From the Archives : Away we go!

Originally published on January 22, 2018 The Primate and Predator Project has recently received a grant from the Earthwatch Institute that has allowed us to extend our research base. In 2011, Dr Leah Findlay began her PhD on human-primate conflict, focusing on working with farmers who suffer crop damage from baboons and vervet monkeys. In order to do this, she moved off the Soutpansberg Mountains down into the Alldays area, where there were more crop farmers to work with. The main aim of the PhD was to gather information on the crop raiding problem and provide farmers with non-lethal ways to keep primates from entering crop fields. Although Leah’s PhD made progress toward this end, we felt that the research needed to continue in order to reach real solutions. With that in mind and the help from the Earthwatch Institute, we have now set up a second research site in the Alldays area. Through the data, we have collected so far, and our interactions with the local farming community, we have established a number of deterrent methods that we will test out to determine whether they are effective at keeping primates out of crop fields. As you can imagine, this can be a pretty difficult task, and we expect to have to trial a fair few ideas before we come up with anything successful. If you have any ideas of your own, please do send them to us in the comments below! As well as these mitigation trials, we also hope to help local livestock farmers that come into conflict with predators, through spreading the work of Philip Faure, our Community Engagement Officer at the Lajuma Research Centre. We will also be getting involved with the local community and increasing our target zones for our environmental education programme. The Alldays Wildlife and Communities Research Centre is located on Campfornis Game Farm, about 5 km outside of Alldays and is run by Dr Leah Findlay. Through the grant provided by Earthwatch, we have also been able to employ another member of staff – Peet Botes, who is our Farm Trials Assistant. As with our site up at Lajuma Research Centre, we will continue to take on volunteers and students to help us conduct our research – which will mainly be focused on human-wildlife conflict. If you would like information on the positions available at this new site, simply visit our volunteers’ page

Using camera traps to assess waterhole activity

Intern, Isuare, developed and conducted her own project looking at waterhole activity on AWCRC using camera trap data. Isuare joined us from Agrocampus Ouest, France and completed a five-month internship. Using camera traps placed at waterholes on the property, Isuare decided to focus on the presence and activity of the Mountain Reedbuck, a species classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List. Isuare tagged camera trap images recorded during her internship and then conducted her analysis on R. For her report, the daily activity of Mountain Reedbuck and overlap with other species was assessed, developing data analysis skills. In total, 24 different species were recorded visiting the waterholes including baboons, bushbuck, common warthog, cape porcupine, sable, greater kudu, gemsbok, black backed jackal, African civet, brown hyena and leopard.  Mountain Reedbuck were not recorded at all waterholes suggesting habitat preference closer to mountainous areas of the property. They were most active at waterholes at 9am, 12pm and 5pm. Using overlap graphs, Isaure found that Mountain Reedbuck came to the waterholes approximately at the same hours as the other herbivores and primates but avoided times with higher predator activity. The findings provide an insight into the diversity of species found on AWCRC and the behaviour patterns of the Mountain Reedbuck on private land. As well as working on her own project, Isuare was able to assist with some of our long-term research projects such as the habituation of a baboon troop and learnt a variety of different research techniques. If you’re interested in doing an internship or placement abroad and would like the opportunity to develop your own project, we would be very interested to hear from you!

Alternatives to Studying Anthropogenic Foraging

As part of his fieldwork with us in 2021 , PhD student Ben Walton gathered data on crop-raiding primates (chacma baboons and vervet monkeys) to determine whether camera traps and field guards could work as an alternative to direct researcher observation. In areas like Limpopo, South Africa, farmland has increasingly encroached into wild spaces and crop-raiding behaviour continues to lead to human-wildlife conflict with a negative impact on both humans and wildlife. Direct researcher observation is a commonly applied method, but for large areas (such as commercial farmland) and for studies that are long-term, it is not always the most practical method. This study found that camera traps and field guard observations were able to predict crop loss on commercial farmland. Therefore, in the future, farmers and researchers might be able to utilise camera traps and their employed field guards to monitor anthropogenic foraging by wild species. Ben will be joining us for a second field season in May 2022. You can read the full article here as well as find the links for our other ongoing research here.

