Conservation of scimitar-horned oryx & their arid steppe ... · Citation: Petretto, M., Gilbert, T & Riordan, P. (2019) Conservation of scimitar-horned oryx & their arid steppe habitat

Conservation of scimitar-horned oryx & their arid steppe habitat in Tunisia 2019

A report for the scimitar-horned oryx EEP

Marie Petretto Conservation Biologist, Tunisia Programme

Tania Gilbert International Studbook Keeper for Scimitar-horned Oryx

Philip Riordan Head of Conservation Biology, Marwell Wildlife

Citation: Petretto, M., Gilbert, T & Riordan, P. (2019) Conservation of scimitar-horned oryx & their arid steppe habitat in Tunisia: A report for the scimitar-horned oryx EEP. Marwell Wildlife, U.K.

Cover photograph: Scimitar-horned oryx in Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia. Photograph by Marie Petretto, Marwell Wildlife, with camera-trap BUSHNELL trophy cam.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dublin Zoo, Safari Parc Monde Sauvage, Parco Faunistico Le Cornelle, Wroclaw Zoo and the Sahara Conservation Fund for their ongoing and generous support. As always, we appreciate the unwavering collaboration and hospitality of our friends and colleagues at the Direction Générale des Forêts, (Agriculture Ministry, Tunisia), and the Commissariats Régionaux au Développement Agricole (CDRA) of Tozeur, Kebili, Medenine, Tataouine, Sidi Bouzid and Gafsa. We are especially grateful to our team in Tunisia: Amira Saidi, Med Khalil Meliane and Abdelkader Chetoui

1 | SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYX EEP REPORT 2019

SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYX EEP REPORT 2019 | 2

Contents Background 3

Our commitments 4

Tunisian strategy for Sahelo-Saharan conservation 4

Monitoring of scimitar-horned oryx and the wider environment 6

Implementing standardised monitoring protocols 6

The scimitar-horned oryx population 8

Evaluating the predation pressure 9

Understanding oryx behaviour 9

Disease risk and the One Health concept 10

Population management and animal capture 12

Habitat restoration and biodiversity surveys 14

Seasonal surveys 14

Camera-trap surveys 16

Wider activities 17

Sharing experiences, networking and supporting 18 our Tunisian colleagues

Park staff training, teamwork and networking 18

Higher education 20

Welcoming an EEP trainee keeper 21

International meeting on Sahelo-Saharan conservation 22

Proposed activities for 2020 and beyond 23 Activities for 2019/2020 24 Costs and funding proposal 25


Background

arwell Wildlife has been working in Tunisia since the 1980s, when the government

revised its Forest Code, signed the Convention on Migratory Species and the

Convention of Biological Diversity, and started creating a network of protected areas.

Today, nearly 485,000 hectares is included within the Sahelo-Saharan ecoregion and protected

in eight National Parks (NP) and Reserves (NR). The protected areas are dedicated to the

reintroduction of emblematic species that are locally or globally extinct.

Marwell Wildlife’s initial focus in the country was the reintroduction of scimitar-horned oryx

(SHO) Oryx dammah, but in the following 30+ years we have worked closely with our Tunisian

partners, the Direction Générale des Forêts (DGF), in the restoration and conservation of SHO

and their arid-land ecosystem.

The monitoring and management of the reintroduced SHO populations remains our core

activity and we work in close collaboration with our Tunisian colleagues in Dghoumes NP, Bou

Hedma NP, Sidi Toui NP and Oued Dekouk NR. We have also been working closely with the

management team at Haddej, a separate area in Bou Hedma NP that currently has SHO.

However, these SHO are due to be translocated to Bou Hedma NP, leaving Haddej dedicated

to addax conservation. We have built considerable knowledge of SHO and its habitat to better

understand the factors that impact long-term reintroduction success.

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Find out more about our annual review of charitable activities and impacts at https://www.marwell.org.uk/conservation/achievements/our-achievements: in our annual report, we share highlights of our work to restore nature, promote sustainable living and help catalyse changes needed to improve the fortunes of people, wildlife and the wider environment.

