Dr Andrew J. Loveridge

Position: Junior Research Fellow, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.

I joined WildCRU in mid 1994, after reading for a BSc (Hons.) in Zoology and Entomology at Rhodes University, South Africa. I came to Oxford on a Beit Trust Fellowship and read for a D.Phil. in Zoology at Magdalen College, Oxford.

D.Phil. Dissertation
'Behavioural ecology and rabies transmission in sympatric southern African jackals', completed in 1999. This research was undertaken in western Zimbabwe, in a wildlife area just outside Hwange National Park. It focused on the ecological relationship between the side-striped and black-backed jackal, as this is one of the areas of Africa where both occur (more usually only one or the other species is found in any particular place). The research explored aspects of social behaviour, foraging and niche overlap, habitat use and competition in the two species as well as the potential for rabies transmission and trends in rabies occurrence in relation to the breeding cycle.

Post Doctoral work
I run a research project investigating the impact of tourist hunting on the behaviour and population demographics of African lions. Zimbabwe is one of the major tourist hunting destinations in Africa and attracts a large number of hunters to the country each year to hunt 'the big four' (lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo- rhinoceros are no longer hunted) as well as other species. This is an important industry in the country, and one that generates jobs for local people and revenue for conservation. The flip side of the coin is that uncontrolled hunting can have a negative effect on wild populations. While Zimbabwe has a quota system for hunting of most species, there is often inadequate knowledge of their local ecology and population size for quotas to be set with any accuracy. This is especially true for the large carnivores, which are nocturnal, wide ranging and often shy of human activity. Because of this we have set up, in co-operation with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe, a project in and around Hwange National Park to investigate the impact of hunting on the national park's lion population. Our research is funded by a Darwin Initiative Award for Biodiversity, the Mitsubishi Fund for Europe and Africa, Marwell Preservation Trust, SAVE (Australia) and the Hwange Conservation Society.

Through this research we hope to provide data to allow us to us to draft a management plan for the lion population in the Hwange National Park area, as well as contribute to the body of knowledge which is growing on the sustainable management of big cats in southern Africa. The implementation of a sustainable quota for this population will ensure that the flow of tourist dollars continues to benefit the local economy, while at the same time safe guarding the long term viability of Hwange's lion population.

Recent publications

Loveridge, A.J, Lynam, T., and Macdonald, D.W. 2006. Lion Conservation Research. Workshops 3 and 4: From conflict to Socioecology. 95 p.

Packer, C., Whitman, K., Loveridge, A., Jackson, J., and Funston, P. 2006. Impacts of trophy hunting on lions in East and Southern Africa: Recent offtake and future recommendations. The Eastern and Southern African Lion conservation Workshop. Johannesburg, South, A.frica.

Fahlman, Å., Loveridge, A., Wenham, C., Foggin, C., Arnemo, J.M., Nyman, G. 2005. Reversible anaesthesia of free-ranging lions (Panthera leo) in Zimbabwe. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 76 (4):187-192.

Atkinson, R.P.D. and Loveridge, A.J. 2004. Side-striped jackal (Canis adustus). In: Sillero-Zubiri, C., Hoffmann M, Macdonald, D.W., editors. Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs Status survey and conservation action plan. Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK, IUCN: Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. p 152-155.

Loveridge, A.J. and Nel, J.A.J. 2004. Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas). In: Sillero-Zubiri, C., Hoffmann M, Macdonald, D.W., editors. Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs Status survey and conservation action plan. Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK, IUCN: Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. p 161-166.

Macdonald, D.W., Loveridge, A.J. and Atkinson RPD. 2004f. A comparative study of side-striped jackals Canis adustus in Zimbabwe: the influence of habitat and congeners. In: Macdonald, D.W., Sillero-Zubiri, C., editors. The biology and conservation of wild canids. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p 255-270.

Loveridge, A.J. and Macdonald, D.W. 2003. Niche separation in sympatric jackals (Canis mesomelas and C. adustus). Journal of Zoology 259:143-153.

Loveridge, A.J., Lynam, A. and Macdonald, D.W. 2002. Lion Conservation Research Workshop 2: Modelling Conflict. Oxford: WildCRU and Darwin Initiative.

Loveridge, A.J. and Macdonald, D.W. 2002. Habitat ecology of two sympatric species of jackals in Zimbabwe. Journal of Mammalogy 83 (2):599-607.