The short-term effectiveness of various deterrents designed to reduce crop foraging by primates

Crop foraging is a major driver of negative interactions between farmers and wildlife. In this new paper, we investigate the effectiveness of six different methods designed to deter primates from crop foraging on commercial farms in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. We tested rubber snakes, a leopard model, bioacoustics sounds, human sounds, bee sounds and an electric fence. The use of model snakes and bioacoustic sounds had no effect on the baboon visits and amount of time spent at the bait site. The leopard model and bee sounds reduced the foraging duration at bait stations of baboons and vervets. Human sounds may reduce the frequency of visits to bait stations. We found that only electric fence was effective at reducing crop foraging. However, the use of electric fences can have negative consequences for other wildlife species such as tortoises. Therefore, we suggest that modifications to electric fence designs are needed to reduce the number of wildlife mortalities before they can be recommended as an effective deterrent. Data collection for the deterrent trials were conducted by volunteers and we are grateful for their contribution to our ongoing research. If you’re interested in volunteering with us, or have an idea for a deterrent to test, please get in touch. To read the full article, please contact Dr. Leah Findlay l.*********@du****.uk or request on researchgate. To read more about our other research, here.

Hello 2022!

Hello 2022! January is an exciting month for us at AWCRC as we brace ourselves to say goodbye to several of our volunteers and students, whilst preparing for the arrival of fresh faces by the end of the month. In 2021, we welcomed volunteers and students from all over the world including the USA, UK, France, Italy, Sudan and Canada. Together, we had the enormous privilege of continuing to carry out primate and wildlife research on our farm and out in the community, whilst most others continued to ride out the pandemic under less fortunate circumstances. Throughout this past year, we began the hard work of habituating a wild troop of chacma baboons and continued to create a long-term dataset for our dump raiding baboons. We studied sleeping site selection, carried out snare sweeps, surveyed grass types for wildlife management, began researching the efficacy of livestock guardian dogs, had many vervet monkey break-ins, counted thousands of leaves and fruit pods, began teaching English in Alldays, mapped out a sea of baobab trees, and threw our hands in the air as the baboons continued to outsmart us. We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us!

Christmas Fundraiser 2021

We would like to take this time to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in and donated money towards our Christmas fundraiser for the children in Alldays. With the many generous donations, we reached our goal and raised £2,000! We would also like to say a huge thank you to Emma and Anthony Peniston for organising the Christmas event at their school, Briershof Primary School, and for providing the food, gifts, and more! Volunteers at AWCRC have been involved with the primary schools in Alldays since the research centre was founded in 2017. We have been incredibly lucky that as restrictions in South Africa have eased, we’ve been able to go back to the schools to teach English and environmental education! Working within Alldays helps us to gain a bigger picture of how local communities are being impacted by human-wildlife conflict. We are very grateful and happy to have been able to participate in this fundraising event. Happy holidays to everyone from AWCRC!

Raising Money for our Local Community!

It’s Christmas season at our research centre and we are helping to raise money for the children in our local community. Students and volunteers at AWCRC have been helping out in the Alldays community since the research centre was established in 2017. The pandemic brought an unfortunate end to community-led projects, but with restrictions easing in South Africa we are officially back in the community teaching English and environmental education. We are hoping to raise £2,000 with our Go Fund Me page. All of the money raised will go directly towards orphaned children, child-headed families, and HIV awareness. We are looking to raise £13 per child and this can help us buy important things like toothbrushes, sanitary products, and educational toys, for the children. This money will also help us to provide a hot Christmas dinner for the families in need, play games and music, and ensure that every child receives at least one Christmas gift this year. Such a small gesture can make an enormous difference to children who often go without, especially during the pandemic. We are aiming to raise this money by November 28. Please help us to raise money for this important cause by donating as much or as little as you like! Donations can be made on our Go Fund Me page, please share the page with anyone you know. And, if you would like to get involved in volunteering to teach, please visit our volunteer page for more information!

Electric fence mortalities; the shocking reality

Electric fences have been used in wildlife management since the 1930s and have increased in popularity in recent decades among landowners. The use of electric fences is popular within our study area with farmers using electric fences to define property boundaries as well as protect crops from wildlife and enclose livestock or game. Whilst it has been found that the use of electric fences can reduce crop foraging by baboons (Findlay 2016), it also has been observed that electric fences cause unintended consequences of electrocuting and often killing smaller animals. Arguably, electric fences cannot be recommended as a mitigation strategy to reduce crop foraging if their use causes other environmental damage. As a result of this, we are conducting a project to assess wildlife mortalities on electric fences with the aim of better understanding the consequences of their use and developing ways to reduce mortalities. To date, we have surveyed 15.9 km of electrified fence across five farms, 3.8 km of which was surveyed on a weekly basis across a two year period. Data was recorded in every location where a mortality was found, as well as at every 100 m where there was no mortality; these we used as controls. In total, 308 mortalities were found. Animals recorded included: Tortoises, non-ground birds, amphibians, lizards, snakes, mammals and ground birds. Tortoises were the group most affected by electric fences, making up 59.4% of recorded mortalities. Significantly more mortalities occurred during the summer (Nov-Apr), which was true for all groups except mammals. The height of the bottom electric wire had a significant impact on whether a mortality occurred, with 80% of mortalities occurring where the wire was less than 7 cm above ground. The number of mortalities found over this time period highlights the shocking reality of fence use and raises many concerns. This data is part of an ongoing project. We are continuing to survey electric fences and will be trialling different fence modifications as well as assessing the impact of these mortalities on wildlife population numbers. Keep an eye out for future updates! If you’re interested in assisting with this project, please do get in touch.