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https://www.marwell.org.uk/conservation/achievements/our-achievements


Our commitments

estoring populations to the wild is challenging and requires the long-term commitment that Marwell Wildlife is making. Our on-going and adaptive monitoring allows us to remain alert to problems and to identify and learn from successes. In these fragile arid environments, we are conducting research and embedding robust monitoring protocols

with local teams to understand, and respond to, the underlying drivers of large herbivore survival and use of their habitats. This work is linked to efforts to restore these ecosystems and reverse land degradation, providing benefits for local communities that will lead to sustainable co-existence with wildlife. In our three decades of SHO conservation in Tunisia, we have gained considerable expertise in reintroduction, monitoring and management techniques for the species and their habitat, and we continue to share expertise and knowledge with park and reserve teams. In 2018/2019, thanks to the generous support of the EEP and our other international partners, we made substantial progress against our project objectives, in particular the modelling of oryx translocation options to actively manage the SHO metapopulation1, and ongoing monitoring of SHO and their environment.

Tunisian strategy for Sahelo-Saharan conservation

he Tunisian conservation strategy relies on a number of partially fenced protected

areas that maintain a metapopulation of SHO in similar conditions to their free-ranging

ancestors. In common with many countries, Tunisia faces the challenge of providing

habitat areas of sufficient size to support self-sustainable populations of large-bodied

animals. Protected areas are insufficient to achieve this alone and so anthropogenic threats that

prevent free-ranging populations from being established must be tackled. A metapopulation

model, which connects the landscapes between populations is the only pragmatic option

available for the long-term future of these species.

1 A metapopulation is group of populations of the same species that are spatially separated but linked to varying degrees allowing movement of individuals between them. Whilst occurring naturally under conditions of habitat discontinuity, they are relevant to conservation efforts where populations are separated for reasons of human intervention, such as protected areas and ex-situ management. The resilience of metapopulations, and the long-term survival of those species, is reliant on the movement of individuals and genetic exchange

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he current approach to SHO

management in Tunisia is an

intermediate step before fully free-

ranging herds can be re-

established.

Our long-term vision is that of self-sustainable

populations of SHO moving freely across large

areas of contiguous habitat. While assessing

the suitability of possible unfenced release

sites, Marwell and the DGF are working

together to recreate natural species

assemblages through management

interventions across the network of protected

areas in Tunisia. The results will inform similar

projects in other areas.

We are continuing our mission to increase in-

country expertise in wildlife and habitat

management in collaboration with established

Tunisian academic and research institutions,

including: the National Veterinary School of Sidi

Thabet; Science Faculty of Tunis; Aridland

Institute of Medenine; and Pasteur Institute of

Tunis. Specifically, we are supervising Tunisian

students during their field study in completion

of an Ecology Master’s degree. Our Tunisia-

based staff are also participating in national

conferences, meetings, and scientific

committees to raise awareness on the wider

aspects of SHO conservation initiatives.

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Monitoring of scimitar-horned oryx and the wider environment

Implementing standardised monitoring protocols

4 protected areas

dedicated to the reintroduction of

the scimitar-horned oryx in its

natural habitat _______________

v NEXT PAGE

Scimitar-horned oryx in Dghoumes NP, Oued Dekouk NR

and Bou Hedma NP (from top to bottom

right respectively)

he Tunisian network of protected areas that houses re-established populations of SHO provides a unique opportunity to increase the chances of successful full return to the wild of this ‘extinct-in-the-wild’ Saharan ungulate. These populations

now only consist of animals born and raised within their natural habitat in the parks in Tunisia. The information systematically collected in Tunisia over the past decades is vital for planning further releases. The independent management of the four protected areas, where biodiversity and antelope populations are monitored by standardised protocols, offer a chance to compare the impact of various management factors on SHO population performance and contribute to a better understanding of the species’ needs. Marie Petretto, our Tunisian Programme Manager, has been working in close collaboration with the Tunisian staff in each of the four protected areas and Haddej for the last eight years. The monitoring protocols that Marwell and the DGF initially tested in Dghoumes NP are being replicated in the other protected areas. Consequently, in addition to the demographic data (births and deaths) routinely recorded by the park managers and their staff, basic surveys on social structure and habitat use are performed, allowing us to gain knowledge on the SHO and their wider environment over the different seasons.

