Choughs breed in CI after a century P12

Learnings from Mauritius P18

Autumn / Winter 2015

on theedge

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4 Durrell Times

10 Black Lion Tamarin Appeal update

12 Choughs breed in the Channel Islands forfirsttimeinacentury

14 Madagascar Campaign

17 Durrell UK members lecture

18 Learnings from Mauritius

20 Saving the Livingstone's fruit bat

22 Durrell Conservation Science Team attends world’s biggest conservation conference

24 £150,000 donation from charitable foundation administered by Nautilus Trust

25 Durrell Helping Safeguard Species

26 How do you go about saving the most threatened snake in the world?

28 Academy update

Photo and drawing credits EstateofGeraldDurrell,TiffanyLang,JohnDinham, Emily Garner, Tomas Bertelsen, Saphira Hunt, Tim Flach, Gerado Garcia, T Ross, Diogo Lagroteria, Gabby Salazar, AmilaChandrasiri,GregoryGuida,RickJones,JonathanStark.

ContentsA note from the CEOThis edition of On the Edge is, as always, areflectionofwhatDurrellisallabout:ourmission to save species from extinction andraisingtheresourcestodoso.Andto repeat, if we may, some of the plaudits othersgiveusforourwork.

Madagascar is by far our biggest programme.Weareaidingtherecoveryof tortoises, turtles, pochards, teals and lemurs, and protecting rivers, wetlands andforests.

After ten years of planning and of influencingthedecision-makers,threelarge sites in which we work have been formally made ‘Protected Areas’ (rather likenationalparks).Thisisanenormousstepforward.Wealreadyhavegreatengagement with villages and communities and now intend to organise local patrols to ensure these Protected Areas and the wildlifetheycontainarerespected.Wewillbe talking about this at the Durrell Lecture inLondononNovember23rd.

HereinJerseywehaveourwonderfulWildlifePark-partconservationcentre,partvisitorattraction.Becausethenumber of people coming through the gate is limited we must generate income fromothersources.Weareverypleased,therefore, to announce that we plan to open a children’s nursery and a charity shopsoon.

Finally, it is pleasing to report several occasions of Durrell being recognised asaconservationleader.Attheannualconference of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums we were frequently mentioned, and the Durrell Indexreceivedatopaward.InMontpellierthe world’s largest conservation conference took place recently, and who was chosen for the closing speech? Our own (friendly, mad)ProfessorCarlJones,that’swho.Makenomistake:thisisyoursupportthatisbeingrecognised.

OliverJohnson,Chief Executive

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We were delighted to celebrate some fantastic results at the BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) awards ceremony recently. Known within the zoo community as the 'Zoo Oscars’, the awards highlight the crucial work carried out amongst BIAZA members.

We were named as the Gold Award Winner for Conservation in association with ZSL London Zoo and Chester Zoo, for our joint project 'Saving the mountain chicken'. Although there’s still a long way to go to secure the survival of this

threatened amphibian, it’s through collaborative conservation partnerships such as these that success may be achieved.

We were particularly thrilled also to take gold in the research category for the development of the 'Durrell Index' (see the Spring 2015 edition of On the Edge for more information). Gerald Durrell’s pioneering vision was that zoos had a vital role to play in wildlife conservation, and this award recognises our work in developing innovative approaches to evaluating the impacts of our conservation actions.

Following his stint as the official mascot of the Natwest Island Games, our youngest gorilla, Indigo, recently found himself in the headlines once again. Keeper Jonathan Stark usually has a camera nearby and is always keen to share Indigo’s antics, aware that the best way of getting people to care is to capture their hearts – something Indi’s recent ‘duck tale’ certainly accomplished.

A mother duck had decided to hatch her chicks in the relative safety of the gorilla enclosure and was leading her brood to the pond near the gorillas' waterfall for a swimming lesson. Young Indigo seemed fascinated, and even reached out to touch the ducklings at one point, causing the mother to quack indignantly at our primate prince. The resulting images and video were seen by millions of people, and the story was shared far and wide.

Autumn / Winter 2015

DURRELL TIMESPROUD TO BE RECOGNISED IN ZOO OSCARS

INDIGO CHARMS THE NATION

Mountain chicken frog

DURRELL TIMES

The beguiling story of the young Gerald Durrell is coming to our television screens once again, this time in a six-part series commissioned by ITV, with Keeley Hawes in the starring role as Gerry’s long-suffering mother, Louisa. To be broadcast next year, The Durrells is based on Gerry’s books about his magical childhood on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s. Filming starts in Corfu this autumn in locations frequented by the Durrell family, their eccentric friends and ‘other animals’.

The production company, Sid Gentle Films Ltd, and ITV, are keen to help Durrell promote what our founder, inspired by his Corfu years, made his life’s mission – saving species from extinction. We look forward to collaborating on publicity and screenings, and Lee will be speaking with the media about Gerald, Corfu and the Trust’s work.

