Post-Conference Virtual Sessions
Online Workshops
Estimating wolf occupancy with R
Hosted By: Olivier Gimenez - National Centre for Scientific Research, France
Date and Time: May 16th, 2023 - 14:00 - 17:00 CET
In this workshop, we will show how to infer occupancy while accounting for imperfect detection. Using a real case study on wolves (Canis lupus) that have been recolonizing France since the early 1990s, we will show how to estimate the proportion of area occupied by the species. We will also show how to asses the dynamic of occupancy by estimating colonization and extinction processes. If time allows, we will also cover recent models that allow accounting for false positives due to species misidentification as well as species interactions. The workshop will be a combination of lecture and live coding demonstrations in R (using package unmarked).
Registration Deadline: April 28, 2023
Understanding the wolf through cultural narratives
Hosted By: Saloni Bhatia - Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, India
Date and Time: May 26th, 2023 - 19:00 - 21:00 IST
In many parts of the world, researchers have documented folklore around the wolf that has enabled us to understand the origin of various emotions, values, beliefs and stereotypes that people have come to associate with the animal. In several parts of Europe, for example, the wolf is associated with witchcraft whereas in parts of Central Asia, it is considered to be the ancestor of Genghis Khan. In parts of the Indian high Himalaya, people believe that uttering the wolf's name will bring bad luck whereas others believe the wolf to be a vehicle for several deities. The richness and nuance in folklore can allow us to better interpret human-wolf relationships and help with inclusive and culturally-relevant conservation messaging.
Storytelling is an essential part of human societies which enables people to make sense of the world and their place in it. The proposed workshop can be a place of learning and 'unlearning' of the ways in which we see the wolf. It aims to be an interactive session which can provide a platform for the consolidation of wolf narratives across geographies and also facilitate discussion on how to a) better document and preserve biocultural heritage for posterity and b) integrate it with on-ground conservation.
Registration Deadline: May 1, 2023
Online Panel Discussion
Overshadowed by large cats: Wolves in the Asian highlands
Hosted By: David Macdonald, WildCRU, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Date and Time: May 17th, 2023 - 14:00 - 16:00 CET
In west and central Asian highlands, wolf management and conservation is generally overshadowed by more charismatic larger cats, such as Persian leopards, snow leopards and tigers, which are considered to need more protection. Consequently, conservation resources and mitigation efforts in different landscapes are usually channelled into cat
conservation, rather than addressing the entire guild of large carnivores.
The aim of this virtual panel is to bring up ideas how to advance wolf conservation in these regions where charismatic cat species often leave less space for wolf conservation. In this virtual panel, we will be discussing about different aspects of the ecological processes of wolf-large cat interaction and socio-economic consequences of their ecology and current conservation practices, based on empirical studies from Pakistan, Iran, India, Mongolia, Georgia and Nepal.
Format:
This panel discussion will include 6 presentations (~10 minutes each) with an additional 50 minutes at the end for a question and answer session.
Panel Speakers and Talks:
Mohammad Farhadina - University of Kent / University of Oxford, United Kingdom
(Different effects of land-use management on wolves and leopards in Iran)
Shivam Shrotriya - Wildlife Institute of India, India
(Living in the shadow of big cats: The ancient wolves of India deserve conservation attention)
Muhammad Kabir - Wildlife Ecology Lab, University of Haripur, Pakistan
(Coexistence of wolves, snow leopards and communities in northern Pakistan)
Geraldine Werhahn - University of Oxford, United Kindgom
(Exploring causes and consequences for underrepresented wolf conservation in the Nepalese Himalayas)
Claudio Augugliaro - University of Lausanne, Switzerland
(Co-occurrence between carnivore communities and pastoral activities in the Mongolian Altai)
Bejan Lortkipanidze - Noah’s Ark Centre for the Recovery of Endangered Species (NACRES)
(Conservation of wolves, lynx, and leopards in Georgia)
Registration Deadline: May 5, 2023