EWT Archives | Page 20 of 54 | Endangered Wildlife Trust

EWT looking into new technologies to curb rhino poaching

By Eleanor Momberg

The Endangered Wildlife Trust continues to work on ways to unlock new technologies to curb the onslaught on South Africa’s rhino population, says Louwrens Leeuwner, Senior Conservation Manager: Business and Wildlife.

Reacting to the recent poaching of rhino in Limpopo, days after the release of the 2023 rhino poaching statistics, Leeuwner renewed an appeal to the public to come forward with any information about the killing of the iconic animals, and to support the authorities in dealing with poaching incidents as this may “ultimately be the only way” to deal with the problem.

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy announced earlier in February that 499 rhino were poached across South Africa in 2023, more that 60 percent of which were killed in KwaZulu-Natal. This is an increase of 51 rhino poached compared to 2022. Of the pachyderms killed, 408 were poached on state properties and 93 on privately owned land.

“The pressure again has been felt in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province with Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park facing the brunt of poaching cases losing 307 of the total national poaching loss. This is the highest poaching loss within this province. While KZN recorded 49 arrests and 13 firearms seized, multi-disciplinary teams continue to work tirelessly in an attempt to slow this relentless pressure,” said Creecy.

Kruger National Park (KNP) recorded a 37% decrease from 2022 with a total of 78 poached in 2023. No rhinos were poached in other national parks.

Creecy commended the work being done by the Hawks in several regional and transnational engagements to enhance the government’s integrated approach to combat wildlife trafficking.

She said responsible partnerships between the public and private sectors, and the financial and transporting sectors remains critical in combating international wildlife trafficking. The approach is not exclusive to South Africa but is followed within the region and transnationally. Working with the transit and end user countries in South-East Asia, especially with the People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Qatar, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Ashleigh Dore, Wildlife and Law Senior Project Manager at the EWT said wildlife crime was having huge impacts on South Africans.

“It is a personal attack on our heritage so all wildlife crimes need to be taken seriously,” she said.

Dore added that rhino poaching was a prime example of transnational organised crime, or transnational wildlife crime. “I think people need to understand how complex it is responding to transnational organised crime and understand the different levels and roleplayers in syndicates. When we look at poachers we are looking at people operating at the first level. But there are other levels of wildlife crime that need consolidated efforts and we see that globally,” she said.

In the meantime, the wildlife crime monitoring group, Traffic, reports that a Singapore court has convicted South African national, Gumede Sthembiso Joel, for rhino horn smuggling and sentenced him to two years in prison. This was the maximum terms allowed for the offence under the law at the time of his arrest in 2022 when he was nabbed smuggling 20 pieces of rhino horn from Johannesburg to Laos via Singapore.

Science snippets: The Impact of Habitat Loss on Mammal Populations

By: Erin Adams and dr Lizanne Roxburgh

Habitat loss and degradation are among the leading causes of population decline for species worldwide. The main issue is the conversion of natural ecosystems to croplands, rangelands, forests and infrastructure. However, it has been difficult, up to now, to accurately assess on a large-scale what role habitat loss has played in the recent range declines of animal populations. In a recent publication, co-authored by EWT scientists*, they compared current and past (from the 1970s and 1980s) distribution ranges of mammals to understand the reasons as to why those ranges might be smaller today, and specifically whether their ranges are smaller due to habitat loss and degradation.

The scientists produced distribution maps for 475 land-dwelling mammals from 50 years ago – the “past range” – and for today – the “retained range”. By subtracting the two, they calculated what they called the “lost range”. They then compared the proportions of habitat available for the species in the lost range compared with the retained range. Habitat refers to areas suitable for the species to live in.

The scientists found that for 59% of species, their lost ranges have less habitat available to them compared to their retained ranges. This suggests that the ranges for these spaces have shrunk due to habitat loss.

