Still Waiting for Permits

Since returning to Thailand on the 21st of September I have been busy analyzing data collected as part of the carnivore monitoring project I am involved with at Khao Yai National Park.  I plan to spend two weeks at the Smithsonian’s Conservation and Research Center in December to work with Dr. Peter Leimgruber and to draft a journal publication related to this project.

I have also entered the data from 87 villager surveys around Khao Yai National Park.  Last Friday I was granted permission to conduct interviews outside of Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary.  I will pickup the documents for permits this week and expect to start those interviews around November 12th.

I am still waiting for permits to research dholes in Khao Ang Rue Nai.  My collaborator from the Smithsonian, Dr. Nucharin Songsasen, is in Thailand this month and we are dealing with the requested changes to the original permit proposal.

Dr. Songsasen and I attended a canid workshop on 25th-27th of October.  This was setup in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and Kasetsart University in Thailand.  I presented canid data from three years of camera trapping at Khao Yai.  I think it was an extremely productive meeting which brought together interested parties in canid research throughout the country. One output was a step by step plan (including programs, activities, and actors) for developing canid research in Thailand.  

The workshop benefited my work because it was good exposure to make key players aware of our planned dhole research at Khao Ang Rue Nai.  We also made progress with our relationship with Kasetsart Univ. students and plan future research collaborations with them.  The activities in the next few years will be on ecology and education, particularly outreach aiming at changing perceptions of visitors and rangers toward dholes.Upcoming at the beginning of November, I will be transitioning my work out of Khao Yai to focus on Khao Ang Rue Nai.