Volume 5 Issue 2 Spring 2007 Visit us on the web! http://ssl.brookes.ac.uk/primate/home.htm Contents Canopy Journal of the Primate Conservation MSc Programme Letter from the editors 1 Oxford Brookes University Letter from the course tutor 2 Current student projects 3-5 Editors Caitlin Eschmann Personal account of experiences living & David Lekeaka working in Cameroon from David Lekeaka 6-7 Dervla Dowd Volunteering at the Natural History Museum 8 Elise Queslin Jennifer Miller Past students work and experiences: Josephine Msindai Katie Mann 9 Juliet Wright Sheena Hynd 10 Karen Browne Pamela Heidi Douglas 11-12 Sagan Friant Johan Karlsson 12-13 Address Noga Shanee 14 Canopy c/o Simon Bearder Staff profiles: Anthropology Department Mika Peck 15 School of Social Sciences and Law Oxford Brookes University Corri Waitt 16 Oxford Primate Conservation Seminar Series 17 OX3 0BP Primate Conservation Seminar: UK Ian Redmond 18 Book Reviews: Web Infectious Diseases in Primates 19 MSc Primate Conservation Key Topics in Conservation Biology 20 http://ssl.brookes.ac.uk/primate/ home.htm Primate Society of Great Britain: Celebrating 40 Years 20 Front cover illustration Opinion 21-22 Tallulah Bygraves Up-coming Meetings 23 Page 1 illustration of gibbon Tallulah Bygraves This issue of Canopy is printed on recycled paper Letters The students of the 2006-2007 MSc 14), and habitat student David Lekeaka in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes writes about his experiences living in Camer- University would like to invite you to join us oon (pages 6-7). Following on from this is a in an exploration of both primatological and list of the projects that the students this year environmental issues that motivate this year’s are preparing to conduct (pages 3-5). Inspir- cohort to work towards creating a better world ing these endeavors are our module leaders for ourselves and our primate relatives. Keep- (pages 15-16), guest speakers (Ian Redmond, ing true to the course’s interdisciplinary ap- page 18), newly published literature (pages 19- proach, students this year are preparing to con- 20), and supportive organizations (PSGB, duct research in areas all over the world, focus- page 20). ing on aspects of primate conservation includ- We would like give thanks to those ing: primate behavioral ecology, human wildlife who have contributed their work and experi- conflicts, conservation education, captive breed- ence to this issue of Canopy. ing, wildlife health, and population genetics. As exciting as what is to come, is what Best Wishes, has recently been done. In this issue, the work of several past students is described (pages 9- The Editors 1 Letter from the course tutor publication of his co-edited text book, Pri- mates in Perspective Campbell C.J., Fuentes A., The MSc in Primate Conservation is ap- MacKinnon K.C., Panger M., Bearder SK, proaching the end of its 6th year, one that has Editors. New York: Oxford University Press. been full of exciting change. This year has 2007. Anna Nekaris also saw the publication seen us welcome Dr Corri Waitt to teach our of a volume edited with Sharon Gursky, Pri- module in Captive Management. Our course mates and Their Predators, Springer: New York, has been nominated by Oxford Brookes Uni- 2007. Debbie Curtis saw the publication of versity to be the single programme to be put special issue in Folia Primatologica co-edited forward for ‘The Queen’s Award’ – a high with Giuseppe Donati and Michele Rasmus- honour to unique programmes within univer- sen, The Third Activity Pattern in Primates: sities. For the first time we were able to offer Cathemerality. Folia Primatologica. 77, No.1-2. three habitat country scholarships under the 2006. Kate Hill and her team of PhD stu- kind auspices of the Whitley Laing Founda- dents have been working in Uganda on her tion. The recipients, David Lekeaka, Inno- project regarding human-wildlife interactions cent Mulenga and George Owoyesigire, have funded by The Leverhulme Trust, North of brought immense knowledge and experience England Zoological Society, PSGB, and a to this year’s cohort. Two of our students Rufford small grant. Mika Peck continues his (Patricia Gilmore and Jennifer Miller) were Darwin Initiative project, with its flagship also recipients of the highly competitive John species, the brown-headed spider monkey, in Henry Brookes scholarships. The 2005-06 Ecuador. Nancy Priston joined us at the be- cohort was examined at a January examina- ginning of the academic year with a prestig- tions meeting, with Heidi Douglas receiving ious five-year RCUK postdoctoral research this year’s Alison Jolly Prize for best contri- fellowship to continue her work on human- bution to conservation, through her study of wildlife conflict in Buton, Indonesia. Endangered Sri Lankan toque macaques and purple-faced