April 1 – 6th
By Jack Massey (University of Vermont)
While still conducting transects in NG 41 with the escort guides of Mababe, the first week in April marked a shift in the program. Being our last full month in the country, the beginning of April was a subtle reminder to us all that our time here was limited and that we had much more to accomplish before leaving. Continuing with our regular herbivore surveys, we also began preliminary research on feasible predator monitoring methodology for the community. As part of our research, we have been attempting to find out what methods would work best for the community trusts to use in order to monitor carnivores in the area. Increased understanding of predators around the communities has potential to decrease human-wildlife conflict and improve the relationship the villagers have with the Lions, Leopards, Hyaenas, and Wild Dogs that they share the land with. While we have been working with the guides on herbivore monitoring through distance sampling, carnivores require a different type of methodology as they are elusive and lower in number. Keeping in mind what resources are available to these communities, we attempted to conduct a few spoor survey tests in which we drove transects with two guides on top of the vehicles looking for carnivore spoor. Upon finding spoor we would record distance, number of individuals, substrate, and GPS coordinates. The guides seemed to enjoy these types of surveys and they show potential as a permanent predator monitoring system. However, more training with the guides will have to occur before spoor surveys become a legitimate way for these communities to monitor their carnivores. With our assistant guide, Sixteen Sinvula, away in Maun attending to family matters, we had to continue our project without the help of a translator. While many of the guides in Mababe are familiar with English, a language barrier still exists making in difficult to communicate in some circumstances.
However, all the guides seemed to care about the work that was being done and were patient with us as we tried to communicate the different methods to them. As a student, this was a very rewarding experience for me. Being able to work with locals and figure out what they thought would be the best methods for predator monitoring and why they cared about predator monitoring really put our work here in prospective.
At the end of the week we all took a day trip from Mababe into Maun to pick up our guide, Sixteen, and resupply. This was a much needed trip for us all as many of us needed to use internet to register for classes, check emails, and work on our Conservation Biology essays that were due at the end of the week. Overall, this was a very productive week for us and we are all looking forward to our trip to Kasane next week!