THE DURRELLS

As another way of generating much needed funds for Durrell, we are thrilled to announce that our charity shop will be opening soon.

Thanks to the generous support of 24/7 Self Store, we have the perfect location at Peacock Farm just behind the Wildlife Park in Jersey with plenty of free parking.

Thrifty shoppers will be delighted by the range of pre-loved clothing, shoes and accessories, toys, books, linen, soft furnishings and much, much more.

The shop is open Wednesday to Saturday from 9am until 1pm, and donations can be dropped off Monday to Saturday 9am to 1pm.

We’re also still on the lookout for volunteers to help, so if you have a few hours a week to spare, are friendly, organised and outgoing, then please get in touch with Susan Brayshaw, Volunteer Coordinator, on 01534 860045 or by email susan.brayshaw@durrell.org.

www.durrell.org/charityshop

Durrell has recently joined www.easyfundraising.org, which is a new no-hassle way for people to donate to our work. Next time you shop online, if you use the EasyFundraising search engine to purchase your item, the retailer will give a cash reward that can be turned into a donation for Durrell. www.easyfundraising.org collects this and sends it on to us at no extra cost, allowing you to help Durrell whenever you shop online. To register, visit www.easyfundraising.org today!

DURRELL TIMESDURRELL TIMES

THE CHARITY SHOP Our charity shop is opening soon

AN AWESOME SUPPORTERProject for Awesome (P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement that combines YouTube and crowdfunding website Indiegogo to allow members of the public to run independent fundraising campaigns for the charity that they think will make the world ‘more awesome.’

Simon Clark, a PhD student at the University of Exeter, entered his video about Durrell in last year’s P4A, hoping to secure $800,000 for our mission. Whilst ultimately unsuccessful, Durrell was in the running for a few days. This year, we decided we’d invite him to the Wildlife Park, and his amazing video blogs (vlogs) from Durrell can be seen at http://bit.ly/1KlieUF

EASYFUNDRAISING TOOL

After starting our main Facebook page in 2009, with news about the animals in the Wildlife Park, as well as progress in our worldwide mission to save species from extinction, we have now reached over 47,000 followers.

This brilliant social networking tool keeps our members and supporters up to date with their favourite animals, as well as the important projects we have going on in countries across the globe. This is vitally important to our conservation efforts.

If you want to know what our mischievous orangutans are up to, hear about our overseas field projects, or find links to interesting wildlife conservation articles then please follow us on www.facebook.com/durrellwildlife and help us reach over 50,000 followers – we promise it’s worth it!

KEEPING IN TOUCH…

DURRELL TIMES

CAVILL CONSERVATION MERCHANDISESince August 2014 Durrell has been working alongside our very own Superman, Henry Cavill. Our awesome ambassador has released a new line of stylish merchandise, which is available to purchase at www.cavillconservation.com.store.

The products include sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats and sportswear with all profits going towards our mission of saving species from extinction.

Thank you, Henry!

You’re probably familiar with The Lonely Dodo, the character we created with Aardman Animations to help us remind people that many species are in real danger of becoming the last of their kind. Now we have a dedicated Lonely Dodo store, where you can purchase limited edition Lonely Dodo items such as mugs, water bottles and soft toys.

Find out more at www.thelonelydodo.com/store

We’re pleased to report that we now use harvested rainwater for flushing toilets, thanks to funding from the Royal Bank of Canada Blue Water Project.

The RBC Blue Water Project is a 10-year global commitment to help provide people with access to drinkable, swimmable, fishable water, now and for future generations.

We are hugely grateful to RBC, as their generous support has enabled us to introduce a range of methods by which we can monitor and reduce water use within the Wildlife Park. It goes deeper than that however, as we’re also able to promote responsible water usage to Islanders both at the Park and through our education programme.

Indeed our education team recently hit the road delivering assemblies to 2,000 local school children, explaining the importance of wetlands to biodiversity, exploring how water is used and discussing why we need to conserve this precious natural resource.

DURRELL TIMES

INTRODUCING INNOVATIVE WATER SAVING MEASURES AT THE PARK

CHEEKY MONKEYS AT DURRELLThe places at our wonderful new nursery are filling up fast! And it’s not surprising - we believe that Cheeky Monkeys at Durrell offers the very best nursery experience in the Island with highly-regarded nursery practitioners, a focused yet fun approach to learning and truly unique educational experiences for your little ones. An added bonus is that parking is plentiful and convenient.

Cheeky Monkeys at Durrell is open from 7.45am to 6.15pm, providing full time, morning or afternoon sessions. We’re open all year round, accommodating children from 3 months to 5 years old.

