Over the past few years I have been fortunate enough to have traveled and worked around the world furthering my career in the Zoological field.
I grew up loving nature and searching for all sorts of creatures in my garden and by my late teens realised this was the route in life I wanted to take.
I have been massively inspired by wildlife photographers, presenters, zoologists and zoo founders from Austin Stevens and Gordon Buchanan, to David Attenborough and Steve backshall, to George Mottershead and Gerald Durrell.
In this blog I will be reviewing and re-visiting my past adventures and writing about my more current work.
I have been fotunate to have been able to travel around the world, visiting zoos, volunteering with conservation projects and meeting scientists in various fields.
Tarsius Project, Bohol, Philippines
Before I began writing my blog posts I had very few ideas of where to go in life after finishing my degree and I can safely say not a lot has changed.
In my blog I have written about behavioural observations in Macaques, i reviewed Zoos and their welfare, i have written about teaching my friends and i have written about the cahnge in the role of museums and how they educate.
Whale and Dolphin watching, Italy
I have been left inundated with potential career avenues after university.
However what is clear to me, is that I want to make a difference.
A difference through research
I would love to be able to conduct behavioural research on wild and captive animals to improve thier life in captivity, to improve wildlife rehabilitation and survival after release, to aid in reintroduction programes. It would be a dream to study biodiverasity and to aid in the reconstruction of habitats and further our knowledge of the species that surround us before we loose them.
A difference through education
As someone who has always done okay through education I have never truly found a subject where I excelled. I never had that one teacher that really connected with me in a subject and changed my out look on education. I’ve never been particularily good at exams and acadimia whihc is ironic for someone studying a science degree. However, I am begining to wonder if my role is in education. To change the classroom and end of year exam enviroments to more rctical hands on classrooms in nature where people can learn skills in sampling methods, identification, to see first hand the cycles of life. To conect with people who dont fit in with the normal day to day academic side of education. I want to instil a sense of passion on people so they will go away and protect their own little space of the enviroment as many little defferences equate to one big difference.
Past, Presnt and Future
butterfly Bait Traps, India
In 2014 I finished highschool, was working in an exotic pet shop, passion for animals and a goal to join the royal army vet corps as a dog handler.
I studied animal management at college and by 2016 at the end of collage I found myself, an 18 year old, thouasands of miles away from home volunteering for 4 months in the Philippines having defered my university place.
Orphaned twn wallabies, Cyrpus
When I returned to the UK I found myself working in a pre-school which I have returned to work at every summer since.
University has been an incredible 3 years of my life whihc im not sure im ready to give up on yet. It has presented me with oppoturnities to travel abroad with my course, to meet incredible scientists and people and to mature.
We dont always know whats next as i never would have thought I’d go to University, or work in the Philippines or see Asian Elephants in the wild, to perticipate in research which no one has done.
We have so many options for what’s next that it is best to throw your self at every opportunity as you have no idea where it will take you.
Zoos are largely debated subject. Do we need Zoos? Should animals be kept in captivity? can a wild animals needs be fully met in a captive enviroment? Its an argument which will last forever. However, as zoos do exist, they need to be the absolute best that they can be for the species they house and conserve.
Should ALL animals be kept in captivity?
There is a plain answer. No. there are 3 species whihc are the most problamatic when kept in captivity:
Polar bears
Cetaceans
Elephants
These species exhibit themost stereotypic and abnormal behaviours. And hey al have common characteristics, they have large ranges, selective diets and are very intelligent.
Some species do well in captivity and there are those that dont”
Prof Georgia Mason
Photograph By Alfie Martin-Parsons
There are 3 key facets which should be considered when housing animals
Boldness/ shyness
Territory size
Adaptability
Boldness/ shyness
This is used as an indicator as to how a species will do when they are stared ate by hundreds of people a day. “Shy” species e.g. Tigers, will become very stressed being permenantly on show even if the enclosure contains offshow areas where the species can seek refuge and hide. Bold species e.g. Chimpanzees are less stressed infront of crowds as they are inquisative therefore making them more suitable to a captive enviroment.
