Andrea heads the team. She is a Professor in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand, and an Extraordinary Lecturer in the Department of Paraclinical Sciences at the University of Pretoria.
Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project
KEEP is an on-going, multidisciplinary study on the reserve that takes into account that key Kalahari species interact with each other in complex food webs, and may respond differently to the direct and indirect effects of climate change.
Has anyone seen my study animals?
Keeping track of your study animals can be difficult in a ~110,000 hectare laboratory.
The Wildlife Conservation Physiology team is currently undertaking research in the Kalahari, Karoo and Kruger National Park of South Africa.
Taking high-tech instrumentation to the field
The Wildlife Conservation Physiology team has pioneered innovative methods to study the physiology of free-living mammals
Scaling up pangolin conservation
Pangolins are the most poached mammal in the world. Now ground pangolins face the additional threat of climate change.
The Wildlife Conservation Physiology team is investigating how these elusive creatures will respond.
News
Holy moley holes
For her Masters, Grace Warner is investigating the potential role of microclimates in buffering organisms against climate change. Read more here:
Kruger Park workshop
With the support of the Society for Experimental Biology and the Independent Research Fund Denmark, we held a very successful workshop on wildlife conservation physiology in the Kruger National Park in 2022:
Pangolin pups
As part of her PhD work, Wendy Panaino had the incredible opportunity to spend time with pangolin pups at Tswalu. Read more here:
What are the consequences of climate change for aardvarks?
Our recent work on the responses to aardvark in the Kalahari facing a severe drought has received widespread media attention. Read more in the news articles below and our published paper:
WEYER NM, FULLER A, HAW A, MEYER LCR, MITCHELL D, PICKER MD, REY B, HETEM RS. Increased diurnal activity is indicative of energy deficit in a nocturnal mammal, the aardvark. Frontiers in Physiology 11: 637, 2020. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00637
Cheetahs cannot fool biologgers
News feature on our recent paper using biologging to reveal new insights on the physiology and behaviour of cheetahs.
HETEM RS, MITCHELL D, DE WITT BA, FICK LG, MALONEY SK, MEYER LCR, FULLER A. Body temperature, activity patterns, and hunting in free-living cheetah: biologging reveals new insights. Integrative Zoology 14:30-47, 2019. DOI: 10.1111/ 1749-4877.12341
Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project
An ambitious project to understand the impacts of climate change on the Kalahari ecosystem by investigating the responses of multiple index species to environmental change.
As temperatures rise, meerkat pups feel the heat
News feature on our recent paper, led by postdoc Tanja van de Ven and in collaboration with Tim Clutton-Brock, from the University of Cambridge, revealing that the growth and survival of meerkat pups in the Kalahari is threatened by climate change. Read more here:
Reducing the risk of anaesthetic-related deaths in immobilised rhino
A paper published by Peter Buss as part of his PhD work was awarded the 2018 Elsevier Prize for the best article published in the journal Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. Leith Meyer, who supervised Peter Buss together with Andrea Fuller, explains the importance of the work.
BUSS P, MILLER M, FULLER A, HAW A, STOUT E, OLEA-POPELKA F, MEYER LCR. Post-induction butorphanol administration alters oxygen consumption to improve blood gases in etorphine-immobilized white rhinoceros. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia 45:57-67, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaa.2017.03.008
Using science to improve the safety of lion immobilization
Our team conducted research in the Kruger National Park to investigate novel immobilizing drug combinations to facilitate the capture of free-ranging lions for conservation management, monitoring and research purposes.
The team
Our global team, with its home at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, uses innovative technology to investigate the physiology of free-living mammals facing stressors resulting from environmental change and conservation management interventions.
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Andrea Fuller
PhD
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Leith is a Professor in the Department of Paraclinical Sciences at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Leith Meyer
BVSc, PhD
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Shane is a Professor of Physiology in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia, Australia, and an Honorary Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Shane Maloney
PhD
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Edward (Ned) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Ned Snelling
PhD
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Anna is a Programme Manager: Conservation International, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Anna Haw
BVSc, MBA, PhD
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Duncan is Emeritus Professor and Honorary Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia.
Duncan Mitchell
PhD, DSc
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Vini is a Visiting Professor at Paraiba Universidade Federal, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Vinicius Fonseca
PhD
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Richard is a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Richard McFarland
PhD
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Benjamin is a Researcher at the Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory at the University of Lyon, in France, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Benjamin Rey
PhD
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Wendy is a Research Consultant at Tswalu, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Wendy Panaino
PhD