Sunday 23 September 2012

An Interview with a Elephant Specialist!



Sorry for my absence from blogging, but the Paralympics took up a lot of time (more on that to come!) However, following on from my article on Contraception in Animals, here we have an interview with the lovely Abi Hearn about her job at the African Elephant Research Unit (AERU) in South Africa and how she snatched her dream job!

How would you describe your job in a few words?
Well to be honest my job is very broad and a few words would be pretty difficult! First of all, I am a Research assistant to a PhD student, helping to collect observational behavioural data and lovely dung samples! I am also the volunteer co-ordinator assistant as I help to train new volunteers as well as the education development and training officer. This means I am in charge of writing an elephant handler course book and guide school groups around the interactive centre and in the field. I am also helping with the re-design of the interactive centre/museum. Finally, I am an AERU volunteer roll out officer. This involves helping to set up a new volunteer research program, where we carrying out research on elephants and other wildlife at other facilities. I am compiling information packs, conducting preliminary research, identifying zebras and teaching the volunteers about the animals and how to track them.
(I told you it would not be just a few words!)


How did you get to this role?
After graduating from Nottingham with my Zoology degree I decided to move to South Africa to do a year long course training to become a professional Safari Guide. The first six months were spent training in the middle of the African bush and every encounter I had with the elephants made me admire them even more. When it came around to doing the six month placement I decided to look around for placements with elephants. I ended up at the African Elephant Research Unit at the Knysna Elephant Park as a research assistant. I was thoroughly enjoying it and getting stuck in to everything I could. It must have paid off because after a few months they asked if I would like to stay and I happily accepted!

  
Let’s talk about the ‘nitty gritty’ science! You have experience vaccinating elephants with a GnRH vaccine – why do particular herds need vaccination?
Wild Male elephants will leave a herd at around 11 years, they then join an Ascari herd – a bachelor herd where there is one dominant, older Bull elephant. He will teach these young Bulls how to behave, stop delinquent behaviour and also suppress musth in the younger males until they are a lot older. Musth is the surge in testosterone which makes them more aggressive and they will then instinctively travel long distances from areas where they may be related to cows. In captivity there is not an older male so they tend to go into musth at an earlier age, making them more difficult to manage.

The only solution is to send the males to game reserves where they pose less danger to humans. GnRH vaccinations are a means of reducing aggressive behaviour and musth by stopping testosterone production (and it also hinders sperm production). The elephants I am working with are part of an ongoing study with Imke (see article) and other reproductive specialists. She is doing the study on a mixture of wild and captive African elephant bulls- our elephants are the ‘hands-on’ (in contact with humans) elephants that are part of her study.

How does the GnRH vaccine work?
It is an immunocontraceptive, meaning it causes the body to produce antibodies against the hormone GnRH, preventing the release of hormones such as Testosterone. The potential benefits for GnRH vaccination in wild elephants includes less wandering, damage, crop-raiding and less human-elephant conflicts. In captivity GnRH enables easier handling and housing of males. It’s just like a normal vaccine with its advantages and disadvantages. It is non-invasive and easy to apply but it has to be repeated and effects vary on between individuals.

Is this used on bulls and cows alike and at what age?
Bulls only. The youngest elephant in the study was 8 years old when it had it’s first vaccination, but our elephants are older with the youngest on the GnRH vaccine being about 15. The Bulls range up to 30 years old as a small part of the study is to see if age plays any part of how effective GnRH is in suppressing musth. 

  
You have also worked on female PZP contraceptives – how does it work and is it effective despite being derived from porcine protein?
The female contraceptive PZP is being researched on Makalali Private Game Reserve, it is an immunocontraception and has been researched since 2000 by Audrey Delsink. It works by generating antibodies that prevent sperm binding to receptor sites on the egg’s Zona Pellucida, preventing fertilisation. As it is a porcine derived protein, the Zona Pellucida is mixed before administration to make it more effective. The vaccination has no affect on current pregnancies so does not cause abortions. It is a more natural form of contraception as does not involve hormonal manipulation and allows females to have one calf before vaccination as allomothering (looking after others young) is very important to elephants. The objective for PZP is to slow growth rate of the herd. Before the program on the reserve the growth rate was 8.9% per year; they have seen a 70% reduction in growth rate.