In 2019, we were pleased to offer professional opportunities to

Khalil Meliane and Amira Saidi, two young graduate ecologists who completed their Master in Ecology last year. Thanks to their contribution, we were able to collect additional data on SHO in Dghoumes NP, which has the largest SHO population, and Bou Hedma NP, which has the oldest SHO population. We continue to focus on the behaviour of SHO, their predators and competition for resources.

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Restoring NATURE.


health of the ecosystems in Dghoumes and Bou Hedma NP.

Ph

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: Marw

ell w

ildlife

Restoring NATURE.


The scimitar-horned oryx population

270 Scimitar-horned

oryx

The national population

estimate _______________

> RIGHT

SHO population growth in the four

main Tunisian protected areas since

1999

opulation growth rates, along with births and deaths, are a good indicator of habitat quality for the species. The growth rate of the SHO metapopulation in Tunisia increased from 5%

in 2018 to 20% in 2019, demonstrating a rapid growth rate in response to the good habitat conditions this year. The number of Tunisian SHO is estimated at nearly 270 individuals overall. The SHO population in Dghoumes and Sidi Toui NPs now exceeds 60 individuals in each park. It is possible that SHO have been missed in the census counts with some SHO hiding in wadis or the mountains during the census. Our continued monitoring, research and evaluation of SHO populations and their environment allows us to identifying emerging issues and implement solutions in a timely manner. Matching the numbers of calves, juveniles and sub-adults observed from one year to the next helps to maintain consistency, which is useful when we are only able to estimate population sizes. At the same time, we are monitoring the health and body condition of the SHO populations and assessing social interactions to determine if the SHO are obtaining enough food and if competition for resources is becoming, or is likely to become, a problem in the future. There are some differences in the population performance between the SHO protected areas, and we are investigating potential causes of this difference. For instance, whilst we anticipate that the population growth will slow once the populations approach the carrying capacity of a protected area, the decrease of nearly 7% of the SHO population in Bou Hedma NP and the absence of calf survival have resulted in research focused on this issue.

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Bou Hedma

Oued Dekouk

Sidi Toui

Dghoumes

Restoring NATURE.


Evaluating predation pressure

^ ABOVE

The African golden wolf (Canis anthus)

is the last top predator sharing

SHO habitat

ur ongoing research into carnivore ecology and behaviour in Bou Hedma & Dghoumes NPs has indicated a higher predation pressure than expected for young SHO in Bou Hedma NP. This has been anecdotally reported for the population in Oued Dekouk NR as well, and wolves are

observed to patrol in groups in Sidi Toui NP. We are planning on replicating the Bou Hedma and Dghoumes NPs study in Oued Dekouk NR and Sidi Toui NP. Even though this research is in its early stages, it is already helping us to better understand population dynamics in these parks. In addition to the routine monitoring of the herds, our Tunisian colleagues from the protected areas maintain a high level of anti-poaching vigilance.

Understanding oryx behaviour

> RIGHT

Hierarchy and social interactions are vital drivers of the success of re-establishing SHO

in their natural habitats

The long-term success of the SHO reintroduction ultimately depends on the ability of the animals to cope with the variability of their environment. We continue to study the behaviour of the Tunisian SHO to gain an understanding of the species preferences and how they use resources in the landscape. The continuing monitoring of the herds since the initial release also documents the impacts of re-establishing herds of SHO on the habitat.

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Restoring NATURE.


Disease risks and the One Health concept

63% of Tunisian livestock is

produced in the central and

southern parts of the country

a risk for pathogens

transmission in the aridlands

_______________

v NEXT PAGE Transhuman

pastoralism generates uncontrolled flow of livestock within the park surroundings

hroughout the past 12 months, we have continued our programme

to monitor the health of scimitar-horned oryx populations, including

monthly visual assessments of body condition along with

opportunistic collection of blood and parasite samples, and post-mortem

examinations of carcasses. Additionally, we continue to train the guards in

all protected areas to undertake body condition assessments and increase

their familiarity with best practice.

