Eastern Steppe Living Landscape Project Update
Wildlife Conservation Society

SO1: PRIVATE SECTOR-LED ECONOMIC GROWTH
posted by Skip Waskin on Thursday, September 15, 2005 1:56 AM

Visit of Asia Regional Director. The Eastern Steppe Project was wrapping up its summer field season in August. Dr. Anthony Lynam, the WCS Regional Advisor for Asia, visited a World Bank wildlife trade conference in Mongolia that highlighted serious threats to wildlife and biodiversity posed by hunting and the wildlife trade. While in-country, Dr. Lynam conducted an assessment of illegal hunting and wildlife trade-associated threats to Nomrog Strictly Protected Area (SPA) on the Eastern Steppe. The feasibility of implementing a longer-term field-based project focused on incorporating the State Border Defense Agency (SBDA) in conserving wildlife and wild lands in Nomrog SPA is under investigation. The SBDA would work closely with Protected Area Administration rangers, State Inspectors and other local government staff involved in the enforcement of hunting regulations and wildlife trade restrictions.

Siberian Marmot Survey Completed. Dr. Sue Townsend, in collaboration with the National University of Mongolia, completed the final portion of a survey of Siberian marmots on the Eastern Steppe at the end of July, and in August her team analyzed field data and made a presentation at an international marmot conference in Uzbekistan. This work will improve understanding of marmot biology and distribution on the Eastern Steppe.

Avian Influenza. Although not funded by USAID, the WCS Field Veterinary Program (FVP) completed an investigation in August of the role of wild migratory birds in the epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1). The planned fieldwork coincided with reports of a wild waterfowl die-off in Lake Erhel in Hovsgol Aimag. The team was able to respond to these reports and expand their testing to this site as well. On August 19th the presence of H5N1 was confirmed in a sample collected from a dead whooper swan on Erhel Lake by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia. Although the presence of H5N1 in migratory birds is of concern, the initial results from further testing indicate that the spread of disease in this population will be self-limiting with little to no risk to the human population in the area. Results from 30 live whooper swans living at the same site and a nearby lake were negative for the virus, and samples collected from other live birds at the two sites were found to be negative for the virus. This work was supported by UNFAO, the USDA Poultry Disease Laboratory, and the WCS FVP; it was implemented in collaboration with the Mongolian National Academy of Sciences, the Mongolian Institute of Veterinary Medicine, the State Central Veterinary Laboratory, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture-Veterinary Department and the Mongolian Ministry of Health. USAID/Mongolia assisted with coordination between the field investigation team, the WHO office in Mongolia, and their collaborators at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, which facilitated the transport of samples to the CDC facility for further influenza testing.

Eastern Steppe Living Landscape Project Update
Wildlife Conservation Society

SO1: PRIVATE SECTOR-LED ECONOMIC GROWTH
posted by Skip Waskin on Thursday, August 11, 2005 9:18 PM

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is in the midst of its summer field season. Much of this work is based on the Eastern Steppe, with coordination through the country office in Ulaanbaatar.

Marmot Survey Update. Dr. Sue Townsend, in collaboration with the National University of Mongolia, will complete the final portion of a survey of Siberian marmots on the Eastern Steppe on July 31. The team is using transect survey methods to identify marmot colonies and develop an understanding of marmot distribution and density. Recent declines in marmot numbers have forced the Mongolian government to restrict marmot hunting and preliminary data from this study confirm the population decline. The improved understanding of marmot biology and distribution in the Eastern Steppe will allow for better management of the species.

BBC Films WCS Gazelle Work. WCS gazelle biologist Kirk Olson guided a team of BBC documentary filmmakers for two weeks in July as they gathered footage of gazelle, other wildlife, and habitat types on the Eastern Steppe. The Eastern Steppe will be one of the featured grasslands in the upcoming “Great Plains” documentary on the BBC “One Planet” series. This is the third year the BBC team has visited the region. The final program will raise international awareness of this unique grassland ecosystem and the gazelle herds that represent the last great migration spectacle in Asia.

Gazelle Pasture Availability Study Update. Thomas Mueller, Smithsonian Fellow and PhD student at the University of Maryland, completed a preliminary data collection trip in Dornod aimag in July. He collected vegetation data on gazelle calving grounds to refine his NDVI-based model of gazelle pasture availability and grazing preferences.

Gazelle Disease and Parasite Work. The July sampling period of the 12-month study designed to monitor disease and parasites in Mongolian gazelle and the livestock that share their pastures is under way. Blood and fecal samples were collected from gazelle calves in June and July and livestock sampling will continue through July and August.

Key WCS Reports Finalized. Distribution of the “Protected Areas of the Eastern Steppe of Mongolia” report is complete. English versions of the “Important Bird Area” Report and “Przewalski’s Horse Reintroduction Assessment” are also complete, and are currently being translated into Mongolian. Upcoming reports include the “Mongolian Gazelle Management and Action Plan” and the “Nomrog Ungulate Survey”.

New WCS Chief of Party. Dr. Amanda Fine is now in Mongolia and in the process of taking over the position of WCS Country Program Director and Chief of Party for the USAID/Mongolia Eastern Steppes Project. Former COP Peter Zahler has assumed the position of WCS Assistant Asia Director. He will be based in New York, but will visit Mongolia periodically and will continue to oversee the Mongolia program as part of his portfolio as Assistant Asia Director.

Eastern Steppe Living Landscape Project Update
Wildlife Conservation Society

SO1: PRIVATE SECTOR-LED ECONOMIC GROWTH
posted by Skip Waskin on Monday, July 18, 2005 8:58 PM

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) spent much of June getting the field season up and running, and passing the baton of the Country Program directorship from Peter Zahler to newly named Director Dr. Amanda Fine. Dr. Fine, a veterinarian, is currently completing a PhD in epidemiology at Michigan State University (MSU). She speaks Mongolian, and spent three years working and living in Mongolia from 1998-2001. We are confident that she will be able to ensure a seamless transition in moving conservation and management of Mongolia’s natural resource base forward.

Livestock, Wildlife and Human Health Workshop. WCS and USAID held an international workshop on The Livestock, Wildlife, and Human Health Interface in Mongolia on June 22-23. This partnership between WCS, Michigan State University and the American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) will use a centrally funded planning grant to present the concept of ecosystem health to Mongolian counterparts, and to develop an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to the study of the interface between livestock, wildlife, and human health in Mongolia.

Siberian Marmot Study. In collaboration with the National University of Mongolia, the project began a survey of Siberian marmots on the Eastern Steppe. Recent declines in marmot numbers have forced the Mongolian government to restrict marmot hunting. The main objectives of this study are to survey marmot colonies and to develop an understanding of marmot distribution and density so that the species can be better managed.

Gazelle Population Census. WCS gazelle biologist Kirk Olson completed a series of driving transects of the Eastern Steppe to better develop an accurate assessment of Mongolia gazelle numbers. Previous contradictory information on the population size of Mongolian gazelle has forced managers and conservation organizations to base their efforts on partial information or rough guesses, which have often resulted in inappropriate management recommendations. Mr. Olson also toured the Eastern Steppe with USAID representative Skip Waskin.