Within the next century, rising ocean temperatures around the Galápagos Islands are expected to make the water too warm for a key prey species, sardines, to tolerate. A new study by Wake Forest University biologists, published in PLOS ONE Aug. 23, uses decades of data on the diet and breeding of a tropical seabird, the Nazca booby, to understand how the future absence of sardines may affect the booby population.
Researchers have studied diet, breeding and survival of Nazca boobies as part of a long-term study at Isla Española in the Galápagos Islands for more than 30 years. In 1997, midway through the study, sardines disappeared from Nazca booby diet samples and were replaced by the less-nutritious flying fish.
As flying fish replaced sardines in the birds' diet, "reproductive success was halved," said Emily Tompkins, a Ph.D. student at Wake Forest and lead author of the study. "If the current links between diet and reproduction persist in the future, and rising ocean temperatures exclude sardines from the Galápagos, we forecast the Nazca booby population will decline," Tompkins said.
David Anderson, Wake Forest professor of biology and co-author of the study, said: "Few connections have been made between ocean warming and population effects in the tropics, making this study significant."
The study increases understanding of one species' response to climate change in tropical oceans, but also suggests that other Galapagos predators that do well when sardines are available must adjust to a new menu within the next 100 years.
An aeolid nudibranch moves along coral in Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
The Government of Fiji has made a commitment to gazette two large Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) within Fiji's Vatu-i-Ra Seascape -- a highly diverse and productive area vital to both people and wildlife alike.
During his address at the United Nations Ocean Conference in New York City, Fiji's Minister for the Ministry of Fisheries, Mr. Semi Koroilavesau announced that Fiji is committed to scaling up MMAs in Fiji, including the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. The Ministry is working to designate the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs, spanning an area of 13,650 square kilometers.
The move will help protect a host of wildlife species that use the ecologically unique and bountiful Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. This includes migratory humpback whales that migrate from Antarctica to the area to breed, colorful vibrant corals, sharks, rays, more than 200 fish species and regionally significant seabird populations. A second commitment on protecting marine mammals in Fiji reinforces the commitment to gazette the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs to, protect and sustainably manage known humpback whale migration, breeding and calving areas.
"The area boasts a remarkably biodiverse array of species, both permanent and transient," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Fiji Country Program. "The seascape provides for the plants and animals, and the plants and animals provide for the people in the form of food, livelihoods, coastal protection and reduction of climate change impacts."
Among some of the other benefits provided by Vatu-i-Ra Seascape are annual tourism dollars US $22.8M and fisheries valued at US 11.6 M. There are seamounts of cultural importance, and breeding grounds for sharks, rays, turtles and a range of coral reef and pelagic fish species.
Soft corals, crinoids and anthias fish are in the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
However, unsustainable harvesting of fish, an increasing human population, growing demand for goods, and market access has led to increased pressure on the area's natural resources. Unless overfishing and land-based impacts is addressed, the seascape is projected to rise to a medium to high threat level by 2030, according to the global assessment "Reefs at Risk" by the World Resources Institute.
The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will contribute to an ecological network of MMAs in Fiji aimed at restoring and preserving the health, productivity, and diversity of Fiji's coastal and marine systems.
Said Dr. Mangubhai, "With our community partners and the government of Fiji, we celebrate this special announcement. It is critical that we decrease the pressure we are putting on our ocean, and create a sustainable balance."
"The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will be the first for Fiji's archipelagic waters and will contribute an additional 1.2 percent to Fiji's international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, "said the Honorable Mr Semi Koroilavesau, Minister for Fisheries. "The MMAs showcase Fiji's drive to attain key achievements on protected areas and efforts towards Sustainable Development Goal 14 to Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development. "This is our home-our health, wealth and wellbeing is intricately connected to the health of our ocean."
Situated 250 miles off the coast of Yemen, Socotra is the largest member of an archipelago of the same name, a four-island ellipsis that trails off the Horn of Africa into the Gulf of Aden. Socotra, an island of roughly 50.000 people, was colonised by the ancient Greeks who named it the Island of Happiness. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the Socotra archipelago is home to hundreds of endemic or endangered plant and animal species. In the 1990s, a team of United Nations biologists conducted a survey of the archipelago’s flora and fauna. They counted nearly 700 endemic species, found nowhere else on earth; only Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands have more impressive numbers.