To enable the whole family to benefit from all that Durrell has to offer, a Cheeky Monkeys Family Membership is included in the nursery fees. There are a few places still available, so for more information or to secure your child’s space, please email cheekymonkeys@durrell.org

And don’t forget to keep up to date with what our Cheeky Monkeys are up to at www.facebook.com/durrellcheekymonkeysnursery

The RBC Team

We have wonderful news! Our plans to import two female black lion tamarins from Brazil have taken a big step forward. As you will know from our recent appeal, there are almost no Black Lion Tamarins left inEuropeanzoos.Durrellnowhasthelastpotentially viable breeding pair in the region, andtheyarenearlypastreproductiveage.There are male tamarins in Europe without partners, so the arrival of these unrelated females from Brazil is crucial to reinstigate breeding and to ensure the survival of this exsitupopulation.

A protracted process and plenty of paperworkAn animal import is not an easy thing to organise and is fraught with legal and veterinary hoops to jump through, but we areveryclosetoourgoalasIwritethis.Allliontamarins–black,golden,golden-headedandblack-headed–arelegallythepropertyoftheBraziliangovernment.Thisis how it should be, but it does make the export of tamarins from Brazil a lengthy process, as the appropriate legal paperwork has to be signed by various government officials,andbelieveme,thereisalotofit. The black lion tamarin (BLT) remains endangered in the wild, living only in the westofSãoPaulostate.WhenIvisitedthisareaforthefirsttimein1999todothefirsteverreleaseofcaptive-bredBLTs,Iwas struck by how much the landscape resembled British farmland, with huge areas

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of land turned over to agriculture and only afewtinypatchesofforeststillremaining.Insteadofpotatoes,wheatorbarley,fieldsofcattleandsugarcanestretchedoffintothedistance.

Since 2002, with your help and in partnership with Brazilian NGO IPÊ, we have planted 80,000 trees in corridors, connecting the last forest fragments wherethesetinymonkeysstillsurvive. The majority of the funding for this has comefromour'CansforCorridors'initiative.

Thisisalong-termprojectthatwillneedahugeeffortoverthecomingdecades,andthreatssuchasfire,agricultureandpoaching remain, so it is vital that the captive BLT population is healthy enough toactasanothersafe'forestfragment'.Imanage captive BLTs internationally and I hope that, if we build up numbers once again, we will be able to mirror the very successful breeding programmes for golden andgolden-headedliontamarins,securingthe future of the species and providing animalsforreleasebacktothewild.

Visit www.durrell.org/cans

Black Lion Tamarin Appeal update

Hard at work crushing cans

by Dom Wormell, Head of Mammals

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Durrell and its partners at Birds On The Edge aredelightedtoannouncethefirstred-billedchough to hatch in the wild in the Channel Islands in over 100 years!

The chough, once a common sight, became extinct in the Channel Islands by the start of the twentiethcentury.Unlikelytoreappearnaturally,Birds On The Edge began a project to return this highly charismatic and sociable bird back intoJersey.

In 2010 two breeding pairs were loaned to the project from Paradise Park in Cornwall to start a captive breeding programme at Durrell, with the intentionofreleasingtheoffspringintothewild.Inautumn2013thefirstreleasebeganwithseven birds housed in a specially designed releaseaviaryatSorelPointonJersey’snorthcoast.Sincethenafurther13havejoinedtheflock,includingfourchickshand-rearedatDurrell.Therehavebeenafewlosses,as

expectedwiththissortofproject:twobirdsdied and three disappeared either at the start of release or after six months of living free.However,thankstotheeffortsofDurrellstaffsupplementaryfeeding,monitoring,and providing veterinary treatment where possible,the15captivebredchoughsflyingfreealongJersey’snorthcoastareingoodcondition.

May2015markedthefirstyearoftheoriginal release group living completely free inthewild,i.e.,withaccessoutsidetheaviary24/7.Itwasalsothefirstbreedingseason, although many were still too youngtobesexuallymature.Despitethis,threepairswerebusybuildingnests.Tothe astonishment of the team, one pair succeeded in raising a perfect, healthy chick.

Thenewchick,christenedDustybystaff

at Ronez Quarry, where the parents chose to nest, hatched in late May and spent six weeksinthenestbeforefinallymakingitsdebut.Dustybehavedasanyyoungchoughchick would, staying close to the nest site in the quarry, being fed by its parents and makingshortpracticeflights.Then,afteraweek, Dusty took the brave step (or more accurately,flight)andfolloweditsparentsall the way back to the release aviary where staffprovidefoodtwiceaday.Theotherchoughswelcomedthechickintotheflockand now 16 choughs can be observed foraging,flyingandgenerallyhavingfunalongthecliffsatSorel.

The new young chough represents a milestone in the return of a truly wild chough populationtotheIslands.Thisyear’scaptivebred young from Durrell and Paradise Park will be released at Sorel in September to join Dustyandtheotherwildchoughs.

