Uni and zoo fight to save animals facing extinction
SCIENTISTS from the University of Manchester have teamed up with Chester Zoo to help save some of the world’s most endangered species from the brink of extinction.
The number of Eastern black rhinos and Grevy’s zebras has plummeted in recent decades, and now just a few thousand of each animal remain on the planet. But researchers hope to change that, and are investing more than £1.1m in a project to improve their future outlook, as well as explore new methods of conservation to help create ‘safety net’ populations.
According to Chester Zoo, more than 60 per cent of mega-herbivores – such as Eastern black rhinos and Grevy’s zebra – are facing extinction as a result of range collapse, degradation of habitat and persecution. The animals, which are mainly found in Africa, are also under threat from hunting and livestock competition.
Some of the aspects of the study include research to identify why some wild eastern black rhino populations in Kenya fair better than others, an in-depth report into how environmental change affects Grevy’s zebra in Kenya and Cape mountain zebra in South Africa, a study documenting the impact of resource extraction and land-use change on large mammals in Tanzanian National Parks and the establishment of a new conservation physiology lab in Kenya.
Researchers will also look at ‘the management of bird song in the Javan sparrow, social behaviour in the endangered Sulawesi crested macaque and genetics in Eastern black rhinos.’
The new agreement will look to build on these initial projects to establish similar ones across the world.
It will also train conservationists of the future, and over the next sevenand-a-half years up to seven doctoral and three post-doctoral researchers, including two international doctoral students, will be placed on new conservation projects. Dr Simon Dowell, science director at Chester Zoo, said: “Species across Africa are threatened with extinction.
“Conservation is critical and urgent. We have worked with the University of Manchester on a number of projects over the years but this important new partnership takes our collaboration to a new level. It enables us to combine our expertise and make a major difference to preventing the extinction of species like rhinos and zebra.”
Prof Susanne Shultz, a Royal Society University Research Fellow from The University of Manchester, added: “This partnership represents the best of collaborative applied science. The university is combining its expertise, facilities and technology with the conservation experience and global conservation reach of the zoo to find innovative solutions to the global biodiversity crisis.”