Why do you feel so passionately about elephants, given that you grew up in a country so far away?
When I was young my nan took me to Whipsnade zoo, it was the first time that just me and her went out and I was so excited! The elephants were huge and amazing, I was blown away, but I hated that they had to be in a zoo to stop them from being poached in the wild. I decided from an early age that I wanted to work in Africa with the animals in the wild and make sure they were conserved. So I decided to study Zoology!
My nan died just before I went to university and she left a little money to the grandchildren that she said we were to use to better ourselves or help us achieve our goals in life. Because she knew I wanted to work in Africa I decided to do a month long course in South Africa training to be a Safari Guide. That month was the most spectacular month of my life! The first time I saw an elephant in the Kruger Park I actually cried (weird I know!), and I just fell in love with them even more. 



It’s ok, I am a crier too! Finally, what would you say to people who think that animal contraception is interfering with nature too far?
Elephants are not endangered they are only stated as Vulnerable on the IUCN red list. There are over 600,000 elephants still in Africa and even though the populations in central Africa are still dwindling because of poaching, the Southern Africa elephant populations are booming and there is nowhere left to put these elephants! Other species are suffering because of the overpopulation. As a conservationist you are trying to preserve biodiversity and therefore as many species of flora and fauna as possible, not just elephants!  
It is so hard to not manage nature anymore. There are few places in Africa where people are not interfering in some way to keep the balance. As natural areas have been reduced, management MUST occur. Elephants are managed in four ways; relocation, culling, range expansion and contraception. Culling was banned in 1996 while relocations are far too expensive to send elephants across country borders. Range expansion is slowly happening – people are pulling down fences and joining reserves and parks together, but not quickly enough. The only long term resolution realistically at the moment is contraception. In an ideal world we would not have to manage nature but until areas are large enough for this to happen, I completely 100% back contraception as a way to manage population sizes.

Sunday 1 July 2012

Contraception Goes Wild


The female contraceptive pill is often hailed as one of the greatest successes of modern medicine, by both women and men alike. However, contraceptives for conservation is another issue altogether. The vast array of hormonal mechanisms, methods of conceiving and durations of pregnancy that are present within just mammals is enough to give any reproductive biologist a headache. 

The length of time between conception and birth of the elephant is the longest known on earth, with the mother carrying its unborn calf for almost 2 years. The mystery behind this long pregnancy has recently been solved with the discovery of a unique hormonal mechanism. This insight may help develop a successful contraception to control the spread of wild elephant populations and may aid conservationists in stabilising endangered populations.

Baby Elephant Sydney Zoo
680 days within the womb allows the baby elephant to be born with a highly developed brain to cope with the complex social structure of the herd. Photo: http://flic.kr/p/6QYn4t
 
The need to control some populations of elephants may come as a surprise as other populations such as the Asian elephant are endangered due to poaching and reduced habitat size. However, the ban on elephant culling in South Africa in 1995 was so successful that a population boom soon followed, with elephant numbers increasing from 8,000 to 18,000 in just 13 years. The large numbers of elephants were thought to reduce already limited water resources and cause damage to highly sort after woodland areas through the consumption of vast quantities of vegetation. Therefore in 1998 the ban on elephant culling was lifted advocating the use of contraceptives and the highly disputed method of culling. 

Elephants are not the only population to have come into contact with contraceptives. Having only recently returned to the UK, wild boar populations have reached large numbers in areas such as the Forest of Dean. Here, frequent clashes between boar populations and humans meant that in 2008 an experiment commenced using long lasting contraceptives on the sows, which could produce up to 15 piglets a year. Another example closer to home is the familiar story of the grey squirrel invasion. Immuno-contraceptives were thought to be a potential solution to the over-populating grey squirrel however difficulties with mass delivery of the contraception has meant that a significant impact on the population has not yet been seen.
Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)
The wild boar is not a familiar site to many in the UK as it went extinct from our lands 400 years ago - its reintroduction has sadly generated a bad image of this pig. Photo: http://flic.kr/p/7hgMKu


Whether to aid conservation or to control a population, the need for effective contraception within wild animals may be necessary, if only to reduce the controversial use of culling. Therefore every tiny insight gained into the complex reproductive systems present within every wild species has huge significance for breeding management programs in the UK and further afield.          

Thursday 3 May 2012

A Perfect Sense of Timing


The stormy April weather has churned our seas with vigour over the past few days resulting in floods across the British Isles. However, the weather causes many changes beneath the ocean surface which can cause a feeding frenzy for birds and marine animals. 