Territory/ Range Size
Zoos are limited on space, Animals with smaller ranges e.g. Meerkats are better suited to a captive enviroment unlike Orcas which have huge habitat ranges which cannot be replicated in a captive enviroment and often lead animals to exhibit abnormal pacing behaviours and increased stress levels.
Adaptibility
Species of fox are considered “good” species in captivity as they are genrealist species. In the wild they have adapted to live all over the world in various condition including urban area and are geralist feeders. Unlike Pandas which live in certain habitats and only feed on certain plants.
However…
Without zoos some species would be extinct. The pup fish was found in one small body of fresh water in mexico whihc has since dread up. The entire population is now in captivity.
How can we apply the 3 key facets to species we know little about?
the conservaion need of a species outweighs the potential welfare issues it will face in captivity. Similair related species can be used to aid in how understudied species will do in captivity but it is often experimental, seeing what work and what doesnt work with the goal of preserving that species.
How can we inform collection plans?
Each collection has it’s own plan, what species it wants to keep, breed how they manage stock etc. This is often in conjunction with the goals and aims of BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums), EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums).
Collections need to begin using the 3 key facets when considering what to house in the collections and when designing they’re collection plans.
By continuing to keep species whihc do not do well in captivity and by ignoring the research we subject them to human induced rapid enviroment change whihc acts similiarily to climate change. Species have to rapidly adept their behaviours to a change in enviroment with the outcome often being negative.
there is no one rule for all animals when it comes to animal welfare and husbandry due to the variation of needs each species has.
How do we know if it is good welfare?
Coping is the universal measure of animal welfare. How well does an animal cope in that captive eniroment.
The absence or reduction in porr welfare doesn not equate to good welfare.
Good welfare is the measure of an animals perception of their condition.
Animal husbandry has to be updated to include evidence based best practice for that species and not just what works as it doesn not necessarily mean good welfare. Integrating research with husbandry to improve welfare and stock management.
IUCN One Plan Approach.
The IUCN One Plan Approach is designed areoung the potential reintroduction of captive species to the wild. It aims to reduce the behavioural and welfare differences between captive and wildlife populations so that if a captive animal was released into a wild population there would be no difference behavioural and can easily integrate.
The Future Trajectory of Zoo Welfare Science
Summary
Zoos are constantly evolving to improve the work they do in the conservation and preservation of animals. However there needs to be a bigger drive in the education of the public that some of the iconic zoo species just dont do well in captivity. We need to move away from charasmatic species whihc have a low conservation need and do badly in captivity and move towards species wich are “good” in captivity and have a greater conservation need.
Many of us remember wandering around universities staring at the plethora of skeletons, suffed animals and fossils. However, the way museums exhibit their collections seems to be changing to better engage and educate their visitors.
Liverpool world museum has a huge range of exhibits and an extensive natural history collection.
Dead vs. Alive
Liverpool World Museum houses numerous species in live exhibits. Live exhibits are more intriguing and therefore more engaging to the audience. They allow the audience to see how species move, behave, feed, where they live instead of just reading it on a sign. These are all things that skeletons, fossils and taxidermy cannot show.
Photograph by Alfie Martin-Parsons
However living exhibits are limited due to the limited amount of space which museums have. Liverpool World Museums living exhibits are only small marine animals such as fish, crsutaceans, anemones and jelly fish and terrestrial invertebrates such as spiders, ants, cockroaches and locusts.
Marine Living exhibit.
Liverpool World Museum dedicates a living exhibit to the coastal marine life found around the UK as it is often over looked and over shadowed by colourful tropical fish.
This exhibit is even more engaging due to the interactive nature of it. A museum educator stands their with various tanks full of starfish, crabs and anemones allowing visiters to take an even closer look and to touch and feel the crabs and starfish.
A crab in a tank used as an educational tool. Photograph by Alfie Martin-Parsons
The exhibit allows visitors to come up close with species they are familiar with from rockpooling in their childhoods whilst also learning about the threats that UK coastal wildlife face. It allows visiotrs to have a new take on UK coastal wildlife and see them in a new light.
