Field Note
Jan Zwilling
Range-wide study on cheetah male spatial ...

Human-wildlife conflicts are common across the globe. In Namibia, cheetahs roam freely on privately owned farmland and occasionally prey on cattle calves. Drawing on GPS data obtained and analyzed in close collaboration with farmers, the CRP unraveled the spatial sytem of cheetah society and identified communication hubs as hotspots of cheetah activity and farmer-cheetah conflict. In a new range-wide study we aim to understand these patterns in a wider context across the range - and potentially upscale a successful conservation solution

Range-wide study on cheetah male spatial tactics and communication hubs
Press Release
Jan Zwilling
First reported case of anthrax in wildlife in ...

Anthrax is an infectious bacterial disease endemic in some parts of Africa. It affects people, livestock as well as wildlife. Using GPS telemetry data, a team of scientists from the Cheetah Research Project of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) reconstructed a special case of anthrax infection in Namibia: Three free-ranging cheetahs in the Namib Desert died within 24 hours after feeding on a mountain zebra that tested positive for the disease. The zebra is the first described case of a wild animal infected with anthrax in this arid region. The case also shows that there might be previously unknown risks to cheetah populations in the desert. It is described in detail in the scientific journal “Frontiers in Veterinary Science”.

First reported case of anthrax in wildlife in the Namib Desert: Infected zebra most likely causes death of three cheetahs
Multimedia
Jan Zwilling
New video: science in a real-world laboratory

Human-wildlife conflicts are complex and require scientific facts as well as trustful collaboration and communication among all the stakeholders involved. At the IZW, the integration of stakeholders into the research process is an important strategy not only to improve the societal relevance of the scientific results, but also to break down barriers between science and society in terms practically applying these newly gained insights. In a new video the CRP and the Leibniz-IZW explain in detail why we think a new quality of our science-to-society interface is necessary and how we use the real-world lab concept in our cheetah research.

New video: science in a real-world laboratory
Field Note
Jan Zwilling
Kickstarting the trapping „season“ 2021

Capturing cheetahs with cage traps is one of the spines of the Cheetah Research Project. For several research questions addressed in the CRP, long-term data and information obtained from free-ranging cheetahs in the core study area are essential. Theoretically, this is a task that can be carried out at any time of the year - still, there are high-times of trappings and quieter times. Are there “trapping seasons” and if so, for what reasons? Here we explore the rationale behind the first concentrated trapping campaign of the year 2021.

Kickstarting the trapping „season“ 2021
Multimedia
Jan Zwilling
Moving forward with cheetah research and ...

In early 2021 our team joined forces with data visualization expert Cédric Scherer vom the Leibniz-IZW to create a map from our recent PNAS study. The intent was to illustrate the key findings of the paper and to submit the map to the MoveMapCompetition from the Special Interest Group “Movement Ecology” of the British Ecological Society. We are very happy for the support of all the voters who made us win the ‘pretty map’ category and runner-up for the RMaps category. In a blog post for the BES’ Journal of Animal Ecology website we wrote about the creation of the map and the research behind it!

Moving forward with cheetah research and conservation - a map of communication hubs

Range-wide study on cheetah male spatial tactics and communication hubs

Range-wide study on cheetah male spatial tactics and communication hubs

Human-wildlife conflicts are common across the globe. In Namibia, cheetahs roam freely on privately owned farmland and occasionally prey on cattle calves. Drawing on GPS data obtained and analyzed in close collaboration with farmers, the CRP unraveled the spatial sytem of cheetah society and identified communication hubs as hotspots of cheetah activity and farmer-cheetah conflict. In a new range-wide study we aim to understand these patterns in a wider context across the range - and potentially upscale a successful conservation solution

First reported case of anthrax in wildlife in the Namib Desert: Infected zebra most likely causes death of three cheetahs

First reported case of anthrax in wildlife in the Namib Desert: Infected zebra most likely causes death of three cheetahs

Anthrax is an infectious bacterial disease endemic in some parts of Africa. It affects people, livestock as well as wildlife. Using GPS telemetry data, a team of scientists from the Cheetah Research Project of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) reconstructed a special case of anthrax infection in Namibia: Three free-ranging cheetahs in the Namib Desert died within 24 hours after feeding on a mountain zebra that tested positive for the disease. The zebra is the first described case of a wild animal infected with anthrax in this arid region. The case also shows that there might be previously unknown risks to cheetah populations in the desert. It is described in detail in the scientific journal “Frontiers in Veterinary Science”.

New video: science in a real-world laboratory

New video: science in a real-world laboratory

Human-wildlife conflicts are complex and require scientific facts as well as trustful collaboration and communication among all the stakeholders involved. At the IZW, the integration of stakeholders into the research process is an important strategy not only to improve the societal relevance of the scientific results, but also to break down barriers between science and society in terms practically applying these newly gained insights. In a new video the CRP and the Leibniz-IZW explain in detail why we think a new quality of our science-to-society interface is necessary and how we use the real-world lab concept in our cheetah research.

