12 Sep 2024
Out of the blue: Seal rabies, results and recommendations from the road to discovery
Dr Tess Gridley, Founding Director, Operations Manager and Principal Scientist for Sea Search
What is causing the increased abnormal aggression in the Cape Fur Seal population? Cape Fur Seals are highly sociable, long-lived and wide-ranging animals. This talk will discuss what normal seal aggression looks like, and whether domoic acid or rabies are potential causes for the increased abnormal aggressive behaviour.
19 Sep 2024
Wildfires and the VWS
Andrea Schnetler-Niddrie, Conservation Coordinator at Cape Leopard Trust, Planning Officer at Volunteer Wildfire Services
Wildfires are an integral and important part of the Fynbos Biome, so why is suppression so often required? This talk will focus on wildfires in the context of fynbos ecosystems and the wildland-urban interface, from the perspective of the work of the Volunteer Wildfire Services.
26 Sep 2024
Cape clawless otters – oceans to the rescue as our freshwater systems degrade.
Professor Justin O’Riain, Director of the Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa.
Despite the heroic efforts of many friend groups, NGOs and the City of Cape Town our rivers remain overwhelmed by pollution, excessive abstraction and exotic invasive species. Otters as the de facto apex predator of our ‘freshwater’ systems which include wetlands and estuaries like Zandvlei, have been impacted by these and other threats, all of which were exacerbated during the ‘day zero’ calamity and by progressively longer periods of load-shedding. Lockdown granted otters and many other wildlife species a reprieve from people, their pets and vehicles but as we returned to our daily routines, so we witnessed a spike in both positive and negative interactions between otters and people. Using data collected by my ex-PhD student Dr Nicola Okes and honours student Amelia Mills I will reveal how the ocean may have allowed this species to persist along our urban edge and how green initiatives which may attract otters may also expose them to the perils of urban living in what we refer to as ‘ecological traps’.