Zoo staff member Lynsey Jones got involved with the project working alongside local ecological consultants; who have a licence from Natural England to trap and relocate newts to special protected areas during building work.This is part of preparation for construction of the zoo’s exciting new Islands project due to start later in the summer. Once Islands is complete the newts will be able to move back into the area.

Here is Lynsey’s account of what happened.

A quick check of our kit confirmed we were ready to go. I was excited but also a little nervous about my first try looking for great crested newts. You know you’re in no ordinary office job when one day you are merrily writing funding bids for Chester Zoo and the next you’re out in a field, wellies on, searching for this protected species.

I volunteered to help out with the relocation of the newts as I’d done small mammal trapping before and figured that this would be easier as there would be no shrews to bite me this time!

The word trap does sound quite painful but the traps are simply buckets sunk into the ground waiting to catch the newts returning to ponds to breed. There is a nice bit of moss at the bottom, as well as some water and a stick leading out of the trap so any mammals that accidentally end up in the trap can escape. The traps are checked every day.

The early start couldn’t dampen our spirits as it was a glorious sunny morning on my first session. Armed with buckets, my colleagues Cat, Becca and I started looking in each trap under the moss and in the water for signs of life.

After checking over 100 traps the only things I had found were lots of spiders and worms and I was beginning to think I had forgotten the training we’d been given and was doing it all wrong. Then, on turning over one piece of moss I saw a bright flash of orange and was very excited to finally find a newt!

I knew straight away it wasn’t a great crested newt as my newt didn’t have their distinctive warty texture, but with the help of ecologist Adam, we deduced it was a male smooth newt. More smooth newts followed in successive traps and when compared side by side it was quite easy to tell the different genders, especially as the females are now full of eggs so look quite swollen.

The smooth newts were taken to their safe haven habitat and off we went again searching more traps. Sadly that was all the newt action I got that day, though Becca and Cat were far more successful and found a few of the ‘Cresties’. It was great to finally see some and Adam pointed out their interesting smell but warned us that their skin is poisonous to predators, making me very glad I had gloves on!

After three hours of bending down checking traps my back and legs were aching and I now have a new-found respect for all conservationists who do survey and trapping work like this on a regular basis. I really enjoyed my first experience of ‘newting’ and am looking forward to volunteering again and hopefully finding great crested newts myself next time.

There will be many weeks of trapping ahead to move the newts so I will get plenty of opportunity and I am so pleased to be able to do something practical to help just one of the many conservation projects the zoo is involved with.

I am Lynsey Jones and I Act for Wildlife.

They’ll be taking part in RideLondon 100, a 100 mile road race from the Olympic park in London through the capital and the Surrey countryside. Many of the world’s best cyclists have tested this challenging route and we’re sure that this will be an amazing event for all involved.

They'll need to ride 100 miles in under 8 hours, so we caught up with Steve recently to find out how the training was going.

Why did you decide to sign up for the event?
Challenging myself by taking part in a long distance event has been something I have been aiming for for some time. When I saw the article in the zoo magazine about charity places, I felt that I could combine putting myself forward for a challenge and raising money for a fantastic cause.

Why did you choose to support Act for Wildlife?
My son, Ben, is such an animal lover and is convinced he is going to be a vet or look after animals when he is older. It is his enthusiasm and a wish to push myself to the limit and make my family proud that encouraged me to apply through Act for Wildlife.

We have been Chester Zoo members for 7 years and we just think that the animals that we see there are amazing. My personal favourite is the jaguar - particularly the black jaguar. My eldest son Ben loves the elephants and youngest son Alex adores the giraffes. As a family we hope that the money I raise goes some way towards helping these, and any other animals in danger in the wild.

How is your training going?
Training is going well. Rob and I are cycling together twice every week, increasing distances and speed every time we train. In addition to this I'm training at least twice more per week to build up my endurance.

Have you ever done anything like this before?
No never. The nerves are kicking in when I contemplate what a challenge it is going to be, mentally and physically. I'm preparing myself and my kit as much as I can and really looking forward to the big day.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about taking on a challenge for Act for Wildlife?
Go for it! I am loving the training and anticipation for the event and am looking forward to doing my bit!