Choughs breed in the

Channel Islands for

first time in a century

Red-billed chough

by Liz Corry, Senior Bird Keeper

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Later this year Donna will launch a compellingnewtwo-yearcampaign.This exciting initiative will focus on the protection of species in Madagascar and aim to change the way that people view conservation.

Did you know that Madagascar is one of thefivemostimportantareasintheworldfor biodiversity? All this time in isolation has allowed fascinating plants and unique animals to evolve here that are found nowhereelseonearth.Butthisrichnessisunder threat with consequences for both wildlifeandpeople.Forover20years,Durrell has supported both Madagascar’s biodiversity and it’s rural communities; inspiring and empowering local people to lead in the protection of the species that surround them, and the environment that theybothshare.

Deforestation,soilerosion,agriculturalfiresand hunting are just some of the threats to Madagascanwildlife.Durrell’sresponsetothis has been to take direct action to secure thelegalprotectionoffivesites,which

Donna Woodman recently joined the Trust as the new Head of UK Fundraising, based at the new Durrell Science Hub in Bath. Donna’s aim is to raise the profile of Durrell in the UK and to encourage people to support us through funding our field programmes, training academies and visiting the park in Jersey.

are home to many endemic and globally threatenedspecies.

Thissoon-to-belaunchedcampaignhasbeen designed to help Durrell to raise the vitalfundsrequiredtoinstigatemoreefficientandeffectiveCommunityPatrolswhoseresponsibility it will be to protect these fiveareas.Pastexperiencestellusthatbyhelping communities to set up patrol teams within their villages to monitor and protect these natural areas, they become directly engaged in conservation, something that is essentialforasustainablefuture.

Being a member of a patrol provides individuals, and the communities within which they live and work, with a variety

oflongtermbenefits.Theserangefromeconomicbenefitstopersonaldevelopmentandwellbeing.Thereareofcoursealsoanumber of environmental and ecological benefits,andbyenablingcommunitiestoprotect their own habitats they are ensuring securelivelihoodsforfuturegenerations.

So far this approach has shown great promise,butneedsimproving.Therearecurrently69patrolteamstryingtocoveranareaof1258squarekilometres.Withdonations and support we can double this effortandpatrolscouldberesponsibleforprotectingamuchlargerarea.Wewillbeabletoseetheeffectthattheyarehavingon the recovery of endangered animals and takeactionwhereit’smostneeded.

To learn more about the patrols why not come along to the official launch at this year’s Durrell London Lecture on 23rd November 2015 at the Royal Institute, Mayfair?

Understand more about how the story started from Tusk Trust award winner Herizo Andrianandrasana and hear how you can get involved to help shape its future.

Madagascar Campaign

Alaotran gentle lemur

Community Patrol team

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A little bit about meI’m originally from Yorkshire but moved to the south of England to join Durrell in Januaryofthisyear.It’sbeenfantastictolearn about the history of Durrell through reading Gerry’s books and meeting Lee Durrell.Itistrulyamazingtoseewhatthewhole team has achieved since Gerald’s originaljourneybegan.

I’m very excited about becoming part of the next stage of Durrell’s journey and launching thisnewcampaigntotheUKpublic.

I am passionate about the work we do and particularly the need to raise vital funds to helpourCommunityPatrolsinMadagascar.I’ve got lots of ideas to make this happen, buttheyarenothingwithoutyoursupport. I love meeting new people, so I want to meet you!

Whether it is face to face, a telephone call, email, or carrier pigeon, I want to hear your ideas.

We are also looking for any potential Investorswhocanhelpustokick-startthiscampaign.Ifyouthinkyoucanhelporwould like to hear more please do get in touchusingthedetailsbelow.”

Emaildonna.woodman@durrell.orgTel 07763 341 757Skype donnawoodman

Durrell Science HubOffice2,LowergroundFloorThe Malt House17-20SydneyBuildingsBathBA2 6BZ

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On Monday 23rd November 2015, you are warmly invited to join a panel of expert Durrell speakers for the annual London Lecture at The Royal Institute, 21 Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4BS.

Welcomedrinkswillbeservedfrom6.15pmandthelecturewilltakeplacefrom6.45pmuntil8.00pm.

Our UK Members and guests are most welcome to attend this event free of charge, with a suggested donation amount of £15 per non-memberguest.

To register your interest in attending, please email donna.woodman@durrell.org

DURRELLUK MEMBERSLECTURE

Mr.ConservationistViolet HillLondonNW1

Donna Woodman

1918

learnings from Mauritius

“Coming from Saint Lucia, I thought Mauritius, an island, would be a small place, because on the map Mauritius is just likeSaintLucia,adotinthesea.ButIfoundMauritius to be vast and very developed, aworldawayfromSaintLucia.Fourlanehighwaysandmegamalls,itwassurprising.

“Mauritius has lost a lot of its natural habitats.Iwastakentotherainforest. The native forest was about the size of my officeinSaintLucia.Wehavealotmorenativeforesthere,butonMauritius’offshoreislands,habitatsaremoreintact.