Over the years, we have developed a strong network of partner institutions within Tunisia and aim to increase the availability of veterinary and laboratory support services across the protected area network. We are encouraging park staff to routinely send post-mortem remains of key species for examination at the National Veterinary School, with blood samples to the national Veterinary Research Institute of Tunis. This presents a substantial logistical challenge but all the stakeholders are engaged in making this happen. In 2019, thanks to generous support of donors, we have been able to adequately store and process most of the samples to ensure reliable diagnoses. Very little is known about wildlife susceptibility to the most widespread diseases, therefore our work is an opportunity to better understand how pathogens and diseases can circulate between wild and domestic ungulates. Livestock management is a key economic resource in Southern Tunisia, and this potentially presents a risk of cross contamination between livestock and wildlife via the environment, arthropod vectors and carnivores. We are working with our local partners to assess the risks and find the best way to screen the antelope.

In 2019, we raised concerns about abnormal eye discharge in two

SHO in Bou Hedma NP, that occurred in conjunction with low reproduction success of the population. Consequently, we performed blood tests in collaboration with the IRVT (Veterinary Research Institute of Tunis) and IZT (Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo, Italy), and found that the animals had been exposed to a number of infectious diseases that have the potential to compromise the performance of the population. As anaesthesia represents a risk for wild herbivores, we are actively seeking support to purchase safe capture materials that are currently unavailable in Tunisia.

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Restoring NATURE.


Restoring NATURE.


Population management and animal capture

v BELOW

An oryx restrained in a tamer. As part of the pre-release procedures for the reintroduction of scimitar-horned oryx in

Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Reserve (Chad)

by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi and the Chad Government, with implementation on

the ground by the Sahara Conservation

Fund, safe capture materials have been extensively used to

responsibly handle the animals

cimitar-horned oryx populations have been re-established in Bou Hedma, Sidi Toui and Dghoumes NPs and Oued Dekouk NR, with a further population in Haddej, soon to be translocated to Bou Hedma NP. Each release has been

sourced by different founders and is geographically isolated from the next nearest population with no natural migration routes. The current population size of SHO in each protected area varies between 40-100 individuals, and in isolation, all are too small to be considered sustainable over the long-term. This necessitates wider metapopulation management to ensure long-term persistence. To address this issue, we have genetically sampled the Tunisian metapopulation using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites with our project partners at the WildGenes Laboratory of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (see report 2012). We have fed these data into Population Viability Analysis (PVA) models to project the impact of different metapopulation management decisions and strategies on population persistence and retention of genetic diversity within individual populations and across the Tunisian metapopulation. This genetic evaluation is planned every 10-years, with the next sampling operation happening in the near future.

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Ph

oto

: An

drea B

on

om

o, SV

S

Restoring NATURE.


>

RIGHT Marie Petretto, wildlife

veterinarian and Marwell’s Tunisian

Programme Manager, has been performing

oryx capture for health screening in the

Tunisian protected areas for the past

eight years.

he proposed metapopulation management strategy requires additional translocations of SHO between protected areas in the near future. Wildlife translocations, complying with the IUCN guidelines, necessitate handling animals for preliminary

health screening, transport and post-release (genetic) monitoring. As widely recognised by the wild ungulate practitioners, individual capture is a risky, time-consuming and expensive method to handle the animals. It is also limited by the physiological conditions of the target individual (e.g. health status, age, pregnancy) as well as some logistic factors (habitat features, animal behaviour, operator and drug availability). As these are wild re-introduced populations, it is not desirable to habituate SHO to people to enable darting for anaesthesia. While planning the SHO genetic census, we adapted the biopsy darting technique, until then mainly used extensively for marine mammals, in order to mitigate the impact of the operation on individuals and the herds. As a result, we identified that quick and collective manual restraint would reduce stress and minimise physical after-effects compared to chemical restraint.

In 2019, after a consultation held with the DGF (Tunis, 11th-12th

December 2018), a management decision was taken to remove all the 22 SHO from Haddej NP to reinforce the population of Bou Hedma NP. The several failed attempts to capture the shy animals demonstrates that a portable safe capture system is vital for the success of future operations. We consulted experts in this field, Justin Chuven (Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi) and Adam Eyres (Fossils rim, Texas), who evaluated various options and proposed technical solutions in June 2019.

