tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83742715967782318382024-03-27T07:19:38.291+00:00Pangolin Research MunduleaPangolin Survival Strategies in Dry-land Savannahs: a Pilot Study in Namibia<br><br>Bruno Nebe & Paul RankinBruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-20665835492574731102010-12-11T15:56:00.034+00:002015-05-29T17:37:48.125+01:00Background on Pangolins<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
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<span style="color: purple;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">This blog is written in chapters with the latest posts last at the end</span> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/start-of-fieldwork-sept-2010.html">Click here to jump to the start of the fieldwork</a></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="color: purple;">or <br /><a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-11T14%3A45%3A00Z&max-results=20">Click here jump to the start of 2011</a>, <a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-11T13:00:00Z&max-results=20&start=14&by-date=false">Click here for the latest posts Nov 2011-2013</a>, <br />or select a post from the archive index in the right hand column)</span></span></div>
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Bruno Nebe talks about pangolins and our project in this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CedprHjc26Q" target="_blank">YouTube video interview</a> He addressed the theme 'Is Conservation for Sale?' in a TEDx talk on Mar 27th 2015 which can be watched via this <a href="https://youtu.be/I12LfAJriSY" target="_blank">YouTube link</a>.<br />
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Pangolins, sometimes called scaly anteaters, are very unusual animals. These toothless mammals are covered with hard overlapping scales, walk on their hind legs counterbalanced by a large tail and feed exclusively on ants and termites. The prey are dug out with their sharp claws and caught on a very long sticky tongue. (<a href="http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/animals-pets-kids/mammals-kids/pangolin-kids.html">Watch this National Geographic video</a>) The young are carried on the mother's back. Usually nocturnal, they sleep most of the day in burrows made in the ground, or take up residence in the dens of other animals such as the aardvark. When threatened, pangolins curl into a armoured ball, protected by their sharp scales. (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin</a> )</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JDWwzN2MCzPzn34ZndDklmx5rRzOjpp3nu6o50399lneKn3anH00CZn1qXn85HdnyvOYIeBVwA32J8vJy85Q37t1NFJnQVuc_6088UrFExgKvcs3jiUsuLKKgvM6fS7D8xOJhwq-ls4/s1600/Pangolin_curled_up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JDWwzN2MCzPzn34ZndDklmx5rRzOjpp3nu6o50399lneKn3anH00CZn1qXn85HdnyvOYIeBVwA32J8vJy85Q37t1NFJnQVuc_6088UrFExgKvcs3jiUsuLKKgvM6fS7D8xOJhwq-ls4/s320/Pangolin_curled_up.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="color: purple;">(Click on any photo to see an enlarged version) </span></i></div>
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Eight different pangolin species can be found across Asia and sub-Saharan <place w:st="on">Africa</place>. Poaching for the illegal wildlife trade or for Chinese medicine products and their habitat loss have sadly made these creatures one of the most endangered groups of mammals in the world. In June 2010, nearly 8 tonnes of more than 2000 frozen pangolin and 2 tonnes of their scales were seized by Chinese customs officials from a boat destined for mainland China, see <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/13/china-customs-pangolin">article in The Guardian</a>)<br />
(For more background on this terrible trade, see <a href="http://www.savepangolins.org/conservation">http://www.savepangolins.org/conservation</a> and support the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/SavePangolinsorg/141020739265694">Save Pangolins organization on Facebook</a>)<br />
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Being nocturnal and highly secretive, these elusive solitary mammals are thus difficult for scientists to study in the wild. Attempts to keep them in captivity invariably fail, because of their prodigious appetite for enormous numbers of live ants and termites - and their abilities as escape artists! Estimates of 70 million insects consumed per year have been made (<a href="http://bushwarriors.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/25-things-you-might-not-know-about-pangolins/">see Bush Warriors, 19th Nov. 2010</a>) Many mysteries therefore remain about their behaviour and habits: our ignorance hampers conservation efforts. For example, there are no detailed studies on the population levels, ecology, or life history of the Sunda pangolin, <i>Manis javanica</i>. Meanwhile, little is known about the current distribution and range of the various other pangolin species.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTs880iw4J4hZgoPWhmINKQaF-s6aa-5faUmiDhu2N-_O4BUZmF2Z521Ky2aKlVvOZ1LDpuFWX7WFh5Z4AiQ3Y3UylQ9cePitmdM5uBxnMdLE8aOIoWKO5jtoFljONKMl5kuzTJ6PFQXo/s1600/Pangolin_borneo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTs880iw4J4hZgoPWhmINKQaF-s6aa-5faUmiDhu2N-_O4BUZmF2Z521Ky2aKlVvOZ1LDpuFWX7WFh5Z4AiQ3Y3UylQ9cePitmdM5uBxnMdLE8aOIoWKO5jtoFljONKMl5kuzTJ6PFQXo/s320/Pangolin_borneo.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunda Pangolin, photo taken by <span style="color: #3366bb;">Piekfrosch, May 2006 </span>from:<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pangolin_borneo.jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pangolin_borneo.jpg</a></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our own focus in Namibia is on the </span><place w:st="on">Cape</place> Pangolin, or Temminck's ground pangolin (Taxon <i>Manis temmincki</i><i>i, </i>Smuts 1832,<i> </i>of the<i> Manidae </i>family<i>, Pholidota </i>order<i>):</i> see this <a href="http://www.arkive.org/ground-pangolin/smutsia-temminckii/video-00.html">excellent video plus species summary</a> or <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Pangolin#p00bdp28">watch this BBC video</a>.<i> </i>The <place w:st="on">Cape</place> pangolin is less threatened than the four Asian pangolin species but remains rare with decreasing numbers, because of its value in the Chinese and Traditional Medicine illegal markets, chemical insecticides and electric fences. (Its entry in the CITES RedList 2000 by the Pangolin Specialist Group allocated it the rating Lower Risk - near threatened (LR/nt - ))<br />
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<i>Manis temminckii</i> is one of the least studied types of pangolin, despite its widespread occurrence throughout southern and eastern Africa. For example, there are no detailed studies on the population levels in dry savannah ecologies or of the life histories of the Temminck's ground pangolin - i.e. its traits remain undocumented and basic ecology remains to be researched. One of the few people working on this species is Jonathan Swart, based in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin next to the Kruger Park, South Africa, see the <a href="http://www.krugertimes.com/expertviews/capepangolin.htm">Kruger Times article</a>.<br />
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Pangolins are ancient creatures. Their ancestors are thought to have been members of the suborder Palaeanodonta, which diverged from the ancestral edentates some 60 million years ago, see the <a href="http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=1410">linked article</a>. These small, armorless animals rapidly became extinct but their successors evolved into the order Pholidota. Today, this order contains one family, the Manidae, with eight living species. Four species are found in Africa and three in Southeast Asia. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin">widely accepted classification</a> of the seven living pangolin species recognizes one genus (<i>Manis</i>) and five subgenera (<i>Manis, Paramanis, Phataginus, Smutsia </i>and<i> Uromanis</i>). The earliest fossils of the Cape Pangolin species itself date back 40 million years, see pages 112 & 113 in: <span style="font-family: inherit;">The Complete book of Southern African Mammals, c</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ompiled b<span class="ecxaddmd">y M. G. L. Mills & Lex Hes, Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1997</span>.</span></div>
Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-68602225493419022002010-12-11T15:31:00.007+00:002010-12-19T18:02:17.999+00:00Our Research Project's Goals<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The motivation for gathering data on the behaviour, habitat and survival strategies of the <place w:st="on">Cape</place> pangolin in different environments is that an improved understanding of this mammal can help its conservation. For instance, a better understanding of this unique animal can help in putting together information sheets for the general public which can help conservation of the pangolin in its natural habitat.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Given the enormous quantity of ant and termite prey that one animal can consume, then despite its rarity and infrequent sighting, the elusive pangolin must play a significant role in fragile semi-arid ecological systems. A better understanding of the <place w:st="on">Cape</place> pangolin can help our knowledge of other pangolin species.</div><br />
In previous research, radio-telemetry tags, infrared-triggered cameras and intermittent visual observations have been used to find out more about pangolin behaviour. These techniques, as compared with automatic GPS or satellite location logging, severely limit the continuity and type of data that can be obtained on the animals’ movements, activities and locations. Moreover, as the animals are nocturnal, then tracking their movement through the bush at night using short-range radio telemetry is both difficult in a harsh terrain and potentially dangerous because of the presence of other game, especially predators!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The goals for our pilot study are to establish research protocols and to develop better tracking and relocation device combinations that will work for the pangolin without disturbing the animal, but will deliver the data needed over a reasonable period.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Our pilot study has its research base at the Mundulea Nature Reserve. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our immediate objectives are to:</span></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Design, test and prove methods for tracking pangolins using special-purpose GPS-logging devices, augmented by RF telemetry and/or cellular GSM+GPS location-interrogation techniques to aid recapture e.g. to harvest the GPS logged animal data and change the batteries of the devices.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Get experience in the capture, device attachment/RF tagging and re-release protocols which are of least disturbance to the animal. (We do not plan the permanent capture or killing of any animal.)</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Collect small-sample data on 2-4 animals’ activity and location patterns, eg to improve the initial estimate of the hours of its night activity, in order to improve the efficiency and duration of further trials.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">P</span>repare a initial correlation between pangolin locations/</span>behaviour<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and the terrain, habitat and its prey species</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Train local Namibian staff on procedures for visual identification of pangolin tracks, animal capture, tagging, release, re-capture for data download or battery exchange, re-release and data analysis.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Trial the use of movement or infrared-triggered cameras at active pangolin dens</span></span></div></li>
