Bush Camping

If you are on Facebook, it is no secret that the last two months I have been globetrotting in Africa and Japan.  Unexpected opportunities arose that I took advantage of while there is a lull in my trapping permits.  My ongoing camera trapping was covered by assistants while I was away and resulted in only one dhole photo.  I immensely enjoyed bush camping in game reserves and national parks in South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe (Photos Here).  It offered a break from all of the hurdles thrown at me during fieldwork and a chance to reconnect with the energy of actually seeing wildlife (including lions and a serval!).  In Japan, I was invited (and fully sponsored) by Dr. Hayashi Yoshihiro, a professor at the University of Tokyo (and the mammal curator of their museum) to give a presentation about my dhole research. This took place at the Hyogo Wildlife Management Research Center.  I talked with graduate students involved in carnivore work and also learned about bear traps.

In September, I sent in a pre-proposal to the Asia Seed Grant program of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  My proposal was chosen to advance to the next round, so I am currently working on a full proposal.  My Fulbright grant also ended this month and I was required to write a final report on the year.

We are working on a new proposal for the Smithsonian IACUC committee and on research permit extensions from Thailand (which translates to never ending forms).  What does this mean?  No trapping (probably not until February of next year).  I am now focusing on the potential disease spillover from domestic dogs’ angle.  I have one GPS collar and 3 other collars in transit.  In November I will focus on getting these out on roaming dogs.  We also plan to start the blood disease analysis at the University lab and revisit villages for a census of the domestic animal populations.