After last month’s excitement, we toned down a bit and focused on interview surveys in July. Next week I will collect the memory cards from camera traps that have been out in the forest for a month, but right now I do not have any new dhole news. We did work with a team from Kasetsart University to interview villagers living near the border of Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary. Spread over three villages, we have now interviewed 84 households regarding domestic dogs and collected 113 blood samples for disease analysis.
I sent another team to provinces in the East to finally complete long-overdue carnivore interview surveys (focusing on dholes, tigers, and clouded leopards). They conducted 300 surveys despite problems such as a blind man wanting to answer a survey, Cambodian language barriers, and a group demanding a whiskey payment for answers!
In August I will organize what we need to analyze the blood samples and possibly open traps if we have a veterinarian living on site. I am slightly ahead of schedule with the blood draws and may even be able to analyze all of the samples by the end of the year (earlier than my original target of next summer).
We are now ready to choose village dogs to monitor their ranging movements. This has been delayed because of lack of funding for GPS collars. I am working with Peter on a budget and hope to have 4 collars ordered by mid-August.
I also need to prepare forms and reports to extend our research permit (which expires in November 2009).
Dhole Hunt
June was an exciting month with plenty of dhole activity. I worked hard from 5am to 10pm every day for 3 weeks and everything seemed to happen at once in rapid succession (after months of delay). We spent a day in the field with our vet and his assistant on June 3rd. As we stopped to find the source of a sambar deer distress call, canid shapes came into focus across the reservoir. Three dholes were herding a young deer into the water! It was my first chance to observe their hunting behavior which was surprisingly silent. Still, there was enough non-vocal communication for them to coordinate efforts to keep the deer struggling in deep water. The lead dhole was so intent on its prey that my field assistant was able to approach within 20m for a photograph. This confused everything we have learned thus far about the pack avoiding human activity. Unfortunately, we did not see a kill, the deer was able to sneak away into cover.
We had another exciting opportunity when a fresh sambar carcass was found by rangers who reported a pack of 10 dholes. I have video of a single dhole returning to the carcass, but he was wary of the camera and focused on pulling the carcass (over the traps) out of camera range within a few minutes. Our mistake was not staking down the carcass and setting up of cameras directly at the site. Over the next few days, the dholes returned to the kill site, but did not touch a hind quarter that was staked in front of a camera. Instead, they preferred to feed on the full carcass in the water by access through a tunnel in the grass where they could stay off of the road, away from our traps, and away from our camera eyes.
We also received news of two dholes that were shot by farmers in a village bordering the west of the sanctuary. They accused the dholes of stealing chickens. I set up cameras in the area and am working on convincing the farmers to report the site of the bodies so I can collect skulls. I now have 15 working digital cameras and they are all in the forest.
Finally, after months of delay, I met a professor from Kasetsart University who brought vet student volunteers to help with blood samples from domestic dogs (for disease analysis). We completed approximately 30 interviews and blood draws, with plans for further work in mid-July.
I made a short trip to Khao Yai National Park at the end of the month to meet with a previous collaborator and obtain his permission to be included as co-author on my camera trapping manuscript. This is essential for publication because the work was done under his permits.
July work will focus on village interviews/blood draws and extensive camera trapping to locate the dhole pack to the west.
We had another exciting opportunity when a fresh sambar carcass was found by rangers who reported a pack of 10 dholes. I have video of a single dhole returning to the carcass, but he was wary of the camera and focused on pulling the carcass (over the traps) out of camera range within a few minutes. Our mistake was not staking down the carcass and setting up of cameras directly at the site. Over the next few days, the dholes returned to the kill site, but did not touch a hind quarter that was staked in front of a camera. Instead, they preferred to feed on the full carcass in the water by access through a tunnel in the grass where they could stay off of the road, away from our traps, and away from our camera eyes.
We also received news of two dholes that were shot by farmers in a village bordering the west of the sanctuary. They accused the dholes of stealing chickens. I set up cameras in the area and am working on convincing the farmers to report the site of the bodies so I can collect skulls. I now have 15 working digital cameras and they are all in the forest.
