The vast landscape of Botswana in southern Africa is home to a plethora of species, including humans. Researchers with Elephants Without Borders have been studying the migratory behavior of elephants—and their inevitable conflicts with people—for several years. With the success of that project, the government of Botswana realized that the "key to effective wildlife conservation and management is long-term, science-based research," so Dr. Mike Chase, Henderson Endowed Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow, and his team were granted a research permit to study other large herbivores in northern Botswana.
With the support of San Diego Zoo Global, the Large Herbivore Ecology Program got under way, which entailed deploying GPS-monitoring collars on buffalo, giraffes, sable and lechwe antelope, wildebeest, and zebras. "This is only the beginning to try and answer so many questions," said Mike. Find out more of those pressing questions in his blog post.
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Kelly Landen (left) and Dr. Mike Chase work together to place a GPS radio collar on a wildebeest. (Photo courtesy of Elephants Without Borders)
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