The scientists also ran analyses in order to determine which factors influence the amount of habitat available. The most important factors that negatively affected habitat availability were conversion of land to rangeland and high density of livestock. Intensive livestock grazing reduces the amount of food available for herbivores and granivores, leads to changes in vegetation structure, which affects small mammals, and reduces the prey available for carnivores. This study shows the importance of protecting habitats from human activities in order to conserve remaining habitat. For those species where lost ranges have a similar amount of habitat left compared to retained ranges, this gives hope for species recovery if other threats, such as hunting and persecution, can be reduced.

*Pacifici, M., Cristiano, A., Lumbierres, M., Lucherini, M., Mallon, D., Meijaard, E., Solari, S., Tognelli, M. F., Belant, J. L., Butynski, T. M., Cronin, D., d’Huart, J.-P., Da Re, D., de Jong, Y. A., Dheer, A., Fei, Li, Gallina, S., Goodrich, J. M., Harihar, A. … Wiesel, I. (2023). Drivers of habitat availability for terrestrial mammals: Unravelling the role of livestock, land conversion and intrinsic traits in the past 50 years. Global Change Biology, 29, 6900–6911. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16964

Using Technology Supports Wildlife Conservation, Says The Endangered Wildlife Trust

The use of technology contributes significantly to wildlife conservation, enabling researchers to access areas previously considered dangerous and impassable.

It also aids in the rediscovery of species believed to be extinct and builds on the knowledge we already have on, not only the behaviour of species, but also the impact of human development and interference on wildlife.

“Drones are helping us roam large areas and access otherwise inaccessible sites. Advanced tracking systems, real-time data analytics, and artificial intelligence-driven solutions are empowering conservationists across the globe providing unprecedented tools to help identify, monitor, track and ultimately preserve wildlife,” says the Secretary-General of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Ivonne Higuero.

She, however, warns that as we leverage growing technological capacities, we must also revitalise our commitments to sustainable development. This includes preventing destructive ecological impacts, mitigating threats to species and livelihoods arising from the misuse of technology, and ensuring digital inclusion for all by 2030.

The use of drones, for instance, is no longer a novelty, nor is the use of GPS tracking systems to monitor wildlife. What is considered new is the use of environmental DNA in the detection of elusive species, and the mapping of species distributions, and the real-time programming algorithms linked to tracking data that enable rapid response to wildlife threats.

Drones

Coupled with advances in artificial intelligence (AI), drones now have some sort of role to play in most industries. Their uses and benefits are only limited by our imagination and operational battery capacity. They deliver much-needed medicine to remote communities, scan compromised infrastructure for survivors during emergency disaster responses, or facilitate smart agriculture. Of course, there are more sinister potential uses for drones, blurring the lines between science and science fiction.

But, using drones for conservation has already shaped the future of the sector. Drones have been used in a variety of scientific studies, from detecting rare animals and counting colony-nesting birds to mapping habitats and creating 3D scans of trees.

The main practical advantage of a drone is not only necessarily its ability to go places that humans and their traditional modes of transport cannot get to; the biggest benefit is the fact they can perform the same tasks safely, eliminating the need to get people into dangerous situations.

But how do wild animals respond to these flying intruders? Is it ethical to use a drone to get close to an animal when it will result in a stress response? Perhaps the better question is whether the use of a drone is less or more detrimental to the animal than it is to approach it using traditional methods. This is an intriguing question, and one that should be considered prior to undertaking any new conservation project. At the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) these concerns are very seriously considered on a case-by-case basis, through a formal ethics committee, prior to any deployment of drones for conservation.

As a legal drone operator in South Africa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) carries out surveys for birds, bird nests and mammals, does topographical and vegetation surveys, provides aerial support to conservation teams during operations, assists the authorities in locating injured animals, carcasses, poisoning and poaching incidents, and inspects and photographs electrical infrastructure for maintenance and survey purposes. The non-profit is also using drones to attach anti-collision devices to linear electrical infrastructure and to assist specialists with surveys relating to Environmental Impact Assessments and related audits.