Terrestrial Invertebrate Living Exhibit
Liverpool World Museum hosts a large terrestrial invertebrate exhibit combining live, preserved and enlarged models of various invertebrates. The large models allow visitors to see in detail species which are usually really small. The live exhibits are home to cockroaches, beetles, ants, spiders and locusts. These exhibits are designed to educate about the varying rolls in which invertebrates fill such as decomposition (cockroaches), pest control (spiders) and crop destruction (locusts). Its aims to show species whihc are often overlooked or considered “disgusting” in a new light.
The used of preserved insects allows visitors to see a large number of different insects and how they vary from species to species which collections would struggle to show if they were living.
Preserved butterlies and moths from around the world, showing the smallest to the largest species. Photograph by Alfie Martin-Parsons
Despite how engaging living exhibits are, there is still a large need for “dead” exhibits. Living exhibits cannot be used for extinct species, they cant be used to show the skeletal anatomy of species, they are limited to the number of species and what species can be in an exhibit due to the different needs of the species such as space, diet, water and heat.
Common Hippoptamus Skull. Photograph by Alfie Martin-Parsons
Large Beetles from Around the world. Photograph by Alfie Martin-Parsons
A New Message
Although Museums are often linked with past there is a new message whihc is what is happening in the present and near future and what is negatively affecting the natural world and how it can be stopped combined with what lessons can be learnt from the past.
The use of taxidermied animals and good signs sends a clear education message about the enviroment. Most of the animals exhibited are iconic species and seeing them in a museum gives the feel that they are already extinct similiar to seeing a dinosaur skeleton. Most of the species seen are “cute” to create an emotional connection between the viewer and the topic.
Summary
Museums have an increasingly changing role to educate people about the past but to take lessons from that to improve the future. exhibits are increasingly becoming more engaging with different audiences and the days of walking around staring at fossils and skim reading signs is behind us. The combination of living, preserved and modeled organisms allows visirs to connect with what they are reading to see miniscule things in enlarged detail, to learn that cockraoches are not dirty creates but play a large role in various ecosystems, and to educate people on how their planet is changing and how past changes have lead to extinctions and what can be done to prevent the loss of “cute” and “icionic” species.
Rockpooling is an activity a lot of people fondly look back on from their younger days on holiday. I remember rumaging around rockpools on family holidays in North Wales with a net, attempting to catch small fish, shrips and crabs. Looking back it was quite a destructive activity.
Nowadays I venture underneath the Menai Bridge when the tide is low to continue my childhood hobby. However, unlike 15 years ago, I now go rockpooling in the least destructive manner alongside my friends who are eager to learn more about the natural world and my studdies.
How To Rock Pool
Rockpooling at first seems like and easy task, surely its just a case of splashing and rumaging around rockpools grabbing what ever you can find and often not being sure what it actually is.
Go at low tide: this seems simple enough but to make your trip fruitful it is best to go searching as the tide is going out as this is when most organisms will be trapped and safe before the seabirds come to feed. this also gives you plenty of time searching until the tide comes back in.
Leave things how you found them: if your moving rocks you have to remember to put them back as you found them. At the end of the day this is where organisms live. You wouldnt like some to come and destroy your home.
Avoid Handling: it is best to just observe what you find. you are more likely to see them exhibiting natural behaviours. Handling what you find can cause unnesassary stress and harm which can leave to injuries and death. A lot of what you find can also cause harm to you with venomous barbs, sharp teeth and claws.
Be safe: Wear appropriate footwear. If handling does occur ensure you know how to and you are wearing gloves. Do not lift anything that is too heavy.
Identification
There are mulitple ways of identifiying what you find although the best method I have found is to Photograph your findings and then to use either physical or online identification guides. Identification guides can be bought or can be free to access on a range of museum sites. Anything you are unsure of you can upload to forums or apps and websites such as iNaturalist or the Natural History museum.