What would you say to someone considering sponsoring you for your challenge?
Please donate whatever you can. The hours of training we are putting in are gruelling but so worthwhile. I would love to exceed my target and help Act for Wildlife as much as I can. Watching the donations really helps motivate us.

A big thanks to Steve and Rob’s employers Countryside Properties who are supporting them on this challenge.

To sponsor Steve and to keep up to date with his progress go to Steve's Fundraising Page.

If you’d like to take part take part in a challenge of your own and raise money for Act for Wildlife we still have a few swimming and running places left – sign up today.

We’re partnering with other wildlife organisations to raise the public profile of issues facing rhinos, elephants, orangutans and tigers, which are threatened with extinction in the wild.

This month we’re focusing on rhinos so click here to read some articles about how Act for Wildlife and Chester Zoo are working with rhinos in the UK and around the world.

Watch out for more details of our orangutan season later in the year, including details about how you can get involved.

To stay up to date with all of the latest news from all of the partners involved in the campaign go to the If They're Gone Facebook page.

This research will help to ultimately protect the tapirs and reduce the threats to their survival. Here is some lovely news from the project…

We have carried out two expeditions at the Baía das Pedras Ranch in the Pantanal and were fortunate to catch lots of tapirs, including some new animals and some we’ve seen before. Two of the new tapirs were radio-collared with new GPS collars and will now be a really important part of our research.

During the expeditions we also identified a baía (lagoon) located in the very centre of the home ranges of some of our radio-collared individuals and were able to spot the tapirs many times!

During the dry season in the Pantanal this baía is one of the few places in the ranch where there is still water, so most of the tapirs in the area spend time there during the hot afternoons. Our team literally just had to sit there and wait to see who would show up!

For the first time in my life as a tapir conservationist I was able to observe tapir behavior and social interactions first hand - absolutely fantastic! I even found out that our female tapir, Rita, had a baby.

I am Patricia Medici and I Act for Wildlife

Check out our gallery below...

As part of the Rhino Team at Chester I wanted to tell you a bit more about the importance of this, not only for us here at Chester Zoo, but for the population as a whole; how we hope this will help to increase the numbers of rhinos and raise awareness of the struggle rhinos are going through with so much poaching.

There are now only three sub species of Black Rhino and combined the most recent figures show a 2012 population of 5,055 individuals. However poaching has been terrible with a total of 668 rhinos poached in 2012 - this number has been increasing for the last few years and in the first 58 days of this year at least 128 individuals were poached.

It is now more important than ever to keep the EEP gene pool as diverse as possible and keep numbers increasing. Not only are we helping numbers by breeding ex-situ but we are also able to educate people about the reasons that rhinos are critically endangered.

We also help rhinos in the wild (in-situ) through our field programmes, training staff directly involved in the protection of rhinos in the use of skills like GIS to help monitor and protect the rhinos at Chyulu Hills National Park in Kenya and contributing towards the cost of translocating rhinos in-situ. We supported an EEP translocation in 2009 where 3 black rhinos were translocated from Dvur Kralove Zoo to Mkomazi Sanctuary in Tanzania.

Chester Zoo also supports education programmes, funding a bus to take local children around the park to see the wildlife in places like Laikipia District in Kenya and Mkomazi in Tanzania, where educating the children may hopefully have more of an effect in the future.

Even helping to support making mud wallows and observation hides increases the effectiveness of the monitoring of the rhinos at Mkomazi. To know that the work we do here at the zoo also has an effect in the wild is a great feeling. So we’d like to share with you the story of Dakimas birth.

Malindi arrived from Madeburg in Germany several years ago. About 2 years ago we started to introduce Malindi to Sammy, one of our male rhinos, as she was old enough to breed. Unfortunately they didn’t get on very well. After several introductions we decided to try introducing her to our other male Magadi. Magadi was the perfect gentleman and each month they successfully mated.

After about 3 months of not seeing any mating we had an inkling that she may be pregnant, however as they were together 24 hours a day there was a chance that they were mating at night. Faecal samples are collected every second day and analysed on site in our endocrine laboratory. These then confirmed that Malindi was 4 months pregnant.