T

Restoring NATURE.


Habitat restoration and Biodiversity surveys

Seasonal surveys

8 Consecutive

years of biodiversity

surveys

evaluating changes over

long timescales to understand

long-term trends within the small

fenced protected areas

_______________

v NEXT PAGE

Amira Saidi, Khalil Meliane and

Abdelkader Chetoui monitoring biodiversity indicators (vegetation,

tracks and sights)

ost of the Tunisian scimitar-horned oryx are now wild born following the natural attrition of the founder population since the last release over a decade ago. It marks an important milestone in the re-establishment of this species and the

restoration of the fragile semi-arid ecosystem. As part of our commitment to the restoration of nature, we continued to survey biodiversity for the eighth consecutive year. We aim to evaluate how these habitats are changing and demonstrate the impact of protected areas for restoring arid steppe botanical communities and the wildlife that is associated with it. Vegetation and habitat monitoring Our annual vegetation surveys in Dghoumes NP are contributing to an existing dataset that will help to develop a locally appropriate monitoring approach to assess the biodiversity improvements. In 2019, we put particularly focused on mapping the habitats through a combination of satellite images and field data. Mammal surveys Surveying the density, occupation or behaviour of key mammal species provides a quick assessment of the ecosystem processes. Annuals survey carried out on random spoor transects both inside and outside Dghoumes NP will help to compare diversity levels between the two environments and across the years. Additionally, following the intensive preliminary survey conducted by master’s students in April-May 2018, we are continuing with the camera trap surveying to study species richness and abundance, habitat use and social structure (see below). Ground beetles In 2018, we began surveying the beetle assemblages in Bou Hedma and Dghoumes NPs. We found nine families of beetles, and there was encouraging evidence of species fulfilling a range of ecological functions from the recycling activities of dung beetles (Scarabaeidae) to the pollination services of flower chafers (Cetoniidae). In 2019, we extended the survey further South to better understand the association of the dominant omnivorous darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) with sandy soils and vegetation cover.

M

Restoring NATURE.


Restoring NATURE.


Camera-trap surveys

> RIGHT

Camera trap images of cryptic species

sharing the habitat of scimitar-horned oryx

> RIGHT

An example of the grid for camera-

trap studies in Dghoumes NP

s a result of the development of vegetation in the protected areas, direct observations of animals are becoming increasingly difficult, particularly, the cryptic species that have key ecological functions and thus determine the quality of SHO

habitat. We have therefore moved into using remotely triggered cameras (camera traps) to monitor the fauna in the parks. When camera-traps are placed at 1-2 km grid, they provide information on the presence of different species, their distribution, social structure and health. Long-term monitoring will help us to understand the population dynamics through the different seasons and across years. Building on the work initiated by Tom Lewis (MRes Wildlife Conservation, Marwell Wildlife/University of Southampton) last year, we decided to implement a large camera-trap survey in Dghoumes NP that is still running. This is a great opportunity to empower and engage people from local communities. This tool meets expectations of both managers and conservationists.

In 2019, promoting the use of this technology, we are training

ecoguards to check the cameras and analyse the photos. The method has already been duplicated in Jbil NP and we aim at implementing it in Sidi Toui NP and Oued Dekouk NR.

A

Restoring NATURE.


Wider activities

12,000 km²

of the wider arid landscape

is being monitored in conjunction with

the DGF, where we seek to

enhance biodiversity

management and link national parks

to increase the space available for

desert antelopes and other wildlife,

ultimately expanding into the desert wilderness of the Grand Erg

Oriental.

e continue to support biodiversity restoration in other protected areas and have provided technical support to additional species reintroductions including the North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus), the addax