Our Findings
Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulus)
Glass Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus)
Beadlet Anemone (Actinia equina)
Green Shore Crab (Carcinus maenas)
Beadlet Anemone (Actinia equina)
Common Periwinkle (Littorina littorea)
Black Brittle Star (Ophiocomina nigra)
Hairy Porcaline Crab (Porcellana platycheles)
Common Brittle Star (Ophiothrix fragilis)
Edible Crab (Cancer pagurus)
Edible Crab (Cancer pagurus)
Common Brittle Star (Ophiothrix fragilis)
Cushion Star (Asterina gibbosa)
Common Brittle Star (Ophiothrix fragilis)
Long Clawed Porceline Crab (Pisidia longicornis)
Earopean Cowrie (Trivia monacha)
Edible Crab (Cancer pagurus)
Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus)
Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus)
Common Sea Star (Asterias rubens)
Gem Anenome (Aulactinia verrcosa)
Scale Worm (Family Polynoidae)
Photographs By Alfie Martin-Parsons. This Gallery Contains a collection of pictures of species found underneath the Menai Bridge
We used iNaturalist, The Wildlife trust Trust wildlife explorer website and Collins Complete Guide to British Coastal Wildlife to look through the photos we had taken which my friends used check for similarities in the pictures to the ID guides to identify what we had found.
Whilst rockpooling I taught everyone how to correctly and safely handle crabs and how to sex them as well how to tell stages of moult dependant on colour change.
Photograph showing the safe and correct handling of crabs. (Photograoh by Alfie Martin-Parsons)
To correctly handle a crab they need to be held at the rear of the carapace and the underside.
Picture showing how to correctly sex crabs
We searched the rockpools for 1 hour and found numerous species in a small area. Searches like this are often used to collect preliminary data in areas where research is going to be conducted to measure biodiversity. Although this is done on a small scale in a small area. However the findings can be uploaded to citizen science sights to aid in other peoples research.
Summary
This was a fun enjoyable experience where I was able to educate my friends in subject which I enjoy and found it rewarding with how much they engaged and took interest in it. It was fun to organise this little trip and was a great way to spend time in nature, with my friends away from the stresses of every day life.
Zoos and the role they play has become hottely debated over the past few years with various media headlines reporting excapes, neglect and zoos inability to replicate the natural enviroment that species live in. One of these zoos was Copenhagen Zoo.
Disclaimer: This blog post is a personal review of Copenhagen zoo. All views are respected and I have done my best to provide a broad range of arguments for and against zoos. This post also contains images which some viewers may find distressing.
Copenhagen Zoo sits on the outskirts of the Danish Capital city, Copenhagen. Its home to hundereds of species including Polar bears, Pandas, Asian Elephants, Tigers and Chimpanzees.
The Zoo is part of EAZA (European Associations of Zoos and Aquariums) which sets out standards and requirements that European Zoos must abide too. Zoos must reach these requirements before being able to be apart of EAZA.
Copenhagen Zoo has 5 distinct areas; World Square, Asia, Savannah, The North and Childrens Zoo. The Zoo has 2 large savannha style inclosures with emmersive over head walk ways. these exhibits contain large pools, areas of sand and grass and shaded tree areas aswell as indoor inclosures which are predominantly off show to the public. These enclosures contain Hippos, Impala, Reticulated Giraffes, White Rhinos, Grants Zebra and Ostrichs.
Photograph by Alfie Martin-Parsons
Copenhagen Zoo has a Tasmania/ Australia section in the world square which contains an Eastern Grey kangaroo and Red-necked wallaby walk through enclosure, allowing visitors to cross paths with this iconic australian species. However, the most stand out species in this section was the Tasmanian Devil, in the wild this species has been dessimated due to tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). Copenhagen is one of a few collections that houses Tasmanian Devils outside of Australie. In 2013 they had their first successful breeding where two females gave birth to a total of 7 pups.
Controversy
In February 2014 the zoo made headlines after it was advised by EAZA to cull a young male giraffe whose genes were surplus to the European Reticulated Giraffe breeding programme. EAZA takes responsibilty for ensuring all collections within the association maintain good genetic diversity to avoid inbreeding and potential harmful mutations.
Marius, a male giraffe, lies dead before being dissected, after he was put down at Copenhagen Zoo on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. (POLFOTO, Peter Hove Olesen)
Copenhagen euthenised the giraffe using bolt gun. they invited the public to watch the disection of the giraffe to teach about its anatomy (An oppurtunity few will ever have). They then fed parts of the giraffe to their lions whilst other parts were given to scientific institutes.
Financial argument: Culling via bolt gun is a cheaper option than placing species on contraception. Although many zoos choose to place animals on contraception to be able to allow species to breed when they need to and to avoid the need to cull. Moving it to another collection would also be costly.
