Workshop on Wildlife Conservation Physiology in a Changing World

Workshop on Wildlife Conservation Physiology in a Changing World

With support from SEB through a small conference grant, as well as funding from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, researchers and postgraduate students from the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria met up recently in South Africa for a workshop on Wildlife Conservation Physiology in a Changing World. The team was joined by veterinary researchers from the South African National Parks Veterinary Wildlife Services, as well as Danish researchers, Professor Tobias Wang (Aarhus University) and Dr Mads Bertelsen (Copenhagen Zoo and the University of Copenhagen).

Over the week of 21 to 25 February 2022, attendees gave presentations related to research findings, research plans, and opportunities for collaboration. The workshop provided a chance for students to get feedback on their research projects as well as learn about the process of scientific writing. As part of research being undertaken on tuberculosis in elephants in the Kruger National Park, students got the opportunity to measure and interpret the physiological responses of an immobilized elephant.
 

The workshop also provided a platform for the development of a collaboration between the Danish researchers and the South African teams. In 2022, three South African postgraduate students will visit Denmark to undertake research and learn new skills. In addition, the Copenhagen Zoo is providing funding for collaborative research in the field of conservation physiology, currently supporting five African PhD students and their research projects related to animal responses to climate change and the welfare of wild mammals under game management practices.

Further collaborative research projects with the Veterinary Wildlife Services team, as well as with the Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project, also were planned.

The workshop, held in the incredible setting of the Kruger National Park, was hugely successful, and the team thanks SEB for the support.