(Addax nasomaculatus) and the slender-horned gazelle (Gazella leptoceros). We routinely monitor these populations, as well as other key species of the Sahelo-Saharan region to document and evaluate the interspecific relationships that underpin vital ecosystem functions. Find out more at www.marwell.org.uk/conservation. Our study on the genetics of reintroduced SHO has been repeated with the Tunisian Addax population as part of a joint project with the DGF, Al Ain Zoo, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), and San Diego Zoo Global, and the experience gained with the SHO enabled us to improve our sampling success rate. The preliminary analyses have been completed and the results will enable us to help formulate recommendations, which may include translocations of animals between protected areas and further augmentation from ex-situ programmes. In 2019, the number of North African ostriches in Tunisia had grown to over 80 birds housed in semi-wild conditions, and a fourth protected area, Bou Hedma NP, was repopulated during the spring. Preparations are underway for a release of ostriches in Oued Dekouk NR by the end of the year. Ongoing studies will help us to understand more about the behaviour of these giant flightless birds, which we have helped return to their natural habitat in Tunisia after an absence of 127-years. The worrying decline of the slender-horned gazelles, small native gazelles that inhabit the sand dunes, has motivated us to develop an emergency conservation project with the DGF. We are planning an aerial survey of the Tunisian desert in order to assess the status of the wild population and their habitat.

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Catalysing CHANGE.


Sharing experiences, networking and supporting our Tunisian colleagues

Park staff training, teamwork and networking

v NEXT PAGE

Boudhief Yahyaoui, Farhat Tradi and Hedi

Tradi, guards at Dghoumes NP,

contributing to SHO monitoring activities

We believe that our long-term collaboration with the Direction Générale des Forêts (DGF) and our other Tunisian and International partners is essential for long-term sustainable conservation. We have a philosophy of continually sharing experiences and working closely with our Tunisian colleagues. We also facilitate opportunities for our Tunisian partners to communicate on a national and international stage, by:

- facilitating communication between the park managers and local NGOs, universities and research institutes;

- contributing to students’ training; - representing our Tunisian projects in various national and

international conferences and workshops.

In 2019,. we have specifically trained the park staff in the use of camera-traps and the setting of bomas for passive capture. We continued engaging them in biodiversity surveys and on census protocols, while reviewing the recording methods. We equipped the guards of Dghoumes with a laptop and pocket camera to help them in their routine work. Formal training has been provided on animal behaviour and management in Bou Hedma NP, with specific focus on the newly introduced North-African ostriches.

Fig.8a

Catalysing CHANGE.


Catalysing CHANGE.


Higher education

9 Master’s students

encouraged to explore the diversity of

opportunities available to

professionals _______________

ur scientists supervise and facilitate undergraduate and postgraduate research projects, and teach university students contributing to academic qualifications in the UK and internationally.

As part of our work in Tunisia, we accept a small number of students each year, embedded in our Conservation Biology team, exposed to real-world challenges, and undertaking projects contributing to our programmes of work. Over the last few years, we have supervised five Master of Research degree (MRes) in Wildlife Conservation, run in collaboration between the University of Southampton and Marwell Wildlife, and four Master degree in Ecology, from the University of Tunis Al Manar. We also commit ourselves to increasing in-country expertise in Wildlife and Conservation Medicine in collaboration with the National Veterinary School of Sidi Thabet, specifically training young veterinarians during their final year. For the school year 2018-2019 however, both MRes and the Tunisian veterinary internship were temporarily put on hold for re-validation and revision of the curricula.

In 2019,. Yadh Ben Mustapha (Master student, Tunis El Manar) has completed field work on biodiversity and beetle assemblages, continuing the work begun by Amira Saidi (Master graduate, Tunis El Manar) in 2017-2018.

O

Catalysing CHANGE.


Welcoming an EEP trainee keeper

12 days in the wild

aridlands

sharing keepers’ experience from

Denmark to Tunisia

_______________

t the end of 2018, we were pleased to welcome Mathias Steffansen, a trainee zoo keeper in his last year who visited our projects from Aalborg Zoo (Denmark).

During 12 days of fieldtrip, he was given the opportunity to work with our field team whilst they visited locations not yet accessible to tourists. This included visits to the national parks where the SHO are in the wild.

A

Catalysing CHANGE.


International meeting on Sahelo-Saharan Conservation

19th Annual meeting

for Sahel and Sahara

Conservation

April 30 – May 3, 2019

Carthage Thalasso Resort, Gammarth,

Tunisia

_______________

^ ABOVE RIGHT

Participants to the SSIG meeting: Hela Guedara,

Deputy-director of Conservation (DGF);

Tim Woodfine, Director of Conservation

(Marwell Wildlife) and John Newby, CEO

(SCF) at the opening ceremony with Mr.Samir

Taieb, Ministry of Agriculture (Tunisia).