This meant that as gestation is 15 months we still had a long 11 months to wait! It did however give us time to prepare for the very important birth. We had to firstly separate Malindi from Magadi as she was pregnant she was beginning to get a little grumpy towards him. We then moved Malindi to our off show house for the birth as that has a birthing pen.

The birthing pen consisted of her normal pen plus a pen with a thick layer of sand giving her the choice where to give birth. The hormone analysis allowed us to monitor her all through the pregnancy. About 2 weeks before she gave birth her udder began to fill, which was very encouraging.

The day she gave birth she was very restless running around the paddock, her udder was very full and milk was dripping from her teats each time she lay down. We knew then that she was going to give birth anytime and early the following morning I had a message from our security team looking at the CCTV that we now had 2 rhinos instead of 1 in the pen.

I was very excited and couldn’t wait to get into work to see the baby and check she had suckled, the novelty of a rhino birth I don’t think will ever wear off!

Despite some encouraging progress in recent days the injured rhino bull sadly died on Friday from the injuries caused by the snare.

We received the following message from Richard Bonham, Director of Operations in Chyulu

One of our ground teams found the injured rhino tracks and called in support on the ground. The helicopter arrived and finally, after six long weeks, the immobilization dart went in. But it was too late. The injuries caused by the snare had taken their toll and the rhino, so weak, never came round.

As you can see from the pictures, it is astonishing that the rhino lasted so long with such a horrific wound. The wire cable had cut its way down to the bones of his neck, severing tendons and filled, by this stage, with deep infection and maggots. There was nothing anyone could have done and by his dying, at least saved us the decision of having to put him down.

It’s been a long 6 weeks, constituting at least 10,000 man hours, 20 hours of Chopper time and 35 hours of Super Cub flying time. The costs attached to all this are difficult to calculate but the whole operation has probably cost close to £23,000. We have asked ourselves (and others have also questioned us) was this investment worth trying to save one animal. The answer to this is simple – YES. We could not give up for two reasons. The first is that none of us could live with ourselves if we had turned our backs on an animal that must have been in such agony and secondly, this rhino bull constituted one of our best hopes of making the precarious population of Chyulu rhino viable. We now only have one other breeding bull in our small population so all our hopes now rest with him.

We have all learnt so much from this last six weeks. We’ve been encouraged by the level of commitment that everyone involved has shown and all of the resources that have been invested; our rangers who worked from dawn to dusk; and dedicated individuals have dropped everything to support our search. Perhaps more importantly it is now clear how much we have to do to stop another population of black rhino toppling into extinction.

We have always known that the best protection the Chyulu rhino have is their dense and inhospitable habitat. This is illustrated so well by the fact it took us so long to find the injured bull. We also know a very important component is the use of camera traps and need to bring this to a much more sophisticated level by creating a unit who are dedicated to camera trapping - not only to monitor the rhino – but also poachers. We need to supplement the 6 camera traps we have with another 25, that will cover entry and exit points of poachers and also the more heavily used areas by rhino. This will undoubtedly be a huge deterrent as I am sure once in place it won’t take long for us to identify those responsible for the death of this rhino.

We know that Chyulu area is a potential strong hold for rhino in the future and there is a plan to translocate more rhino to boost the population. However, before this can be done, there is a lot of work to do. We have to make more water available, secure the eastern boundary, increase security outposts and fund the camera trap operation. So as usual, so much to do!

It has been a disappointing outcome but still we would like to thank all of you who encouraged and supported us.

Here at Act for Wildlife we would like to thank those of you who have already donated to the Rhino project but we need your support more than ever now.

The project desperately needs another 25 cameras to stop this sort of horrific attack happening again.

Can you help? Please donate anything you can to help us to support the team in Chyulu.

Thank you.

Our routine has been pretty standard, up at 5.00am and then airborne in the super cub at first light with the thermal imaging equipment whilst the ground teams deploy to their various sectors to search for the rhino's tracks.