Behaviour Argument: Modern Zoo standards adhere to the freedom of animals to exhibit natural behaviours. It is natural behaviour for species to court, mate, reproduce and raise offspring. Even if the outcome is genetically surplus to the overall maintance of these species.
Educational Argument: The dissection of the Giraffe gave people a rare opportunity to see such a large and iconic animal upclose and to learn about its anatomy. Children who saw it were there because their parents had taken them to watch.
“I’m actually proud because I think we have given children a huge understanding of the anatomy of a giraffe that they wouldn’t have had from watching a giraffe in a photo,”
Tobias Stenbaek Bro, Zoo Spokesperson
Right to live argument: Other EAZA institues offered to take the giraffe into their collections. Animal rights groups argue that if the zoo are willing to allow the giraafes to breed even if the offspring is surplus, then the offspring has a right to live as it was the zoo who allowed its parent to breed.
Welfare Argument: Allowing a surplus male to live could lead to it needing to be isolated to prevent it from breeding or fighting with other males. This in turn would have a negative effect as giraffes live in herds and solitary living would negativly imapact is behaviour. Moving the giraffe to another collection would be stressful, expensive and it may not recieve the appropriate care in a new collection.
Anti-Zoo Argument: Zoos shouldn’t need to exist and they confine animals to much smaller spaces then they would have int the wild. Zoos Cannot match all the needs of the wild animals they house. They shouldnt be allowed to breed animals that they are unable to care for.
Re-release Argument: Surplus species could be released into the wild as their genetics will be different to those in wild populations. It will allow the individual to live in the wild and contribute to its species and will not be a bruden upion the zoological collection its from.
Conservation and Research
Copehnhagen Zoo contributes to the in-situ and ex-situ conservation and research of many of the species that it houses.
Recent publications include:
Bertelsen MF. Issues Surrounding Surplus Animals in Zoos.
Davimes J, A Alagaili, A Bhagwandin, MF Bertelsen, O Mohammed, NC Bennett, P Manger N Gravett. Seasonal variations in sleep of free-ranging Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) under natural hyper-arid conditions.
Schnell, I, K Bohmann, S Schultze, S Richter, D Murray, M Sinding, D Bass, J Cadle, M Campbell, R Dolch, D Edwards, T Gray, T Hansen, A Hoa, C Noer, S Heise-Pavlov, A Sander, J Ramamonjisoa, M Siddall, A Tilker, C Traeholt, N Wilkinson, P Woodcock, D Yu, MF Bertelsen, M Bunce, T Gilbert. Debugging diversity – a pan-continental exploration of the potential of terrestrial blood-feeding leeches as a vertebrate monitoring tool.
Education and experiences
Like many zoos, Copenhagen provides talks on alot of thier species through out the day. Each enlosure is designed to mimic the animals natural habitat with written information on the general information, habitat, diet, threats, conservation and behaviour of each species. The zoo also provides information on enrichment and how they use it to encourage natural behaviours, “24hr in den cameras for people to view the animals in off-show areas with out disturbing them and information on how they manage their stock.
Summary
Copenhagen Zoo was a posotive experience providing emersive, naturalistic enclosures along side multi-lingual signage to educate and engage visitors. The zoo is very transparent with it’s management of its collection despite it facing controversy in recent year. It contains a large number of vulnerable- endangered species and continues to improve enclosures to better suit its species. It contains species rarely seen in zoological collections such as wombats, tasmanian devils, pandas and arctic foxes.
The improvemtent of mobile phone cameras, the increased ease of global travel and the better knowledge and ease of access to wildlife guides has made it easier than ever before for every day people with limited scientifical knowledge to be able to go out and identfy wildlife on their travels.
Citizen science is the colection of data relating to the natural world often in colaberation with professionals and scientific projects.
iNaturalist
There are various website and apps in whihc can be used for people to participate in citizen science, iNaturalst being one.
What is iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is a website/ app in which people are able to take photos, videos and sound recordings of organisms they find on any divice and upload them.
It allows people to use its photo analysis softwear to suggest identification for the organisms they find and photograph.
Professional and hobbyists are able to add identifictaions to your observations to support or help in better identifying observations on species of whihc you are not certain on.