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</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our longer-term aims include:</span></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Finding ways to successfully release previously captured animals (mainly by poachers)</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Assessing the suitability of techniques to gather other data e.g. on body movements and posture, temperature etc.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Using the results of the pilot to plan a longer, more extensive longitudinal investigations of the </span>behaviour<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> patterns, movement and habitats of more animals over a larger region of <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">Namibia</country-region></place>.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Attempting to correlate the pangolin's foraging strategies with the seasonal activity and location of its prey species</span></span></span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Comparing our results with previous</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> South African and Zimbabwean studies of the pangolin (They were conducted in high rainfall areas with a softer terrain for tunneling and where there are different predators.) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 35.7pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Discussing the results with other experts, publishing our findings and p</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">romoting our tracking and relocation techniques. The latter might find </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">application with other, more endangered species of pangolins, e.g. in <place w:st="on">Asia</place>, or indeed for studies of other animals</span></div></li>
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</div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-17184322279332189602010-12-11T15:25:00.003+00:002010-12-23T15:27:47.171+00:00Research Challenges<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxesDHq7TYqaJ7WgekHMkuXroNnjovd1qkfJGuAeKTPlLK2rcMmjlFZWl7KmmlEARvcVQxZcn0SnLS2mWr0K25Xy99ylxvi_bBlyfXvilQHmuSDCei14PrVc-rEZa9uuJ3NUd7Z6wT_sI/s1600/Pangolin_scales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxesDHq7TYqaJ7WgekHMkuXroNnjovd1qkfJGuAeKTPlLK2rcMmjlFZWl7KmmlEARvcVQxZcn0SnLS2mWr0K25Xy99ylxvi_bBlyfXvilQHmuSDCei14PrVc-rEZa9uuJ3NUd7Z6wT_sI/s320/Pangolin_scales.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The technical problems in designing a tracking solution for pangolins include:</div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 39.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 39.4pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;">The pangolin’s body shape, its hard sharp scales and movement through dense rough undergrowth or through tight hard-earthed burrows mean that any devices must be very robust and suitable attachment is difficult – collars are unlikely to stay on.</div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 39.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 39.4pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;">Attachments, eg RF telemetry tags screwed or glued to the rear dorsal scales should not restrict free movement of the overlapping scales, one over each other when the animal moves or rolls into a protective ball. (c.f. <a href="http://catchco.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=44">Catchco Africa’s illustrations</a> of an RF tag being attached to a pangolin)</div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 39.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 39.4pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;">The animal spends most of its day underground in burrows or dens, out of cellular GSM network connection or GPS satellite signal acquisition, usually emerging only for a few hours at night. Device batteries should be less than say 5% of the animal’s body mass (3-16kg) so that the animal is not hampered, thus limiting battery capacity. As most electrical energy is consumed in re-acquiring a GSM network connection or in a new search for GPS satellites, then any tracking device’s lifetime will be too short if the device is constantly searching for radio connections whilst the pangolin is sleeping in a burrow.</div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 39.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 39.4pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;">The range of small RF telemetry tags is limited to about 1-2km. Manual location of a pangolin, following it at night through the bush in a harsh terrain without disturbance using the usual Yagi antenna directional location equipment is difficult and potentially dangerous.</div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 39.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 39.4pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;">If a GSM connection is used to transfer live GPS location data to a base station, then the cell coverage of the pangolin’s territory will be incomplete, as the signals to or from a low-lying animal are obscured by rocks or hills even when the pangolin is moving on the surface.</div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt 39.1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 39.4pt; text-indent: -17.85pt;">Tri-axial accelerometry offers potential for this application (limited again by battery capacity) and can gather additional data as well as just location fixes, e.g. on patterns of an animal’s movements and posture. However, such devices are still being developed and are not yet readily available. They require considerable customization for specific species, occasional GPS location fixes for the dead-reckoning location calculations and subsequent pattern analysis of the recorded accelerometer data.</div></li>
</ul>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-91068849032878786042010-12-11T15:20:00.033+00:002015-06-02T22:49:10.498+01:00Mundulea - An Ideal Research Bed<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
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The Mundulea Private Nature Reserve in the Otavi mountains is roughly 120 square kilometres of prime Montane bushveldt set in the unspoiled Karstveld south east of Otavi. Bruno Nebe of Turnstone Tours (see <a href="http://www.turnstone-tours.com/">http://www.turnstone-tours.com/</a>), established Mundulea Nature Reserve five years ago to conserve and protect the huge diversity of fauna and flora which thrives in this unique biosphere (see <a href="http://www.mundulea.com/">http://www.mundulea.com/</a>). </div>
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Mundulea's dolomite, limestone and marble hills are millions of years old. They are riddled with caverns and pot-holes, deep gorges and underground lakes. There are ancient Leadwood trees, Marulas, Wild Fig, White Syringa, Dombeya, Mearua, Carrot trees and Nettle trees. There are also countless species of aloe, acacia, fern, grewia and combretum. The farm itself is named after a beautiful purple flowering bush <i>M<i>undulea sericea, </i></i>favourite food of the Eland and Kudu, and said to be possessed of healing and magical powers.</div>
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Antelope species include large herds of Eland, Wildebeest, Kudu and Oryx. Hartebeest, Waterbuck, Dik Dik, Steenbok, Duiker and Warthogs are common, whilst Giraffe and Springbok - once were plentiful in this area - are gradually being reintroduced. Recent arrivals are the endangered Black Faced Impala, Hartemann's Zebra, Tsessebe and a small group of Southern Angolan Roan. Often-seen predators include Leopard, Cheetah, Hyena, Honey Badgers, Jackal, Serval and Lynx. Sightings of Aardvark, Aardwolf, Bat-eared foxes, Black Mongoose and of course rare spottings of Pangolin are possible. </div>
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Mundulea’s main objective is to respect bio-diversity and give breathing space - and breeding space - to Namibia’s rare and endangered sub-species. Without serious and accelerated protection, animals like the Southern Angolan Roan and the beautiful Black-Faced Impala (an indigenous sub-species uniquely suited to Namibia), will be lost to the world in the near future.</div>
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A number of research studies have started in Mundulea, providing us with a growing body of knowledge on this biosphere, its geology, habitats, flora and fauna, animal, insect, bird and plant interactions. This makes for an ideal research context to understand more about the pangolin's territorial and seasonal behaviour, its preferred habitats and its relationships with other pangolins, predators or with its own ant and termite prey, which in turn reflect the environment.</div>
Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-8790198337166732812010-12-11T15:15:00.052+00:002011-01-01T10:25:20.367+00:00Some Tracking Technology Options<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The Namibian Ministry of the Environment and Tourism (MET) has formally approved our application for permission to conduct this research and to release animals that were previously confiscated by MET, PRU or police on the Mundulea Nature Reserve for this study.</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span>In the pilot, we are seeking to gather the following basic data on a few individuals:</div></div></div></div></div></div><ol><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Daily foraging periods of activity and sleep <span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">GPS locations, track, speed and range of movement during (nocturnal) activity<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Photographs and fauna samples of locations frequented by the pangolin (determined from the GPS data or TF telemetry and animal trackers)</div></div></div></div></div></div></li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Posture data (if possible)</div></div></li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Our basic procedure will involve:</div></div></div></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Location of a few pangolin specimens (via manual trackers) on the Reserve</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Tagging 2 dorsal scales with <i>both</i> a custom designed ‘combination’ GPS unit and also a more standard RF telemetry transmitter.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Animal release, preferable where captured.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Real-time occasional monitoring of animal’s location by interrogation of the ‘combo’ unit’s GPS system over a cellular SMS connection, or as a back-up manually, via RF telemetry using a Yagi aerial </span></div></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Recapture of the animal when device batteries are low, hopefully after about 2weeks to upload GPS logged data and change device batteries</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Final recapture to remove our logging devices and to release animals unharmed.</span></div></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A few RF telemetry tags with 1-2km ground-level range have been purchased from Biotrack (see <a href="http://www.biotrack.co.uk/">www.biotrack.co.uk/</a> , now a part of </span><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.lotek.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.lotek.com</span></a></span></u><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">), specially adapted for attachment to a pangolin scale with an extra ground plane antenna added to increase range and a longer-life battery, see photos below of their single-celled PIP3 two-stage transmitter with AG386 (magnetic switch attached) and </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">of longer life, more powerful TW-3 transmitters that have now been designed for our pangolin project and produced by Biotrack, see below.</span></div></div><br />
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Sketches of two possible attachment options suggested by Sean and Sarah at Biotrack are below.<br />