“I was pleased to assist with the pink pigeon project, a species with which Durrell hasbeenworkingforthreedecades.

As part of the work we checked whether eggsinnestswerefertile,whichwasfun.AsoneofMauritius’offshoreislands,Ileaux Aigrettes, has lost its population of seabirds, I worked on this project too, assisting in feeding seabird chicks in captivityforreleasebackontotheisland.

“My main focus, however, was working on reptile projects, caring for reptiles in captivity, undertaking population surveys and translocating reptiles raised in captivity tooffshoreislands.

“After the population survey of Telfair’s skinksIdidwithDr.NikColeonGunner’sQuoinoffMauritius,Idecidedtodoasimilar survey here in Saint Lucia on our

endemic, and globally threatened, whiptail lizardpopulation.Forthis,Ihadtotrainasurvey team of members of the public with noexperienceofhandlinglizards.Peoplepicked it up quickly and were keen to learn, which was surprising to me – here in Saint Lucia,mostpeopleareafraidoflizards.

“During my time in Mauritius I saw lots of things that were similar to the work we do here, such as our routine biosecurity, especially the quarantine part of it which is to prevent invasive species being introducedontoouroffshoreislands.Wedothis on a smaller scale here in Saint Lucia, but in Mauritius they’ve taken this to a wholenewlevel.Mauritiusislike‘TheLandoftheInvasives!’”

Saphira Hunt was first employed by the St Lucia National Trust under a project coordinated by Durrell to strengthen biosecurity on Saint Lucia’s offshore islands. At the end of last year she visited Durrell’s team in Mauritius, which is well-versed in offshore island restoration, with the aim of learning new skills.

Saphira with a Telfair's skink

SAving the livingstone's

fruit bat

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ThecolonywasfirstestablishedatDurrell,where it has gone from strength to strength, as we continue to learn and provide for the specialneedsofthiswonderfulspecies.Our hard work was rewarded with eight infants produced in 2014, the greatest number to be born in a single year here in Jersey.

Fruit bats play an important role in the regeneration of tropical forests, acting as both pollinators and seed dispersers formanyplants.Livingstone'sfruitbatsare therefore vital to the health of the forest of the two islands on which they are found, Anjouan and Moheli in the ComorosarchipelagooffthesoutheastcoastofAfrica.Sadlytherearethoughttobe less than 1,000 of these giant bats left inthewild.Threeoftheirroostsiteshavedisappearedinthelastfiveyears,leavingonly22remainingroosts.Thisrestrictedrange makes them highly susceptible to threats such as cyclones, which could extinguishthespeciesinablinkofaneye.

In2012fieldbiologistsandresearchersfrom Durrell and Bristol Zoo joined forcestomonitorthespeciesinthewild.Surveyingthebatsisarealchallenge-theircommunal roosts are typically found in large trees on steep, virtually inaccessible slopes.However,evenatthemostremoteroosts the researchers found crops planted underneath.Thepressureforagriculturalland is such that farmers will cultivate on hillsides so steep that their plants must be

tied down by ropes to prevent them falling downtheslopes.

The human population of the Comoros is increasing at an exponential rate, and the islands now have the fastest rate of deforestationintheworld-almostdoublethatofanyothercountry.Thirtyyearsagothere were 50 permanent rivers on Anjouan; now, due to accelerating deforestation, thereareonlyten.Theislandsareatrealrisk of ecological collapse, and the future looksbleakforthepeople,themagnificentbatsandotheruniquespecies.

Conservationeffortsaimingtotackletheroot causes of deforestation began in 2008.BristolZoospearheadedaprojecttooffersustainableagriculturalsolutionstothepeople.Thisprojecthasenabledmore than a thousand farmers to improve theiragriculturaloutputinlowlandfieldsinorder to reduce pressure for new land in forestareas.In2013anon-governmentalorganisation, ‘Dahari’, which means ‘sustainable’ in Comorian, was created to continue to train farmers in sustainable agriculturalpractices.Itsslogan,‘KomoriLao meso na’, translates to "the Comoros todayandtomorrow’.

Durrell is working closely with Dahari to protect the Comorian forests, as well as maintaining a breeding population of the vital ‘gardener’ of those forests, the Livingstone’sfruitbat.

In the early hours of 4th August we were delighted to discover a new addition to our Livingstone’s fruit bat colony, an infant male. He is the 117th Livingstone’s bat to be born in captivity since the establishment of the European conservation breeding programme in 1992, which ensures a safety net population for this Critically Endangered species.