Group photo of the team of experts during

the fieldtrip to the southern protected

areas.

> RIGHT

Field trip to Southern Tunisia

The Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group (SSIG) meeting is an annual forum for all those working in wildlife conservation within the arid areas of North Africa and the Middle-East. Facilitated by the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF), and in 2019 by Marwell Wildlife for this year’s event in Tunisia, the meeting provides an opportunity to bring people together to share ideas and projects, and to continue a strong tradition of collaboration on behalf of Sahelo-Saharan wildlife and people. The meeting format includes a series of presentations, discussion groups, and workshops covering a range of topical issues.

Funding PROPOSAL.


Proposed activities for 2020 and beyond

By September 2019 we are pleased to report that we have made significant progress against the activities we planned for the new phase of programme in Tunisia (see report 2018):

• In partnership with Tunisian government, we started developing a national meta-population management plan for SHO. We started the modelling of our SHO monitoring data in order to propose the best alternatives for the management plan and agreed to postpone the delivery workshop to 2020, when the results of the Addax genetic analysis will be available as well. We planned the removal of the SHO from Haddej NP to reinforce the population of Bou Hedma NP, but we were unable to do this without access to portable safe capture materials that would enable us to responsibly perform the operation.

• The results of last year’s studies on factors influencing SHO populations are being written for peer-review publications. Khalil Meliane analysed his data on wild carnivores in Dghoumes NP, informing the distribution and habitat features influencing species’ activity. Amira Saidi is producing a paper focusing on how ground and darkling beetle’s activities can inform ecosystem quality and change. Those two papers should be submitted before the end of 2019.

• We continue monitoring SHO in Dghoumes NP as a case-study of best practice and an example of effective protected area management, providing a basis from which to evaluate the efficacy of the wider national management plan. This includes a long-term camera-trap survey: after 18 months of continuing monitoring of the mountains and nearby plain, 26 camera-traps have been moved into the steppe in August. The data collected by the trained guards are being checked and analysis is due to be completed by January 2020. The annual vegetation and mammal surveys are scheduled for the end of September 2019.

• Our health monitoring programme has been extended during the first quarter of 2019. Respectively 4, 3 and 2 animals were captured in Bou Hedma (10%), Haddej (4%) and Oued Dekouk (5%) in order to perform an extensive serological and PCR screening. Results obtained at the national Veterinary Research Institute of Tunis (IRVT) have been cross-referenced at the reference laboratory of the Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo (Italy) and confirm the reliability of the tests available locally. The positive results show historic exposure to infectious diseases and highlights the importance of including more extensive health screening in future, particularly systematic blood sampling.

• We have continued to deliver training to improve skills and build capacity for wildlife conservation in Tunisia. Yadh Ben Mustapha (Master student / University of Tunis) has completed his fieldwork with Marwell’s conservation team and he is expected to submit his thesis in December 2019. We continued working routinely with the park staff, providing specific camera-trap training in Dghoumes and Sidi Toui NPs, mass capture in Haddej and Bou Hedma NPs.

• We have recruited two Tunisian field assistants, Khalil Meliane and Amira Saidi, to conduct short–term surveys and document ecology and ecological function of key-species within the antelopes’ habitat. We hope to be able to retain these skilled young ecologists next year.

• We contributed to the promotion of Tunisia Conservation initiatives during the last Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group meeting held in Tunis, April 30 – May 3, 2019.

• However, whilst we hoped to be able to produce a vegetation catalogue for DNP and a “tracks & signs guide” for Tunisia, we couldn’t find the financial resources to contract an editor. We continue to collect data for future reference.

• Also, we maintain close relationship with the National Veterinary School of Sidi Thabet, but due to changes in the curricula, we haven’t welcomed any veterinary students this year. We are working with the Tunisian academic team to find the best way to develop wildlife veterinary capacity.

Funding PROPOSAL.