GPS Tracking

Drones may be the latest innovation in wildlife monitoring, but before their advent, GPS tracking technology had already established itself as a valuable tool for studying the movement, behaviour, and habitats of wild animals, particularly birds, over many years.

Birds of prey face unique conservation challenges, primarily due to their ability to traverse vast distances unhindered by physical barriers. This lack of confinement poses significant obstacles to traditional conservation methods. For instance, species like the White-backed Vulture and Cape Vultures routinely cover extensive distances, ranging from 80km to over 500km per day while foraging.

As a result, effective bird conservation heavily relies on technological advancements to comprehend species threats and implement appropriate conservation strategies. Vultures, for example, confront various hazards such as wildlife poisoning, power line collisions, and disturbance to nesting sites, all of which impact population numbers and breeding success.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) Birds of Prey Programme has long utilised GPS tracking technology to establish a robust conservation framework for these species. These lightweight, solar-powered tracking units transmit precise location and movement data via cellular or satellite networks, offering unprecedented insights into the spatial biology of a diverse array of species. These data serve as a foundation for strategic conservation planning across expansive geographic regions.

Moreover, GPS technology enables researchers to concentrate efforts on critical areas for species survival. The EWT’s initiative to establish raptor safe zones, for instance, strategically targets properties frequented by birds for foraging and nesting, guided by behavioural data to mitigate human-induced threats effectively.

Fortunately, avian tracking technology continues to advance rapidly. Future developments hold promise for increased affordability, potentially revolutionizing data collection and enhancing the effectiveness of current conservation practices.”

eDNA

Most recently, the EWT has led the pack in the development and use of environmental DNA (eDNA) in terrestrial systems, which led to the rediscovery of the elusive De Winton’s golden mole – a species previously thought extinct.

With the help of this technology, the EWT team was able to detect and effectively rediscover the Critically Endangered De Winton’s golden mole (Cryptochloris wintoni) on the west coast of South Africa. This species had been lost to science for over 80 years.

Because detection and distribution mapping of elusive species is one of the major challenges of biodiversity surveys, the EWT’s Drylands Conservation Programme (DCP) has been working on eDNA sampling techniques to detect the presence of elusive and/or threatened terrestrial vertebrates.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material that is shed by organisms into their environment, typically in the form of skin cells, hair or excretions, and may be sampled from environmental sources such as water, soil, or sediments. Isolation of this DNA from the environment can facilitate detection of organisms in the absence of obvious signs of their presence, and provide genetic information that can be used to identify, study and/or monitor species across time and space without having to catch, handle, or in some cases, even observe them.

The Drylands Conservation Programme used this technology to survey a range of elusive golden mole species across South Africa’s west coast, collecting soil from the linings of their subterranean burrows, and using genetic barcode markers to identify species. Through mapping species distributions, it facilitates conservation management of threatened species.

The EWT’s scientists are now also applying the eDNA approach in the detection of Endangered Riverine Rabbits, and threatened tortoises in the arid Karoo region of South Africa. For Riverine Rabbits, eDNA is collected from pellets (droppings) gathered in the field, rather than soil.

The application of eDNA has the potential to revolutionize conservation science and practice. Although there are many challenges associated with using this approach in broad biodiversity surveys or monitoring projects, with careful consideration of the challenges and potential limitations, the application of this technique can open many doors to answering research questions and finding new solutions to conservation challenges, including assessing potential impacts as a result of proposed developments in sensitive areas.

Through the use of technology, scientists are able to ensure that species being researched and surveyed are largely undisturbed. It could also contribute to a greater base of information about species in remote areas informing conservation planning and practice.

** World Wildlife Day is celebrated annually on 3 March. The theme for 2024 was People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation.

Powerlines May Be A Cause Of Ludwig’s Bustard Population Declines

Figure 1: An incubating Ludwig’s Bustard female, fitted with a white GPS tracking device, sits tightly on her nest.

Collisions with overhead power line cables are thought to be the main driver of apparent population declines of the Ludwig’s Bustard (Neotis ludwigii).