The Unesco World Heritage Site listing describes the Socotra Archipelago, as being in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden, 250 km long and comprised of four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. The site is of universal importance because of its biodiversity with rich and distinct flora and fauna: 37% of Socotra’s 825 plant species, 90% of its reptile species and 95% of its land snail species do not occur anywhere else in the world. The site also supports globally significant populations of land and sea birds (192 bird species, 44 of which breed on the islands while 85 are regular migrants), including a number of threatened species. The marine life of Socotra is also very diverse, with 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of coastal fish and 300 species of crab, lobster and shrimp.
Lately, Socotra's delicate paradise is witnessing an unprecedented level of destruction, depletion, abuse and irreparable damage caused by foreign investment in developing its tourism industry and exploiting its natural resources. Massive construction of residential cities, ports, hotels, roads and gas stations has begun as well as exploitation of the archipelago's fish fish reserves. An international appeal to the UNESCO has been initiated by a group calling themselves the "Save Socotra International Team". The appeal is asking UNESCO to "use all peaceful, possible, diplomatic and political means to stop the invasion by foreign powers, investors and speculators, and to save the great patrimony of biodiversity, which has been developed over millions of years on the Yemeni island of Socotra, of being lost forever". You can review the appeal at this website. This International Team has also prepared a video presentation in support of their appeal.
The discovery of a new species of hard coral, found on Lord Howe Island, suggests that the fauna of this isolated location in the Tasman Sea off south eastern Australia is even more distinct than previously recognised.
In a recent paper in ZooKeys, Prof. Andrew Baird and Dr. Mia Hoogenboom from James Cook University, Townsville Australia and Dr. Danwei Huang from the National University of Singapore, describe the new species Cyphastrea salae.
"The animal itself is quite non-descript from a distance, although it is beautifully symmetrical up close like most corals," says Dr. Hoogenboom. "But we believe this is the first of many new hard coral species to be found in this World Heritage-listed marine protected area."
Lord Howe Island is famous for its many unique plant and animal species, known from nowhere else on Earth, including at least four species of palms, nine reef fish and 47 algae. However, the coral fauna remains largely unexplored, particularly using modern genetic techniques.
A holotype of the new hard coral species Cyphastrea salae. Credit: Prof. Andrew Baird
While some of the earliest work on coral reef ecology was done on Lord Howe Island, the species lists were compiled using a morphological taxonomy that has since been revised.
"On my very first dive in the lagoon at Lord Howe I knew I was looking at something very special," says Prof. Baird. "Twenty years of diving all over the globe had not prepared me for what I saw. I could hardly put a name on any coral!"
Now, six years later, and largely due to the molecular skills of colleague Dr. Huang, the team is ready to name its first species.
"Interestingly, Cyphastrea salae looks almost exactly like other closely-related corals. However, its gene sequences are distinct and there is no doubt it is a species that is new to science," says Dr. Huang.
A view of the study site in Lord Howe Island's lagoon. Credit: Prof. Andrew Baird
The team now have hundreds of specimens to work through, but they are confident that there are more new coral species left to describe.
"The Acropora, in particular, look highly promisingly," says Prof. Baird. "There are at least five species that look unlike anything I have seen anywhere else in my travels".
Lord Howe Island lies over 900 km south of the next major area of coral diversity, the Great Barrier Reef, and therefore the populations on Lord Howe are highly isolated. Such isolation creates the potential for speciation, however, C. salae is the first new local coral species described to date. The discovery of this new species greatly increases the conservation significance of Lord Howe Island and reinforces the need for strong management measures to protect this unique fauna.
Study analyzes 5,000 surf breaks globally; finds growth reversed where breaks were destroyed; shows Western Australia is a hotspot for growth near breaks.
University of Sydney research reveals high quality surf breaks boost economic growth in nearby areas - and by how much.
