Alex Zimmerman

Position: Graduate Student

DPhil Thesis: Modelling Strategies for Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation

Background: originally from Germany but raised in Indonesia, Lebanon, France and Canada, I came to the UK in 1994 for my BSc in Zoology at Leeds University. From there I went on to work for IUCN in Switzerland and FFI in the Philippines. I then came back to the UK for my MSc in Conservation Biology at DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology) where my dissertation was on human-jaguar conflicts. In 2000 I went to Chester Zoo to help set up a conservation department and have been working for them ever since, with a secondment to WCS in between. I joined WildCRU in September 2005 .

Human-Wildlife Conflict is my main research interest and the topic of my D.Phil. I am systematically exploring the dynamics and determinants of conflict to create an expert-based model for conflict management. To do so, I am focussing on jaguars, as they occur in a wide range of habitats and disturbance, and get into trouble with people across many different socio-economic and cultural settings. My past work on has focussed on jaguars and elephants (below). I’m a member of the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group and on the Advisory Board of Awely des animaux et des hommes, and coordinate the human-wildlife conflict work at Chester Zoo. WildCRU is also home to a number of human-wildlife conflict projects, and the indispensable People & Wildlife Initiative.

Jaguar Conflict
For my MSc I carried out a survey of jaguar-human conflicts in the Pantanal of Brazil (PDF), and in 2002 was recruited by WCS to set up a Rancher Outreach Program. Having gained some insight into this ranching community I focussed on practical incentives. Although tolerance is not necessarily directly linked to economics, here improving cattle husbandry was an essential first step towards long-term conflict management. I worked with vets and local experts to address issues such as mineral supplementation, vaccination, synchronisation of calving with wet/dry seasons, and excluding cattle from jaguar areas. We worked with a small number of ranchers, chosen strategically for their location within Jaguar habitat and their potential to influence their ranching neighbours.

Elephant Conflict
In 2004 I developed a project on human-elephant conflict management for Chester Zoo, called the Assam Haathi Project. This is a very interdisciplinary project; we research patterns of elephant movements and crop-raiding, do GIS analyses, and work directly with communities on low-cost deterrent methods (e.g. tripwire alarms, chilli, etc). The villagers are also involved in the research so that they may become better equipped to take charge of elephant problems themselves in the future. There are many components to this long-term programme, including alternative livelihoods, elephant foraging research, education and much more.

Zoos and Conservation
As Conservation Manager at Chester Zoo my role is to develop field programmes and supervise our conservation team. I have also been interested in the debate about the real contributions of zoos to conservation, so I organized an international symposium, and worked on some research projects with colleagues from ZSL, DICE and Cambridge, on the conservation orientation of zoos, measuring the impacts of zoos, visitor surveys, and the education impacts of zoos. We’re compiled a Bibliography on Zoos & Conservation and I’m editing a book based on the symposium.

alexandra.zimmermann@zoo.ox.ac.uk

Recent publications

Jori, F., Bourgarel, M., Zimmermann, A., Coelho, R., Maillet-Mezeray, J., Chardonnet, P. ( submitted ) . Impact and perception of stock raiding felids in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Zimmermann, A., Wilson, S. and Hazarika, N. (in prep). Managing human-elephant conflict in Assam: An integrated approach using GIS and community-based mitigation. In: Human-Wildlife Conflicts. Framework for Biodiversity Reconciliation Action Plans.

Zimmermann, A., Wilson, S. and Hazarika, N. (in prep). The Assam Haathi Project. First Report, 2004-2006. Unpubl. report.

Zimmermann, A. and Marchini, S. (in prep). Jaguar-Human Conflicts on South American Rangelands. In:Wild Rangelands: conservation in the world’s grazing ecosystems. R. Kock et al (Eds). Blackwells.

Zimmermann, A., Hatchwell, M., Dickie, L. and West, C.D. (in prep ) Catalysts for Conservation: A Direction for Zoos in the 21 st Century. Cambridge University Press.

