2008 Animal Conservation and Field Study Program
Funded by the Duttenhaver Fund
Learning Adventure in Brazil
Six students and four adult mentors were the lucky participants in an expedition to the grasslands of Brazil in July 2008. For its inaugural journey, the Animal Conservation and Field Study Program team took part in an Earthwatch Institute research project studying the carnivore population in Emas National Park. The sixteen day adventure was sponsored by a generous grant from the Duttenhaver Fund, a new donor to GLAZA. The gift was inspired by the donor’s belief in the positive impact of international travel and study and matched the Zoo’s interest in developing field opportunities for students evaluating a future in biological science.
About every two weeks we will be featuring a participant's impression of this amazing opportunity.
Read on to learn about their experiences...
Dusty Johnson, Eco-Corps Student
This past summer, with the combined efforts of GLAZA and an extremely generous benefactor, I was able to travel to Brazil on the excursion of a lifetime. I was among six students and 4 adult mentors to study the Carnivores of the Grasslands under the Earthwatch Institute’s scientific umbrella.
Now that the formalities are out of the way, to put it simply, this was my life changing experience. Imagine throwing 6 teenagers together from all walks of life, and have only met a couple of times prior and all of us having to work together. The journey started when we met at the LAX and took over a day to travel to Brazil. Crammed together, we eventually all got to know a bit about each other. Everyone did their own bit of review on the animals and area we would be studying in. The wisest of us was Allison who studied the language during our flight instead of the animals. Upon landing, she quickly became a local favorite as she was able to bridge the communication gap; an absolute necessity in our tour group.
Early the next morning, the real adventure began. I can only describe it as an extended game of playing chicken with semi trucks. The driver of the shuttle who picked us up was a wonderfully spirited local who spoke almost no English, but nonetheless conversed with us for the entire trip. We traveled 8 hours in a comfortable shuttle with, thank goodness, great shocks on the pot-holed dirt roads.
Three hours before arrival at the camp, the roads turned to dirt and we got our first taste of the next two weeks – without even knowing that this was our first glimpse of Los Emas National Park. What we call off-roading, they call everyday driving. Arriving at the compound, we were immediately greeted by Dr. Leandro Silveira, Big Cat Specialist and the project leader, and the rest of his amazing team. That first day, everyone eagerly made declarations of our readiness to work. The researchers knowingly smiled and let us have our vision of overachieving. After unloading our bags in the guest compound we returned down to the main lodge for dinner. And of course my love of great-tasting food, was justly met with Dr. Leandro Silveira’s wife’s absolutely wonderful cooking, which always revived me with the energy I’d spent during the long work days. We even had white-lipped peccary at one meal!
Our typical day consisted of waking up to 40*F temperatures at 7am for a quick, on the go breakfast. We immediately loaded into a truck and set out for the Park. During the day we set and baited maned wolf traps. We made rounds checking the traps and feeding the bait (pigeons). While there, we caught and examined a total of 13 maned wolves, a dozen or so hoary and crab-eating foxes, and counted over 800 pompas deer. Many of the wolves were recaptures so we got to examine earlier dental evaluations in comparison of wear over time. We also had the fun task of tick removal, checking their sex, parental status, and measurements.
All and all, everyone on the trip came to understand field research in a different light than we had previously thought. Nothing came easy. Research is a combination or work and much patience in applying facts to fill in the unknowns of a project’s goal.