Finally, after months of delay, I met a professor from Kasetsart University who brought vet student volunteers to help with blood samples from domestic dogs (for disease analysis). We completed approximately 30 interviews and blood draws, with plans for further work in mid-July.
I made a short trip to Khao Yai National Park at the end of the month to meet with a previous collaborator and obtain his permission to be included as co-author on my camera trapping manuscript. This is essential for publication because the work was done under his permits.
July work will focus on village interviews/blood draws and extensive camera trapping to locate the dhole pack to the west.
Big Mean Lizards
The dhole project should be reworked into the “large, mean lizard project.” I have plenty of experience tagging and bagging nasty monitor lizards. After having five box traps open every day and every night for three weeks in May, we only captured 13 lizards. (At least the sanctuary staff is taking blood samples from the lizards for a DNA study). We used chicken, scent, racks of beef, and blood and stomach content on trails for baiting.
Our biggest success was finally figuring out how to secure the trap transmitters at the right angle to have them reliably trigger if a door closed. This will save us a lot of false alarms and unnecessary hiking. As soon as I return to the sanctuary, on the 2nd, I will collect photos from the five camera traps I had out for the month at the trap sites.
I am currently in Bangkok after picking up my Dad from the airport. He will visit me at the sanctuary for 3 weeks. He brought with him 10 new digital camera traps, two dozen soft-catch foothold traps, a capture stick, and trapping supplies. As soon as we receive permission from the sanctuary chief, we will begin using these traps in addition to the 5 box traps. I plan to build an additional box-trap (similar to the ones designed for lynx in Switzerland). I also met a Thai researcher, Pornchai Patumrattanathan at the sanctuary, who designed a successful foot-snare for tigers. I will work with Pornchai to possibility modify the foot snares for dholes.
I met with Dr. David Powell in Bangkok, the Assistant Curator of Mammalogy at the Bronx Zoo. He recently finished a two-week project in Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, to test the potential of using dhole vocalization playbacks. His work was similar to my earlier unsuccessful attempts to attract wild dholes using vocalizations that I obtained from dholes at the Toronto Zoo. In preparation for Dr. Powell’s trip, I collaborated with him regarding his proposal. Unfortunately, during his two weeks in Huay Kha Khaeng he saw no dholes.
I am also working on the statistical analysis for a manuscript that will make up my second chapter: Mammal Distribution Modeling and Lessons for Park Management, Khao Yai National Park. This is using past camera trap data I have collected.
Lots of work to do...
Our biggest success was finally figuring out how to secure the trap transmitters at the right angle to have them reliably trigger if a door closed. This will save us a lot of false alarms and unnecessary hiking. As soon as I return to the sanctuary, on the 2nd, I will collect photos from the five camera traps I had out for the month at the trap sites.
I am currently in Bangkok after picking up my Dad from the airport. He will visit me at the sanctuary for 3 weeks. He brought with him 10 new digital camera traps, two dozen soft-catch foothold traps, a capture stick, and trapping supplies. As soon as we receive permission from the sanctuary chief, we will begin using these traps in addition to the 5 box traps. I plan to build an additional box-trap (similar to the ones designed for lynx in Switzerland). I also met a Thai researcher, Pornchai Patumrattanathan at the sanctuary, who designed a successful foot-snare for tigers. I will work with Pornchai to possibility modify the foot snares for dholes.
I met with Dr. David Powell in Bangkok, the Assistant Curator of Mammalogy at the Bronx Zoo. He recently finished a two-week project in Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, to test the potential of using dhole vocalization playbacks. His work was similar to my earlier unsuccessful attempts to attract wild dholes using vocalizations that I obtained from dholes at the Toronto Zoo. In preparation for Dr. Powell’s trip, I collaborated with him regarding his proposal. Unfortunately, during his two weeks in Huay Kha Khaeng he saw no dholes.
I am also working on the statistical analysis for a manuscript that will make up my second chapter: Mammal Distribution Modeling and Lessons for Park Management, Khao Yai National Park. This is using past camera trap data I have collected.
Lots of work to do...