Zimmermann , A. and Wilkinson, R. ( in prep). The conservation mission in the wild: Zoos as conservation NGOs. In: Catalysts for Conservation: A Direction for Zoos in the 21 st Century . Zimmermann, A. et al (Eds). Cambridge University Press.

Zimmermann , A. (submitted). The role of zoos in contributing to in situ conservation. In: WildMammals in Captivity. D. Kleiman. et al. (Ed). Chicago University Press, Chicago. USA

Leader-Williams, N., Balmford, A., Linke, M., Mace, G., Smith, R.J., Stevenson, M. Walter, O., West, CD., and Zimmermann, A. ( submitted). Beyond the ark: Conservation biologists’ views of the achievements of zoos in conservation. In: Catalysts for Conservation: A Direction for Zoos in the 21 st Century . Zimmermann, A. et al (Eds). Cambridge University Press

Mace, G., Balmford, A., Leader-Williams, N., Manica, A., Walter, O., West, C., and Zimmermann , A. ( submitted) Measuring zoos’ contributions to conservation: A proposal and trial. In: Catalysts for Conservation: A Direction for Zoos in the 21 st Century . Zimmermann, A. et al (Eds). Cambridge University Press.

Balmford, A., Leader-Williams, N., Mace, G., Manica, A., Walter, O., West, C., and Zimmermann , A. ( submitted) Message received? Quantifying the conservation education impact of UK zoos. In: Catalysts for Conservation: A Direction for Zoos in the 21 st Century . Zimmermann, A. et al (Eds). Cambridge University Press.

Zimmermann , A., Walpole, M. J., and Leader-Williams, N. 2005. Cattle ranchers’ attitudes to conflicts with jaguars in the Pantanal of Brazil. Oryx. 39 (4): 406-412.

Zimmermann, A. 2004. Jaguar Conservation: The Human Dimension. Proceedings of the E AZA Conference 2002, Hiddinga, B. (Ed). E AZA, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 61-64.

Zimmermann, A. 2004. Elephants in and outside Zoos. Letter to the Editor. Daily Post ( Liverpool) 8 November 2004.

Zimmermann , A. and Feistner , A.T.C. 1996. Effects of Feeding Enrichment on Behaviour in Ruffed Lemurs. Dodo, Journal of the Wildlife Preservation Trusts. 32: 67-75.

Presentations

Framework for Biodiversity Reconciliation Action Plans. An integrated approach for human-elephant conflict mitigation.(25-27 Jan 2006), Leipzig, Germany.

Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London. Symposium on Conservation on Wild Rangelands. Jaguar conservation on rangelands of South America. (12 January 2006). London UK.

BBC World Service. Interview about Assam Haathi Project for The World Today . (8 June 2005), 22:00 GMT.

Linnean Society . Evening Seminar on Assam Haathi Project. (1 November 2005). London, UK.

Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology . Seminar. (4 Feb 2005)Jaguar-Human Conflict and Mitigation.

Zoological Society of London , Symposium “Catalysts for Conservation: A Direction for Zoos in the 21 st Century” (Feb 2004). The conservation mission in the wild: zoos as conservation NGOs.

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria . 19 th Annual Conference. Barcelona, Spain. (Sep 2002). Plenary Speaker. Jaguar Conservation: The Human Dimension .

Society for Conservation Biology .16 th Annual Conf. Canterbury (Jul 2002): Ranchers’ Attitudes to Conflicts with Jaguars in the Pantanal..

International Society for Ecosystem Health . Washington DC (Jun 2002): Integrating Human Needs into Wildlife Conflict Mediation Strategies: The Case of Jaguar-Rancher Conflict in Brazil

Wildlife Conservation Society . 2 nd Rancher/Livestock Workshop, Valencia, Venezuela. (Oct 2002) Rancher Outreach: A Participatory Approach . and 1 st Rancher/Livestock Workshop, Campo Grande , Brazil . (May 2001)Jaguar-Rancher Conflict in the Pantanal.

Manchester Metropolitan University , Liverpool University, and Liverpool John Moores University : Seminars for MSc and BSc courses, on Zoos and Conservation (Oct 2001, Oct 2002, Feb 2002, Dec 2005).