WildCRU’s Laura Perry completes her DPhil viva

23/02/2021

Congratulations to Laura Perry who has completed her DPhil viva from Mozambique over zoom, with thanks to her examiners Dr Andy Gosler and Dr Silvio Marchini. Conservation outcomes depend heavily on human behaviour, but very little research focuses on these decision-making processes. In her thesis, Laura used tools from social psychology to explore how different ... Read full story

WildCRU launches new conservation technology initiative

09/02/2021

David Macdonald is excited to announce WildCRU’s role in launching the World’s First Conservation Venture Studio. This is a partnership between the University of Oxford, Global Accelerated Ventures, and the research commercialisation arm of the University, Oxford University Innovation. The Conservation Venture Studio will  rapidly accelerate novel technologies and innovative solutions addressing the world’s most ... Read full story

Spotting elephants from space: a satellite revolution

27/12/2020

The population of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) has plummeted over the last century due to poaching, retaliatory killing from crop raiding and habitat fragmentation. To conserve them requires knowledge of where they are, and how many there are: accurate monitoring is vital. Existing methods are prone to error. Inaccurate counts lead to misallocation of scarce conservation resources and misunderstanding population trends. Currently ... Read full story

Could COVID-19 lower global demand for illegal wildlife products?

11/02/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic might reduce consumer demand for wildlife-based products – but only temporarily on its own without additional interventions. This is the finding of a novel study by scientists at Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, in collaboration with World Animal Protection, published on the 4th February 2021 in the journal Frontiers in Ecology And Evolution. The ... Read full story

WildCRU’s Iding Haidir meets Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation, Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry

03/02/2021

A double success in Indonesia, writes WildCRU Director, David Macdonald: after six years of fruitful fieldwork on our clouded leopard and tiger project in Sumatra, Iding Haidir recently returned home, doctoral thesis complete, to enjoy the honour of being greeted by Mr Wiratno, the Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation of the Indonesian ... Read full story

Cecil’s Legacy – 5 years on

21/12/2020

Lion numbers have disappeared from 92% of their historical range. The death of Cecil the lion and the resulting global outcry brought this sobering fact into sharp focus. Cecil was first fitted with a GPS satellite collar in November 2008 when he was between five and six years old. He was a male lion coming ... Read full story