Researchers analysed satellite images of night-time lights as a 'proxy' for economic growth. They found that a surfing community's discovery of a high-quality break can raise growth by 2.2 percentage points a year. The study of more than 5000 surf break locations in 146 countries spans data between 1992 and 2013, with a concentration toward breaks in Australia and the United States.
"We conducted four sets of experiments, and they all confirm that good waves significantly increase growth, particularly after recent discoveries and during El Niño years," said Dr Sam Wills, of the University of Sydney's School of Economics.
While it's well understood that natural features like rivers and fertile soil matter for economic growth, this provides some of the first evidence that natural amenities are also important. Researchers investigated data in two locations where surf breaks were removed and found that nearby economies shrink when this occurs. A break at Jardim do Mar, Portugal, was removed though the construction of a coastal road, while another at Mundaka, Spain, disappeared after a river mouth was dredged.
The paper suggests policymakers can use surf breaks as a way to create jobs and reduce poverty, especially in developing countries. To do this they can promote public and private investment needed to enjoy surf breaks, while protecting their environmental quality.
"Discovering a high-quality break - or battery-heated wetsuits that made cold-water breaks more accessible - increased growth in the surrounding areas," said Dr Wills. "But destroying a break reduced growth, even if it was replaced by a new road or a dredged river."
Dr Wills - who enjoys surfing in his spare time - will present the findings at the International Surfing Symposium conference at the Gold Coast this week, in the lead-up to the Quicksilver Pro - the first stop on the 2017 surfing World Championship Tour.
"I had the idea for the paper straight after I submitted my PhD thesis," he said.
"It was November and I needed to get out of Oxford, so I looked for somewhere warm and sunny with good waves. I settled on Taghazout in Morocco, thinking it would be quiet. Flying in at sunset over the desert I noticed that everything was dark, except for one little spot that was lit up like Pitt Street: Taghazout.
"Once I arrived I realised that this previously sleepy little fishing village had been overrun by surfers, and so I wanted to figure out whether it was systematically happening around the world."
Top 10 Fastest Growing Surf Breaks from 1992-2013:
Australia*
10. Express Point, VIC 9. Smiths Beach, WA 8. Smiths Reef, WA 7. Mouse Traps, WA 6. Supertubes, WA 5. Yallingup, WA 4. Palestines, WA 3. Rabbits, WA 2. Isolators, WA 1. Yallingup (shorebreak), WA
The World*
10. Rabbits, Australia (WA) 9. Isolators, Australia (WA) 8. Yallingup, Australia (WA) 7. Playa Guiones, Costa Rica 6. Playa Lagosta 5. Omaha, New Zealand 4. Dark Reef, Vietnam 3. Shabandar, Malaysia 2. Yacila, Peru 1. Nosara, Costa Rica
A new study finds that humans can interact with sharks without long-term behavioral impacts for the ocean's top predators.
Reef sharks on Palmyra atoll inspect the baited remote underwater video system. Credit: Darcy Bradley.
Swimming with metaphorical sharks is one thing, but actually getting into the water with the razor-toothed ocean predators? Crazy, right? Not according to the masses of shark-obsessed scuba divers who travel great distances - and pay big money - to get face time with the giant fish.
A multimillion-dollar global industry is constructed around the promise of doing just that: cage diving with white sharks in South Africa and Guadeloupe Island; shark feeding in the Bahamas, Mexico or Fiji; diving with huge schools of hammerheads in Cocos Island and Galapagos.
That's great for thrill-seekers, but what about the sharks? As most scuba divers know -- and previous studies have shown -- sharks more commonly swim away from people than toward them. Does that avoidance behavior persist after the divers leave? Do sharks steer clear of sites that are frequented by divers?
Eager to understand how scuba diving activities over multiyear time scales influence shark behavior, scientists at UC Santa Barbara and Florida International University set out to find answers. They found human-shark interaction can take place without long-term effects on the sharks. Their research appears in the Marine Ecology Progress Series.
"Unfortunately, human impacts on shark populations are ubiquitous on our planet," said lead author Darcy Bradley, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. "That makes it difficult to separate shark behavioral changes due to scuba diving from behavioral changes caused by other human activities like fishing."
A researcher works on the video system used in reef shark study. Credit: Jenn Caselle.