Venturing out across the water on my first trip as a crew member for Marine Discovery Penzance I was fortunate to see the first basking shark of the season. This large fish seems to have an apt sense of timing as researchers call for any sightings of basking sharks in the UK to be reported. As one of 30 different species of shark found in British waters, the basking shark is currently protected under UK and European law with a current status as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Basking Shark
The gill rakers of the basking shark is an highly efficient way to sieve through tons of sea water. Photo: http://flic.kr/p/89js27







Despite is intimidating size, with the largest recorded being 12.27m, the basking shark is a harmless filter feeder that can sieve through 2000 cubic metres of sea water in just one hour. With a diet consisting solely of plankton the basking shark needs to spend the majority of its time feeding. Therefore disturbing their behaviour can disrupt their feeding and have significant consequences. 

The recent turbulent weather has resulted in the plankton rich areas of the Cornish sea becoming easily visible to even the untrained naked eye. The oily foam that most frequently appears after storms at seas is thought to be burst phytoplankton molecules, the food of zooplankton and small pelagic fish. The zooplankton in turn is then the bait that draws in the basking shark, as it is able to sense dense areas of these microscopic life forms over many miles. As they follow plankton streams to the surface to feed, they can most easily be spotted as the large dorsal fin and upper part of its tail fin breech the surface. Hopefully, after last year’s disappointing number of basking sharks being recorded, this one will be the first of many to come.     

Sunday 11 March 2012

The Next Generation

As technology expands at an exponential rate and our online digital persona becomes even more significant, we may forget the origin of such inventions, the human brain. The electrical output and intricate wiring of this organ still hold many scientists in owe and drive their pursuit to understand. However, the use of technology to enhance the brain is a subject of much controversy.

White matter in the brain
The electrical circuit on the brain. Photo: http://flic.kr/p/9H8h8h
From origins in trepanning, the use of electronics to treat irregularities in the brain is a continually expanding field. Sufferers of Parkinson’s disease may experience deep brain stimulation (DBS) in order to ease their tremors- a crippling side effect of the condition. In this treatment electrodes are inserted into specific regions in the brain and connected to a battery in the chest. The pulses of electricity help control the tremors and enable a sufferer to perform daily task. However, many side effects of DBS can be seen such as altered personality and speech, which bring the treatment into question.

Yet, medical applications of using electricity to manipulate the brain, is just the tip of the iceberg of brain-computer interfaces. Wheelchairs controlled by the electrical signals of the brain can enable some people to be independent for the first time. By wearing a cap that reads patterns of brain signals, created every time we think of moving our left hand for example, the wheelchair will respond and move left.  Similar caps may enable the thoughts of people in comas or with locked-in syndromes to communicate with the people treating them. 
Jᴀɴɪssᴀʀʏ Drone
The next step: A soldier sat safely controlling a drone to fight? Photo: http://flic.kr/p/boFujd


Oxford University scientists have also developed caps that seem to improve people’s abilities to do maths by applying electrical signals. By applying a current from the right lobe to the left, participants in the study were better at the mathematical problems presented. Not only this, but the affects gained form wearing the cap still seem to be present 6 months on. As Switzerland scientists are currently attempting to map the whole electronic circuit of the brain onto a computer, such caps may be improved and our understanding of this complex organ increased.

As a consultation is called on brain technologies, where will the line be drawn between medical aid and human enhancement? The more we can control machines with our minds the more realistic the idea of a soldier drone seems. Although scientists are continually impressed with the power of the electrical mind, will we not lose respect for it as we try to make one of evolutions greatest successes better?  

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Ageing: A human taboo

Every creature on this planet has an intricately woven relationship with the process of ageing, which can be unique to the species, the individual and location. Although some may run from it, others embrace ageing with the ruling authority that accompanies it. 

The honourable matriarch elephant that strives to protect her herd from harm, has achieved her ruling position not through clashes of brawn, but due to her older years and suitable personality.  Age varies between the humble bivalve molluscs which can live to a grand age of 400 years to the adult mayfly that can live for just a day. A Galapagos turtle can even live to 177 years with no signs of ageing. 


Age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter' Words and Photo: AlexisMarie

However, although ageing can vary greatly in animals, it is our response to ageing that makes humans differ. Our obsession with age has lead to investigations, experiments and discoveries of the underlying processes within our cells. 