leaf monkeys. Our students continue to produce novel and excellent work in the field of primate conser- This year’s cohort is now preparing for their vation. We hope that you enjoy reading fieldwork. Some of them are staying close to about it in this issue of Canopy. home, working in zoos, with school children, or in the genetics lab. Others are travelling to Dr. K.A.I Nekaris some of the world’s most remote eco- regions, with some students focussing on the world’s Top 25 Most Endangered Primates (Abigail Baird – brown-headed spider mon- key Ateles fusciceps fusciceps; Robin Cooley and David Lekeaka –Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli; Caitlin Eschmann – Western pur- ple-faced leaf monkey Trachypithecus vetulus nestor; Mariah Mandelman – Western Hoolock gibbon Hoolock hoolock hoolock; An- drea Molyneux – Sumatran orang-utan Pongo abelii; Jo Msindai –highland mangabey Rung- wecebus kipunji; Elise Queslin – the silky sifaka Propithecus candidus). The staff and course committee wish our students safe, adventur- ous and successful field seasons. Dr Anna Nekaris with red slender loris taken in Sri Lanka. Photograph by Elisabeth Pimley. 2006-07 has also been a rewarding year for members of staff. Simon Bearder saw the 2 Students Final Projects Titles and Location of their Research- Continent/ Project title Student’s name Country AFRICA Cameroon A workbook of art and stories from local children Robin Cooley for conservation. An assessment of local perceptions on the role of NGOs in Miya King community-based conservation in the South West Province of Cameroon Comparing nesting ecology of chimpanzees David Lekeaka (Pan troglodytes vellerosus) in two isolated habitats in the Lebialem Division, South West Province. The value and significance of primate bushmeat to rural Juliet Wright communities in the Lebialem highlands of Cameroon Nigeria An investigation of gastro-intestinal parasites in captive and Sagan Friant wild Cercopithecine primates in Southern Nigeria Tanzania Identifying the economic and social impact of crop-raiding Josephine non-human primates on local livelihoods, Msindai in Mount Rungwe Uganda Interaction between habituated chimpanzees and local peo- George ple around Kibale National Park. Owoyesigire Zambia Social behaviour, repertoire, frequency of play and antago- Diane Lisensky nisms in orphaned chimpanzees at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Determining geographic origins of captive chimpanzees Innocent from mitochondiral DNA sequencing Mulenga Madagascar A pilot study on the diet, feeding behaviour and ecology of Elise Queslin silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus) in the humid rainforest of Marojejy National Park. Population density and habitat preferences of the Felicia Ruperti Sahamalaza sportive lemur (Lepilemur sahamalazensis) in four forest fragments on the Sahamalaza Peninsula. ASIA Bengladesh PEACE- Primates, environment and conservation educa- Mariah tion: development, implementation and assessment of an Mandelman environmental education program in Bangladesh Indonesia Comparative behavioural study of lorises (Nycticebus Becky Collins coucang and N. javanicus) at the Schmutzer Primate Centre, Jakarta. Determining the causes of high parasite levels in ex-captive Dave Dellatore orangutans in northern Sumatra 3 ASIA Orangutan survey methodology and implications for Andrea conservation Molyneaux Assessment of trade in slow lorises within Sumatra and Angelina implications for conservation Navarro-Montes Piloting an educational pack for school children in Indo- Hannah Barlow nesia, focusing on the issue of primates as pets (with parti- cular emphasis of macaques Macaca fascicularis & M. nemes- trina and slow lorises Nycticebus spp.). Sri Lanka Inter-population differences of western purple-faced leaf Caitlin Eschmann monkeys (Trachypithecus vetulus nestor): a case study in Talan- gama, Sri Lanka EUROPE United The environmental impacts of the DRC war on primate Nasreen Aziz Kingdom habitats Using sound as a possible enrichment method for Jennifer Javan langurs Campbell Implications of implementing the 2006 IPS guidelines on Robert Drake captive breeding of non-human primates, with regard to premature weaning Foraging and tool use in orangutans at Dudley, Twycross, Sarah Fowkes Colchester, Blackpool and Jersey zoos A comparative study of primate vocalizations in the wild Trisha Gilmore and captivity, illustrated by an orangutan case study Existing reintroduction guidelines for neotropical prima- Erika tes: availability of, access to, and uptake in Central -and Gustafsson South America An evaluation of the effect of human and non-human pri- Helen Hitchman mate interactions at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, on visitor knowledge and attitudes towards lemur conservation