The researchers went to Palmyra, a remote atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, where shark populations are healthy, fishing is not allowed and the majority of its near pristine underwater world is rarely dived. However, Palmyra is home to a small scientific research station, where researchers dive in a handful of locations. This made the atoll an ideal site for studying whether and how shark abundance and behavior differ between locations where diving is more common and those where it is not.
The team studied whether scuba diving activities have long-term consequences for shark populations. They used baited remote underwater video systems - cameras lowered to the ocean floor with a small amount of bait - to survey sharks and other predators from the surrounding reef.
"After reviewing 80 hours of underwater footage taken from video surveys conducted in 2015 -- 14 years after Palmyra was established as a wildlife refuge and scientific diving activities began -- we found that shark abundance and shark behavior were the same at sites with and without a long history of scuba diving," said co-author Jennifer Caselle, a research biologist at UCSB's Marine Science Institute.
"Our results suggest that humans can interact with reef sharks without long-term behavioral impacts," Bradley said. "That's good news. It means that well-regulated shark diving tourism doesn't necessarily undermine shark conservation goals."
North Carolina's Cape Lookout lighthouse has survived threats ranging from Civil War raids to multiple hurricanes, but the Outer Banks site can't escape climate-related changes such as rising sea levels, coastal erosion and flooding from stronger storms.
A North Carolina State University study in Climatic Change found little research exists on how to protect cultural resources like those at Cape Lookout National Seashore, a 56-acre site that includes historic buildings in addition to the iconic lighthouse and scenic beaches.
"Cultural heritage sites provide a lot of benefits, from sociocultural value in giving a community its unique identity to economic benefits from recreation and tourism," says lead author Sandra Fatoric, a postdoctoral researcher with NC State's College of Natural Resources. "We see a significant gap in knowledge of how to adapt to climate change and preserve cultural resources for future generations."
Researchers searched worldwide for peer-reviewed studies of cultural resources - archaeological sites, natural landscapes and historic buildings - at risk due to climate change. About 60 percent of the studies referenced sites in Europe, most commonly in the United Kingdom. Another 17 percent of the research covered sites in North America, a majority of them in the United States. About 11 percent dealt with resources in Australia and the Pacific Islands and 10 percent mentioned Asia, mostly China. All but six of the 124 studies were published in English-language journals, with South America and Africa rarely represented in the research.
"We were struck by how recent much of the research was, with the first article appearing in 2003," Fatoric says, adding there's a need for more multidisciplinary work and research that involves local residents and stakeholders. "That process reveals what a community most values about a site."
Co-author Erin Seekamp, an associate professor and tourism extension specialist in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at NC State, is working with stakeholders to set priorities for protecting cultural resources at Cape Lookout as part of a project with the Department of Interior's Southeast Climate Science Center. Seekamp and Fatoric are evaluating 17 buildings in terms of their significance and their value to the site's operations, working with managers from the National Park Service and North Carolina State Preservation Office. The research team, which includes U.S. Geological Survey analysts Mitch Eaton and Max Post van der Burg, is combining this information with earlier research by Western Carolina University's Rob Young which found that most of the buildings at Cape Lookout are at high risk from flooding, erosion and rising sea levels.
"We're looking at all of the options for each structure," Seekamp says. "Which buildings should be maintained? Which could be moved to higher ground? Does that change the character of the site? Does changing a building's use - from storage to visitor programs, for example - affect its relative value?"
An overview of Seekamp's research is part of a National Park Service report titled "Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy", which ranked as the most downloaded government website document in the week following the 2017 presidential inauguration, according to the Washington Post.
"Park managers face difficult decisions in prioritizing which resources to protect," Seekamp says. "We hope to develop a method that will help with decisions on protecting Cape Lookout's historic buildings as well as informing policy for protecting cultural resources at other national parks facing climate adaptation."
Citation: Sandra Fatoric and Erin Seekamp; Are cultural heritage and resources threatened by climate change? A systematic literature review; Climatic Change (2017); DOI: 10.1007/s10584-017-1929-9.
Study says more than 100 natural World Heritage sites, including Yellowstone, are increasingly damaged by expanding human infrastructure and land uses.
