Permits? Check!

WE HAVE PERMITS to trap and radio-collars dholes at Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary!!!  Now, we just have to find the critters…

To that end, Dr. Nucharin Songsasen (my consulting committee member from the Smithsonian) and I spent last week at the sanctuary.  We setup 5 camera traps in areas where the staff recorded sightings of canid tracks.  We met one large elephant in the forest and 9 on the road during a spotlighting trip.  If the elephants don’t smash the cameras first, the film will be picked up and developed in one month.  I will move to live in the sanctuary at the beginning of March.

In February I will focus on purchasing a radio-collar and field equipment, and identifying a vet and possible trapper.  In the meantime, I continue to work on a draft manuscript from the camera trap data from Khao Yai National Park and to summarize my interview data.

We have partially secured funding through The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Conservation Endowment Fund (CEF) and the Smithsonian Endowment Fund to purchase one collar and finance basic project running costs for a couple of months.  However, a continuing challenge is funding both for the project and my living expenses.  I currently have no funding to expand interview surveys.  This month I applied for a Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship.

I am also happy to report that I have been recommended for a Fulbright grant after preliminary stages of the competition in the U.S.  My application has been forwarded to the supervising agency in Thailand for final review.  This is my second time applying for a Fulbright.  The first time, I was also selected by the U.S. committee, but rejected by the Thailand review.  The National Screening committees recommend at least one and a half to two times the number of candidates as there are grants available to each country.  So, for example, they may have recommended 15 to 20 candidates for Thailand, but there may only be 10 grants available.  Selection is a lengthy process, and the final decision may not be made before the end of June.