Impact case study database

Working in collaboration with landowners, government agencies and NGOs, UoB researchers have enabled decision-makers to prescribe key conservation, land and species management actions, and enabled co-existence between wild carnivores and people at local, regional and national scales. UoB research has boosted skills, opportunities and economic development in South Africa. Dissemination of new knowledge to the UK public through high-profile television broadcasts that include active citizen science engagement methods has both changed media practices and increased public understanding of (and coexistence with) urban wild carnivores.

4.1 Driving conservation assessments and national wildlife management plans

UoB data on the distribution and abundance of six species of carnivore in North West Province (South Africa) have contributed to conservation assessments for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) global Red List, the most comprehensive information source on the conservation status of animals and plant species. The Red List is used to inform decisions taken under Multilateral Environmental Agreements and to calculate the Red List Index, one of the biodiversity indicators used by the Convention on Biological Diversity to monitor progress towards biodiversity targets. The data used to highlight the brown hyaena (2014), cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus, 2014) and leopard ( Panthera pardus, 2015) as either vulnerable to, or near-threatened with, extinction on the Red List relies on multiple citations from UoB-led projects as evidence. These species are now recognised as a global conservation concern [source 5.1].

In addition to underpinning IUCN assessments, UoB research has informed regional Red Lists – critical in identifying extinction threats at a regional level before they become a global issue. The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland 2016, funded by the South African government and the Endangered Wildlife Trust, cites UoB research in the conservation assessments for cheetah and leopard (classed as vulnerable), and black-backed jackal ( Canis mesomelas), caracal ( Caracal caracal) and brown hyaena (all classed as near-threatened) [5.2]. Data on brown hyaena have also been shared with the IUCN Hyaena Working Group to develop their conservation recommendations for reserves in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia [5.3].

UoB data on red foxes have been used by DEFRA (the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to update contingency plans for the emergence of serious zoonotic diseases. Red foxes are considered the primary wildlife host for rabies in the UK, making fox abundance and distribution data critical components of response plans. In urban planning, foxes were largely regarded as a southern English phenomenon. However, as a result of sharing UoB red fox distribution and density data with DEFRA’s Animal and Plant Health Agency, contingency plans will be implemented in eight additional urban areas in northern England and Scotland in the event of a rabies outbreak [5.4]. The same data are included in the 2018 Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals [5.5], a key resource used by UK policy- and decision-makers in mammal conservation and management.

4.2 Shaping carnivore management practices and boosting regional development

In North West Province (South Africa), UoB data were collected in collaboration with the Chief Ecologist at Pilanesberg National Park (PNP) and the owners of Mankwe Wildlife Reserve (MWR), who manage land containing approximately 2,000 animals across 53 individual species. Regular dialogue with these stakeholders helped prioritise responses to UoB data via modification of their site management plans. For example, in response to UoB findings on the territorial behaviour of black-backed jackal, MWR ceased their practice of culling the animal, thereby enabling jackal numbers to increase with no negative effects on the Reserve. Other private landowners have also ceased culling activities [5.3]. In response to UoB data highlighting the presence and importance of brown hyaena on their land, MWR have added hyaena den searches into their regular anti-poaching patrols, with any active dens now subject to intensive anti-poaching monitoring (eg snare removal) [5.3].

Earthwatch-funded projects led by UoB in collaboration with MWR and PNP (2006 – 16) have yielded significant revenue, legacy and research capacity in North West Province. The projects involved 48 teams of volunteers (>500 in total) from >20 countries, contributing 76,000 hours of voluntary assistance. Financial inputs from the projects were GBP420,000, providing income for PNP, MWR, local suppliers and craftspeople. At MWR alone, income from researcher, volunteer and student visits comprised approximately 25% of annual revenue, enabling the recruitment of 5 new staff members and purchase of 4 vehicles and scientific equipment to aid conservation efforts [5.3]. The sustained UoB-MWR partnership led to the award of a UBS African Scientist Programme fellowship to the Reserve, which has helped build research capacity. Findings on human attitudes to carnivores, causes of conflict and threats to carnivore populations have been used by MWR to direct their educational outreach programmes (2006-16), including over 30 conservation days, talks and safari tours involving >2,000 local school children aged 8-18 [5.3].