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In early August, I was fortunate enough to attend the International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB) in Montpellier, France with some other members of Durrell’s ConservationScienceTeam.ThiswasthelargestICCBever,with over 2000 of the world’s leading conservationists from almost100countriesgatheredinoneplace.Itwasafantasticopportunity to meet up with colleagues and students from our partner organisations around the world, to network and make new contacts and to learn from the latest research in conservationscienceandpractice.Overthefourdaysoftheconference, there were more than 160 sessions, covering topicsasdiverseasrewilding,evidence-basedconservation,conservationmarketing,newtechnologiesandhuman-wildlifeconflict,tonamejustafew.

Are we making a difference?During the conference, Durrell’s Head of Conservation Science, DrRichYoungco-hostedasymposiumwiththeIUCN’sSpeciesSurvival Commission on measuring conservation impacts, called“TheDifferenceConservationMakes”.Itwasstanding-

Durrell Conservation Science Team attends world’s biggest conservation conference

room only in this very popular session; as one tweep put it “Everyone wants to know if we’remakingadifference!”

Durrell’sChiefScientistProfessorCarlJonesgotthesessionofftoagreatstartwithapassionate and positive talk called “What doesittaketosaveaspecies?”Carlshouldknow, as his work in Mauritius in partnership with the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and the Government of Mauritius has led to eight species being saved from almost certainextinction.Richpresentedhiswork on measuring the impact of Durrell’s Conservation programmes using the ‘Red List Index’ and Durrell Madagascar’s Hery Andrianandrasana impressed the audience with his PhD research on the impact of Durrell’s conservation programmes in Madagascar.Akeymessagefromthissymposium was that conservationists are makingarealpositivedifferencetothesurvival of threatened species, and we need to focus on our successes, not on doom andgloom.

The conference organisers encouraged live-tweetingduringtheconference,andI was responsible for tweeting from the symposiumviatheDurrellTwitteraccount.It was clear from what people were saying on Twitter that the audience were enthused, entertainedandinspiredbyCarl’splenary.Tracking Twitter conversations proved to be a fantastic way to get instant feedback and to get Carl’s positive message, that conservation works, out to a much wider audience.

Conservation worksCarlJoneswasinvitedbytheconferenceorganisingcommitteetogivethefinalclosingplenary.Carltoldthestoryofhislife’s work to save species from extinction inMauritiusandhowthisspecies-focussedworkhasledtoecosystemrestoration.He began by outlining Gerald Durrell’s

vision and legacy and how this has inspiredhimthroughouthiscareer.Inhisclassic inimitable style, he entertained and enthused the audience of 2,000 leading conservationists for an hour, ending the conferenceonarealhigh.

My favourite quote came towards the end of thespeech:“Therearemanynay-sayersinconservation who say that there are endless problems.Well,Isaythereareendlesssolutions;Conservationworks”.

To read more about Carl’s plenary, his key messages and the online reaction, see https://storify.com/DurrellScience/carl-jones-iccb2015 Storifyround-upfromthesymposium:https://storify.com/DurrellScience/conservationimpact

Link to Dr Richard Young’s blog piece followingthesymposium: http://bit.ly/1h96fhu

STOP PRESS -At the time of writing we are excited to report that Carl Jones has been announced as one of twenty eight inspiring individuals to be nominated for the prestigious 2016 Indianapolis prize which celebrates true heroes in the field of conservation.

A Nominating Committee comprising Internationally renowned professional conservationists will determine the ultimate winner, to be announced in October 2016.

by Lianne Concannon

Conservation Scientist

We’re delighted to share more great news from our good friends at Nautilus Trust, long-termsupportersofourmission.Acharitable foundation administered by Nautilus has made a donation of £150,000 toDurrell,andwearehugelygrateful.

Exactly how the funds will be used is still to be decided, but they will be allocated to support some of our most important conservationprojectsacrosstheglobe.

This latest gift follows a £50,000 contributionfromaNautilus-administeredcharitable foundation in 2014, which was used to train Mauritian conservationists andsupporteffortstorestoresixspeciesof highly threatened reptile, including the Telfair’sskink,orange-tailedskinkand

Gunther’s gecko, on a network of small islandsthatlieoffthecoastofMauritius.

We were proud to hear what Nautilus CEOJasonCowleardsaidaboutourorganization:“Durrellisanimportantinstitution that Nautilus is passionate about supporting.Fortunatelymanyofourclientsshare our appreciation of Durrell and we are delightedtobeabletomakethisdonation.We saw last year how these donations make a meaningful contribution to Durrell’s work and I am looking forward to seeing howthemoneyisusedthisyear.”

ManythankstoallatNautilus.Wereallycould not achieve all we do without the kindness of our incredibly generous supporters.

£150,000 donation from charitable foundation administered by Nautilus Trust

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Durrell is helping to safeguard the future of halfofthetoptenbirdspeciesbenefittingfromworkdonebyzoosandaquariums.

The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) recently compiled a listofthetoptenbirdsbenefittingfromthework of zoos and aquariums in the UK and Ireland and Durrell work with no less that fiveofthespeciesonthelist!

