Expeditions
Current and future EDGE expeditions.
Attenborough's long-beaked echidna - EDGE mammal #1
Aim
Conduct new fieldwork to determine the continued survival of the poorly-understood long-beaked echidna on the north and south slopes of the Cyclops Mountains, Papua New Guinea.
Image | Pygmy Sloth | ZSL, WWF, Conservation International
Date
2007
Team
ZSL: Dr Jonathan Baillie, Dr Samuel Turvey, Carly Waterman,
Department Kehutanan and Conservation International
Actions
- Community interviews – have any local people seen it?
- Sign surveys – did the animal left any physical marks to show it is there?
- Visual encounter surveys – can we actually see any individuals?
Achievements / Outcomes
- Many villagers recognised photographs of the species and could describe its features well; it is locally known as the 'payangko'.
- Although no actual echidnas were seen, physical feeding marks such as 'nose pokes' were present in soil, leaf litter and termite mounds.
- Feeding signs were seen as low as 300m but also up to 1,700m elevation, which indicates the echidna exists over a broader range than previously thought.
- To get a better understanding of the wildlife, a project led by Papuan researchers is being set up to investigate the genetics and ecology of echidnas and other mammals in the Cyclops Mountains.
Three-toed pygmy sloth - EDGE mammal #16
Aim
Carry out a scoping trip to Panama and Escudo to carry out the first extensive population census and genetic survey of pygmy sloths to know their actual numbers, distributions and behaviour.
Image | Escudo Island | David Curnick, ZSL
Date
March 2012
Team
Dr Craig Turner and David Curnick
Actions
- Identify and map all the mangrove forests using satellite technology – how many are there and what is the total area of sloth habitat?
- Line-transect surveys – are there any pygmy sloth individuals in any of the mangrove forests?
- Mapping sloth locations –where are they on the island?
- Socio-economic surveys – how are locals using the land and what do they know about the pygmy sloth?
Achievements / Outcomes
- Fourteen mangrove patches were identified, and the total area of habitat available to sloths is 10.27ha in seven isolated patches.
- In eight days, 61 sloths were seen – 37 during the line-transect surveys and 24 other chance encounters, including four mothers with babies. Data revealed that there are probably fewer than 100 left in the wild.
- Bigger mangrove patches contained more sloths, which suggests that very small mangroves could not support a pygmy sloth population.
- Human disturbance on the island persists – there was evidence of mangrove clearance and degradation.
- Further monitoring of the sloth population is needed, and wider socio-economic surveys amongst islanders may help future conservation efforts and reduce threats to the species.
- An EDGE campaign raised over £2000 to carry out additional actions necessary to save the sloth from extinction on the island.
Lungless salamander - EDGE priority amphibian
Aim
Screen the ranges of the highest priority EDGE lungless salamanders for chytrid fungus, which is responsible for the lethal chytridiomycosis disease in amphibians.
Image | Lungless salamander | Gean Rovito
Date
Summer 2013
Team
Dr Craig Turner
Actions
- Amphibian surveying – how many individuals and species are there and where have they been found in their ranges?
- Disease sampling by 'swabbing' all lungless salamanders found in two key sites in Mexico (Oaxaca and Veracruz) – to get as many samples as possible
- Threat mapping for each target species – do any other factors contribute to the decline of these amphibians apart from this disease?
- Interview local people – which amphibians have they seen and what are their plans for land use in the future?
- Process the disease sampling data in the lab with the help of three Mexican students – what is the extent and spread of chytridiomycosis in lungless salamanders?
Achievements / Outcomes
This expedition has not yet been undertaken.