In the UK, UoB research has shifted practice on the use of temporary captivity in rehabilitation centres as the default management action for sick or injured wildlife. The RSPCA, for example, have used UoB evidence to confirm that their protocol of treating and releasing the hundreds of hedgehogs admitted each winter had no detrimental effect on animal survival. This approach had been criticised by hedgehog charities who believed that the animals should be kept indoors all winter before release. RSPCA guidance, shared with national hedgehog conservation groups, now states that any hedgehog brought in over winter should be released once treated [5.6]. The co-benefits of this approach are that the overall costs of rehabilitation (GBP150 per animal for over-winter care; British Hedgehog Preservation Society, 2020) are reduced, whilst the increased capacity to treat other sick or injured wildlife promotes greater survival rates. The RSPCA has also used UoB evidence of post-release fox movement behaviour, including recommendations on monitoring, as a key step forward in science-informed practice for rehabilitation [5.6].

4**.3 Changing public discourse on urban ecology and media engagement with the public**

Since 2012, Professor Dawn Scott’s regular television, radio and magazine content on urban mammals has brought the concept of urban ecology into public discourse, with her sustained input into the content and delivery of wildlife-related programming benefitting researchers, broadcasters and the public [5.7-5.9]. Since Foxes Live: Wild in the City in 2012, she has worked in partnership with the BBC on eight series of the BAFTA award-winning Autumnwatch (2013, 2014, 2017), Springwatch (2014, 2017, 2018) and Winterwatch (2014, 2018) plus their sister programmes Unsprung and Extra [5.7]. These broadcasts combined UoB research findings and new citizen science data with wildlife footage (including viewer-generated content in later series) to provide unique insights into the behaviour of urban foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and other species. Scott’s contributions to Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch were seen by, on average, 3,000,000 viewers per show and, according to the series’ producer, were “ unprecedented in their depth”. In his view, her inputs have “… helped lift the series beyond entertainment and […] led to urban ecology being taken more seriously by the viewing public” [5.7].

The scale of Scott’s work with broadcasters has shaped public perceptions of, and promoted co-existence with, urban wild carnivores, particularly those with negative stereotypes such as foxes [5.7]. This has been achieved through her co-development with the BBC of distinctive and accessible research-driven content that has enabled the public to develop informed views about individual species. UoB-led research conducted as part of Winterwatch and Springwatch in 2014, for example, showed that approximately 50% of urban fox food was anthropogenic and the rest came from wild sources. According to naturalist Chris Packham, presenter of the series, this finding “ *helped to change particular beliefs about these animals as we came to realise that urban foxes are not entirely dependent on people.*” As Packham states further: “ Dawn’s visible research methods on the show helped to deliver a toolkit for viewers to make their own decisions” [5.8].

Mobilising the media in this way has altered the relationship between broadcasters and the UK public, such that citizens are no longer passive viewers but active participants in knowledge generation. Evidence of the scale of public engagement can be seen from 2017 when, as part of UoB-led research into the impact of providing food for urban wildlife, a recruitment drive on Springwatch resulted in 700 video submissions of interactions between mammals in private gardens. The viewer-generated footage provided content for subsequent shows [5.7]. According to Packham, the combination of ecological research expertise and citizen science-generated data provided by Scott has helped realise his aims for the series – to engage and inform audiences through research-led content: “ Involving the audience […] in data collection, tracking, and reporting sightings in their own areas made the research representative of the audience itself”. As his testimonial confirms, Scott’s sustained contributions to Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch, including content design, delivery and research-led public engagement, have changed the way that the series’ developers and presenters engage with their audiences [5.8].