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</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A ‘combination’ GPS-logger plus GPS-SMS real-time data reporting unit has been specially designed with our guidance for this application and the constraints of attachment, by an electronic expert in the specialist company CatTraq (<a href="http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/cattraq/">http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/cattraq/</a> ), see photo below and one attachment option. This combination unit’s design for pangolin tracking has been arrived at after many iterations between Paul and the electronics expert, Juergen Perthold.</span></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1ZNHrF2PUdiW_J0HJXz5QCyQC1fYiv7-p_9YVRCYJgVvpNI-SGToMilHpkuq0gU7VT1tGMPQ0DHUpLYRcTq51VxWbUZDd5bdjnLWYkoWxHRGrnhGVPruM431rqHA52LcauxuYmOngyw/s1600/Perthold_combo_unit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1ZNHrF2PUdiW_J0HJXz5QCyQC1fYiv7-p_9YVRCYJgVvpNI-SGToMilHpkuq0gU7VT1tGMPQ0DHUpLYRcTq51VxWbUZDd5bdjnLWYkoWxHRGrnhGVPruM431rqHA52LcauxuYmOngyw/s200/Perthold_combo_unit.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmA-LZSAqDr-j0OYRL7Yz64Ls8scsi5DMCQWFafOHuYLDstTs0hlGN-Dhb8fmqlfr7qkAExsg74vjtRG1FtvR6emXjCxwjCI5K8LEIwrUBtS3lKoy3R_uLSELYXy6idZBRIb_zPDVZ-c/s1600/Perthold_combo_system.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmA-LZSAqDr-j0OYRL7Yz64Ls8scsi5DMCQWFafOHuYLDstTs0hlGN-Dhb8fmqlfr7qkAExsg74vjtRG1FtvR6emXjCxwjCI5K8LEIwrUBtS3lKoy3R_uLSELYXy6idZBRIb_zPDVZ-c/s200/Perthold_combo_system.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div></div></span></span> </div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-33827639964128056592010-12-11T15:05:00.027+00:002010-12-23T10:27:04.416+00:00Start of Fieldwork Sept. 2010, a visit to NarrecAfter extensively testing the GSM and GPS functions of the three 'combination' tracking units made by Juergen Perthold, Paul arrived in Windhoek on September 17th for a first preparatory project visit.<br />
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An introductory visit was paid to Narrec, the Namibia Animal Rehabilitation Research and Education Centre just North of Windhoek run by Liz Komen. Liz has a special relationship with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.The primary focus of the Non-Profit centre is to provide professional care and rehabilitation facilities for injured, orphaned and misplaced wildlife in order to facilitate their release back into the wild. (see <a href="http://www.orusovo.com/narrec/">http://www.orusovo.com/narrec/</a> ) <br />
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Their work often involves birds of prey, some of which Paul was shown by volunteer Narrec staff, Rose and Marsha during a tour of their aviaries.<br />
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Liz also has many years of expert experience in relocating and releasing pangolins that have been given into her care after being rescued from illegal possession or after injury: over the past 20 years Narrec has received about 40 pangolins. In each case the animals were confiscated from very badly managed environments. She has also been alerting the public of the threats to the pangolin species. (Read her <a href="http://www.orusovo.com/narrec/Articles/Article11.htm">article on 'Pangolins and TRAFFIC'</a> )<br />
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Paul discussed the plans for our Pangolin Research project with Liz and her husband, Joris, learning more about the background on pangolins in Namibia. The situation with respect to their mistreatment or killing for sale to traditional healers has deteriorated. Sadly, they fetch a high black market price reputed to be of around N$10k (~ $US1500). <br />
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After a very constructive meeting, we have agreed to collaborate closely with Liz during our research project, e.g. on tracking rescued animals and especially later in improving the education about pangolins and getting them to be more respected.</div></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-47271207442849093552010-12-11T15:02:00.117+00:002010-12-23T14:32:48.469+00:00Basic Training in RF TelemetryUsing a Yagi directional antenna on a radio receiver tuned to the frequency of a small RF transmitter attached to an animal or bird is a standard approach for tracking wildlife. However, the method still requires some practice to locate the transmitter at the limits of its range. Paul became familiar with the equipment, using the 3 lower-power PIP tags purchased from Biotrack which have an extra ground plane antenna to increase their range. Some range experiments were done, with the RF tags at ground level on a rock, successively walking increasing distances on the flat from them with the Yagi and receiver, but also each time climbing the hilly outcrop in the centre of the South part of Mundulea (see view from the hill below): good exercise!<br />
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The detectable range obtained of about 400m on the flat was disappointing, given that pangolins can amble further distances in a day (or night!). Of course, slight rises in the terrain, rocks or stones will block the RF signals near ground level. More useful detection ranges of up to about 2km were found to obtainable from the hillside and top. (Subsequently, we have had longer-battery life, increased range TW-3 tags made by Biotrack for our pangolin application) Like other RF communication methods, a pangolin would have to be above ground, out of its usual daytime burrow to be detected this way. <br />
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The custom electronics tracking 'combos' which Juergen has specially developed allow one to interrogate the unit's GPS location over a cellular GSM network, getting the coordinates back via an SMS message (That is, if the unit is above ground, GPS signals have been acquired and the GSM network has been found). Two Namibian mobile network providers, MTC and LEO, reach Mundulea. However, their coverage of the Reserve is unfortunately patchy. Areas with better mobile reception were therefore investigated. The functioning of 3 combos tested out well with both MTC and LEO SIM cards inserted, having turned off the SIM cards' locking codes.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Places where they have scratched out ants or termites to eat are more characteristic, showing the neat marks of their claws and perhaps a trace of their tail when it has been used to counterbalance the digging. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0TMAwgJQG0nwkgxDyo_ZddoJwri2Hs1h7k0qOqOzr7-koSx-7bL_Fc93U_iyc6refRplkQilTw_uHTQXT75cixgy47Ai7HuLd5DpYYdxsDCwMdBw_fFbPHpTIWMcwoPO-7K-xw2o3WI/s1600/Img_9866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0TMAwgJQG0nwkgxDyo_ZddoJwri2Hs1h7k0qOqOzr7-koSx-7bL_Fc93U_iyc6refRplkQilTw_uHTQXT75cixgy47Ai7HuLd5DpYYdxsDCwMdBw_fFbPHpTIWMcwoPO-7K-xw2o3WI/s320/Img_9866.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">However, even these feeding sites can be difficult to distinguish from those of other animals such as honey badgers or porcupines, and their recency is difficult to read unless you are an expert in tracking. We therefore decided to engage a San Bushman game tracker to assist in mapping out some preferred pangolin territories in the Mundulea reserve, hoping of course to capture a specimen for tagging.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After an 800km round trip back to Windhoek to rent a town car, Paul drove from Mundulea to the Nyae Nyae Conservancy Office in Tsumkwe to pick up an expert tracker there who had agreed to help us in the hunt for pangolins. Driving distances in Namibia are always large. The remote community of Tsumkwe near the Botswana border lies about 390km from Mundulea, the last 250km being the dreaded C44.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLc-vqUCDZsyxo42pBqbcb8dqiBLJAR2SILb1SlMuBJNJj7JuLp90XIEUQusm4Cs2fhFGKrehZ-iTb8oFMj3JJaeZ4APGPquuOySdPp7kkkel10IL_dBak6d-D6oDqeVllQNhx3OQDxU/s1600/Img_9724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLc-vqUCDZsyxo42pBqbcb8dqiBLJAR2SILb1SlMuBJNJj7JuLp90XIEUQusm4Cs2fhFGKrehZ-iTb8oFMj3JJaeZ4APGPquuOySdPp7kkkel10IL_dBak6d-D6oDqeVllQNhx3OQDxU/s200/Img_9724.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9LEBB5aZLfaS0hUwVWyc_RJCIILg5BrjIOB2OyLNjh0tL4YpPknJMs7roy9eLOSQa-pwI_wiqLvmJ-tbJ1kRIY-PxWNLy00f3dkGb5tSrvWqw-ftZ-KR9oedM_Omt5OwTaH_eR7llXs/s1600/Img_9729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9LEBB5aZLfaS0hUwVWyc_RJCIILg5BrjIOB2OyLNjh0tL4YpPknJMs7roy9eLOSQa-pwI_wiqLvmJ-tbJ1kRIY-PxWNLy00f3dkGb5tSrvWqw-ftZ-KR9oedM_Omt5OwTaH_eR7llXs/s200/Img_9729.jpg" width="200" /></a> <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This 4hr long straight gravel road due East to the border needs quite some patience and concentration with only a 2-wheel drive prone to sliding. (In two round trips to Tsumkwe, Paul only came off the road once, fortunately without damage or injury!). At Tsumkwe, the San Bushman tracker, !ho <span style="font-family: Georgia;">||</span>nani (John Nani) from the nearby village of Da<span style="font-family: Georgia;">||</span>ua was met at the Conservancy Office. There was just enough time before sunset to drive 40 km back on the C44 and another very tricky 40km North on a soft sandy road to the the Nhoma Camp to surprise an old friend Arno there, watch some of the nearby Bushman villagers dancing around the campfire and enjoy the hospitality of one of Arno's palatial tourist tents for the night.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nhoma San Bushmen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVJAvqGU9g4VAT-I6E4dcYwZ-xqMpyrA2BLLgqJCH4HJDolEFsm1dxCUMahkyAUuBEYZ7MV0Dav5R8iCVCoUje_LJCOFjAKGB0vM6_toOgU-Mh7y6f-aN0wvWZwil9ELobvNzPn1Agsk/s1600/Img_9879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVJAvqGU9g4VAT-I6E4dcYwZ-xqMpyrA2BLLgqJCH4HJDolEFsm1dxCUMahkyAUuBEYZ7MV0Dav5R8iCVCoUje_LJCOFjAKGB0vM6_toOgU-Mh7y6f-aN0wvWZwil9ELobvNzPn1Agsk/s200/Img_9879.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">!ho <span style="font-family: Georgia;">||</span>nani (John Nani) </td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The following day, Paul returned - with only one puncture - to Tsumkwe, to collect John for the long drive back together to Grootfontein and then back to Mundulea. Luckily, there was still some petrol at the only fuelling station in Tsumkwe to fill up for the C44 return run.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmX_R4Mj308RnBe_iYh4fAfMKW6uaNNxPVuyoPt74vvNFuQHNihyphenhyphenqC6EiYKjJwNfJx3f0Oq3Gu0308es7x8SSMkBP9dOi8oRc823inAWcojMYBHrxKp6jG-ym3teAM4sa2UzocY1t73g/s1600/Img_9767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmX_R4Mj308RnBe_iYh4fAfMKW6uaNNxPVuyoPt74vvNFuQHNihyphenhyphenqC6EiYKjJwNfJx3f0Oq3Gu0308es7x8SSMkBP9dOi8oRc823inAWcojMYBHrxKp6jG-ym3teAM4sa2UzocY1t73g/s200/Img_9767.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxerOouMDwSGLOWCNoNsVhtXdJFaJZ5kWF8FI3pUf94AMuNMqXlKzyGBXZY5m2Dm-m_SFAuUYECXn90T1w4UOXu3ifPCJH5JzEgnIQdwSJQhqkbhe5w6IMDWNS1Oztl0eS7Xbjjfq9caI/s1600/Img_9775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxerOouMDwSGLOWCNoNsVhtXdJFaJZ5kWF8FI3pUf94AMuNMqXlKzyGBXZY5m2Dm-m_SFAuUYECXn90T1w4UOXu3ifPCJH5JzEgnIQdwSJQhqkbhe5w6IMDWNS1Oztl0eS7Xbjjfq9caI/s200/Img_9775.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div></div></div></div></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-30375711620491676692010-12-11T14:55:00.024+00:002011-01-01T18:01:35.208+00:00Mapping Pangolin Feeding Sites in MunduleaA latitude and longitude-gridded GPS map of the Mundulea Reserve, incorporating accurate boundaries, roads and feature coordinates, both from GoogleEarth and from another ongoing study on acacia species was prepared by Paul before the preparatory work in Sept 2010. This is very useful for planning activities on the pangolin and other research projects.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Using Bruno's bushcamp near the hill in the centre of the southern part of the Reserve as a base, walking surveys of likely pangolin habitats were planned. We of course hoped to track down an animal for RF tagging, but also to map out the territories where pangolin ant and termite feeding traces could be found, assessing their recency and activity levels. Four sandy zones or 'islands' between more rocky country were outlined for the survey.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tracking team: Tim, Paul and John</td></tr>
