|
This video requires the Quicktime Player.
|
|
|
Mandrill Conservation
 WCS researchers Kate Abernethy and Lee White, with the help of field veterinarian Billy Karesh, equipped three female mandrills with radio collars in the Lopé Reserve in Gabon, to learn where they feed and how their social structure functions. Mandrills, known best for the male's striking blue and red facial markings are now considered endangered due to habitat loss and poaching. With an approximate two-year life span of the collar's batteries, the researchers will compile a body of data previously unknown to science. The fittings for the collars eventually rust and fall off the animals.
"This is the first time a mandrill has been radio-collared for tracking," says Karesh, "No one knows where these endangered animals spend most of the year. Now we have a chance to finally find out and start making sure these areas are protected." The study is being funded in part by the Walt Disney Company Foundation. The collaring of the mandrills proved to be a waiting game. The team had to remain in blinds for long periods of time waiting for troops to pass in the hopes of darting one. Finally after a week of hiding in trees and hiking through the forest, patience was rewarded when an enormous troop of approximately 800 animals came into range.
 "They were filing by on the ground in a fairly orderly fashion and only 50 or so jumped up in the trees to look for danger," explains Karesh. "I could hide behind a camouflage blanket and stay out of sight. I would dart one and that batch would run further along the forest gallery. As more came through, they didn't know what had happened so I could dart another one."
After the animals went to sleep, Karesh, with the help of Abernethy and White, gave each a thorough physical before fitting it with the radio collar. All of the animals appeared to be in excellent condition; one was even pregnant. The animals were then brought back to their original troop, allowed to recover from the anesthesia, then promptly released.
Using an antenna which picks up a signal emitted from the collars, Abernethy and White have already begun plotting the coordinates that show where the troops have traveled. After finding out the mandrills' habitat needs, WCS will work toward establishing protected areas in the region to insure the survival of this spectacular species in the wild.
|