Study says more than 100 natural World Heritage sites, including Yellowstone, are increasingly damaged by expanding human infrastructure and land uses
Many sites are under continued threat and without urgent action could be damaged beyond repair
World Heritage sites are designated by the World Heritage Convention as places of outstanding universal value that should be safeguarded for future generations
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee meets again this coming July in Poland
"The world would never accept the Acropolis being knocked down, or a couple of pyramids being flattened for housing estates or roads, yet right now, across our planet, we are simply letting many of our natural World Heritage sites become severely altered." - Dr. James Watson of the University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society
The authors looked at human pressure over time using the updated global Human Footprint criteria, which includes roads, agriculture, urbanization and industrial infrastructure, along with forest loss.
They found that the Human Footprint has increased in 63 percent of NWHS across all continents except Europe over the past two decades. The most impacted NWHS were found in Asia including: Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in India, and Chitwan National Park in Nepal; along with Simien National Park in Ethiopia.
In terms of forest loss, highly impacted parks included the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras, which lost 365 km2 (8.5 percent) of their forest respectively, since 2000. Even celebrated places like Yellowstone National Park in the US were impacted, losing some 6 percent of its forests. Meanwhile, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park that crosses the Canadian and USA border lost almost one quarter of its forested area (23 percent or 540 km2).
A new study warns that more than 100 natural World Heritage sites are being severely damaged by encroaching human activities. Credit: Biological Conservation.
"World Heritage natural sites should be maintained and protected fully. For a site to lose ten or twenty percent of its forested area in two decades is alarming and must be addressed," said the lead author James Allan from the University of Queensland.
Said senior author, Dr. James Watson of the University of Queensland and WCS: "Any place that is listed as a World Heritage site is a globally important asset to all of humanity. The world would never accept the Acropolis being knocked down, or a couple of pyramids being flattened for housing estates or roads, yet right now, across our planet, we are simply letting many of our natural World Heritage sites be severely altered."
By highlighting natural World Heritage sites that are in immediate danger, the study provides useful baseline data for future monitoring and protection. It should stimulate the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which meets annually to review the status of World Heritage properties globally, to undertake further action to safeguard natural sites in particular.
"It is time for the global community to stand up and hold governments to account so that they take the conservation of natural World Heritage sites seriously. We urge the World Heritage Committee to immediately assess the highly threatened sites we have identified. Urgent intervention is clearly needed to save these places and their outstanding natural universal values," said James Allan.
Some NWHS such as the Sinharaja Forest Reserve and Mana Pools National Park showed minimal change in forest loss or human pressure, but the authors say they are in the minority.
Countryside visitors choose where to go based on the presence of features such as coastline, woodland or abundant footpaths, rather than a site's importance to conservation, according to new research.
While conservation organisations stress the important health, psychological and emotional wellbeing benefits of connecting people to nature, it isn't the sites with the highest conservation importance which people choose to visit.
The study into people's recreation habits, by Karen Hornigold, Dr Iain Lake and Dr Paul Dolman at the University of East Anglia (UEA), is important to inform both the provision of access to natural areas (a.k.a. "green infrastructure") and to mitigate recreational pressures to vulnerable conservation areas.
Ms Hornigold from the School of Environmental Sciences at UEA said: "There is a lack of understanding of recreationists' decision-making, but we must understand what drives countryside visitors to their location of choice if we want to support the management of countryside to balance both recreation and conservation of biodiversity."
The study is the first to model outdoor recreation at a national level, examining habitat preferences and the popularity of sites of conservation importance -- those designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
This unique analysis used a huge data set of countryside visits undertaken by the general public in England to show that, although conservation designated sites often offer greater public access than non-designated sites, this doesn't drive more people to these valuable areas.
Dr Dolman said: "We found that recreationists preferred areas of coast or freshwater bodies, deciduous woodland, and sites with more footpaths over other sites such as arable land, coniferous woods or lowland heath. They aren't choosing where to go based on a site's importance to conservation but for the features it offers."