Then yesterday we had a break. I was flying the cub with Ian Craig in the observer’s seat operating the thermal equipment. On our first run of the area I hear an excited shout over the intercom.

''I think I have him, he's down there in the lava.''

We swoop down and sure enough there was a rhino. As we got closer it was clear we had the right rhino as around his neck was a crimson band of congealed blood. It did not look good as he hardly moved and Ian and I both thought we had found him too late and he was on his last legs, weak and unable to move.

From there on it was a blur of activity. We landed in a nearby clearing where the ground teams met us and Ian took off on foot with his dart gun believing it would be an easy job from here on. But when he got to where we had seen him there was no rhino. He had done another of his disappearing acts so Ian asked me to get in the air again to see what I could spot, , but again nothing as he had moved back into a thicket.

Our only hope now was a helicopter which arrived exactly two hours later and was positioned waiting for a call by the ground teams. It did not take long in coming. The rhino was spotted, a smoke canister was set off to guide him in. He was on it in no time and circling above in the cub I saw the rhino galloping through the bush with the helicopter hovering above it. I thought.at long last, we'd got him! Then the worst news possible came through the radio, It was Ian…'' It’s the wrong rhino, it’s not injured!"

Reading the tracks, the ground crew could see that the injured rhino had joined up with another and he had held his ground whilst the other rhino had shot off with the helicopter following in hot pursuit. The crew got back on the right tracks and here disaster nearly struck. The rhino had not gone far and exploded out of thick bush, charging straight towards them. Everyone went for a tree – the only escape from a rhino in this situation.

Joseph, the senior rhino ranger, was not close enough to a tree and became the target of the rhino’s charge. By luck there was a big rock just in front of Joseph which the rhino stumbled on at full speed and tripped, casting Joseph aside like a leaf in a storm before disappearing back into the thicket. From here on we don’t really know what happened but somehow the rhino managed to evade being spotted by the helicopter and the super cub from the air.

You can imagine the despondency of the whole team. After so much effort and expense only to lose him after five long weeks of dawn to dusk searches. We have been so close and having been that close, and having seen the extent of his injuries, it has made it even worse.

The last two days we have been searching for him using every means possible but have been frustrated by what normally we would call the blessing of heavy rain, making the job almost impossible. Today we are all finding it difficult to remain positive, but tomorrow is another day. We gave the game scouts a choice of taking a day off yesterday as they were exhausted – mentally and physically but they turned it down saying we can’t give up, we have to help this rhino. So with that attitude we still have a chance.

The search for the snared rhino is draining funds. Every time a plane or helicopter goes up it costs a huge amount of money that the team cannot afford.

Every gift will make a difference, however small so please support the project now and make a donation today.

Meanwhile, much closer to home in a lab at Chester, experts are acting for wildlife by playing a key role in breeding the UK’s favourite two Pandas Tian Tian and Yuan Guang on show at Edinburgh Zoo.

Chester Zoo is home to the UK’s only endocrinology laboratory - specialising in studying hormone levels in wildlife. In the lab, the zoo’s team of experts test animal urine and faecal samples looking for specific chemicals, which enable them to learn all sorts of different things about exotic and endangered species.

The zoo has now been tasked by its counterparts in Edinburgh to analyse reproductive hormones from their female panda Tian Tian, during her brief mating season. Giant Pandas only come into season for approximately 36 hours once a year and so this information will be key to helping pinpoint exactly when that narrow window is.

Using hormone monitoring to predict oestrus is vital in Giant Pandas. Introductions can only be made when the female is fully receptive to the male, otherwise they may fight and injure each other or the male may waste valuable energy in failed mating attempts.

This specialist hormone work along with the active field conservation protecting the forests and its wildlife, highlights two very different but complementary ways Chester Zoo is acting for wildlife.

To learn more about our work in China read the blogs and updates from the field, or sign up for our e-newsletter.

To support the China Conservation Programme make a donation now.

Since then the team have been searching tirelessly on foot and have hired helicopters in a desperate attempt to try to find the male – a rare breeding rhino that is too valuable to lose.