A year in the life of a troop of Dump baboons

During 2020, PhD student Topu Rahman from Durham University, UK conducted his fieldwork at AWCRC studying the effects of human waste food on the behaviour and hormonal responses of a wild chacma baboon troop. After habituating a troop of baboons that spends time at the local dump, Rahman and his team of research assistants recorded behavioural data through scan, focal and ad-libitum sampling. Additionally they collected faecal samples for laboratory analysis of glucocorticoid levels to assess stress. Although the study troop is small, they were subjected to several challenging events during the research period. They sleep under a water tower, near a village which often brings them into close proximity to local people. Baboons have been known to supplement their diet with items they “borrow” from people’s houses or gardens. This, along with their enjoyment of playing, especially on tin buildings before dawn, has brought them into some conflict with the villagers. During the initial study period, the troop lost one adult female to unknown natural causes in June, experienced one still-birth in July, and two separate shooting events in September and October. Sadly, nothing prepares you for finding the bodies of animals that you have studied intimately for months. Whilst working conditions, during fieldwork, can be harsh and unpleasant it does have many magical moments and it was a privilege for team to be able to observe the troops interactions so closely. During data collection the team embarked on a mission to create a documentary demonstrating what research life really entails and to give an insight into a baboon troop that is using human food to supplement their diet. Please click the link below to watch the documentary: https://youtu.be/2l2wvkEaYbQ Data collection on the troop is continuing and we look forward to future updates from Rahman’s analysis and the team collecting data in the field.

A week in the life of an AWCRC volunteer…

One of our current volunteers shares an insight into their time as a Primate and Predator (PPP) volunteer at the AWCRC. Over the space of a week they have the chance to get involved in a variety of projects from assisting PhD students with fieldwork to learning new office based skills. Amongst all of this there is also time to watch the sunset from camp and enjoy a braai with the other students and volunteers in camp. Over to Yola: On Monday, I went out with Ben (a PhD student) at 5:30 AM because we wanted to go to one of the baboons sleeping sites. We heard the baboons from the main road so we decided to try and follow them but unfortunately we weren’t successful. After that we checked all of the traps which have been set up to trap and then collar baboons for Ben’s PhD project. We wanted to see if the food used as bait was being eaten because that would mean the baboons are getting used to the trap and are not afraid of going inside, which is a good thing for us. The rest of the day was spent just sitting on the road, hoping to see some baboons crossing the road and film them to have an idea of the size of the troop.  On Tuesday, I went out with Rebecca (another PhD student). We started our day by driving around the known baboon sleeping sites on camp to spot which tree the baboons had slept in so it would be easier for the other volunteers to follow them that day. After that we went on another farm. Here we sat next to the crop field where our goal was to see some crop raiding. For several hours nothing showed up but around midday we saw some individuals on a tree next to the field. We decided to go to that tree and follow their tracks. We discovered that they were probably living on the farm next to that one.  Wednesday was my office day. I spent the day helping with data entry and camera trap image tagging. Thursday and Friday I went out again with Ben. We were again looking for his focal baboon troop but we didn’t see them these days, as is the sometimes the way with fieldwork. On Friday evening we had a braai with everyone at camp. And Saturday I was in the office, doing some camera trap tagging. I was also given an introduction to ARCMap which was quite interesting and a new skill for me.  Every week is different and in previous weeks, I have also had the opportunity to help collect long term data on the dump-raiding troop of baboons in town. It’s great to be able to get involved in all the different projects going on.

General Contact Form

This isa general contact form, if you want to apply to the AWCRC for any specific position please go to Apply and select the role that best describes what you would like to do. If you have any question about the AWCRC please see the FAQ’s at the bottom of the About Us page. For everything else this is the right place! 

Thanks!

We appreciate your enquiry and will be in touch shortly! We hope you are having a lovely day! if not …here is a picture of the camp dogs…