assisted with dehorning and undertaken 55 trials of deterrents. The volunteers also got to aid in burning the firebreaks. No burns took place in 2016 due to the drought. But last year they burnt three block burns and all the firebreaks. This was a tremendous effort from all the teams and we had the pleasure to get to know you all, share our passion for rhinos and conservation as well as have lots of fun along the way and see lots of amazing wildlife! So what has been happening with our rhinos this year? 2017 saw the breakup of the sub-adult herd (naughty five/six) with Dougie going solitary. This breaking up has led to the rhinos were far more spread around the entire reserve rather than concentrated in a few zones. This may be partly due to the end of the two year drought in 2015/6, which has changed the distribution of foraging/drinking/wallowing opportunities. Dougie has begun showing signs of territoriality, and begun to establish his position against the other two dominant bulls, Luke and Brutus. Brutus was witnessed mating with Mish after a fight with Luke so we might see another calf soon! In 2017 we dehorned all of the adults and older calves. We've also been able to monitor the rhinos ranges and movement patterns in response to the reserve changing in shape, with areas previously accessibly to the rhino now closed off by a new fence, and areas that have previously seen no rhino now open to them. We have been assisted this year by PhD student Sam Penny funded by the University of Brighton, Max Withey and Emily Marshall, who have all been focusing on the impacts of dehorning on behavior and are currently collating data and writing up. Max and Emily successfully wrote up their Theses in 2017 and we have now been looking at publication of some of the data. We have held several conservation awareness days with a high school from the local community. This informs learners and their educators about the rhino poaching crisis and allows them to experience conservation in action which gives them a greater appreciation for wildlife. Thank you to all the people that have assisted us this year in the field, Dougal, Penny, Sam, Melissa and Charles. Thank you also to the Picerne Foundation for their continued support and to all our previous volunteers across the world who continually support us. As always, we can t wait to meet the new teams and we wish all the past teams all the best for the New Year. Please keep in touch! Dawn Scott & Lynne MacTavish 2

3 SUMMARY In 2017, volunteers provided approx. 7,600 hours of assistance, resulting in: 1,246 behavioral observations; 276 spatial locations, and 315 camera trap nights. 19 key features transects 55 deterrent experiments 24 vegetation mapping plots This has provided us with extensive amounts of data we are currently analyzing to answer key questions for rhino conservation and management. The project has also been involved with raising awareness of the current rhino poaching crisis through community engagement and media, contributing to several international TV programs, radio features, blogs and websites. GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND RESULTS Rhino Project research goals/objectives: 1) To determine the consequences of dehorning on the behaviour of white rhinoceros. In 2017 we collected 1,246 behavioral observations on horned and dehorned southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum). This data has been collated with the previous year s data (to around 8,000 observations) and analysis has started on these data. From this data we can start to ask questions on mother and calf vigilance 1) are dehorned more vigilant? 2) do calves with dehorned mums stay closer? 3) do calves of dehorned mums stay more visible? And also on Individuals: Are dehorned individuals more vigilant? How does group size effect vigilance in horned and dehorned animals? Do dehorned groups stay closer together than horned? We aim to get this analysis completed by summer 2018 for publication. 2) To investigate bird species and assemblages directly supported by rhinos, in order to evaluate the potential impact of localized loss of this mega-herbivore on avian communities. Following successful pilot surveys in 2016 we used the pilot data to develop a more refined study on rhino-bird associations that focused on 6 large mammals (giraffe (Giraffa giraffa giraffa), greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) and both species of rhinos, white and black (Diceros bicornis), and the 16 bird species commonly associated with rhinos. In Nov/Dec 2016 we focused on the main data collection and have 568 individual records of bird-mammal associations and in 2017 this data has been analyzed and drafted into a publication for submission. 3

4 3) To determine what behavioral and environmental factors determine the spatial distribution of white rhinoceros in game reserves. In 2017 we have collected 276 spatial locations of rhinos during Earthwatch teams. This is being combined with the continual monitoring data and observations of research assistants and volunteers to give a database of around 835 spatial locations so far! To look for habitat associations, habitat mapping was initiated in 2017 although vegetation composition to determine habitat types was unable to be undertaken due to extreme drought conditions. We have started to develop GIS layers and plotting the spatial locations and started to do some spatial analysis but until we have the habitats maps completed in 2018 we cannot progress any more. However as the rains have now come we can start to collect spatial data in a different season post drought and we now have a drone which we can do the vegetation mapping with! 4) Evaluate the impact of changes in mega-herbivores (white & black rhino) in structuring the dung beetle community diversity. After the 2016 extreme drought we could not do any dung beetle work, but rain in early 2017 has meant we could focus on this aspect in the first 2017 teams. The data we collected has now been drafted into a paper but again we have been waiting for some rain extra rain in 2018 to help undertake some repeats to make this data robust. 4