Endangered Ludwig’s Bustard populations are assumed to be decreasing, with a more than 50% reduction expected over the next three generations.

At present, transmission line collision mortality rates of 1.12 bustards per kilometre per year are alarmingly high given the extent of these lines throughout their range. The species remains a research priority for the partnership between the Endangered Wildlife Trust and South Africa’s power utility, Eskom. The Partnership has found after a 10-year transmission line marking experiment that mitigation is ineffective for the Ludwig’s Bustard and for bustards in general.

Bustards are the one group of birds for which effective mitigation measures are yet to be demonstrated in southern Africa. Conservation options are limited to the further development and testing of new marker types and to burying overhead power line cables. A new power line marking experiment, for which four novel marker types are being tested, is showing some very positive results: no new Ludwig’s Bustard mortalities having been recorded since the marking of experimental sections of a transmission line in the Karoo in February 2022.

A well-informed estimate of the extent to which power line collisions affect the survival of the species is needed to justify significant future investment in conservation efforts. Such an estimate requires better information about Ludwig’s Bustard breeding biology, movement ecology and population dynamics. Some of the most basic parameters of these aspects have not yet been answered empirically, as the species is notoriously shy and difficult to study in the field. Luckily, advances in certain technologies present new tools that may enable us to fill these knowledge gaps.

To help us answer some of these questions, a Ludwig’s Bustard GPS-tracking study, the ‘Karoo Ludwig’s Bustard Project’, was initiated in 2022. Extensive trapping efforts resulted in a sample of 16 adult birds being captured and fitted with GPS trackers in the past two years. Our goal has been to focus on female birds to obtain information about their breeding parameters.

Since the first birds were captured in August 2022, we have been following up on GPS signals that may indicate nesting activity. This was unsuccessful until 2 February 2023 when one of the GPS-tagged females was found incubating a single large egg. The bird was well camouflaged and we only managed to detect her at a distance of less than three metres.

When she flushed from her nest, we were able to install a remote camera to monitor the nesting. We are now very eager to retrieve the camera to view the photographs captured in the field.

We hope to encounter more nesting attempts to collect the data required for a population viability analysis. Through this exercise we will hopefully be able to model the impact that power line collision mortalities have on the survival of the South African Ludwig’s Bustard population — information that will help direct the focus of our current and future research.

Figure 2: The movements of 16 GPS-tagged Ludwig’s Bustards, August 2022 – February 2024.

Figure 1: An incubating Ludwig’s Bustard female, fitted with a white GPS tracking device, sits tightly on her nest.

To help us answer some of these questions, a Ludwig’s Bustard GPS-tracking study, the ‘Karoo Ludwig’s Bustard Project’, was initiated in 2022. Extensive trapping efforts resulted in a sample of 16 adult birds being captured and fitted with GPS trackers in the past two years. Our goal has been to focus on female birds to obtain information about their breeding parameters.

Since the first birds were captured in August 2022, we have been following up on GPS signals that may indicate nesting activity. This was unsuccessful until 2 February 2023 when one of the GPS-tagged females was found incubating a single large egg. The bird was well camouflaged and we only managed to detect her at a distance of less than three metres.

When she flushed from her nest, we were able to install a remote camera to monitor the nesting. We are now very eager to retrieve the camera to view the photographs captured in the field.

We hope to encounter more nesting attempts to collect the data required for a population viability analysis. Through this exercise we will hopefully be able to model the impact that power line collision mortalities have on the survival of the South African Ludwig’s Bustard population — information that will help direct the focus of our current and future research.

Figure 3: A single, large Ludwig’s Bustard egg.

A quest for gold – the rediscovery of De Winton’s Golden Mole

by Samantha Mynhardt

On 29 November 2023, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and Re:wild announced the re-discovery of De Winton’s Golden Mole (Cryptochloris wintoni), and the story was received with great excitement all over the world as it steadily became one of the biggest conservation stories for 2023. This small mammal had eluded detection for over 80 years, was listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as “Critically Endangered; Possibly Extinct”, and on Re:wild’s list of Top 25 Most Wanted “Lost” Species, until its rediscovery last year. The research findings were published in Biodiversity and Conservation on 24 November 2023 and can be read here.