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The tracking team - John, Tim (Timotheus Andreas, an assistant on the Reserve) and Paul then spent several days systematically walking back and forth either along N-S or E-W paths to sample these zones. If John identified the pangolin markings as very recently-made, then a localized search in a spiral fashion around the site for other new feeding sites was made.</div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOhz6afWwt5PZESiGT-zvzZhqIgE-pq4Emu2KWtrECPDAjZV-sVu2T_-1W78bgEL9BbzndRF-wJkI2OaDABe8yJYkXiDFzZmyTZLm8cy1w6xOeFQonWGv8u73aggvdB6SCl3pq1_b7cM/s1600/Img_9841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOhz6afWwt5PZESiGT-zvzZhqIgE-pq4Emu2KWtrECPDAjZV-sVu2T_-1W78bgEL9BbzndRF-wJkI2OaDABe8yJYkXiDFzZmyTZLm8cy1w6xOeFQonWGv8u73aggvdB6SCl3pq1_b7cM/s320/Img_9841.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Markings two days old, showing 2 small paw prints and the tail trace</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Whenever a pangolin feeding site could be definitely identified from the marks made by other animals, its recency was assessed and its position logged using a Garmin GPS. Fresh marking were also photographed. More than 200 such sites were logged in total, walking about 65km for the survey. Some pangolin activity estimates to compare the zones were calculated in terms of the average number of feeding sites found per km sampled within the zone.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Pangolins often sleep during the day in the deep burrows or warrens made by big aardvark 'excavators'. So these dens were also investigated for signs of recent pangolin residency.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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One aardvark hole seemed to have pangolin tracks less than a day old in its entrance. After photographs, the entry ground was cleaned and smoothed out, so that any new tracks would be clearly revealed. John and Paul returned to this spot at 4pm hoping to capture the pangolin when it emerged at night to sniff out termites and ants. They kept a silent vigil nearby through the end of the day until about 11pm, using a infrared night sight to monitor the hole, but unfortunately without success. No fresh tracks were found a day later at the entrance, so the pangolin responsible must have already left, or mischievously found another exit burrow from the aardvark warren.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aardvark hole with recent markings</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1CywFC7-2g1KjjxKQwrauA7GPez5j8iYXRQDaLJIWMwAWFfYhlgdg1TeN0KjWRF5JC5gDgV3-DJLtPy3uCUDD4LbcBNNjZ610cSocdsoe5DAHdI-kHI1rUltofssE-jdcxyowrZQfzSs/s1600/Img_9840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1CywFC7-2g1KjjxKQwrauA7GPez5j8iYXRQDaLJIWMwAWFfYhlgdg1TeN0KjWRF5JC5gDgV3-DJLtPy3uCUDD4LbcBNNjZ610cSocdsoe5DAHdI-kHI1rUltofssE-jdcxyowrZQfzSs/s200/Img_9840.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting the vigil</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Despite evidence of much pangolin activity and even several feeding sites discovered in two of the sandy zones which were only 1 or 2 days old, sadly the pangolins remained elusive- to the disappointment especially of John, an expert bush tracker. As a pangolin probably browses over a few km in a day (night) and their territory is likely to be several sqr. km, locating one is certainly like finding a needle in a haystack! If disturbed above ground, they would keep very still in the undergrowth and be difficult to spot. Perhaps there were times when a pangolin was only tens of metres away, watching the survey team! Pangolins are notoriously difficult to find, even bush-hardened rangers go years without seeing one. Most human encounters seem to be by chance when they have been spotted crossing a path or road.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Eventually, time ran out to find a pangolin during this ~3 week preparatory field trip. Paul took John back home, parting as good friends, both hoping that his skills can help our project again. The round trip to Tsumkwe was made this time in a single very long day of driving. Arriving at Tsumkwe to find that the pumps were empty, no petrol having been delivered to the fuelling station there since the last visit, it was very fortunate that the Nyae Nyae Conservancy Office kindly spared some for the return leg! Mundulea was reached just in time to drive the last rough kms up to the Mundulea farmhouse, spotting a herd of wildebeast at sunset.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-73282782833642967022010-12-11T14:50:00.005+00:002010-12-31T20:02:26.694+00:00Results of Pangolin Feeding Site SurveyAn overview GPS map using Garmin's MapSource software of all the pangolin feeding sites identified in the four sandy zones surveyed in Mundulea is shown below. The zones are outlined in grey, with some other landmarks added for reference. Each feeding site (or local cluster of several) is shown as a green star along the walked tracks. A few prominent aardvark warrens of the many encountered are marked with red triangles. The sites ranged from one day old to a few months old (i.e. after the previous rains). As expected statistically, most of the sites found were old, i.e. made more than a week previously. More detailed maps can be made, highlighting the recency information that was recorded.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAFxa2a3LF4v5_QaOo5q4jgb8K4Fhij0x3GbyjkW6k4jdCmS4yPhVR7Z5E01rL-GHf4xN4XomiyxpNH99hETM0HrqK1PkPYyxn2P381yX-A-HDxsdlr3mkBM_MESz6txR9645Qkjgprw/s1600/Overview+of+Mundulea+pangolin+feeding+site+survey+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAFxa2a3LF4v5_QaOo5q4jgb8K4Fhij0x3GbyjkW6k4jdCmS4yPhVR7Z5E01rL-GHf4xN4XomiyxpNH99hETM0HrqK1PkPYyxn2P381yX-A-HDxsdlr3mkBM_MESz6txR9645Qkjgprw/s640/Overview+of+Mundulea+pangolin+feeding+site+survey+2010.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>To get an idea of the relative pangolin activity in the different zones, averages of the number of feeding sites found per km walked were calculated. (Of course the longer the distance walked, the more likely statistically it is that feeding sites will be found). As pangolins tend to be solitary, we can speculate that the activity is due to about 3-4 individuals.<br />
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The maps help us start to understand the preferred pangolin areas and begin a correlation with geological and botanical information. In the long term we would like to relate pangolin activity in such semi-arid savannahs with that of its prey species, working with expert entomologists. Of course, the availability, activity and depth at which prey are to be found depend both on the Namibian season, the amount of recent rain and the particular species of ant and termites. Pangolins only forage the surface and do not dig deep for food. During the cold Namibian winter (~June-July), Cape Pangolins hibernate underground in burrows.Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-37533483629196109462010-12-11T14:45:00.023+00:002012-02-22T15:51:54.032+00:00Discovering Our First Pangolin, Oct 30th 2010<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As luck would have it, on October 30th just 3 weeks after Paul returned to the UK from his field trip, Tim was out walking when he spotted a large pangolin looking at him! Despite cutting his fingers on its sharp scales, he managed to capture it. The large pangolin was a male and in very good condition, weighing 8.6kg.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Unfortunately there were some initial problems with the long-battery life RF tags, so we couldn't immediately tag and re-release the pangolin. We tried to keep the pangolin for a while inside a workshop on the Reserve, even taking it for 'walks' to feed in ant and termite country. However, as mentioned on Wikipedia, these animals are well known 'escape artists' - it soon managed to tunnel through the thin concrete floor into the basement - see the photos below! Anyone considering keeping a pangolin in captivity should realize there are big problems in their enclosure and husbandry. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbjSbSuIKZTsnhCSn-EY48v9MzkN6n1YtEruNVCQPOtkXSMtKcgtX3N4kFMZfBpPPBWWGz38tfpTu_i2p7UXSuFTDReBK8_9LV-FWvx0fuPu__cOTlsidN2kJonj5wqXcsMRJGt1_AHU/s1600/Pangolin+project+032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbjSbSuIKZTsnhCSn-EY48v9MzkN6n1YtEruNVCQPOtkXSMtKcgtX3N4kFMZfBpPPBWWGz38tfpTu_i2p7UXSuFTDReBK8_9LV-FWvx0fuPu__cOTlsidN2kJonj5wqXcsMRJGt1_AHU/s200/Pangolin+project+032.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_jRNuSkiMtSTcBzP4vEWfXu2iMHJfw1SS_3Xrm1eJ-7n9nGKHUpkDyXed8p66aLWupi4HdpFtVgXA9c9gO2UAPQFHOZgIsPHP2NldkRko4iwnEMOYKRdxB7UOobAu4y3olcyRs2nuHQ/s1600/Pangolin+project+031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_jRNuSkiMtSTcBzP4vEWfXu2iMHJfw1SS_3Xrm1eJ-7n9nGKHUpkDyXed8p66aLWupi4HdpFtVgXA9c9gO2UAPQFHOZgIsPHP2NldkRko4iwnEMOYKRdxB7UOobAu4y3olcyRs2nuHQ/s200/Pangolin+project+031.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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Because of the great difficulties of adequately feeding a pangolin in captivity, the pangolin had to be released before new corrected tags arrived by courier in Namibia to attach to the animal. We want to get some experience in building ant traps for their preferred prey, as has been successfully done for Asian pangolins, before trying again.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv67swkjlkLZgH-9d4sMdh6XhEt2M6DHo_53iY6GUe3KYIJEW_jXBJl9JvG4CIQNUW0R2mP_G6Z_G48BjCZLsUlbPNYXWUgtx_8C0ryv424creBbPjQ5SLL9qW_gcJbtWOSZN_UQuvrMw/s1600/Pangolin+project+057+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv67swkjlkLZgH-9d4sMdh6XhEt2M6DHo_53iY6GUe3KYIJEW_jXBJl9JvG4CIQNUW0R2mP_G6Z_G48BjCZLsUlbPNYXWUgtx_8C0ryv424creBbPjQ5SLL9qW_gcJbtWOSZN_UQuvrMw/s200/Pangolin+project+057+crop.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtgtUhT1rJoux32uU4v6NAAB6dZ_lJ5gc1D2rrOsmYjTV-B_3yBZe2w5fxjMxBBmvs-F4KddYFoYxtz2rjaPMFHMyv1HcKcaRCIQf6HGDcpGWjFlLvzGloVzw8eN6Yem3mHGr4wzPvEs/s1600/Pangolin+in+full+flight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtgtUhT1rJoux32uU4v6NAAB6dZ_lJ5gc1D2rrOsmYjTV-B_3yBZe2w5fxjMxBBmvs-F4KddYFoYxtz2rjaPMFHMyv1HcKcaRCIQf6HGDcpGWjFlLvzGloVzw8eN6Yem3mHGr4wzPvEs/s200/Pangolin+in+full+flight.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Photos in this blog post are courtesy of Graham Higgs</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So Tim's pangolin trundled off into the sunset in good condition. We hope to encounter it again one day in Mundulea: it should be recognizable by the wear patterns of its scales.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGxBlXWpqwpf9e2T1jdeF2tUz-rOxObr3qVpzhZzJZ9g45w4IFqkFOdwNdtyZ1WfnENvjEHQ67Zhpv8iVP7L8rk3Kgr5fA28gK823_W4Pp1siWUugiZRHho6hN5Zw_3BMIyvM7eZzdYc/s1600/Pangolin+project+052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGxBlXWpqwpf9e2T1jdeF2tUz-rOxObr3qVpzhZzJZ9g45w4IFqkFOdwNdtyZ1WfnENvjEHQ67Zhpv8iVP7L8rk3Kgr5fA28gK823_W4Pp1siWUugiZRHho6hN5Zw_3BMIyvM7eZzdYc/s320/Pangolin+project+052.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> ** </span><a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-11T14%3A45%3A00Z&max-results=20"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on ''Older Posts'' below or click here to read our continuing story in 2011</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">or </span><a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-11T13:00:00Z&max-results=20&start=14&by-date=false"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click here to read the latest posts to this blog</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> **</span></span></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-18540438086340014982010-12-11T14:40:00.010+00:002012-02-22T15:37:11.618+00:00Waiting for the Next Pangolin, Jan 1st 2011<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(This blog is written in sections with the latest posts at the end. </span><a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #993200; font-size: x-small;">Click here to jump to the start </span></a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">, <br />
c<a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-11T13:00:00Z&max-results=20&start=14&by-date=false">lick here to read the latest posts</a>, or select from the archive index in the right hand column</span>)</span></span></div><br />