It provides GPS location for where the observation was which can be obscurred for species vulnerbale to illegal activities such as endangered species.
This Map shows where the common buzzard (Buteo buteo) has been observed in the UK. the darker orane squares show a higher density of observations.
By using apps and websites such as iNaturalist you can contibute to science as scientists use these to gage the ranges and distribution and the dates of the observations for their selected species from the distrubution maps created.
Natural History Museum, London
There are so many ways that everyday people are able to access nature that many institutes are begining to take advantage of this.
The Natural History Museum (NHM) , London has capitalised on this and have made available mutiple platforms for people from all aspects of life to be able to get involved.
A print screen of the NHM’s take part web page.
The NHM has made available digitilised identification guides, work shops to develop skills such as identification and an app to document the nature you see every day.
iRecord
iRecorder is similiar to iNaturalist although is slightly more advanced as it requires the observer to already know the soecies they have observed. It also allows the input of more information such as the species life stage, the number of species, GPS coordinates and nearest place name and extra comments.
However this app does not have image anakysis softwear so good in field identification skills is needed.
This is another great app design to get people from all backgrounds involved in science as the recordings are used by scientists to research species numbers, biodiversity, ranges flight periods, migrations etc.
Zooniverse
Zooniverse is an app based purely for citizen science. It allows researchers and volunteers to come together for people-powered research.
There are mutliple categories to choose from where researchers provide videos, photograpgs and other media types for people to analyse to reduce human error and things being missed.
Summary
The increase in availabilty of websites, apps and online identification guides has improved the ability for people of all backgrounds to participate in citizen science projects to aid and improve research on a global scale. We are now in a period where climate change and the rate of anial exitinction is so high that the need to ctalouge nature is at its highest before it is lost.
Scientists are now able to capitilise on hobbyist, amatuer naturalists and people pssionate about nature to improve their own research and increase the sample sizes of the data they require for their research as there is a greater number of people that are able to contribute.
Not everyone needs a science degree to contribute to science.
I visited Trentham Monkey forest on a field trip for my primatology module to conduct behaviour observations and collect data on Barbary macaque social behaviours.
About The Monkey Forest
Trentham Monkey forest is home to around 140 free roaming Barbary Macaques which live in a large fenced forrest enclosure.
In their large forested enclosure they are able to exhibit natural behaviours including foraging but are also supplemented with extra feed to maintain health.
Trentham Monkey Forest is one of 3 parks in Europe dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the Barbary Macaque.
All three parks are walk through allowing the public to get close to Europe’s ‘last wild primate’ and see them as if they were wild.
Why Barbary Macaques?
Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus) is the only species of Macaque to be found out side of Asia and is the only primate found in Africa north of the Sahara desert.
Distribution
There is a wild population introduced into Gibralter making it the only wild primate to be found in Europe except humans.
About the Macaques
Barbary Macaques live in multi-male, multi-female groups.
Males are not particularily agressive and therefore create coalitions with other males to gain dominance and increase mating opportunities.
Females are seasonal breeders and choose which males they want to mate with.
Due to uncertainty of who the fathers are, offspring are often raised by the group with males, juveniles and other females often aiding in the raising of offspring.
Barbary macaques exhibit female philopatry meaning males will leave the group and find a new where as females will rarely leave their maternal group.
Barbary macaques grrom each other to improve social bonds and maintain hiarachy.
Two Barbary macaques sat in a tree grooming.
What did I do?
There are multiply ways of recording behavioural data but I shall only talk about how I recorded data and the behaviours seen.
For 2 hours I observed 2 seperate macaques, 1 hour was spent observing an adult male and the other hour spent observing an adult female.
Using focal sampling (focusing on one individual at a time) and instantaneous sampling (recording the focal individual’s behaviour every 1 minute). The male spent most of his time feeding and resting.
The female however enjoyed the company of multiple males whilst being observed.
I also used continuous sampling to record every instant that a social behaviour occured.
The male was rather anti-social and only had 2 social interactions whilst being observed. a juvenile came up and groomed him and a larger male chased him away when he walked past him.
The female however exhibited lots of social interaction and she was sexually receptive and multiple males were inspecting her genitals and then copulated with her.
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