"If a site has attractive features, whether it is also of high nature conservation importance gives no additional attraction to general day-to-day recreationists, and in some cases appears to reduce the sites attraction. Although there is huge public support for nature conservation, this is not linked to greater recreational use by the general public."
In Western Europe, recreational amenity is seen as an important cultural ecosystem service, which can help justify policies to conserve biodiversity. While visitors can have undesirable impacts on important conservation sites, access to nature is essential to build public support for conservation, and use of these areas gives potential to generate revenue, further supporting biodiversity efforts.
Dr Dolman said: "The public expenditure on SSSI areas is significant -- more than £85million in 2008-9. Whilst underpinning biodiversity conservation, it does not bring direct benefits to the public in terms of recreational amenity
"But biodiversity conservation must be justified by the intrinsic value of nature and by the undeniable fact that huge numbers of the public want to see biodiversity conserved, not by the amenity value it provides."
The authors note that although many people who are informed about or interested in biodiversity do deliberately visit these areas of conservation importance, this does not reflect the recreational patterns of the general public as these preferences could not be detected in the nationwide sample.
"Protected areas do benefit the wider public, even if not directly through recreational use, and so the examination of the relationship between conservation and recreationally-used sites is pertinent and something which has significance far outside the UK," said Ms Hornigold. "The relationships identified from this nationally representative sample of English households is likely to apply to other urban-based countries."
TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel website, has announced a new collaboration with Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) involving the creation of an online education portal to help inform travellers about the standards of care for wild, captive, and endangered species in tourism.
By the University of Oxford.
A year ago, WildCRU's Professor David Macdonald and Dr Tom Moorhouse published a research paper exploring the impact of tourism on wild animals through activities such as elephant rides, big cat petting and dolphin displays – a study that showed there were substantial problems within the industry, but also that there was an enormous opportunity to do immense good for animal welfare and conservation.
In a statement, TripAdvisor confirmed it would discontinue selling tickets for certain animal-based tourism experiences and would aim to set up the education portal by early 2017.
Professor Macdonald, from Oxford's Department of Zoology and the founding Director of WildCRU, said: 'We are delighted that TripAdvisor has announced it plans two radical steps towards ensuring that tourism can become a greater force for conservation and a lesser force for the exploitation of wild animals.
'The tip of the iceberg, conspicuous above the water, is the welfare of wild animals in tourist attractions, but hidden beneath the metaphorical waterline can be a huge cascade of effects on the welfare of animals in the wild, and far-reaching impacts on their conservation.
'If our involvement in TripAdvisor's education portal can help us inform millions of tourists about the likely impact of their choices on wildlife conservation, WildCRU will be proud. Beyond informing them, if we can contribute to driving change in the industry to improve conservation standards in tourism, we will be even more proud.
'We at WildCRU are professional researchers, and we are especially excited about using our analytical skills to collaborate with colleagues at TripAdvisor to research how the education portal affects behaviour change and conservation outcomes.'
TripAdvisor said the education portal would provide links and information on animal welfare practices, helping travellers to write more informed reviews about their experiences and to be aware of opinions that exist on the conservation implications and benefits of some tourism attractions. The content will provide numerous points of view from experts in the fields of sustainable tourism, animal welfare, wildlife conservation and the zoological and marine sciences – including WildCRU.
Speaking about the collaboration, Professor Macdonald said: 'In the first instance, this means that Tom Moorhouse and I will be writing short articles for the portal to inform and guide travellers about the likely impact of their custom on the wildlife held at, or sourced for, tourist attractions.
'Perhaps even more excitingly, in terms of the potential to change people’s behaviour for the betterment of both wildlife conservation and animal welfare, we will develop with TripAdvisor research strands on information and consumer choice, investigating ways to inform consumer behaviour to facilitate beneficial outcomes.'
Dr Moorhouse added: 'We are convinced that research into the choices of tourists and their impacts on the welfare and conservation of wild animals is a powerful tool for enabling tourism to deliver greater benefits for wildlife.'
WildCRU made huge headlines last summer when Cecil, a lion being tracked by Oxford researchers in a Zimbabwean national park, was shot by a big-game hunter. The incident led to more than US$1m being donated to WildCRU's conservation research by members of the public within six months of Cecil's killing.