We now have suitable RF tags with a longer transmission range, posture sensing and a battery life of over a year. These are ready in Mundulea to attach to the next pangolin we find, or to a rescued animal from elsewhere in Namibia which is being relocated. Once the animal is tagged, we then can track it using the standard Yagi receiver method, of course with the difficulties of being on foot in the bush with potentially dangerous animals at night.<br />
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But we also have the possibility of re-capturing the tagged pangolin to study its movements in much more detail with additional automatic GPS logging units, such as those made by Juergen Perthold, or of deploying camera traps near its dens etc. Having a GPS log of an animal's track means that we can subsequently follow its path, e.g. to assess the habitats and insect species that it visited, set up camera traps or look for signs of its encounters with other pangolins.<br />
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Between October and mid-December 2010, exceptionally good rains of over 300mm had fallen in Mundulea. The ants and termites are active, and so therefore are the pangolins. However, the high grasses and vegetation cover are also rapidly growing, making the tracking of low ground animals challenging: patience is the key to pangolin research!Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-85505328788283320382010-12-11T14:35:00.010+00:002011-06-30T13:08:32.390+01:00Onghaka! Mar-Apr 2011- another pangolin is rescued and released('Onghaka' is oshi-owambo for 'pangolin') In the last days of March 2011 a young 'teenage' male pangolin was rescued near Windhoek by Liz Komen, founder of <a href="http://www.narrec.net/">NARREC</a>, the Namibia Animal Rehabilitation Research & Education Centre, which provides a special support service to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> For some </span>time they have had experience in pangolin rehabilitation and a concern for the species, see e.g. her recent article <span style="font-family: inherit;">'</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.orusovo.com/narrec/Articles/Article22.htm">Pangolins endangered by international trade'</a>.</span></em></span></span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We are indebted to Liz who very kindly brought the animal (which at about 4.3kg and 43cm long was about half the size of the large male we found at the end of October 2010)a long distance to the Mundulea sanctuary for release. Using one of our latest Biotrack TW-3 RF tags described earlier in this blog, she tagged the animal with the assistance of Graham Higgs and Timotheus Andreas - see photos below. Fitting even a small RF tag on a pangolin without distressing the animal, restricting its activity or the way that its sharp scales slide over each other is not at all easy. Some small trims were made to one scale to attach the device, and to an adjacent scale. Further improvements e.g. with flatter bolt heads and a more robust casing will be tried next time.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNM2bNTieLvlpbrVEtwysp6WTLlQzwo5KKnTWZeJEUwZ6K3kOzxUx-25RT4u8rfM3zLvc9OVE0YIKP_pleGC89k4Lmg9PgZoylptGZQZIPVnYJh1UDpzewuCdWYBC3i76tR4F-XiFp5o/s1600/IMG_1724_lores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNM2bNTieLvlpbrVEtwysp6WTLlQzwo5KKnTWZeJEUwZ6K3kOzxUx-25RT4u8rfM3zLvc9OVE0YIKP_pleGC89k4Lmg9PgZoylptGZQZIPVnYJh1UDpzewuCdWYBC3i76tR4F-XiFp5o/s200/IMG_1724_lores.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZDyiKW7vUCeQHdrsKD83xyaud0kOmXm2Eh325Rp0kv38GR5DdApV3AzH00iCE-lMjsA5yJ-klNbg7S5fNrq7vVYtiBpQE1Qs7RUUTLdiiKt5PDnnBTVunk6K2fyQ14SxBgqc17VYCrU/s1600/IMG_1727_lores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZDyiKW7vUCeQHdrsKD83xyaud0kOmXm2Eh325Rp0kv38GR5DdApV3AzH00iCE-lMjsA5yJ-klNbg7S5fNrq7vVYtiBpQE1Qs7RUUTLdiiKt5PDnnBTVunk6K2fyQ14SxBgqc17VYCrU/s200/IMG_1727_lores.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photos in this blog post are courtesy of Liz Komen, Narrec. Note: <span style="color: purple;">Click on any image in the blog to enlarge it</span>)</span><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Despite the heavy rain and high vegetation cover, the pangolin named 'Kasupi' was successfully tagged released in the Reserve on March 29th, see below.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWonZsK96v8SbYkPDb_FLKUHq508NPaqKXNR6JM-1EDRctoZcdCWIg0kc2ad2kxCiTAOmKKeWIkYxCDmPD-MDkhtz9T7uSWH1OmahheGPVwNWNQmaLVraubx_RO0FSWKJ_UB0lSlxV-s/s1600/IMG_1735_lores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWonZsK96v8SbYkPDb_FLKUHq508NPaqKXNR6JM-1EDRctoZcdCWIg0kc2ad2kxCiTAOmKKeWIkYxCDmPD-MDkhtz9T7uSWH1OmahheGPVwNWNQmaLVraubx_RO0FSWKJ_UB0lSlxV-s/s200/IMG_1735_lores.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicE4x2s4wZEzsJnrpQNxNWA5TGYR90ISBVGHTy7l_cgWGYrP1zgOIED3lYZzwI3i1OvNLMORWZXYsKEcqgh0_tJye85tZSim8xNkWbNNAo8CJKuk6st6SA5_3U9JxjN5QSGBRqQfc0FyI/s1600/IMG_1739_lores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicE4x2s4wZEzsJnrpQNxNWA5TGYR90ISBVGHTy7l_cgWGYrP1zgOIED3lYZzwI3i1OvNLMORWZXYsKEcqgh0_tJye85tZSim8xNkWbNNAo8CJKuk6st6SA5_3U9JxjN5QSGBRqQfc0FyI/s200/IMG_1739_lores.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-30846831547054358522010-12-11T14:30:00.012+00:002018-03-24T17:03:45.926+00:00Tracking the pangolin 'Kasupi' after release<div align="left">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A radio signal from Kasupi's tag was picked up again a few days after the pangolin's release and tracked for a week by Debbie Shaw and Tim Andreas. This tag has a posture switch which sets the RF emision rate to either 45 or 60 pulses per minute, depending on whether the tag is tilted to one side or the other, so helping to distinguish the animal's movement versus resting. The pangolin was found to progressively head 1-2 km a day into a good ant-feeding area which had we surveyed in detail last year as a sandy zone showing many traces of pangolin foraging activity. There, with a good food supply, it seemed to take up residence.</span></div>
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The tag worked well, its RF transmissions being picked up on a receiver more than 2km away. The higher that the Yagi operator can get, the better the chance of detection. As demonstrated in the photos below, Tim was therefore keen to get to a better elevation with the aerial!</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Photos in this blog post are courtesy of Debbie Shaw and Graham Higgs. Note: <span style="color: purple;">Click on any image in the blog to enlarge it</span>)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHmjwwTHJfVHW65JXN1zb3XmBCdDca3UuJVQQwdf1qWP4p3fNuklYocZ6rM_bTW2PuMfvYja9EEs_aU-jw4b0efrx8K0gTASOVrwiRNy7hjptePBd98ZrHSgtjK17gQkGREdbrGZClxA/s1600/Img_1304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHmjwwTHJfVHW65JXN1zb3XmBCdDca3UuJVQQwdf1qWP4p3fNuklYocZ6rM_bTW2PuMfvYja9EEs_aU-jw4b0efrx8K0gTASOVrwiRNy7hjptePBd98ZrHSgtjK17gQkGREdbrGZClxA/s200/Img_1304.jpg" true="" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVFz0RMVYSmrPM4IqqyiTomml9em4ukZn_b-8j2teGneyiTgN9mkrD_6p8dew9eLpQ9K_HEW4WHjszng-uAd6Yq6Okbirnz1bQPRPSgtd-BqAAbkONly2sOV80sLf89BSpfhfvL4J7ds/s1600/Img_1309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" i="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVFz0RMVYSmrPM4IqqyiTomml9em4ukZn_b-8j2teGneyiTgN9mkrD_6p8dew9eLpQ9K_HEW4WHjszng-uAd6Yq6Okbirnz1bQPRPSgtd-BqAAbkONly2sOV80sLf89BSpfhfvL4J7ds/s200/Img_1309.jpg" true="" width="200" /></a> </div>
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Even when the pangolin was down a large deep aardvark burrow, the RF signals were still detectable, though despite trying hard the animal might still not be spotted inside with a light!</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Given the daily downpours in April 2011, plus the heavy resulting growth of vegetation cover(see below) , visual sightings of the pangolin without the RF tag would have been impossible.</span><br />
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Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-41635233172202423432010-12-11T14:25:00.007+00:002018-03-24T17:09:18.671+00:00Some videos of the pangolin foraging<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Photos in this blog post are courtesy of Debbie Shaw)</span><br />
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The pangolin 'Kasupi' seemed to be a late afternoon forager, making it easier to follow and observe before darkness. Dr. Debbie Shaw took a few short videos of the pangolin about a week after release, hunting for ants which can be viewed on our YouTube channel, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/PangolinResearch">http://www.youtube.com/user/PangolinResearch</a><br />
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Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-49344709428670583182010-12-11T14:20:00.012+00:002018-03-24T17:08:27.063+00:00The difficulty with RF tagging of pangolins<div class="separator" style="border-image: none; border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: left;">
While the RF performance of the radio tag used on Kasupi was very satisfactory and the tag's size and weight were not a problem, its ruggedness needs further improvement. A Cape Pangolin uses the scales on its back to abrade the walls of burrows to enlarge its den, sleeping curled up in an armoured ball (as shown in the photos below deep in a aardvark hole). The flexible trailing antennae from the tag can therefore become bent, although the RF transmission was not impaired.</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Photos in this blog post are courtesy of Debbie Shaw)</span><br />
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After a week of attachment, treatment in this way and pushing through heavy undergrowth, wear to the front and top of the tag was evident despite it still working electrically, with a fracture appearing between the hard and softer parts of the encapsulation, see below.<br />
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Unfortunately, signals from the tag were lost a few days afterwards - we speculate that water from the torrential downpours at that time might have got into the tag and affected the electrical functioning. We are continuing to search for the pangolin and check for any tag transmissions as the dry season starts. Meanwhile tags with a more rugged outer casing design and allowing better attachment position have been manufactured by Biotrack Ltd, UK after our discussions together, These weigh about 35g and are being shipped to Mundulea (see below). Our aim is a tag which will last for more than a year of pangolin use - matching the tag's battery life.<br />
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Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-19962288232648531692010-12-11T14:10:00.004+00:002011-09-20T23:14:49.921+01:00August 2011: Okulunu is taggedAnother pangolin in a very good condition was encountered by chance near the North of Mundulea on 2nd of August. This large female weighed in at 13.5kg, with body dimensions of length 102cm and a shoulder width of 54cm.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okulunu, about to be weighed</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Released with RF tag</td></tr>