Golden moles are elusive little animals that spend nearly their entire lives underground, thus they are very seldom seen by humans. Some species will occasionally come to the surface to forage, typically only at night. In most cases, the only sign of golden mole activity or presence is a raised ridge on the surface of the ground, representing their shallow underground foraging tunnels. However, for the sand-dwelling species, such as De Winton’s golden mole, even these ridges are hard to spot, since the subsurface tunnels collapse in the soft sand.

De Winton’s golden mole has been severely impacted by mining activities and other threats on the South African west coast. We suspect that the population has experienced a substantial decline over the past century. The species was last detected at the type locality (the origin of the specimen from which the species was described), Port Nolloth, in 1937, and since then has eluded scientists, likely due to difficulties in locating and trapping these animals and/or the presence of the similar-looking and more abundant Grant’s golden mole, Eremitalpa granti.

As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria at the time, working alongside Profs. Nigel Bennet and Paulette Bloomer on small mammal genetics research, I had been looking into alternative non-invasive means of studying golden moles, having faced the immense challenge of finding them in the wild, and trapping them to collect genetic samples. The Drylands Conservation Program (DCP) of the EWT received funding from Re:wild to go in search of De Winton’s Golden Mole, and invited me to join them on their quest, despite the views of many, including experts, that the species was extinct.

In 2020 we conducted a pilot study at Lambert’s Bay, the type locality of the sister species, van Zyl’s golden mole, Cryptochloris zyli (also Endangered), to trial some novel approaches for detecting golden moles, including thermal imaging drones, a scent-detection dog, and environmental DNA (eDNA). The pilot study was very successful. The thermal imaging showed some promise in facilitating our search for golden mole presence, although this was perhaps overshadowed by our scent-detection dog’s remarkable ability to sniff out the moles, and the unmatched power of eDNA technology to identify the species present, once the burrows had been located.

In July of the following year, we began our expedition along the west coast to Port Nolloth. We surveyed multiple sites along a 300km stretch of coastline, from the Groen River mouth northwards to Alexander Bay. Our team of five, including myself, Cobus Theron, JP le Roux, Esther Matthew and her trained scent-detection border collie, Jessie, conducted surveys on foot for a week, exploring, on average, 18km of dune habitat per day. Jessie had obviously never encountered a De Winton’s golden mole before, and therefore she was not trained on the scent of this species. However, she had been trained on the scent of the two more common species in the area, Grant’s- and Cape golden mole. She therefore assisted us in finding golden mole tracks, and we knew she would indicate to us if she found the more common species. When she didn’t indicate, we had a good idea that we had found something “new”.

We collected over 100 soil samples on the expedition. Wherever we found signs of golden mole activity, we collected small soil samples from the inner linings of their subsurface tunnels. Animals shed their DNA into their environment, typically in the form of skin cells, hair, and excretions and secretions. This is known as environmental DNA (eDNA) and is present at a molecular level and therefore completely invisible. We were essentially collecting eDNA samples from the soil in the underground burrows. This eDNA would later be extracted in the lab, and a particular fragment of DNA, called a DNA barcode, would enable us to identify the species.

We found evidence of De Winton’s golden mole, not only at Port Nolloth, but at multiple additional sites, indicating that the species may be more widespread than previously thought. Golden mole activity was particularly abundant on the beach at McDougal’s Bay, Port Nolloth, indicating that there is likely a healthy population persisting there. Unfortunately, we are not able to estimate the population size at this stage, however future research should aim to do so.

While we aim to conduct further surveys for this Critically Endangered species to better understand its distribution, it is important that we protect the populations we do know of. We are therefore working towards improved habitat protection and management for the population at McDougal’s Bay, as well as nearby sites where the species has been detected, and to identify additional suitable sites for protection.