By studying the premature ageing disorder, XerodermaPigmentosum, the relationship between DNA damage and ageing was revealed. Sufferers of this rare disorder are unable to repair damaged caused by UV rays, resulting in skin blisters, scales and a high predisposition to skin cancer. Since the genetics of this disease were studied, the repair pathways for damage caused by UV light, carcinogens and more have been further explored and key genes found. Damage repair genes such as BRCA 2 are often affected not only in Xeroderma Pigmentosum, but also in other ageing disorders such as Cockayne and Werner Syndrome.

However, has this knowledge benefitted us? More age-related products may become available as further discoveries follow, yet will our attitude to ageing change? Many of us fear ageing and live in a world of ageing taboo. As in the words of Neuroscientist Professor Steven Rose, should we not embrace ageing and let nature take its course rather than ‘medicalise’ a normal process?’

Sunday 11 December 2011

A questionable christmas for the turtle dove?

Originally posted on the Gap Year Blog for Frontier

The iconic winter bird, the turtle dove, has been sung about by many merry carol singers for decades. However, in the UK the turtle dove has made it into a top ten list that no species wants to be in. As one of the top ten endangered species in the UK, the areas of habitat that this bird nests in are crucial for the survival of this species. Yet, recently George Osborne announced a review of EU legislation protecting habitats, to ensure they were not putting ‘ridiculous' costs on UK firms.

Turtle Dove
With the new review, the future of the christmas bird the turtle dove is brought into futrher question. Photo:http://flic.kr/p/whbnG



The EU Habitats and Wild Birds Directives is the European Union's oldest piece of legislation and as such has contributed to the protection of wild birds across Europe since 1979. The directive highlights the need for the protection of critical territories, as habitat loss is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of endangered birds. The directive also bans any activities that directly affect endangered species, such as the deliberate killing of birds or the deliberate destruction of their nests.

The RSPB were shocked and appalled by the MP's announcement that the 'gold plating' surrounding this rule will come under scrutiny for the sake of business. The government fear that the added pressure of environmental goals on businesses may result in the failure of certain companies and therefore negatively impact the economy in the UK. However, the RSPB worry that this may mean a weakening of the E.U. directive which may have disastrous effects on endangered habitats.

In 2007, the journal Science published an analysis showing the Birds Directive had made a significant difference to threatened and endangered species across Europe, especially through the use of Special Protected Areas (SPAs). Therefore, wildlife groups across the UK await the review with baited breath and hope that the turtle dove remains present in both Christmas cheer and the UK alike.

Monday 28 November 2011

Mongolian Ice Shield

Originally posted on the Gap Year Blog - Science Club for Frontier

An unusual geoengering experiment is to take place in the Mongolian capital city, in the form of a giant ice block. Over this coming winter, the aim is to build an ice block to ‘store’ the almost arctic temperatures of Ulan Bator, to reduce the urban heat island effect of this densely populated part of Mongolia.  

Ulan Bator
Increasing levels of pollution in the densly populated city of Ulan Bator may be comabted by the 'ice shield'. Photo: http://flic.kr/p/4zM4Rd


The urban heat island effect refers to when an urban area is hotter than its surrounding rural environment. For example, the warmth of London compared to a suburb is noticeably apparent, especially at this time of year. In a city of 1 million or more people, the difference in temperature can be as great as 12oC at night time. The warmer city temperatures increase the energy demand for cooling systems such as air conditioning and increase the accumulation of greenhouse gases during the summer months. 


With a population of 3 million in Mongolia, and a third living in the capital city, this experiment may provide a solution to growing heat pollution levels. The ice block, or ‘Naled’, will cool the city over summer as well as provide water across the population.  


Naleds are by no means a new idea. They are naturally occurring ultra thick slabs of ice generated when pressure forces springs through cracks in the surface of a sheet of ice, which then freeze over night to create a new layer of ice. As long as the pressure remains, the ice will get thicker and thicker.  The enormous ice masses produced have been used throughout history by mankind.

The North Korean military have used them to cross rivers during previous winters and in Russia they have been used as drilling platforms in artic temperatures. As temperatures fall to a freezing -20oC in the winter in Mongolia, Naleds can be easily implemented here as well. If successful, the idea may spread through other urban populations worldwide.