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'Okulunu', the old one, was tagged using one of the latest ruggedized RF tags and released the following morning.Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-5389220342350085652010-12-11T14:00:00.084+00:002011-10-05T17:11:10.165+01:00Stievie's Story - The Wounded Warrior<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #fff9ee; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a recent <a href="http://bushwarriors.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/making-them-wild-again/">Bushwarriors’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>interview</a> at FreeMe’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">South Africa</place></country-region>, Nicci Wright talks about the cruel fate of pangolins caught for use in ‘Muti’, i.e. traditional African Bush Medicine. The interview describes the rescue and their rehabilitation of one pangolin and the need for follow-up monitoring after release.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #fff9ee; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #fff9ee; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During a full moon, wildlife poaching increases. One Namibian victim of the August 13<sup>th</sup> 2011 moon was a pangolin illegally caught for the Muti trade. Luckily, three nights later the animal was rescued in Katutura by a good Samaritan, but found to be in a very poor condition. About ten scales showed fresh raw edges where they had been chipped off for use by traditional healers to create concoctions for their patients. The healer keeps the poor animal alive, chipping more scales every time the patient needs another concoction, however pangolins are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity and eventually starve to death. In this case the pangolin suffering this barbaric treatment was recovered with ten scales chipped off, one missing and deep wounds as well, perhaps from a spear used to extract it from its burrow, or from wire used to restrain it which had cut under its scales. Its wounds were already crawling with maggots. Pangolins are not easy to treat but it was not too severely starved. It was judged to have a reasonable chance if released when its wounds were healing before it lost too much weight. </span><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=28&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=86021&no_cache=1">Liz Komen of Narrec describes more in her article for The Namibian of 18 August</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #fff9ee; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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and deep wound</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2GzpowAwdIXNwDjyV-TY4URQDpCSmEnXrWjCwkxhnO-ScMCPuCxF_jNRqnNrI3uj6_qtHJB0f2AVy-M2FuMMIYfdcaIrSUiZLbQvrsDscNCACw7DNnkAQsNJsO5CNqLhpA4d2FmTbuE/s1600/Stievie+waking+up+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2GzpowAwdIXNwDjyV-TY4URQDpCSmEnXrWjCwkxhnO-ScMCPuCxF_jNRqnNrI3uj6_qtHJB0f2AVy-M2FuMMIYfdcaIrSUiZLbQvrsDscNCACw7DNnkAQsNJsO5CNqLhpA4d2FmTbuE/s200/Stievie+waking+up+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stievie released with RF tag</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photos in this blog post were taken by Bruno Nebe)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><span class="messagebodytranslationeligibleusermessage"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="messagebodytranslationeligibleusermessage"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This pangolin, named ‘Stievie’ (i.e. the wounded warrior) was taken By Liz Komen to the Mundulea sanctuary, tagged with an RF transmitter and released on August 19<sup>th</sup> in an area known to be suitable for pangolins’ ants. It was tracked from a distance to minimize further stresses for about 20 days afterwards over 15km. Stievie seemed healthily recovering and finally settled for a while in a deep burrow about 5km from the point of release, perhaps where there was vacant territory. However, after some days of concern when it did not apparently move, it was unfortunately found to have died in the burrow. (The RF tag was recovered for reuse.) As much of its remains were eaten by a badger, cause of death is difficult to ascertain: whether it was predated, died of internal injuries, its trauma, poor eating or of the gastric ulcers that are sometimes found in poorly-kept pangolins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the project team is saddened by its fate.</span></span></span></div></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-72396422988931193992010-12-11T13:50:00.013+00:002011-10-06T14:31:16.122+01:00The Need for Monitoring and Follow-up Studies after Relocating PangolinsOct 6th 2011: Stievie's sad story in the previous post highlights the need for long-term tracking studies after relocating a rescued pangolin. Many questions need to be answered here for improving the conservation of all the pangolin species, yet only one previous study, and that on only a sample of three Cape Pangolins, has been found in the research literature, viz <span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Heath ME, Coulson IM (1997b) 'Preliminary studies on relocation<span class="ecxApple-converted-space"> </span>of Cape pangolins<span class="ecxApple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: ObliqueStraightPlain;">Manis temminckii.' </span></i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">S Afr<span class="ecxApple-converted-space"> </span>J. Wildlife Res 27: pp.51–56.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span">This paper posed many of the questions involved and noted that relocated pangolins have to be tracked for more than a month. (Heath and Coulson (1997) found that determining the size of the home range of a Cape Pangolin may take 85days). The i</span></span><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span">ssues remain unresolved, including:</span></span></span><br />
<ul><li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Time, stress and distance covered in establishing a fresh home territory</span></span></li>
<li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Differences between male and female (possibly gravid) pangolins</span></span></li>
<li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Possible impact of the new animals on the home territories and stress of any resident pangolins </span></span></li>
<li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Respect of scent territorial markers or resolution of territorial conflicts</span></span></li>
<li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mating betwen newcomers and the original stock </span></span></li>
<li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Possible transmission of disease or dilution of the genetic pool by the relocated animals</span></span></li>
<li><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Survival rates, depending on the animals' condition on release</span></span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's wonderful when a large number of live pangolins are rescued from the terrible trade to <country-region w:st="on">China</country-region> or <country-region w:st="on">Vietnam</country-region>, as recently in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Thailand</place></country-region> when nearly 100 were recovered (see </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/26/endangered-pangolins-rescued-thailand"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guardian, Sept 26th</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">). But, we must seriously wonder how and where the authorities will now try to release such a large number, whether they will do any follow-up monitoring studies on what happens to them, their survival rate or their disturbance to other existing resident pangolins, given that pangolins establish large home territories and suffer stress on bei<span class="text_exposed_show">ng moved to a new place. Many will doubtlessly be in a very poor condition, possibly infected, so this is a major challenge in deciding whether or not to try to keep & feed them back to health (very difficult) and where relocations are attempted.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There seems a urgent need for sound research and monitoring studies of post-release rescued animals, their establishment of new territories, interaction with resident pangolins and survival rates. In Vietnam a post-release study of relocated pangolins has at last been initiated by the </span><a href="http://www.carnivore-pangolin.org/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program</span></a> (CPCP) to develop international standard release guidelines and protocols for trade-confiscated Sunda pangolins. As outlined in their August 2011 CPCP newsletter, project activities include developing an environmental enrichment program in captivity, soft-release and monitored release into the wild. The project will produce release protocols for Sunda Pangolins which can then be used in <country-region w:st="on">Vietnam</country-region> and in <place w:st="on">South-east Asia</place>.Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-27787624442005537112010-12-11T13:45:00.016+00:002011-11-30T15:35:41.333+00:00Use of Camera Traps in Animal Conservation & Research<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A survey was made of different models and makes of the camera traps (trail cameras) that are available, mainly for the surveillance and game observation markets. These are ruggedised cameras which can automatically take photos or videos when triggered by infrared heat or movement detection, both in the daytime and at night using infra-red illumination. Some models enable still photos to be sent immediately over the Internet or via a GSM-picture message to a remote observer. There are several potential applications in the Mundulea Reserve, from improved security to increased interest for Turnstone Tours visitors, from game counting to animal habits and health monitoring. </span></div></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pangolins are usually asleep in burrows during the day<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, only emerging for a few hours to forage at dusk or at night. Even if a pangolin’s active den is revealed from its spoor, then a long vigil through the evening and night is needed until the animal emerges, not returning for some hours. Of course, if the presence of an observer is smelt or heard, the animal may change its behaviour patterns. Just knowing the foraging hours of a particular pangolin helps its tracking and behavioural observation enormously.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks to a generous donation by <span style="color: purple;">Mr. Gijsbert de Lange</span>, three different models were purchased for our project for an assessment and comparison of their features, detection sensitivity etc:</span></div></div></div></div></div><ul><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>The Scoutguard SG580M Wireless IR Scouting camera</strong></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">see </span><a href="http://www.bestgamecamera.com/products/ScoutGuard-SG580M.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.bestgamecamera.com/products/ScoutGuard-SG580M.html</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This model enables photos and daily summary records to be sent over GSM</span></span></li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>Spypoint IR-8 Trail camera</strong></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <br />
see </span><a href="http://www.trailcampro.com/spypointir-8.aspx"><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">http://www.trailcampro.com/spypointir-8.aspx</span></a></span></span></li>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>UWAY Night Trakker NT50B IR</strong></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Vrinda; mso-bidi-language: #AC45; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">see </span><a href="http://www.trailcampro.com/uwaynighttrakkernt50bir.aspx"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.trailcampro.com/uwaynighttrakkernt50bir.aspx</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This model features a 'black flash' for invisible IR flash photography</span></span></span></span></li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emiel de Lange, a pre-university, gap year student joined the team at Mundulea during October and November 2011 (Read his personal account of his time in Africa and work at Mundulea on his blog, </span><a href="http://emielkaza.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://emielkaza.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) Emiel tested these camera traps at different waterholes in Mundulea. The Scoutguard and Spypoint cameras performed well (the latter gave the best quality images), but some white-out and black-out and sensitivity problems were experienced with the third, the Uway camera. Unfortunately, due to limitations of the local MTC GSM network in terms of coverage and MMS message handling, the Scoutguard's remote transmission features have not yet been exploited. Readers may like to enjoy below a sample slide-show from hundreds of high-quality photos that were captured each night. The latter could form the start of a Mundulea image database for other animal research and conservation knowledge.