They have found his tracks on a few occasions but are getting increasingly worried as they’ve found blood on the branches of the forest. The dense forest and recent rain has meant that the tracks are being washed away and are really difficult to find.

With no sighting of the rhino for over a week the 30 men are continuing the search and hoping that, following delivery of thermal imaging equipment, there may still be a chance of saving it.

The first ten days of the search they have spent their budget and without our continued support they can’t continue their work.

Help our colleagues in Chyulu by donating now to our rhino project.

Latest Update from the Kenya: 4 April 2013: "I have got in my old tracker. We nearly had him yesterday, we found his tracks and Ian was seconds from getting a dart into him, then he broke and ran, anyway we are back on him and let's hope in the next few days we get lucky."

 15 years!!!!    

Growing up wild in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah, Malaysia

Jenny (below left) is the first wild orang-utan habituated by KOCP in 1998 – She has been followed regularly for the past 15 years.  The orang-utan research team has watched her son Etin, grow up and leave his mother and now observes Jenny raising her daughter Malatus (below right).

Malatus is unusual as she was born while her mother was under observation just over 7 years ago. This past October 3rd was a proud but also bittersweet day for the research team as Malatus spent the night in her own nest away from her mother for the first time.

This is a milestone in orang-utan development indicating the offspring is now full weaned. On the morning of October 4th Jenny came to meet Malatus, so it is likely she knew generally where Malatus was on her first night alone. 

The following night Jenny made her nest and settled in. Malatus was still feeding and then she too started to build her own nest about 10 m away in the next tree. The team then witnessed Jenny peek up over the edge of her nest to take a quick look at her daughter’s nest building skills while Malatus wasn’t watching!

Though Malatus now ranges out of sight from her mother at times she mostly still sleeps very nearby. While males are expected to gradually leave their natal (birth) area female orang-utans tend to settle in adjoining home ranges.

See the resemblance? Like mother like daughter! (Except daughter doesn’t have the beauty spot!) What a difference 7 years makes!

Malatus 1 day old - © HUTAN/Mohd Suhaile Bin Kahar

Below Jenny demonstrating nest building to son Etin when he was about 5-6 years old.

© HUTAN

© Map made by HUTAN/Eddie Ahmad

The map above shows ranging of mother Jenny (green) and daughter, Malatus

(purple) on 3 October 2012 . This was the first day they were observed to range independently since Malatus’s birth 18 June 2005 and the first night Malatus stayed in her own nest (Respective nest locations indicated in red.).

Born to mum Malindi, the calf has been called Dakima, which in Swahili means ‘the joy of living’.

Despite these successes, sadly 95% of all the rhinos in the wild have now been killed.

Poaching remains the largest threat to these magnificent species and the demand for rhino horn is huge, with it mistakenly being used in the traditional medicines of many Asian countries. However keratin - the substance of which rhino horn is made - has no proven medical properties at all but still poaching goes on.

However thanks to concerted efforts, like our Black Rhino project (led by Chester Zoo), black rhino numbers have been slowly increasing by around 6% per year.

But the work can’t stop if we are to protect all of the rhino species and this is where you can help these magnificent species from being lost forever. Support our work in Africa today and helps us act for wildlife.

To help us continue our work with the black rhino make a donation now.

Threatened primates such as the chimpanzee and red colobus monkey - plus many other species of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, are losing their homes.

Over 95% of the people living around Kibale rely exclusively on wood for cooking– and this wood often came from the national park, until the Kibale Fuel Wood Project began.

The project has developed four science centres which are free of charge to visit and act like natural history museums, libraries, meeting places and demonstration areas. Inside them are artifacts including animal skulls, skeletons and skins, insect specimens and other educational materials.

The centres are a real draw for the local communities and a great place to teach the local children about the importance of the National Park and the animals and plants that live in it.

We have been supporting this project since 2010 and were delighted to receive thank you letters from some of the children that had recently visited the centre.

We know our support is making a difference but receiving letters like the one below from Lillian and seeing the images of them enjoying the books proves it.

Since we’ve started working in these communities the number of families collecting wood from the national park has dropped from 30% to 11.5%, and 50% of the families surveyed now use fuel efficient stoves (an increase from 5% since the start of the project).