5 5) Raise community awareness of the impacts of the decline in rhinos to raise community support in its protection. Our focus has been to raise awareness in country by undertaking attending government forums, undertaking talks to local and national groups and internationally through talks to visiting researchers and university groups. Delivered 28 talks to local & university groups in 2017 and have reached approximately 465 people inclusive of international students, professionals, researches and conservationists. The response to these presentations has been very positive and has inspired people to take the message of the crisis rhino are facing back to their own countries and many students and Earthwatch volunteers have presented their own presentations in schools, zoo s and universities. Lynne was very involved in continued support of Rhino 911 and is an invited speaker at their Fundraisers. The Earthwatch teams hosted 4 school groups from local Mogwase schools, 48 learners and 6 educators attended the conservation days. Lynne was invited to attend an international press day at Rhino Pride Orphanage and was interviewed AFP French Television, NHK Japanese Television and a German News Station. The intention of the interviews was to highlight the rhino poaching crisis and create awareness around the world. Lynne has been made an expert consultant on the Private Rhino Owners web page Rhino Alive. Lynne and Charles will appear in a documentary entitled Raising Wildlife which features the rhino and giraffe. The documentary will be aired late December. The film company is Urban Brew and documentary is for Germany. 5

6 Websites such as EW, University of Brighton and the reserve facebook and fund raising pages have raised awareness locally and international. Lynne has set up the web page with Mike Hanlon which has been very successful in creating awareness. PROJECT IMPACTS 1. Increasing Scientific Knowledge a. Total citizen science research hours: Volunteers spend approx. 8 hours per day undertaking research for 10 days in the field (80 hours per volunteer). In 2017 we had 95 volunteers. This is a total of 7600 research hours. b. Peer-reviewed publications: None yet but several in preparation with analysis underway c. Non-peer reviewed publications: Max Withey (2017) The impact of dehorning on the behavioural ecology of the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratherium simum simum). MRes Thesis University of Brighton. Emily Marshall (2017) The effects of Dehorning on White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) vigilance behavior. MSC thesis. Royal Vet College, University of London. d. Non-peer reviewed publications (books): None Lynne was included in the book Applied Ecology, monitoring, managing and conserving written by Anne Goodenough and Adam Hart, her chapter was about reintroduction and rewilding. e. Presentations: Penny, S.G., White, R., Scott, D.M., Pernetta, A. (2016). The impacts of dehorning on the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). Poster presentation. 15th International Elephant & Rhino Conservation and Research Symposium, Singapore. f. Project publicity: Links to featured stories, videos and publicity: Story of a woman, saving the African Rhinos: Our story front page of the LA Times, this story has created a lot of awareness: +&gs_l=psy-ab i39k1l2j0j0i22i30k psyab hgawqzaztmg A documentary aired on ABC Nightline across the world: rhino-farmers-dehorning-brainer-save-animals-part- 6

7 %3Fcid%3Dshare_facebook_widget&h=ATPDCdKR8HD7fP4JhvQpMWaMSVaCB5ddHq5LCbSNH VmrYHcFDotsPV0aJv2P43qxnd8JIg5J_WxYDcUJAEFM7XlhJlZmpUi5PxdTjlPCplT7o_gDFzAEIWqGWovY6Dp_ M6hnUwxIeJiQw6FU9M54P_tYYUPtVU-Amd569nPp9uitA9nw62V7ZZiyeBnMFFstSVJERD20CKycFJwpOWiO8TDxgtJPVhOZd4PRTicVp18hXuD2u6R_0EXuFlHFmAVRELT6EwMTyVyW9g7aAFisWO_aVl1m4_VR SmbsI4 Night Line Saving Rhinos in South Africa: az3ey7uvew2chc7egfk3obhwpdwxvt7bbwgik7kodykwqy-h0wwu NHK Japanese Documentary, this documentary is hoped to create awareness in South East Asia where the source of the rhino poaching lies. : 2Flounge%2Findex.html%3Fi%3D171205&h=ATOUgP3328vv4LAQxdKs_ctdIBODkFu3- vbdn9zbf2z-dwtb1kifzkkaujidl-s1w0_0z1-urznpbwwqypsi_eik1g93vphpbgnfm4m4x_egtqmcb6do1lwlvvckqcrz6uamed68xfm9q8lavjnmb8iiszuc6ak vexjepiehngmremp- AunVAxYEgDkzntliu8007dZIZdkscO5BAVoadP3Vql1rlR_p0Xt6hI35Un51NRPpPrQBdMdR0EHeAiiI CQxY7SHWTbC8wHetx8moWvG1B2kpgKy 2. Mentoring a. Graduate students Student Name Graduate Degree Project Title Anticipated Year of Completion Sam Penny PhD Impacts of dehorning on rhino behavior and physiological status. Emily Marshall MSc The effects of Dehorning on White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) vigilance behavior Max Withey MRes Impacts of dehorning on spatial and temporal behavior of rhinos. 2018/