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLy3NmzJEhHh6Cs7oLXNEpYnYaktHHCQX7Y6fV3v_YpqHw2K3B2vr50E0XWGHTP0OSrl4Z7dBcyPkdzM1kmkJk5vI5bxaQEt9kaOTTz2j5kYp25lW_ZORKcxGeQw4n6HYFsh4ZY6KBaR0/s1600/Imag0105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLy3NmzJEhHh6Cs7oLXNEpYnYaktHHCQX7Y6fV3v_YpqHw2K3B2vr50E0XWGHTP0OSrl4Z7dBcyPkdzM1kmkJk5vI5bxaQEt9kaOTTz2j5kYp25lW_ZORKcxGeQw4n6HYFsh4ZY6KBaR0/s200/Imag0105.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFU78Im98zlOVPEbs06_MgWxyL-ZBrpXnvdsQW2aNvhRQJGTc9u4N14i2tGlRsPAJjqLNYETi2kf1Ln7KTIJjGZmTZUwLwZpBFRIVjRO09sGnhiskvafvjBP-3tYGHqARW5866kDbXUY0/s1600/Pict0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFU78Im98zlOVPEbs06_MgWxyL-ZBrpXnvdsQW2aNvhRQJGTc9u4N14i2tGlRsPAJjqLNYETi2kf1Ln7KTIJjGZmTZUwLwZpBFRIVjRO09sGnhiskvafvjBP-3tYGHqARW5866kDbXUY0/s200/Pict0005.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXS2mLMzuuv43jJbDzzXrJpi6-a69lIwTrlNKxBeA2gyltwUehrVXMQn2jz2yxfcliWGFUuGRy5hEYoYtHJQIa7BrdCJSFyb1n_FTQUx83jv9e7QXRfObuhp0tQrW9kJGpBKR6mL1vB8/s1600/Imag0091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXS2mLMzuuv43jJbDzzXrJpi6-a69lIwTrlNKxBeA2gyltwUehrVXMQn2jz2yxfcliWGFUuGRy5hEYoYtHJQIa7BrdCJSFyb1n_FTQUx83jv9e7QXRfObuhp0tQrW9kJGpBKR6mL1vB8/s200/Imag0091.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdctds8raLCQLaO8hrDqqdQPU96c-Aw_7MPLZaDwEIlDwyLG0ZCvTtgGqA_AR5B1bWeYCKtjbtlrx4g9q0i0zmMUMkLHuJrOeWhtRAm9ChfCu_sRpZ5u_7H0u44K4r99_7zWv4oZL3Pg/s1600/Pict0341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdctds8raLCQLaO8hrDqqdQPU96c-Aw_7MPLZaDwEIlDwyLG0ZCvTtgGqA_AR5B1bWeYCKtjbtlrx4g9q0i0zmMUMkLHuJrOeWhtRAm9ChfCu_sRpZ5u_7H0u44K4r99_7zWv4oZL3Pg/s200/Pict0341.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Four sandy valley zones had previously been mapped out where a large pangolin activity had been identified (<a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/results-of-pangolin-activity-survey.html">see previous post</a>). Emiel buried plastic collection tubes containing water and a little soap solution (to prevent the ants climbing out) in the ground up to their rim to take ant and termite samples in each of these regions, near places where evidence of pangolin digging was present. In addition, tubes were placed near the last known sites of dens of the pangolins Kasupi and Stievie and at other places where fresh pangolin foraging marks could be observed. The total of about a dozen pitfall traps were laid, individually marked with their GPS locations and photos taken of the surrounding vegetation. They were then left for 24 hours, so that all the ant/termite species active at different times of the day and night might fall into the traps.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After collection, the ants and termite samples were preserved in alcohol and macro-photographed to aid identification. The collection has been split into two. Some preliminary ant identification has been done, e.g. of <em>Camponotus maculatus</em> (Spotted Sugar Ants) using M Picker, C Griffiths and A Weaving's 'Field Guide to Insects of South Africa' (2004, pub. by Struik Nature), but we need to elicit the help of expert entomologists for accurate species identification.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Ant photos by Emiel de Lange)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As well as using pitfall traps to collect pangolin prey, baiting was also tried. Jam and peanut butter was partially buried near a recent pangolin foraging site. A camera trap was set up in case the pangolin appeared, drawn by the ants. However, this did not capture any nocturnal or daytime visitors over 48 hours. Probably some weeks or more of baiting and habituation would be needed before a pangolin becomes a regular site visitor.</div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-86769675638870646202010-12-11T13:30:00.009+00:002011-12-31T15:00:55.122+00:00Pangolin scats<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Pangolin faeces, or scats are rarely described in wildlife books and can be confused with those of other ant and termite eaters, such as honey badgers or aardvark. The pangolin has no teeth, but uses earth or sand in its stomach to grind food to aid digestion. Its scats are hard round balls, about 1.5cm in diameter, without any extrusive character. A pangolin's digestion of ants and termites is very efficient - hardly any ant body parts are seen at all in the scat when it is broken open, as compared for example with that of the aardvark, which has a similar size, but is more formed and glitters with ant remains on being opened.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OA5GJu_KigU/Tv8fGYbcMMI/AAAAAAAAANU/FNqs9Hhr_xQ/s1600/Img_1467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OA5GJu_KigU/Tv8fGYbcMMI/AAAAAAAAANU/FNqs9Hhr_xQ/s200/Img_1467.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mtaUxJhVG08/Tv8fMPKPYxI/AAAAAAAAANc/Km0toEuhDTg/s1600/Img_1468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mtaUxJhVG08/Tv8fMPKPYxI/AAAAAAAAANc/Km0toEuhDTg/s200/Img_1468.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">(lines on the paper are <br />
about 0.75cm apart)</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_XL96q3VrHs/Tv8gRVaQRNI/AAAAAAAAANw/CudrsAKlvmg/s1600/Img_1471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" rea="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_XL96q3VrHs/Tv8gRVaQRNI/AAAAAAAAANw/CudrsAKlvmg/s200/Img_1471.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nsv0xaVrYzg/Tv8gMomQ0yI/AAAAAAAAANo/cQmYyDH7bhM/s1600/Img_1469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nsv0xaVrYzg/Tv8gMomQ0yI/AAAAAAAAANo/cQmYyDH7bhM/s200/Img_1469.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aardvark scats</span></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-31700363021030675222010-12-11T13:20:00.100+00:002012-02-09T16:14:29.119+00:00RF telemetry: strategies for locating tagged PangolinsA directional Yagi antenna linked to a receiver tuned to the frequency of an animal's radio tag is commonly used for tracking (<a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/basic-training-in-rf-telemetry.html">see previous post</a>). However, the use of RF tracking for finding and following pangolins that have already been tagged faces several challenges and unknowns:<br />
<ul><li>Pangolins sleep in burrows most of the day and usually only emerge for a period of say 4-5 hours at dusk or at night</li>
<li>Tracking through the bush at night is arduous and possibly dangerous with other game in the vicinity such as rhino, hyena, leopard or warthog, as at Mundulea</li>
<li>The daily activity pattern, ie the time that a pangolin emerges above ground and returns to a burrow, varies from individual to individual, and probably depends on the season, weather or rain and local availability of prey.</li>
<li>Pangolins are known to utilize several dens in a rather random fashion.</li>
<li>It is speculated that Cape pangolins may possibly hibernate underground during the cold winter season (when ants may also hibernate).</li>
<li>If pangolin is discovered asleep in its den, then the disturbances and especially scent left by the tracker will probably cause the pangolin to look for an alternative den for the following nights.</li>
<li>When the animal is above ground, the ground-ground detection range of the Yagi apparatus may be 1-2km on the flat, but when below ground the range may only be a few 100's of metres, depending on how deep the burrow is and whether it is in rocky territory. So, despite the reduced distance the tracker can cover at night, the <em>area</em> that can potentially be surveyed for signals if the pangolin is above ground would then be more than 16x as large.</li>
<li>A pangolin may not emerge from its den every night, some are rumoured to have stayed underground for several days. Therefore, a systematic search pattern at night assuming a detection range of several km's when a pangolin is active above ground may miss a pangolin still in its den, which would need a finer search pattern for the reduced detection range of only a few 100m. </li>
<li>Climbing any high point will increase the Yagi's detection range, for example a small mountain may provide a vantage point to detect signals and their rough bearing from 5-10km away. However, on descending the signal may be lost again, occluded by lower intervening hills or rocks. For triangulation onto the pangolin's location, a second high point is also needed that can be quickly reached, e.g. on the same night.</li>
<li>The home range of a large pangolin is also likely to be large. Establishing first estimates of home ranges sizes vs. animal weight, age, local ecosystems and seasonal prey availability are important long-term goals for our project. Some studies in Zimbabwe and South Africa have been published, e.g. <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Martha E. Heath and the late I M Coulson, 'Home range size and distribution in a wild population of Cape pangolins, <br />
Manis temminckii, in North-West Zimbabwe', Afr. J. Ecol. 1997, Vol. 35, pp 94-109. </span>but home ranges in other environments are unknown. </li>
<li>In one night a pangolin can cover several km, so the tracker that eliminates an area one day may have to start over again the next.</li>
<li>Without a rough idea of the diameter of the particular pangolin's home range, it is very difficult to design an efficient search pattern. If the home range is 6km across, then the area to be searched is 9 times as large as when the home range is only 2km across.</li>
<li>Even when the animal is active as it forages close to the ground, the RF signal can disappear for many seconds or more when the animal walks behind a rock. So, too rapid a scan with the Yagi antenna may miss the signal from a pangolin that is within range.</li>
<li>Once a signal is detected, if it is a long way away and the tracker is on foot, then the pangolin may go to earth again after a few hours of foraging before the tracker catches up.</li>
<li>When closing on a pangolin, if disturbed it can move faster through dense thorn bush (like a small tank) than the human tracker, until the tracker gets within a few 10's metres when it will stop and freeze.</li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It's clear that the search for a lost pangolin becomes a probability-based game, like hunting a needle in a haystack!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26-ZTMup0bk/TwLlMkC3BtI/AAAAAAAAAN8/DK8jNCK9D4o/s1600/DSC_7914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" rea="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26-ZTMup0bk/TwLlMkC3BtI/AAAAAAAAAN8/DK8jNCK9D4o/s200/DSC_7914.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ObnDopOwfRU/TwLlRdQJcwI/AAAAAAAAAOE/aw1fghiRQ3E/s1600/Img_1275_gamma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ObnDopOwfRU/TwLlRdQJcwI/AAAAAAAAAOE/aw1fghiRQ3E/s200/Img_1275_gamma.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">(photos by Emiel de Lange)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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(Comments are invited here from any others experienced in pangolin tracking on the methods which they have found most efficacious.)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The following strategy, seen in hindsight after the October/November 2011 field work in Mundulea, may be effective:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><ol><li>Prepare an understanding in advance with any local neighbours to be permitted to track pangolins at night into their properties if that is likely.</li>
<li>First try to establish the pangolin's pattern of daily activity by climbing to the highest local viewpoint and waiting from dusk into the night, checking at regular intervals in different directions to discover the time that first signals are detected and of course a rough compass bearing of any signal is invaluable. An estimate of the time that the pangolin emerges above ground to forage will help fix the starting time for longer-range detection searches on subsequent nights.</li>
<li>If a signal is detected, try to get to a second vantage point as soon as possible to get a rough triangulation fix on the pangolin's location. (The ideal would be to have more than one tracker at different high points with Yagi's in radio or cellular communication) </li>