On top of this, more and more families are also starting to plant their own firewood at home – a real success story.

We’ve secured places at running, swimming and cycling events across the UK and our supporters haven’t let us down.

David Edwards from Manchester is one brave challenger.

“I’m a keen runner, taking part in the 5k Heaton Park run each Saturday and I’ve just clocked up my 100th run.

“This year I wanted to set myself a real challenge so, inspired by a pal who signed up for three events last year, I’m running the BUPA Manchester 10k run on 26th May, cycling the 52 mile Great Manchester bike ride on 30th June and then swimming the Great Manchester 1m open water swim at Salford Quays on 20th July.”

“I'm feeling fine about the run but a little bit nervous about the bike ride and swim. I haven’t been on a bike for 30 years and been nowhere near a pool, never mind open water for about the same time.”

“I’d been thinking about going ahead with the challenge anyway but when I heard that I could raise money for Act for Wildlife at the same time it just made sense. It’s a great cause and I’ve already got great support from my company who have pledged to help me raise £1000 for Act for Wildlife if I complete all three events.”

Everyone at Act for Wildlife would like to wish David well with his training and the three events over the summer.

If you would like to sponsor David, click here to go to his fundraising page.

For information about how you can get involved in a challenge and raise money for Act for Wildlife click here.

Malcolm saw for himself how the support of Act for Wildlife has helped to protect the rhino population in this region.

Malcolm said: “Until 30 years ago rhino numbers in Mkomazi were counted in hundreds. Then there were none - all killed by poachers. What the team here have achieved is amazing. In an area of Africa where there is nothing other than sand and bush, it is phenomenal.”

“From nothing there is now an infrastructure stretching for miles to keep safe the reintroduced black rhino and wild dog populations. The support from Act for Wildlife is well deserved but they desperately need continuing support. We were blown away by what we saw. It was a rare privilege.”

To help us continue our work with the black rhino make a donation now.

Four pairs of the rare birds, classed by conservation organisations as critically endangered, were released by Begawan Foundation into a carefully selected area in the heart of the Indonesian island.

Illegal poaching reduced numbers to a critically low level in 2001 when the wild population was estimated at just six birds, but conservation breeding efforts have since seen a small recovery to between 50 and 115.

However, this number is still perilously low which is why the release marks a significant step forward for the long-term survival of the species. Begawan Foundation has bred these birds since 1999, and after conducting a feasibility study, and working together with Green School, situated adjacent to its Bali site, and local communities and government, made the decision to release four pairs into the surroundings.

Dr Roger Wilkinson, Chester Zoo’s Head of Field Conservation and Research, said:

“This stunning starling is critically endangered because it has an extremely small range and a tiny population, which is suffering from illegal poaching for the cage-bird trade.

“However, a lot of hard work by dedicated people who care enough to try and save this wonderful species, has now seen us reach this momentous moment where we’ve been able to help release eight birds into the wild.

“The area they were released was specially picked as it was well protected and had staff able to monitor the rare birds. Quite a crowd turned out as most people local to the area had never seen a live Bali starling before.”

Chester Zoo provides skills, expertise and funding for an important breeding centre in Bali and, alongside Begawan Foundation and Jurong Bird Park, assists in the breeding and release programme and monitoring of wild populations.

Andrew Owen, the zoo’s Curator of Birds, added:

“This is really great news but it’s only the start. Whether or not they now go on to reproduce and ensure that youngsters survive and the colony expands is the next significant step. There’s an awful long way to go but things now look a little brighter for the future remarkable species.”

Back in April, as part of my studies and thanks to a generous Studentship from Chester Zoo, I embarked on a six-month research project evaluating the success of Warrior Watch; an exciting participatory monitoring and awareness raising initiative launched by the Ewaso Lions Project in the Samburu region of northern Kenya.

Warrior Watch targets the Samburu warrior (or moran), a traditionally neglected demographic typically implicated in human-wildlife conflict, and encourages selected individuals to become active within their region as ambassadors for wildlife. Here, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chester Zoo for their support and tell you a little more about the programme and my research...