Activities 2019/2020

£200 We can buy a

Camera-trap

£450/month

We cover the fees of a post-graduate field

assistant

£22,000 We can purchase

and import a tamer into Tunisia

We are planning on continuing and expanding the monitoring of species assemblages in the protected areas, primarily through the use of camera trap surveys. We will continue our work in Dghoumes NP, but we would also like to expand these surveys in Sidi Toui NP and Oued Dekouk NR. This will enable us to simultaneously survey the three protected areas and facilitate site comparisons to fully understand the underlying ecological processes. These important data will improve our understanding of how the SHO and other key species use their habitat, allow us to assess the carrying capacity of the area and develop appropriate management strategies with the Tunisian government. We need to deploy at least 25 cameras per park, therefore we will seek to purchase 50 additional devices. We have some concerns around SHO mortalities and positive serological tests. The exposure to infectious diseases is a limiting factor for translocations and we need to evaluate and mitigate risk before moving animals between sites. There is an urgent need to increase health screening for SHO within those protected areas to better understand the cause of SHO mortalities. As a consequence of the metapopulation management planning, we have to translocate SHO between protected areas. To achieve this, we will need to purchase and import safe capture materials into Tunisia. These materials are not available locally and are vital for enacting conservation translocations and disease monitoring as part of the metapopulation management strategy. We are thus seeking funds for capture facilities, starting with a portable bomas, runways and a tamer to safely hold the animals, as well as for the associated veterinary expenses. Finally, we see the immense value in providing employment opportunities for young Tunisian veterinary and ecology graduates to gain experience of working in the field, building capacity and collecting important data to enable us to make management decisions. As the next generation of conservationists in Tunisia, it is important that students have support to travel to and work in these remote field sites.

Funding PROPOSAL.


Costs & Funding Proposal The annual costs of operations in Tunisia are underwritten by Marwell Wildlife, maintaining our presence in-country, and ensuring the continuity of work that is essential for long-term success. We have the opportunity and ability to expand our work and enhance conservation impact and are seeking funding for delivery of specific projects. Hence, we would very much welcome the support of EEP partners who share our goals of achieving sustainable management of reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx, and the restoration of their habitat and local biodiversity. By supporting local development and promoting the motivation and the skills of the Tunisian youth, our program could provide great and inspiring stories to emphasize the contribution of the partners of our work.

Cost item Cost basis £

Implementation of oryx meta-population plan

Purchase mass capture material Plastic boma incl. all components @ £ 8,800 importation costs @ £2,500

11,300

Purchase tamer & portable alley system Tamer incl. all components @ £11,000 + importation costs @ £7,000

18,000

TOTAL 29,300

Standardising oryx and habitat monitoring

Tunisian field assistant/ guards trainer (2 teams of 2 graduated Tunisians)

4 x 12 month @ £450 per month (salary & expenses)

21,600

Monitoring 4 protected areas by Marwell team Mileage: 2,000km/m @ 0.36p per km 8,640

Camera traps & consumable 2 x 25 x camera traps @ £200 per unit 10,000

Laptop and external hard-drive 1 per park, 2parks @ £ 240(used laptop) + £60 (hard drive)

600

Batteries 8batteries/camera, 4 times a year, 80 cameras @ £0.5/batt

1,280

TOTAL 42,120

Integrated wildlife & livestock health monitoring

SHO chemical immobilisation (emergency care, diagnosis and management purpose)

5 oryx @ £60 per oryx (drugs, consumables) 300

Sampling and analyses parasitology, histology, serology etc.+ storage and shipping @ £50/SHO, 20 SH0

1,000

Treatments Ad hoc antibiotic, anti-parasitic, vaccine depending on test results

400

TOTAL 1,700

Research on the restoration of the arid steppe ecosystem

Stipend for Tunisian trainees and local trackers 2 pers., 60 days @ 1,500 TND/mo/pers 2,000

Transport and food cost £ 500/mo 1,000

TOTAL 3,000

Overall Total £ 76,120

Funding PROPOSAL.


Documents

Conservation of scimitar-horned oryx & their arid steppe ... · Citation: Petretto, M., Gilbert, T & Riordan, P. (2019) Conservation of scimitar-horned oryx & their arid steppe habitat