Durrellplaysasignificantroleinhelpingtoprotect the Northern bald ibis, Madagascar pochard,Edwards’spheasant,Blue-crowned laughing thrush and the Bali starling.

In 2006, the situation for the Madagascar pochard was critical with only 20 birds left inthewild.Durrelltookaction,instigatingacaptive breeding programme in partnership with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and nowwe’rethrilledtoconfirmthattherearearound 100 birds in captivity and plans are inplacetore-introducethemasearlyasnextyear.

Durrell has also been instrumental in helping tocreateasafety-netpopulationofthecriticallyendangeredBalistarling.TheWildlifeParkinJerseyhasbeenhometothespeciessincetheearly1970'sandhastwice sent birds back to Indonesia to join a captivebreedingprogramme.

This latest BIAZA report demonstrates just how much organisations such as ours can dohelpendangeredspecies.

Durrell Helping Safeguard Species

BIAZA’s top ten bird species benefitting from zoos and aquariums are:• African penguin• Bali starling• Blue-crowned laughing

thrush• Ecuadorian Amazon parrot• Edwards’s pheasant• Madagascar pochard• Northern bald ibis• Oriental white-backed

Vulture• Socorro dove• Visayan tarictic hornbill.

If you’d like more information on all of these species why not take a look at the full BIAZA Top Ten report: www.biaza.org.uk/campaigns/top-ten

Madagascar pochard

Orange-tailed skink

The Saint Lucia racer snake (Liophis ornatus)isfoundonlyononetinyislandoffthecoastofSaintLucia,calledMariaMajor.This island, smaller than our Wildlife Park inJersey,providesavitalrefugeforreptilesand birds that have been either removed or seriously threatened by introduced predators, such as rats and mongooses, on themainislandofStLucia.

For several years we have been very concerned about the racer, which at the end of the nineteenth century was common on Saint Lucia, but has now disappeared, takingrefugeonMariaMajor.Accordingtoour latest surveys, there are fewer than 100 individuals remaining, making this species themostthreatenedsnakeintheworld.

Following the development of an integrated recovery plan for the snake, captive breedingwasidentifiedasoneofthekeyresponses, alongside the restoration and protectionofSaintLucia’soffshoreislands.However, given that the racer has never been brought into captivity and too few remain to use in a breeding trial, we decided to develop the necessary husbandry skills withananaloguespecies.Wechosetheecologically-relatedAnguillaracersnake(Alsophis rijgersmaei), which is only found on the island of Anguilla in the north of the Lesser Antilles and as little known as the SaintLuciaracer.

With the permission and collaboration of theAnguillanGovernment,Durrellstaffcollected eight snakes from the wild in 2014

andsimultaneouslygatheredimportantfielddataonthesnake’shabitatandbiology.Thesnakes were subsequently brought to the WildlifeParkinJersey.

Devising optimum husbandry methods for racers requires developing techniques and experience in breeding, incubation and rearing of this species and weaning these exclusive reptile and amphibian feeders onto mammalian(mouse)prey.

Developing racer veterinary care is anothervitalelementofthisproject.Disease susceptibility, preventing disease transmissionanddevelopingeffectivetreatments all require investigation, and modellingontheAnguillaracerisinvaluable.

The Anguilla racer is itself a threatened and poorly understood species in its native Anguilla.Thisprojectisprovidingauniqueopportunity to study many aspects of itsbiologyandreproductionforthefirst

time, and the results will be published and distributed to interested parties, including the Anguilla Department of Environment andNationalTrustforuseinin-countryconservationmanagement.

Since the snakes were released from import quarantine, we’ve successfully managed to wean them onto rodent prey, and we are happy to report that all of the four females have laid clutches of eggs, which are currentlyincubating.

This autumn we will be sending a member ofstaffbacktoAnguillatobeginalongtermstudy into the distribution and status of the racer and to train Anguillan National Trust staffinsurveytechniques.

This is a wonderful project that leads from one critically endangered island species to anotherforthebenefitofboth.Staytunedfor more updates after the eggs in our incubatorshavehatched.

How do you go about saving the most threatened snake in the world?

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Stephen Lesmond with racer snake

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Conservation firsts! In April the British High Commissioner to Mauritius hosted a launch event for our Post-GraduateDiplomainEndangeredSpeciesRecovery,whichisdeliveredatourtrainingcentreontheisland.Webelievethisisthefirstuniversity-validatedprogrammeintheworldtoprovidecross-disciplinarytrainingwithingloballyrecognisedspeciesrecoveryprojects.

BackinJerseywehavebeenrunningafullprogrammeofcoursesincludingourflagshipDESMAN(DurrellEndangeredSpeciesManagement)certificatecourse.Wehavealsojustcompletedourfirstonlinecourse,ondiseasemanagementinconservationprojects,inpartnershipwiththeUniversityofEdinburgh.Takeupon this completely exceeded expectations as we aimed for 14 participants and had over 40! Over the next year we will develop our online training to reach more 'remote'conservationists.