8 b. Community outreach Name of school, Education organization, or level group Participants local or nonlocal Details on contributions/ activities JM Mtsine Secondary Local 48 Learners 6 Educators Selly Park Secondary Local 22 Learners 2 Educators University of Brighton University of Durham University of Gloustershire Lincoln University Nottingham Trent University Otley College South Staffordshire College North Shropshire College Plumpton College Hartpury College Derby College University Non-local Rhino Crisis Presentations were presented which lead to several public awareness days and charity events in the U.K. 3. Partnerships Partner Support Type(s) 1 Years of Association Pilanesburg National Collaboration, permits 2006-present Park/NWPB Mankwe Wildife Collaboration, logistics present Reserve Penny Rees Cultural/education support 2008 present Lounsbery Funding Foundation John Hanks Academic support 2015 present 1. Support type options: funding, data, logistics, permits, technical support, collaboration, academic support, cultural support, other (define) 8

9 4. Contributions to management plans or policies Plan/Policy Name CITES Type 2 Legalization of trade Level of Impact 3 New or Existing? Primary goal of plan/policy 4 international Existing Species conservation Stage of plan/policy 5 Discussed and adopted Description of Contribution Input information on private landowners views on legalizing rhino horn trade Mankwe Reserve Management Plan Management Plan Local Existing Species conservation Adopted Informed antipoaching deterrent use and spatial locations of rhinos on reserve to better inform antipoaching effort. 2. Type options: agenda, convention, development plan, management plan, policy, or other (define) 3. Level of impact options: local, regional, national, international 4. Primary goal options: cultural conservation, land conservation, species conservation, natural resource conservation, other 5. Stage of plan/policy options: proposed, in progress, adopted, other (define) 5. Conserving natural and sociocultural capital a. Conservation of taxa- List any focal study species that you did not list in your most recent proposal In the past year, has your project helped conserve or restore populations of species of conservation significance? If so, please describe below. Species White Rhino IUCN Red List category Near Threatened Local/regional conservation status 1028 poached in Currently consider high risk due to poaching crisis Local/regional conservation status source Savetherhino.org Description of contribution Protected a population by increase research activity in area. Resulting effect 6 No loss of rhinos in study area in 2016 (improved population structure; increased breeding success) 9

10 b. Conservation of ecosystems in the past year, has your project helped conserve or restore habitats? If so, please describe below. Habitat type Habitat significance 7 Description of contribution Bushveld Savannah Feeding site and full range Helped to maintain existence of reserve by generating revenue for its persistence Resulting effect 8 Extend maintained. c. Ecosystem services Indicate which ecosystem service categories you are directly studying in your Earthwatch research and provide further details in the box below. Food and water Flood and disease control Spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits Nutrient cycling Functional role of rhinos in ecosystems is being assessed by how they support bird and invertebrate diversity. RESEARCH PLAN UPDATES Report any changes in your research since your last proposal/annual report. For any yes answers, provide details on the change in the Details box. 1. Have you added a new research site or has your research site location changed? Yes No 2. Has the protected area status of your research site changed? Yes No 3. Has the conservation status of a species you study changed? Yes No 4. Have there been any changes in project scientists or field crew? Yes No Details provide more information for any yes answers We have two new field staff members. One leading the Science side: Melissa Dawson and one new logistics: Luke Levitt. 5. Provide details on any changes to your objectives, volunteer tasks, or methods, include reason for the change. We have added in a new method looking at effectiveness of different deterrents including olfactory and acoustic at keeping rhinos away from certain sites/fence line. This year we will able to start the grazing methods as starting in the original proposal and also habitat mapping. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thanks all the people who continue to support us, those linked with us via Earthwatch Institute and also the wider community who continue to support us and the conservation of rhino. 10