<li>Use vehicles wherever there is a network of drivable tracks that are closer together than the expected above-ground detection range. This is a fast way of reducing the search space. Walking cannot cover enough search territory in one night, and the next night the animal may have moved several km, so the previous night's results may be out of date.</li>
<li>Trying to find a pangolin during the day time when it is down a burrow without a rough idea of its location within +/-2km is likely to be fruitless.</li>
<li>Once a signal is (re)detected, preferably after an approximate trangulation, try not to lose the signal at all costs, checking the bearing and strength regularly at any rises in the ground en route. Make sure radio or cellular communication with base is in place in case the vehicle has to be abandoned, there are any accidents or encounters with dangerous game.</li>
<li>Use a GPS unit to record the tracker's path and mark waypoints to make it easy to find the way back after walking in the bush at night.</li>
<li>Once the pangolin is discovered, e.g. sleeping down a den, do not lose it again that night, instead wait quietly from a distance downwind until it emerges (or follow it from a distance to establish its next den). Once one night passes, especially if disturbed by the tracker's scent or noise, the animal may move to a new den beyond the RF detection range from the previous den.</li>
</ol></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-89478620445098129512010-12-11T13:10:00.018+00:002012-02-04T18:41:56.992+00:00Oct 17th 2011 Okulunu found, but lost again! Kasupi's lost.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A large pangolin, we named ‘Okulunu’ had been tagged on 2<sup>nd</sup> August 2011 with an RF transmitter and released in Mundulea, <a href="http://www.pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/august-2011-okulunu-is-tagged.html">see previous post</a> . Soon afterwards it disappeared from our ‘radar’, its signal being lost for more than two months. On Paul’s return to Mundulea for field work, he fortuitously picked up the signal again near dusk on October 17<sup>th</sup> from the access road to the Reserve, about 8km from its last release location. The signal was followed that evening about 300m to a nearby Aardvark burrow in a grey sandy area where it was photographed asleep on its side 2-3m deep in the den.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately the following day, perhaps because of our human scent we left behind, or because pangolins move from den to den, Okulunu had left the burrow and its signal was lost again.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5n1QdKBFdTfW7tBUPaelaSXG2cBnllH_bus_gVKDi_mpkBlD4PXPb2ZEp0Ddr5WaIDyeURJXpWSIbSrAoSpUFCAdwLBL7da3WoVIrn3rVxsHlQ3BQXKtrzT9wE6loSXLgI4neswJO-Y/s1600/DSC_7919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5n1QdKBFdTfW7tBUPaelaSXG2cBnllH_bus_gVKDi_mpkBlD4PXPb2ZEp0Ddr5WaIDyeURJXpWSIbSrAoSpUFCAdwLBL7da3WoVIrn3rVxsHlQ3BQXKtrzT9wE6loSXLgI4neswJO-Y/s200/DSC_7919.jpg" width="132" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">(photos courtesy of Emiel de Lange)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Paul spent the next three weeks in October 2011 trying to pick up Okulunu's signal again without success and also hunting for the RF signal from <a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/onghaka-another-pangolin-is-rescued-and.html">another pangolin, named Kasupi</a> which had been released on March 29th 2011 and <a href="http://www.pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/tracking-pangolin-kasupi-after-release.html">tracked for about two weeks</a> (select links for earlier posts). Kasupi seemed to have the habit of daytime foraging, which should have made the hunt easier. However, despite climbing all the hills in the Southern part of the reserve and systematically surveying on foot all of the area where Kasupi had last settled, looking with a flashlight down Aardvark holes that had been freshly disturbed, and checking on nearby frequencies in case the transmissions had wandered, its signal was not rediscovered. Unfortunately, the conclusion is that Kasupi's RF tag has probably ceased to function, possibly because of fracture at the aerial joint, where moisture might have entered the casing (<a href="http://www.pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/difficulty-with-rf-tagging-pangolins.html">see previous post</a>). During all this searching, fresh traces of other pangolins' activity were observed in the Reserve, but finding any untagged pangolin is really a matter of chance.</div></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374271596778231838.post-20520737837118832002010-12-11T13:00:00.031+00:002012-02-22T15:43:48.185+00:00Oct-Nov 2011: The hunt to find OkulunuThe last two weeks of Paul's field work at Mundulea, Oct-Nov 2011 was spent searching for the pangolin Okulunu once more, sometimes accompanied by Emiel or Tim. The aim was to attach temporarily, in addition to the RF tag, a prototype tracking device which combines GPS data logging with GSM remote communication via SMS messages, <a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-tracking-technology-options.html">see previous post</a>.<br />
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Picking up the signal from Okulunu's RF tag and finding the pangolin again proved to require a lot of patience and field work, see the <a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/2010/12/rf-telemetry-strategies-for-tracking.html">challenges mentioned before</a>. The local area and the dirt road passing near the burrow where it had previously been found in asleep was scanned systematically on foot and from a vehicle roof every few hundred metres in the day using the Yagi antenna. To improve the detection range, nearby windmill towers and hills in the S of Mundulea were climbed in the daytime. At night, when the RF range should be longer - if the pangolin were above ground foraging on that night - its signals were searched for on a larger-scale grid of a few km's encompassing its last known location, driving along the accessible dirt roads around the Mundulea Reserve in case its (unknown) home range was extensive compared with the RF system's range, but all to no avail.<br />
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The nearest high point from Okulunu's last position is an W-E ridge, about 130m above and 3 km away. The highest location in Mundulea is 'Bee Sting' mountain on the Western boundary of Mundulea, which is on the same bearing as the ridge from Okulunu's last known den and is elevated ~290m above and 10km away. The mountain is hard to climb through thorn and up loose rock, and even trickier to descend safely in the dark. A climb in daytime was made without getting any signals from the top. The W-E ridge was climbed, walking its length several times in daylight and also at night, again without success. The rough drive to this ridge is via a known rhino habitat and through vicious thornbush - not so easy with an open-sided vehicle without lights and only a hand-held spot! Once an electric storm before torrential rain caused the search to be abandoned, because holding a Yagi aerial up on top of a hill with lightning flashing all around is not to be recommended! <br />
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Finally, Bee Sting mountain was climbed to mount vigils there, from the spectacular Namibian sunsets through dusk and into the cold night under a beautiful full moon, checking for signals from Okulunu's tag every half hour. On the first vigil, Nov. 2nd strong signals were eventually picked up at about 9:30pm, on a NNE bearing, towards Okulunu's last known den. The signals seemed so strong that they seemed to emanate from betyween the mountain and the W-E ridge. Tim and Paul scrambled down, checking for signals on the way. Sometimes the signals disappeared for many seconds, probably while the pangolin out foraging was behind a rock, emphasizing the need to try more than one cursory scan with the Yagi antenna. Unfortunately, about half way down Bee Sting mountain the signals disappeared altogether. Further attempts to get signals from ground level to pursue the hunt also failed, and yet another puncture on return to the vehicle delayed driving to the North. In hindsight, probably Okulunu was in fact N of the W-E Ridge, so half-way down Bee Sting, the signals from Okulunu were occluded by this ridge.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After unsuccessful daytime attempts to pick up signals from the ridge, Tim and Paul again climbed Bee Sting at dusk on Nov. 5th. At 10:30pm, 3.5hours after sunset strong signals were again detected on the same NE bearing as previously. Climbing down the mountain, this time the signals remained detectable at ground level and the distance to the parked vehicle covered as fast as possible. They then had to drive carefully along the difficult tracks overgrown with thornbush which lead NE, checking periodically for signals from the vehicle's roof and at every high point. Unfortunately, at about 1:30am, 3 hours after first signals were detected, the signal disappeared S of the ridge. The W-E ridge in rhino country had to be climbed on foot to check there again, but to no avail. Perhaps Okulunu had by now finished its night's foraging and was back underground again - indicating the short time one has to get to a pangolin once its RF tag signal is detected. Although Bee Sting mountain has the best elevation for long-range signal detection, the ~10km distance to the pangolin's location was difficult to cover rapidly enough.</div><br />
By now, nights were running out of before the end of Paul's field trip. On Nov. 6th the W-E ridge was scaled by Emiel, Paul and Tim at dusk, periodically checking for signals with the Yagi after nightfall from the top of a high fence post. Strong signals were detected to the N at 10:30pm. As there are no drivable tracks, these signals were followed N as fast as walking in acacia bush at night permits, keeping a sharp look out for nearby rhinos, warthogs, hyenas et. al. After about 3 km, the boundary of Mundulea was reached, but the signals after climbing fence posts could be followed into the property of a friendly neighbour who had previously given his permission and indeed support for our pangolin project.<br />
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At times the signal strength on this flat ground seemed to indicate that the trackers were close on the 'heels' of Okulunu. The GPS log shows that the pangolin seemed to be headed due N at the end. Possibly the animal had scent of, or heard the three trackers, so headed away in a straight line, rather than its more random foraging behaviour. Despite a fortuitously full moon, keeping up as fast as possible on foot with an armoured creature in its own habitat, by torchlight through vicious thorns can be difficult! Eventually at 2am, then ~3.5hrs and 5-6km after first detection and 6 hrs after starting out the previous evening, Tim declared that the signals seemed to be coming from every direction and a local hunt revealed 'Houdini' curled up protectively under a tree!<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After noting the GPS coordinates to be able to return Okulunu to the same spot, he was put in a sack and carried back to the Mundulea entrance gate. The vehicle had been abandoned several hours earlier and several kms away, so three trackers and the pangolin waited as the golden moon set after calling to wake Graham. He arrived at 3:30am to give the party a lift back to the farmhouse through the now sleeping bush, under a sky filled with stars. Eventually, Okulunu was put in an outhouse ~8.5 hours after starting the chase. As Cape Pangolins can climb as well as tunnel, various objects were removed from shelves to minimize any damage whilst it was kept for the remainder of the night in captivity!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The story about attaching the GPS/GSM device to Okulunu and its re-release is continued - <br />
click on ''Older Posts'' below to see the latest posts, or on </span><a href="http://pangolins-namibia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-11T13:00:00Z&max-results=20&start=14&by-date=false"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">this link</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></div>Bruno and Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04876969892015757651noreply@blogger.com0