Counting hippos

Huge advance in assessing animal species' population density

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Friday, 16, May 2008 11:49

London-based researchers have made a significant advance in the technology used to assess animal species' population density, it has been announced.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have developed a new calculation model which could transform the methods through which conservationists are able to assess species' population size.

And "huge numbers of species. will benefit from this research", according to study authors, who measured the populations of muntjac deer, wallabies and water deer at London's Whipsnade Zoo.

By adapting the formulae used to calculate the movement of gas molecules for use with information from camera traps, conservationists will see their ability to monitor seldom seen species greatly increased.

And as the Whipsnade trial - which used known animal populations only for the gas molecule model to produce the same results - proved effective, the costs of successfully conserving areas home to rare species will be drastically reduced.

Dr Marcus Rowcliffe, ZSL Research Fellow and lead author of the paper, said that ascertaining the number of animals within a given area is "actually one of the greatest practical challenges we face, particularly when the animals cannot be individually identified".

"For example, counting animals in a jungle where there are lots of places to hide is costly and extremely difficult or even impossible," he continued.

"Our new model makes it possible to calculate animal numbers by using the model developed for the movement of gas molecules and applying it to the process of contact rates between animals and cameras."

Dr Rowcliffe said pygmy hippos were "a great example" of species about whom more could be learnt through the new research.

"There are many other species which are seldom seen, so we struggle to gain knowledge of them, but which are nonetheless incredibly important parts of our world's ecosystem," he added.