WildCRU visitor Yan Zhou returns home following a successful year in Oxford

March 24, 2021

We are delighted to congratulate Yan Zhao on her recent publication in Environmental Pollution. Yan joined WildCRU in January 2020 for one year as a visiting student from the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences with support from the China Scholarship Council. Despite COVID restrictions, we are delighted that Yan was able to ... Read full story

Conservation beyond protected areas in Bhutan

March 19, 2021

Protected areas are necessary, but not sufficient, writes David Macdonald in celebration of a landmark paper by WildCRU’s Ugyen Penjor. Bhutan is a small country in the eastern Himalayas, which has the enormous distinction of having 50% of its land under protection. Despite this large area of protected land, during the 2014-15 national tiger ... Read full story

Lion hazing as conflict mitigation tool

March 11, 2021

Loss of livestock to carnivores is one of the largest drivers of conflicts between people and wildlife, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The Long Shields Lion Guardians, part of WildCRU’s Trans-Kalahari Predator Programme, located on the periphery of Hwange National Park, uses innovative methods to alleviate livestock loss. The programme monitors GPS-collared lions and employs ... Read full story

Animals lives are not Soap Operas

March 19, 2021

In a paper published in People and Nature the authors argue that the portrayal of charismatic animals in nature films, while entertaining, risks the propagation of misconceptions about nature and conservation. They illustrate the point by analysing the popular BBC Natural History series Dynasties. Nature documentaries open up the natural world to a global audience, allowing ... Read full story

New paper shows nearly 50% decline in Augur Buzzards over last 20 years

March 17, 2021

Wildlife conservation research efforts in Africa tend to focus on large mammals in and around protected areas, however there is an urgent need to address the decline of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes. This is particularly relevant for eastern and southern Africa, where future predictions of land-use change suggest that these regions will see massive increases ... Read full story

‘How You Can Save the Planet’ – A new book for young people written by founder of Action for Conservation

March 11, 2021

Action for Conservation is an environmental education charity that aims to inspire every young person in the UK to a lifelong passion for the living world, working to engage young people between the ages of 12 and 18. David Macdonald has been Chair of the Action for Conservation board since it was founded in 2015 and ... Read full story