It’s Sunday… a pheasant feather pokes me in the eye as the warrior - to whom said feather is attached - raises his head from his scrabble tiles neatly arranged to spell out “striped hyaena”. “Sawa?” he asks, to which I reply “Ndio” and give the universally understood ‘thumbs-up’ gesture.

Despite our limited conversational abilities his passion both for learning and for wildlife is clear, infectious even. His name is Reria and he is one of fifteen Warrior Watch warriors. He and his fellow participants are not just learning how to spell animal names but they are taught about everything from wildlife conservation through to security.

There is a big emphasis placed on predators and addressing human-wildlife conflict. With predators partial to the odd goat or cow, such conflict not only threatens the livelihoods of local people who depend on livestock, but the survival of the regions large carnivores who might then become the targets of retaliatory persecution.

By using these warriors to spread the conservation message far and wide, Warrior Watch seeks to engender a positive conservation ethic within the whole community. In return for their efforts participants are provided with a small food stipend and – most exciting for them in a region where the overwhelming majority are non-literate – a free education!

So where does my research fit in? Well, we decided it was time we examined how effective the programme has been to ensure limited funds are being spent wisely and to justify launching Warrior Watch in neighbouring Conservancies.

I trained two research assistants – Ngila and Jeneria – to help me determine the effect, if any, Warrior Watch has had in Westgate Conservancy, where Warrior Watch launched in January 2010. 162 questionnaires; 10 focus group discussions; 7 Venn diagram mapping exercises; 5 community quizzes; countless hours in front of the computer and 80 days of bucket showers and meals of rice and beans later… and the results look incredibly encouraging.

Warrior Watch has undoubtedly had a positive impact on attitudes and intentions towards wildlife conservation – an encouragingly high proportion stating that now they would never retaliate regardless of the number of livestock a predator consumed.Why? Mostly, because the warriors have taught them the benefits of having wildlife in their Conservancy and ways to reduce conflict (e.g. using scarecrows, guard dogs and tightly fenced enclosures).

Interestingly, many also said they would not hurt a wild dog because there is a belief in Samburu culture that if you kill a wild dog you will never be blessed with a son! I also found it incredibly heartening to learn how Warrior Watch has helped empower warriors; giving them a voice in conservation decision-making and promoting cooperation within the Conservancy. One elder told us, “Warriors from the community are more respected due to Warrior Watch …[it] has changed warriors; people used to think they were criminal subjects in society”.

In stark contrast, surveys conducted in a neighbouring Conservancy - where Warrior Watch does not yet operate - highlighted serious concerns for long-term carnivore conservation within the region; with poor tolerance for all predators and some warriors even openly admitted to poisoning predators in response to livestock depredation.

Will Warrior Watch expanding here have the same positive impact it has in Westgate? …time will tell, but the evidence from this study is very encouraging and is currently being used to lever additional funds to expand the programme.

The ultimate goal: to one day have a network of warriors working across the region to secure a future for Samburu’s incredible wildlife alongside its people, the most welcoming community I have had the pleasure of encountering!

I am Heather Gurd, MSc. Conservation Science, Imperial College London and I Act for Wildlife.

This study was conducted under the supervision of Prof. E.J. Milner-Gulland (ICL) and Shivani Bhalla (Ewaso Lions).

Researchers studying the mysterious animals spotted this four-week-old armadillo emerging from its burrow with its mother thanks to automated camera traps provided by a number of conservation organisations including Chester Zoo.

Dr Arnaud Desbiez, co-ordinator of the Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project said: "Documenting the birth of a giant armadillo is an exciting step forward to helping us better understand the biology and reproduction of this cryptic species and ultimately help us conserve it."

Since July 2010, the Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project has successfully established the first long-term ecological study of giant armadillos in the Brazilian Pantanal.

The main goal of the project is to investigate the ecology and biology of the species and understand its function in the ecosystem using radio transmitters, camera traps, burrow surveys, resource monitoring, resource mapping and interviews.

Currently there is virtually no information on giant armadillo reproduction. The species has never bred in captivity and no observations have ever been made in the wild.