Kevin Ruhomaun SeniorScientificOfficerNational Parks and Conservation Service, Government of Mauritius

“IamanofficerfromtheNationalParksand Conservation Service of Mauritius andIjoinedtheServicein2003.Beingtrained in agronomy and coming from an agricultural background, a lot of what I learnt in species conservation comes from working on the job and teaching from mypeers.ThePGDip2015courseisanopportunity for me to further develop my skillsinthefieldofspeciesconservationaswellasbetrainedinnewsetsofskills.Thecommunity engagement side and leadership components of the course are of special interesttome.Thiswillbeveryusefulinthedevelopment of my future career as it will help me in developing my communication skillsaswellasmymanagementskills.These will help me when I am asked to lead bigger teams and engage civil society in pursuingoureffortstoconservetheuniquebiodiversityofMauritius.”

Academy update

Start your career in conservation with Durrell• First-hand, practical

conservation training

• Learn direct from global conservation experts

• Vocational to post graduate level courses

• Campuses in Jersey and Mauritius

To find out more visit www.durrell.org/academy or email academy@durrell.org

Current Academy course participant profile….

The launch of our Post-Graduate Diploma in Endangered Species Recovery in Mauritius.

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News from 2014 course participantsMartin Kastner Research Assistant in Avian Restoration, Colorado State University

“I'm enjoying my new conservation role to help restore the Micronesian starling on theislandofGuaminthenorthernPacificOcean.MysupervisortookanewjobinHawaii the week before I was meant to start, so I was left in charge of running the project fromtheget-go.MytraininginMauritiusin2014 played no small part in them trusting metohandlethework.Itwasabitdauntingatfirst,butatthispointIamquitehappytohavethechancetohelpsettheday-to-dayprioritiesoftheproject.Iminefrommycourse experience on a daily basis in my work, both on the practical side of things suchasnest-boxdesign,treeclimbingetc.andthemanagerial/facilitationside.Thereis pretty much nothing that I learned in Mauritiusthatisn'tapplicablehere!”

Introducing our Regional Network Reps Over the last few months we have been developing the Durrell Learning Network to provide more support to our Graduates after they have completed their training with us and are back intheworkplace.

OurfirstgroupofRegionalNetworkRepsarehelpingusreconnectwithGraduateswithwhomwehavelostcontactandfindouthowwecanmosteffectivelysupportthemintheirongoingconservationefforts.

Deepani Jayantha joined Durrell’s Army in 2007 after completingtheDESMAN.Hercommitmenttowardstheconservation and welfare of elephants was recognised with her appointment as the Sri Lankan Country Representative oftheBornFreeFoundation,theUK-basedwildanimalconservationandwelfarecharity.During2008-2014,Deepanifocusedonhuman-elephantconflictmitigation andcaptiveelephantwelfareissues.

Brij Kishor Gupta has been working with India’s Central Zoo Authority(CZA)forthelast13years.Hehaspublishedmorethan80scientificarticlesandbooks.BrijtrainedatDurrellin1993andalsocompletedtheAmphibianBiodiversityConservation(ABC)TrainingCoursein2006.AtCZAhehasbeen instrumental in organising training for Indian zoos, in particularforamphibians.

Jessica Steiner JessicareceivedherDESMANthroughDurrell to complement her existing postgraduate qualifications.ShehasbeeninstrumentalinconservationeffortsfortheEasternLoggerheadShrike.Jessicaiscurrently Conservation Programs Director for Wildlife PreservationCanada.

Carolina Falla After working as a vet in Colombian rescue centres, Carolina became the Zoo Coordinator of Piscilago Zoo.In2006shegainedtheDESMANGraduateCertificateatDurrell.SheiscurrentlytheExecutiveDirectorofACOPAZOA(the Colombian Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and the coordinator of the International Conservation Programme for thewhite-footedtamarin.

Diogo Lagroteria Manaus,Brazil

Diogo attended Durrell’s 12 week DESMAN GraduateCertificatecoursein2015,andalso participated in the Durrell Callitrichid Conservation Husbandry Workshop in Rio deJaneiroin2014.Heishelpingtoorganisethefollow-upworkshopwewillberunninginManausinNovember2015.

“The DESMAN 2014 course was really useful for me, giving me a holistic view of conservation.Ithinkthemostusefulaspectwas the range of knowledge acquired in new areassuchasfund-raisingandleadership.Igot to know a lot of good people see a better future for the world just like me!

“Receiving the fundraising award from Durrell this year has meant that we have been able to develop a traveling photographic exhibition about the pied tamarins around theschoolsinManaus.Thisprojectispartofthe environmental education programme of the National Action Plan for the conservation ofthisgloballythreatenedprimate.”

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