Kickstarting the trapping „season“ 2021

Kickstarting the trapping „season“ 2021

Capturing cheetahs with cage traps is one of the spines of the Cheetah Research Project. For several research questions addressed in the CRP, long-term data and information obtained from free-ranging cheetahs in the core study area are essential. Theoretically, this is a task that can be carried out at any time of the year - still, there are high-times of trappings and quieter times. Are there “trapping seasons” and if so, for what reasons? Here we explore the rationale behind the first concentrated trapping campaign of the year 2021.

Moving forward with cheetah research and conservation - a map of communication hubs

Moving forward with cheetah research and conservation - a map of communication hubs

In early 2021 our team joined forces with data visualization expert Cédric Scherer vom the Leibniz-IZW to create a map from our recent PNAS study. The intent was to illustrate the key findings of the paper and to submit the map to the MoveMapCompetition from the Special Interest Group “Movement Ecology” of the British Ecological Society. We are very happy for the support of all the voters who made us win the ‘pretty map’ category and runner-up for the RMaps category. In a blog post for the BES’ Journal of Animal Ecology website we wrote about the creation of the map and the research behind it!

CRP facilitates research on immune marker variance in Egyptian Geese, recently published in “Scientific Reports”

CRP facilitates research on immune marker variance in Egyptian Geese, recently published in “Scientific Reports”

In 2016, the CRP hosted fellow scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) for the investigation of immune marker variance in a native population of Egyptian geese in Namibia. The birds were successfully live trapped using the CRP’s cheetah traps and expertise. Blood samples for immunological assays and serology were taken, centrifuged and transferred with an uninterrupted cooling chain to the Leibniz-IZW where they were analysed and compared to similar samples from the invasive population in Germany. We are proud that the CRP regularly facilitates research of fellow colleagues of the lively and inspiring research cosmos that is the Leibniz-IZW and that we collaborated with the Namibia Bird Club for this study.

Animated video abstract for the paper "Communication hubs of an asocial cat are the source of a human-carnivore conflict and key to its solution"

Animated video abstract for the paper "Communication hubs of an asocial cat are the source of a human-carnivore conflict and key to its solution"

A picture is worth a thousand words, goes a popular saying. And although we as scientists are fans of the word, we cannot ignore that sometimes a photograph or a drawing can transport the complex meaning or implication much more elaborately and to the point than long written treatises. With this in mind we thought to complement our pivotal paper “Communication hubs of an asocial cat are the source of a human-carnivore conflict and key to its solution”, published in PNAS on December 7th 2020, with easily accessible and understandible illustrations. Skilled painter Stefanie Gendera and our communication officer Jan Zwilling have compiled these drawings into a short and educative video abstract of this paper.

Bernd Wasiolka – Wildlife photography with a background

Bernd Wasiolka – Wildlife photography with a background

It is not uncommon that nature and wildlife photographers connect deeply with their subject and engage in conservation through their photos. For Bernd Wasiolka, this connection of conservation and photography is even more profound. Bernd has been a member of the Cheetah Research Project for four and a half years – wildlife research has been the third pillar next to nature and art that connected him to southern Africa and Namibia in particular. He recently published a coffee table book about the place that haunts and fascinates him like no other. Here he shares some memories of the time with the CRP and talks about what being a wildlife photographer with a scientific background means to him.

Short film "Research for conservation: A science-based solution to the farmer-cheetah conflict in Namibia"

Short film "Research for conservation: A science-based solution to the farmer-cheetah conflict in Namibia"

It has been obvious to us for a long time that our research on the spatial ecology of the cheetah has implications beyond the realms of the scientific community and we therefore approached our research together with many stakeholders. When it came to finalizing and publishing key findings from this research, we decided to continue this path and produce a short film. Here it is, along with a few snaps and tales from behind the scenes.

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Scientists identify hotspots of cheetah activity as a key to solving the cheetah-farmer conflict in Namibia

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Scientists identify hotspots of cheetah activity as a key to solving the cheetah-farmer conflict in Namibia

Rural central Namibia is one of the most important strongholds of the declining global cheetah population. Here, the rarest large African cat lives on privately owned farmland. A traditional conflict poses a threat to them, as they occasionally prey on cattle calves and are therefore rarely welcomed on the farms. New insights into the cheetah’s spatial behaviour provide a viable solution to this human-wildlife conflict: In the core areas of male cheetah territories all local males and females frequently meet to exchange information. This results in hotspots of cheetah activity in these “communication hubs” and in substantially less activity in the vast areas between the core areas of the territories. Implementing this knowledge and moving their breeding herds with young calves out of these hotspots, farmers were able to reduce livestock losses by more than 80 percent. These insights are the result of a close and trusting cooperation between scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and farmers in central Namibia. They are published in the scientific journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America”.