Acquiring reproductive information on the species is crucial to understanding its population dynamics and to plan for any type of conservation of the species, which is why this remarkable footage is such a brilliant sight to see!

Image © Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project Baia das Pedras

Footage © Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project

In the early 1990s the pink pigeon was one of the rarest birds in the world, reaching a low of 9-10 wild individuals.  Thanks to herculean conservation efforts managed by MWF and the National Parks & Conservation Service (Government of Mauritius) the species was downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2000.  Despite this amazing conservation success, the wild population seems to have hit a ‘glass ceiling’ and fluctuates at around 400 birds in the wild; my PhD aims to understand why this is the case and inform the future management and monitoring of the species.

Chester Zoo has a long history of involvement in the Mascarene Archipelago and has supported MWF since 1998.  My PhD is a ‘CASE’ (Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering) studentship, carried out in collaboration between the UoR, Chester Zoo and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Whilst I was in Mauritius, a big part of my work involved working in the MWF head office, collating, digitising and inputting core data on the pink pigeon collected by MWF since the 1980s.  An enormous amount of data has been collected on the species over the course of the recovery programme, making it one of the most well monitored tropical birds in the world. The additional funding through the CASE collaboration has allowed me to create a digital archive of pink pigeon data, making photocopies and digital images of hard copy data.  This has enabled me to carry out data entry from the UK without needing to remove any of this important material from Mauritius. This part of the project is working towards creating a resilient database, an essential resource for future research on the species, research which will inform future conservation management.

I recently carried out a CASE placement with the Conservation Team at Chester Zoo.  CASE placements are designed to allow students to learn professional skills that complement their research experience.  So far I have been trained in GIS, learned about the many field programmes and projects that Chester Zoo supports, got involved in assessing new projects, and learned how the conservation team carries out monitoring and evaluation of current projects.  I also spent time with other departments in the zoo, including the bird section, where the highlight was feeding Humboldt penguin chicks!

I am Lianne Concannon and I Act for Wildlife

Make sure your bird feeders are full, get out your binoculars, and watch from the warmth of your living room!  Putting some food out on the ground will attract different birds and possibly some other animals too.

Tracks in the snow can also help us to find out about animals visiting towns, parks and gardens.  Look out for footprints especially in areas where dogs are less likely to go - do you know who made them?

In gardens, stoats and weasels leave prints of 5 toes almost in a star shape; by rivers small tracks could be water voles, and otters often leave a trail that shows webbed feet and the mark of their tail too - just like the photo on the left.

If you spot any animal footprints in the snow over the weekend, send them to us at actnow@actforwildlife.org.uk and we’ll see if we can identify the animal that has made them.

So whilst snow can bring on a whole heap of problems for us and our Great British wildlife, it can also help us enjoy just how beautiful and varied the animals living around us are.

The first-ever Maasai Olympics – where newly empowered young warriors competed among themselves not for how many lions they could each kill but for how many medals they could each win – has taken place in East Africa, thanks in part to sponsorship from Chester Zoo’s Act for Wildlife.

The event brought about a history-changing approach to the killing of large animals, a tradition embedded in Maasai culture as a way to express bravery, attract a girlfriend and identify future leaders by instead focusing on competition through sport. Indeed it was the first time in 500 years of Maasai history that athletic contests had taken place in this way.

A crowd of Maasai estimated at more than 3,000 witnessed history being made at the event, held at the Kimana Sanctuary, Kenya.

As well the huge numbers of spectators, the world’s press and four of Kenya’s greatest track stars also watched on, including 2012 London Olympics gold medalist and world 800-metre record holder, David Rudisha, himself a former Maasai warrior.

The individual athletic events - based on traditional warrior skills – included the high jump, testing power with warriors jumping up vertically as high as possible from a standing position and the javelin testing accuracy using a traditional spear.  The road to conservation is never a straight one but with supporting ground-breaking events like the Maasai Olympics we can indeed Act for Wildlife.

To get the latest on our activities, sign up for our newsletter or show your support now and help us do more great work to preserve endangered animals by making a donation to our work.