Black rhino & calf

Black Rhino*, African Elephant*, Giraffe, Mountain Zebra*, Plain’s Zebra, Springbok, White Rhino

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

BLACK RHINO: Rhino Conservation and Policy: The plight of white and black rhinos led several African nations to radical conservation tactics (dehorning in the 1990s – until today).  We developed field programs to assess the efficacy of horn removal as a conservation tactic. We did economic analyses, field documentation, and worked with a convicted rhino poacher and local officials to understand whether dehorning was a sound path to conservation.  Despite its controversial nature, our empirical work altered government policy and resulted in the cessation of dehorning as a practice for nearly two decades. The fieldwork was featured in a 1996 ABC TV Prime-time special, and our research was banned.  A New York Times Review of our book (Horn of Darkness) can be found here, or in Nature, or ABC World of Discovery.

Huemul

Huemul*, Muskoxen, Pronghorn, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Bison, Black Bear, Caribou, Coyote, Elk, Grizzly Bear, Kit Fox, Mountain Goats, Mule Deer, Porcupine, White-tailed Jack Rabbits, Wild Horses, Wolves

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

HUEMUL: (Chile’s National Mammal)  – Huemul are the most endangered large mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and they survive mostly at the edge of ice and where glacial recession has occurred.. They appear on Chile’s Coast of Arms, but unknown to most of the world. Our program there – in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation Society and in consort with both the Chilean and Argentine governments – has targeted how to enhance scientific knowledge to further conservation. Muskoxen are better known due to recent emphases on climate change; lesser known is their closest North American taxonomic kin – the mountain goat. 

MUSKOXEN: One of least known North American large mammals, and sensitive to climate change issues.  Muskoxen are the only exclusively Arctic ungulate (caribou are far more widely distributed.  How muskoxen will adapt is not clear.  Current efforts – now in year 11 – are examining how harvest of males, extreme climate events, and predation may interact to render populations susceptible to collapse. I have led field efforts in Arctic Alaska and in conjunction with Russian scientists on the Wrangel Island Zapovednic in the Siberian Arctic am building capacity to develop ecological baselines using non-invasive photogrammetry.  In 2014, we executed unprecedented simultaneous bio-expeditions along Chukchi coastlines on the two continents to gather data, and documented predation by polar bears.  

PRONGHORN: USA – Policy Change and the USA’s 1st Protected Migration Corridor: Long distance migrations of land mammals have collapsed globally. Pronghorn, the only ungulate endemic to North America, and are emblematic of freedom and speed. In the New World, it has one of the longest distance migration for any mammal outside the Arctic, traveling up to 700 kilometers annually. Our work in the Teton region of the Greater Yellowstone resulted in the USA’s 1st federally protected migration corridor, an area about 70 kms long and 2 kms wide – known  as the ‘Path of the Pronghorn’.  We achieved this conservation victory first by science, and then by working with stakeholders – ranchers and cowboys, the petroleum industry, and with local county officials to the Wyoming Governor’s office, and across federal agencies. This effort now inspires others – nationally and internationally – to the reality of protecting landscapes for migrating wildlife. Publications and Press: Berger (2003, 2004), Berger et al. (2006); USA’s First Migration Corridor; http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2008/2008-06-17-091.asp ; Path of Pronghorn; http://www.hcn.org/issues/43.22/protecting-wildlife-corridors-remains-more-theory-than-practice/print_view ; http://www.hcn.org/issues/43.22/the-perilous-journey-of-wyomings-migrating-pronghorn/path-of-the-pronghorn; Smithsonian: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/pronghorn.html. 

MOOSE: In addition to understanding how recolonizing wolves and grizzly bears affect moose (see Berger 2008 book and publications), several state wildlife agencies asked whether our science results should change harvest policy.  The context is this.  The hunting of adult females accompanied by young has been controversial because its’ never been clear whether motherless offspring survive although the assumption is that young survive winter. Our work shows that orphans survive poorly in the absence of their mothers. These findings offered a basis for which states like Wyoming and Idaho changed harvest policy. Publications and Press: Berger (2012) – also Berger (et al.1999); http://www.livescience.com/22652-moose-with-moms-make-better-survivors.

MOUNTAIN GOATS: One of least known North American large mammals, and sensitive to climate change issues. Our project work has focused on respiratory responses to rising temperatures and insects on and away from summer snow patches, as well as developing inferences on ecological consequences of prey-predator interactions. 

PORCUPINE: Least known large rodent and perhaps with range-wide collapse.  

WHITE-TAILED JACK RABBITS: Impressive large beautiful lagomorph with known range wide retraction and extirpation.

Saiga

Saiga*, Takin & *Wild Yaks, Argali, Blue Sheep, Ibex, Khulan*, Kiang*, Muskoxen

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

SAIGA: The world’s most northern antelope is the endangered saiga.  A recent controversial challenge in Mongolia involved whether to develop a captive propagation center or to allocate funds to in situ conservation.  Our efforts with Mongolian biologists resulted population estimates in the wild which demonstrated that saiga were more abundant than presumed, a finding that contradicted the more expensive option – development of an ex situ facility.  Further, we brought Mongolian Academy of Science biologists to a training workshop in Montana (and then to Yellowstone) on techniques of population estimation. Through graduate and other training of Mongolian nationals including herders, monitoring and study of migratory saiga now continues. We are also currently seeking ways to develop strategies to enhance herder lifestyles while addressing the growing cashmere trade (e. g. proliferation of domestic goats) on Central Asian large mammals; this involves engagement with the garment industry and local officials.  Publications, Press, Op-Eds; Berger J, et al. (2008a, b; 2010, 2013, 2014); Young et al (2010, 2011); Buuveibaator et al 2013a,b; et al 2014;  http://www.asianscientist.com/features/billion-dollar-cashmere-industry-central-asia-2013/ http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/damage-cashmere-article-1.1450204  http://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2013.108 

TAKIN AND *WILD YAKS: In winter 2012, by invitation of the Bhutan government, we instigated a field program on behalf of a Bhutanese PhD student at the Ugyen Wangchuk Institute for Conservation and Environment. We radio-collared Bhutan’s national mammal − the takin – and have continued fieldwork into 2014.  In western China, following on the heels of pioneering efforts by Dr. George Schaller and Dr. Aili Kang, colleagues and I helped to structure and participate in field programs to enhance conservation of wild yaks. Publications and Press: Berger J, 2010, Berger, J. et al.(2014, 2015); and 3 outreach publications in Chinese a) Tibet’s China (2010); China Forestry and Environment (2012), 3) China−Outside (2013); also: Washington Post – http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/yaks-listed-as-vulnerable-are-making-a-comebackin-tibet/2013/01/21/708a7c16-60ce-11e2-a389-ee565c81c565_story.html  ; Missoulian – http://missoulian.com/news/local/   http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150304-yaks-tibet-climate-change-science-animals-global-warming/

 ARGALI: The world’s largest wild sheep. Central Asia in locale.

BLUE SHEEP: Common locally, mostly Himalayan realm but also northern Tibetan Plateau.  

IBEX: (Siberian) – studied by former grad student (and WCS policy expert) Lishu Li in Gobi Desert of Mongolia