ZSL Summer Field Course in Mongolia

ZSL Summer field course in Mongolia

Information pack 2014

In this pack What the course offers P.1 The experience and costs P.2 Conservation in Mongolia and application P.3 Camera trap images P.4

Who is the course for? The course is aimed at students wishing to gain valuable field training. Students will be trained in monitoring techniques including camera trapping, small mam-

mal surveying, and bird mist net-

ting and ringing. The course will What the course offers provide an amazing opportunity The aims of the courses are to: for those who want to learn more - Provide students with valuable field experience. about practical conservation - Develop the students’ ability to ask questions and form and test hypotheses. techniques, Mongolian biodiver- - Introduce students to the most novel, up-to-date conservation techniques. sity and conservation issues alongside local researchers and - Provide an environment in which students will learn to design and imple- students. We have run eleven ment short field-projects. field courses, training over 250 - Enthuse the next generation of wildlife biologists to develop further in their students out on the Mongolian studies. Steppe.

The experience

The Mongolian experience What does it cost? For the duration of the course, stu- The course fee is £1000.This in- dents will live and be taught in tra- cludes all tuition, travel costs within Mongolia: land of the blue ditional felt tents (gers), and will Mongolia, accommodation and food sky. have the opportunity to experience in the field and a hostel stay in Mongolia is a huge, landlocked and learn about Mongolian culture, Ulaanbaatar. customs, and history and visit no- country covering an area the size Flights, insurance, visa and food in of Western Europe. It is a land of madic livestock herders. Ulaanbaatar are not included. For extreme climate; hot, dry sum- Where are the courses held? further information please contact mers are offset by harsh winters. Nathan Conaboy at na- The landscape of this unique In 2014 the course will be held in the [email protected]. country ranges from the arid Go- unique Mongolian steppe grass- bi desert in the south, through lands, about 100km from the capital, some of Asia’s largest intact ex- Ulaanbaatar, in an area of incredible panses of grassland in the centre and up to the mountainous taiga natural beauty. forests of the north.

When is the course run? Mongolia has one of the lowest human population densities in The course will run during the sum- the world with under 3 million mer months (late July/ early August) people in an area of 1.5 million with 10 days in the field and a couple km2. A third of those people live of days in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The course consists of lectures and The remainder uphold the an- discussion groups, and supplement- cient tradition of nomadic pasto- ed by practical field project work ralism living in round felt-tents where students will learn valuable known as gers and depend on techniques for biodiversity monitor- grazing livestock for their liveli- hood. Such a lifestyle, which has ing. barely changed since the times of Who will teach the courses? Genghis Khan, leads to a great knowledge and appreciation of The courses will be taught by con- the natural world. servation practitioners and researchers from the Zoological Society of As a result of its vast size, varied habitats, and low human popula- London and in country partners tion density, Mongolia has tradi- based at the National University of tionally provided a refuge for Mongolia. All course lecturers have a many of central Asia’s elusive wealth of research and field experi- mammals, including the Gobi ence from which the students will bear, Bactrian camel, Saiga ante- benefit. lope, Siberian marmot, Asiatic wild ass, snow leopard and Prze- walski’s horse.

Conservation in Mongolia

Conservation in Mongolia is at a Education, awareness-raising and crossroads. Since the break-up of the training is of real importance in Soviet Union in the late 1980s much Mongolian conservation. Steppe of Mongolia’s biodiversity has expe- Forward has a strong record in this rienced unprecedented declines. A respect, in particular through organ- diverse range of threats are responsi- ising and running student field- ble for the current loss of habitats courses. We work towards the con- and species. Mining operations, de- tinuation of this by providing train- forestation, overgrazing, and illegal ing that is available to both interna- tional and local students that we hunting for meat, medicine and furs hope will go on to continue in the are all having a major impact on the field of conservation and, who biodiversity of Mongolia, and with- knows, they may well head back to out well-directed conservation the Steppe one day! efforts the situation will only get worse. Conservation in Mongolia is therefore of vital importance, and the Steppe Forward is at the fore- front of such conservation efforts. Steppe Forward is a collaboration between the Zoological Society of London and the National University How to Apply of Mongolia. Since 2003 we have de- If you wish to apply to join the summer field course in 2014 please provide the follow- veloped and implemented a wide- ing: range of conservation projects  A transcript of university grades (does not need to be final transcript). around Mongolia. At present these  One page or 500 words on how you feel you might benefit from the course. Give a projects include wildlife camera- little background to your choice of studies and interests trapping , making conservation as-  Your CV sessments for the production of Re- gional Red Lists, publishing field  A letter of recommendation from one of your course lecturers or tutor guides to birds and mammals of Please submit your application via email to [email protected] We are aware Mongolia, and implementing con- transcripts and recommendations can take some time to prepare and so may be sub- mitted at a letter date only if necessary. servation projects on species such as the long-eared jerboa and the wild You will be notified when we receive your application. And further logistic details will Bactrian camel. be sent once students have been accepted. Camera Trap Gallery Below are some examples of the wildlife we have photographed during our Wildlife Picture Index project and Gobi bear survey. The Gobi bear, snow leopard and wild Bactrian camel were all photographed last summer in the Gobi ‘A’ Strictly Protected Area. The ibex were captured on the edge of the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia while the roe deer was taken in the Taiga forest in the north west of Mongolia. Enjoy!

Gobi bear Ursus arctos gobiensis Gobi bear Ursus arctos gobiensis

Siberian Ibex Capra sibirica Snow leopard Panthera uncia

Siberian roe deer Capreolus pygargus Wild Bactrian camel Camelus ferus