COVID-19 impacts on wildlife conservation and the need for new conservation models

July 31, 2020

A new paper out in Nature Ecology and Evolution, whose authors include WildCRU’s Amy Dickman and Peter Tyrrell, highlights the devastating impact of the current pandemic on wildlife conservation. Travel restrictions and unprecedented socio-economic shocks reduce funding for conservation, as wildlife-based tourism and foreign investment decline, and domestic priorities change. This limits ... Read full story

Congratulations to Akchousanh Rasphone, a rising WildCRU star that has now risen to be Conservation Science Director, WCS Lao PDR.

July 30, 2020

We first met Akchou when she was GIS expert, blossoming into a Spatial Landscape Ecologist. In 2012 she joined our Post-graduate Diploma at the Recanati-Kaplan Centre in International Wildlife Conservation Practice. She graduated with a Distinction, and launched into a doctorate within our Clouded Leopard Programme. In 2019 she became the first Laotian woman ... Read full story

Terefe, the lucky survivor

July 27, 2020

Terefe is the first Ethiopian wolf ever to be nursed to back to health following injury and has been successfully released back into the wild. He was found seriously injured in the Simien Mountains and after an amazing recovery he is now reunited with his pack. He has been fitted with a Lotek wireless collar ... Read full story

Research findings on the accuracy of spoor surveys as a method of calculating carnivore populations

July 31, 2020

A study led by Dr Egil Dröge, WildCRU’s Lead Tutor for the Recanati-Kaplan Centre Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice, in collaboration with researchers from WildCRU, the Trans-Kalahari Predator Programme, the Zambian Carnivore Programme and Montana State University has been published in Ecology and Evolution. The study presents findings on ... Read full story

Ranching ball pythons in West Africa to supply the global exotic pet trade

July 29, 2020

By Lauren Harrington and Neil D'Cruze. Ball pythons are a hugely popular pet here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, North America and Asia. Pet shops are supplied by in-country captive breeding, but perhaps what most ball owners are not aware of is that considerable numbers are also still exported from range states ... Read full story

Hedgehogs return to WildCRU

July 21, 2020

With a tradition in hedgehog research going back to 1996, starting with innovative work on their – far from positive - reactions to badger odour, and most recently Carly Pettet’s farmland work  and a sortie with the desert-dwelling Ethiopian hogs that, despite their name, live in Qatar, WildCRU is thrilled to ... Read full story