5 minute read
A CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP BEGINS
The Living Desert team travels to Mongolia as part of a cross-country collaboration.
By Dr. James Danoff-Burg, Vice President of
As of July 1, 2023, The Living Desert has been fortunate to partner with the Mongolian Conservation Initiative (MCI), a longterm, well-established, and successful conservation project based out of Ikh Nart Nature Reserve (INNR) in southeastern Mongolia. The MCI has successfully contributed to science-based, communityled, holistic conservation initiatives at the Reserve for over a quarter century. “I have been the leader of this long-term, and successful conservation program for more than 25 years,” says Gana Wingard, Conservation Curator-Mongolia. “Now, in partnership with The Living Desert, we want to serve as a model for how international partnerships can amplify [similar] conservation initiatives worldwide. To ensure that our many years of cross-country collaboration is sustainable for the future, we will continue to support local capacitybuilding and training initiatives [for conservation professionals] in Mongolia.”
WILDLIFE VETERINARY MEDICINE
Last summer, five staff members of The Living Desert traveled to Ikh Nart, where they worked in collaboration with the skilled MCI and INNR staff. “As a first-time participant in the conservation work at Ikh Nart, I had the privilege of assisting the Mongolian veterinarian, Bayarmagnai Davganyam, to ensure the safety of the argali sheep, Siberian ibex, and black-tailed gazelle [during our monitoring efforts],” says Dr. Andrea Goodnight, The Living Desert’s Head Veterinarian. The team expertly and safely captured animals in drive nets to collect data about their health and put satellite collars on each animal to understand their movement patterns across the landscape.
“Each animal was handled for less than 10 minutes, during which time we took a blood sample, monitored heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature, and gave an injection of antioxidant vitamins,” Dr. Goodnight continues. “Additionally, we took blood samples from 100 domestic sheep and goats that may cross paths with the wildlife and could potentially infect wild populations, or in turn become infected by diseases from wildlife. All blood samples will be tested for six different infectious diseases that can cause illness in both wild and domestic hoofstock. Our goal is to determine the extent of cross-infection between the wild and domestic species so that we can help mitigate disease transfer and help improve co-existence of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife.”
HABITAT RESTORATION AND PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT
Because of overgrazing and climate change, ecological degradation in Mongolia is a major threat to the persistence of globally important wildlife species and natural resources needed to support nomadic herding families. “During my visit, I reassessed older restorations and planned for future actions,” says Dr. Luis Ramirez, Curator of Conservation at The Living Desert. “With the help of collaborators from New Mexico Highlands University, we identified and mapped several springs that have reduced their water output or stopped. This is to plan watershed-level restoration to capture more precipitation and bring those natural springs back to life.”
As part of Dr. Luis’ work on increasing resilience and water availability, his team marked and constructed smaller-scale restorations along the research camp canyon to increase the forage available to wildlife — a restoration technique already used in Ikh Nart. “Some of the original efforts that are already 5 to 6 years old are now showing incredible results, increasing the productivity of both perennial and annual plants that are key to native wildlife,” says Dr. Luis.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
As the MCI leader and Conservation Curator for Mongolia, Gana Wingard worked at Ikh Nart from the summer into the fall to oversee all research efforts into conservation biology, and to operate all the visits of dozens of visiting researchers. “Among many other pieces of research with mammals, birds, insects, and plants, we captured and ear-tagged small mammals to estimate population sizes, species richness, and composition in 2023,” says Gana. “This year, we sampled small mammals at each of eight habitats, including sandy drainage, shrub, rocky, short grass, and long grass.”
Avian research included the measurement, banding, and tagging of 73 juvenile cinereous vultures as well as the observation of 550 nests to gain insights into fledgling patterns. Researchers also gathered data for ecological studies involving lesser kestrel nests, parental feeding rate, and parental caring. Over 330 toad-headed agamas – a lizard that is part of the lesser kestrel’s wild diet –were surveyed to collect data on flight-initiated distances (FIDs), which measures the distance at which the reptile starts to run away when approached by a predator. Insects, an important part of any ecosystem, were surveyed throughout different habitats in Ikh Nart to estimate differences in insect abundance and species composition.
The Living Desert is extremely lucky to partner with such an impressive and successful organization — one with a field station, decades of data, and deep connections with the local nomadic herding communities and government leaders. This newly minted partnership holds tremendous promise for the future. Stay tuned for bigger and better updates!
