<p>A course in ‘Wildlife Survey Techniques’ was recently offered for students and faculty in the Departments of Biology, Forestry, and Environmental Science at the University of Guyana (UG) and included a field portion.</p>

<p>A release from the organisers of the course said that classroom-based portion of the course was delivered by guest lecturers, Dr. Burton Lim of the Royal Ontario Museum and Dr. Matt Hallett of the University of Florida and Jacksonville Zoo &amp; Gardens.&nbsp; The release said Dr. Lim is an expert on small mammals in the tropics, particularly bats, and has been working here since the initial surveys ahead of the Georgetown-Lethem highway and Iwokrama forest in 1990.&nbsp; Dr. Hallett is the founder of the Rupununi Wildlife Research Unit and has been studying jaguars and their prey in the Rupununi for the last eight years.</p>

<p>The lectures were open to the public and delivered at UG’s Turkeyen campus from 5-9 March 2018.</p>

<p>The field portion of the course was hosted at Yarrowkabra Training Centre 12-16 March 2018, via a donation of the space by the Guyana Forestry Commission.&nbsp; Experts from the Rupununi, Asaph Wilson (South Rupununi Conservation Society), Eon Gray (South Rupununi Conservation Society), Kenneth Butler (Surama Eco-Lodge), and Fernando Li (Caiman House Research Station), joined Dr. Hallett and Dr. Lim in helping students build the practical skills required for undertaking wildlife research, the release said.</p>

<p>Students developed practical skills through daily sampling of birds (mist nets surveys; handling animals for taking body measurements and banding; conducting point counts) among other tasks.&nbsp; Overall, students, faculty, and instructors documented 18 species of reptiles and amphibians (6 frogs, 7 lizards, 3 snakes, 2 caiman), 98 species of birds (12 species weighed and measured), and 24 species of small mammals (22 bats, 2 rodents), and 15 species of medium-large mammals (tayra, deer, agouti, porcupine, armadillo, opossum, and 3 species of primates).</p>

<p>The release said that one resounding fact highlighted from the course was the value of bringing students and faculty together with expertise&nbsp; existing in the country. Students remarked that incorporating the instructors from the Rupununi gave the course “a mixture of professional and cultural knowledge that created a beautiful and educational mix.”</p>

<p>The course was supported by an academic programme to strengthen technical capacity for natural resource management in Guyana. The release said that the programme&nbsp; is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) under the title, ‘Achieving a Green State: Building human capacity for natural resource management in Guyana’. The project aims to place the University of Guyana at the forefront of high-impact academic research on natural resource management, the release added.</p>

<p>Article adapted from:&nbsp;<u><a href="https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/05/08/ug-wildlife-survey-course-helped-students-build-practical-skills/">https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/stories/05/08/ug-wildlife-survey-course-helped-students-build-practical-skills/</a></u></p>
