​This week at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, one of the new additions to the rhino family, Wallis, a Southern White Rhino from South Africa, revealed a harsh reality of what is happening to her species throughout Africa. Wallis has been at the Park for just over a year and since her arrival has been exhibiting a wound that just wouldn’t heal. This week keepers noticed something sticking out of her skin at the site of the wound. Vets were called in and removed a bullet casing! Discovery of the bullet suggests a botched poaching attempt. Based on the angle of the wound, vets speculate that the rhino turned toward her shooter before being shot saving her life but leaving her with a stark reminder of the current plight of her species. 

Park staff tried to determine the extent of the wound and find the lead from the bullet but traditional equipment wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the rhino’s thick skin. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Bomb Squad was called in and using a device used to conduct investigations of explosive devices, they confirmed the presence of a metal fragment (likely the bullet). The next step will be removing the bullet but, in the meantime, the casing will be sent to a forensic lab to be included in investigations to aid in the fight against poaching in Africa.

Today is World Lion Day (RAWR) so to celebrate I am going to share with you a paper recently published by a close colleague of mine, Dr. Laura Bertola, and company. Laura completed her PhD at Universiteit Leiden (that’s in the Netherlands) last year on genetic diversity of the lion focusing on phylogenetic patterns and how populations in West and Central Africa fall in comparison to the rest of the population. 
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​In their recent publication, they “challenge current lion taxonomy” emphasizing the need for rethinking the way we view the species on the population level. To challenge taxonomy means they question how the species is classified or labeled. For the lion, currently there are two officially recognized subspecies (internationally or nationally).

​Based on their phylogeny (the pretty tree looking thing on the right), there is a definite North Group and South Group (similar to the findings in my study). Within each of these groups, they were able to identify regions which could narrows lions down further into 6 populations. So, very basically, they’re saying from these findings they can put a lion into 1 of 6 groups based on these genetic markers.
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First off, what does the fact that she is a blonde, cheerleader from Texas have to do with anything?  Every article has this description in the headline.  I am offended as a blonde, former-cheerleader conservationist living in Texas that they are using those adjectives in such a negative connotation.  Just because you have any one of these things, does not mean you should or should not be a hunter.   Having any one of these things does not define who you are or should be as a person.

Second, from what I have read scanning anti-, pro- and neutral opinion hunting news sources she isn’t recklessly venturing out into the African wilderness shooting every animal in sight (which, by the way, is what Teddy Roosevelt – the “Father of Conservation” – did … but I digress).  Yes, she has shot animals which are considered to be “in danger” or “threatened” (NOT endangered) but she shot these animals in fenced game ranches where, sometimes, animals need to be culled (and the professional hunter who has to accompany her during every trek knows exactly which animals those are).  And she didn’t shoot to kill all of these animals.  Some of them, including a white rhino, were shot with a tranquilizer dart.  The photos of her with those animals aren’t any different than the photos I took during my trip (but I’m not going to have my own TV show so I guess it doesn’t matter as much).

Here are some important things most “animal lovers” don’t grasp about hunters:

• Hunt all the animals = no hunting at all so it’s the absolute last thing a RESPONSIBLE hunter would do (sure, there are always exceptions…but that goes for everything so don’t let the bad egg sway your opinion of them all)
• Hunters give more money to conservation than animal rights activists.  Hunting is an expensive sport.  Hunting in Africa is a REALLY expensive sport.  To be a hunter from the US in Africa, you have to have lots of disposable income.   And most hunters don’t just spend it on hunting but donate gobs of their excess cash back to conservation efforts to ensure they can still have majestic animals to hunt in Africa.  In fact, my research, which is 100% conservation-based, is funded primarily by hunters and I am eternally grateful for their generosity.
  

While it may be my third time on the continent, I will be experiencing it like I never have before.  My first time in Africa I was a tourist.  The second time I was a researcher.  Now I will be a student, partaking in an in-depth course on the various aspects of different chemical preparations and their use in wildlife.  Basically, I’m going to become an expert in how to dart and delouse.  Past participants in this program have had the opportunity to wrangle crocodiles, dehorn rhino as an anti-poaching precaution, treat sick and injured wildlife including wild dogs and lions, and take part in the translocation of Cape Buffalo.  I’ve had a lot of hands-on experience having worked at multiple zoos and the Cheetah Conservation Fund but nothing like this.  I am lucky enough to be going on the TAMU Continued Education trip with practicing vets as opposed to the study abroad trip with students.  I’m essentially going to get to be an honorary veterinarian for two weeks (of course with lots of help from the trained professionals).

I am super excited for this trip.  This program is a hands on opportunity to learn field methods no one can learn in a classroom but are incredibly important to know if I want to do field research in the future.  Knowledge of the chemicals used for wildlife tranquilization and capture and how tissue and blood samples are obtained in various capture methods is beneficial for the development of accurate and efficient laboratory protocols needed to process samples.  So, while my initial decision to make this trip was “OMG THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!”; my final decision was based on the fact that it really is an investment to my career.

I always try to find exciting adventures that will enhance my life personally with the added benefit of enhancing it professionally.  This trip will do just that and is totally worth the colossal hit to my bank account!

Yesterday I had the great opportunity of tagging along with Dr. Derr to the Dallas Safari Club Convention at the Dallas Convention Center.  We shmoozed and had meetings with professional hunters, organizations and fellow researchers from 9am-6pm while wandering the hundreds of exhibitors displaying apparel, guns, knives, hunting safaris, taxidermy and more.  I made lots of great connections/new friends and had a lot of fun.

