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Ruaha Carnivore Project Progress Report – April 2013New options for donatingPeople interested in giving to the Ruaha Carnivore Project - in particular those in the UnitedStates - have a great new option for online donations. The Houston Zoo is hosting adonation page for lion conservation organizations, and RCP is one of the featuredorganizations. To check out our gorgeous and easy-to-use page, go towww.houstonzoo.org/lionssp/projects/ruaha-carnivore-project. Please give! U.S. tax-payersand others can also make tax-free donations through Americans for Oxford atwww.oxfordna.org/giving_how.htm. Remember to designate the Ruaha Carnivore Project asthe recipient of your donation. One hundred percent of your donations, through either link,go directly to support RCP’s research and programmes that help people living in the Ruahalandscape better coexist with carnivores.Do you want to get involved with exploring wild Africa, from the comfort of your ownhome? Now you can, through RCP’s newest initiative, the Ruaha Explorer’s Club (REC). RECmembers become virtual explorers of the Ruaha landscape by sponsoring one of our cameratraps that move throughout this relatively uncharted area. Each camera’s images and GPScoordinates are posted on designated Facebook pages that the sponsors control, givingExplorers a unique insight into the work of RCP and the wonders of Ruaha’s wildlife. Thefirst sponsorships are being trialled and the programme will be made public in the spring of2013. Look for news on this fun initiative on our website (www.ruahacarnivoreproject.com)and Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruaha-Carnivore-Project/116298238442772.Page 5
Ruaha Carnivore Project Progress Report – April 2013RESEARCHING CARNIVORE ECOLOGYDespite the global significance of the Ruaha landscape, very little research has beenconducted to date; thus remarkably little is known about the number, distribution orecology of its valuable carnivore populations. We are working with a variety of stakeholders,including Tanzanian authorities, Park lodges and tourists to collect as much reliable data aspossible on Ruaha’s carnivore populations. These data are then shared with organisationssuch as TAWIRI, where we hope they will assist in the development of conservation andmanagement plans for carnivores in the Ruaha landscape.Camera-trappingRCP staff continue to analyse the data in the images recorded in our camera traps. To date,we have recorded 8,027 camera-trap images, which involve 43 different wild mammalspecies, including 22 carnivore species. While most images have come from the Park (4,607)followed by Wildlife Management Area land (2,319) and then village land (1,101), speciesdiversity continues to be highest on Wildlife Management Area land (37 mammal species,including 17 carnivore species), followed by the National Park (35 mammal species, 18carnivore species) and village land (35 mammal species, 17 carnivore species).Senior Research Assistant Monty Kalyahe is examining these data in more detail as part ofhis Masters in Conservation Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK.Monty’s analysis will provide the first scientific data on carnivore diversity, distribution,demography and abundance across different land-use zones of the Ruaha landscape.This image of a young male lion was captured by a camera trap placed in theMpululu area of Ruaha National Park in December.Page 6
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