As you might remember, part of this convention was an auction that seemed to be quite controversial – the opportunity to hunt a Namibian black rhino.  The rhino hunt went for $350,000.  The good news – all $350,000 goes to rhino conservation.  The bad news – they could have gotten a lot more if it weren’t for the unnecessarily aggressive actions of the opposing wildlife and animal rights groups. 

The live auction occurred last night during their banquet.  Talk amongst the exhibitors at the beginning of the convention hinted at individuals who were willing to bid up to a million dollars for this particular item whose proceeds go entirely to rhino conservation.  However, as the convention proceeded, activists began sending the organization threats, even threatening the lives of the family of the executive director of the organization.  The FBI had to be called in and there were rumors of undercover agents in attendance to protect convention attendees just in case something violent were to happen.  And, as news of protestors congregating outside the convention center began to spread, bidders began to get scared. 

The animal was going to die either way.  If the activists managed to somehow stop the auction from happening, the rhino, who needs to be culled, would have been killed by wildlife services rather than a hunter.  All these activists have accomplished is reducing the amount of money that could have gone directly to rhino conservation.  Mind you, the individuals who were willing to bid more on the item may still make considerable donations.  This auction, however, had the guarantee of the donation going directly towards the conservation efforts of that particular species.  I hope the activists don’t consider what they did a success because, honestly, it’s a shame and completely counter to what they claim they stand for – saving animals.

National Geographic released an article today about the Dallas Safari Club’s most recent fundraising endeavor and it is pissing a lot of people off.  The controversy arises from what they are offering their patrons to raise funds – the opportunity to hunt an endangered black rhino.  Now, I don’t regularly advocate the hunting of endangered species whose very close relative recently went extinct in the wild, but, Dallas Safari Club’s fundraising strategy is not as ill thought out as all the Facebook comments seem to imply it is.  What these angry people are completely disregarding are two things:

The issue is most people, primarily brought on by the tree-hugger variety of environmentalist, think of hunting as poaching.  But, while, yes, all poachers (by definition) are hunters, all hunters are NOT poachers.  In fact, responsible hunters are proving themselves to be more of a solution to the problem rather than being the problem itself.  Hunters are actually more interested in true conservation because if they overhunt they will no longer be able to hunt, so they actually have a higher personal investment in the success of a species than animal lover onlookers who have never seen an animal in the wild.

Think of it this way, hunting organizations, such as the Dallas Safari Club, contribute $300 million annually to conservation.  In addition to that, $4.2 billion has been contributed to conservation since 1937 through a 10% federal excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, and gear.  As I have said time and time again, the world is run by those who have the money.  And who has money?  Rich, hunting enthusiasts.  Who doesn’t?  Me (a budding conservationist).  So, bid away, hunters.  The more you bid on this item the better.  And to whoever wins, I hope it’s the experience of a lifetime.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) aren't just for the military anymore!  UAV drone technology is now making an appearance at National Parks in Southeast Asia to aid in conservation efforts.

At the Kaziranga National Park in northeast India, UAVs are now spanning the skies in search for illegal wildlife activities.  The Kaziranga National Park is home to the Indian rhino.  And, similarly to their African cousins, this rare one-horned rhino is being poached for its hood ornament (which, by the way, is made of nothing more than glorified fingernail).  Sixteen rhinos have already been killed this year by gangs of poachers carrying AK-47s.  The UAV program, launched on Monday, will be looking for poachers from a max elevation of 200 meters taking still and video photography.  They hope the UAVs will aide the over 300 armed guards with surveillance of the park inevitably reducing poaching not only of the rhino, but elephants and tigers as well.

The use of this technology was originally developed from an innovative idea to monitor orangutan populations in Indonesia.  The prototype design was simply a digital camera attached to an electronic plane.  In just one year this drone technology has grown immensely.  This program shows so much promise for future conservation applications that Google awarded the World Wildlife Fund $5 million to develop even more advanced technology!  Watch the video below to find out more about UAV technology in conservation from Dr. Lian Pin Koh's presentation from the Fuller Symposium last November.

These remarkable developments in genetic research mean the ridiculous (albeit innovative) proposal of Pleistocene Rewilding could come to fruition in a way they never thought possible when they proposed the idea in 2006.  Pleistocene Rewilding was thought up by a group of conservationists lead by Dr. Josh Donlan, direct of Advanced Conservation Strategies at Cornell.  They suggested that by bringing Pleistocene equivalent species to the historical home ranges of their counterparts we can increase biodiversity, kickstart evolutionary interactions that have gone dormant since the loss of megafauana, and create a multi-continental system for conservation of currently endangered species.  Basically, their idea is to bring Africa & Asia to the Great Plains of the United States to increase ecosystem interactions.  One of the stages of their plan is the creation of a Pleistocene Park.  Their intention was to have proxy species (i.e. Asian Elephants for Woolly Mammoths) act as ecological stand-ins for extinct species but with these new technological advances, why not have a park with the real thing.

I know what you’re thinking, but, Caitlin, Jurassic Park didn’t turn out so well.  True, but there are some major differences between Pleistocene megafauna and Jurassic dinosaurs.  Yes, we have ZERO knowledge of either of their actual behavior, but, I have a sneaking suspicion Pleistocene megafauna husbandry wouldn't be too much different than that of Holocene megafauna (that’s right now).  There obviously will have to be species specific changes made (which we wouldn't find out about until after they're cloned) but zoos all over the world make alterations to their husbandry protocols and enclosures all the time when they receive a new species or have to make placement changes to their exhibits.  Plus, Michael Crichton (may he rest in peace) has already thought up of all the things that could go wrong:   don’t use frog DNA to fill gaps, make sure you have strong fencing, be prepared for natural disasters you know occur in the area, have thorough background checks of employees and so one and so forth....