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Tracking down lost lions
Lion populations have declined by 75% since the 1970s. Previous research has shown this was largely due to habitat…
Sophie Lund Rasmussen
Hedgehog researcher
Who doesn’t love hedgehogs? Well, at least I absolutely adore European hedgehogs! Therefore, I have decided that my goal…
Egil Dröge
Carnivore Ecologist
I’ve been interested in all things living for as long as I can remember. Fascinated about how all species…
How do you reintroduce lions?
Lions are iconic species, but they are threatened with extinction. In Zambia, researchers and conservationists are working together to…
Chrishen Gomez
I am wildlife conservationist born and bred in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. After pursuing my undergraduate degree in Biotechnology in a local university nestled within a rainforest in Borneo, I asked “how can I use my knowledge on cells and DNA to make the world better?” – thankfully the answer was right by my doorstep. Biodiversity looms large on Borneo, and the rapidness of loss is palpable to even the most disenfranchised bystander. I then packed up my bags and moved to a primary forest in the middle of Sabah, Borneo, where I was privileged to spend all my days…
Tracking down lost lions
Lion populations have declined by 75% since the 1970s. Previous research has shown this was largely due to habitat loss through land conversion, retaliatory killings for livestock losses, and a decline in available prey driven by human activities. But could climate change also have played a part? Lions used to roam far across the Northern Hemisphere, when the human footprint on Earth was much smaller. But native lion subspecies are no longer found in Europe and North America. What happened to them? Tom Pavey, from WildCRU, is studying climate change on geological timescales and mapping these events on to the…
Sophie Lund Rasmussen
Who doesn’t love hedgehogs? Well, at least I absolutely adore European hedgehogs! Therefore, I have decided that my goal in life is to improve the conservation of this fascinating and popular species through my research and the collaboration with, and communication of my research, to the public and the dedicated people working with hedgehog rehabilitation. Unfortunately, European hedgehogs are in decline all over Europe. It is therefore essential to investigate the causes for the decline and enhance the understanding of the challenges hedgehogs face in the wild to improve the conservation initiatives directed at this species. I have worked wholeheartedly…
Egil Dröge
I’ve been interested in all things living for as long as I can remember. Fascinated about how all species manage to survive, live alongside each other, and why they live in the areas they live in. I attended Wageningen University, Netherlands, where I did a bachelor degree in Biology, and an MSc in Ecology, and an MSc in GIS. After this I worked for over 7 years in Zambia, for the Zambian Carnivore Programme, to which I’m still attached. With data collected in Zambia, I did my PhD at Montana State University in the US, after which I joined the…
How do you reintroduce lions?
Lions are iconic species, but they are threatened with extinction. In Zambia, researchers and conservationists are working together to find ways of conserving these majestic animals and preventing them from becoming by-catch of poaching. In this new episode of the Big Questions podcast, we speak to Dr Egil Dröge from the Department of Biology to share the steps involved in bringing lions back to a national park in Zambia. Careful selection of a few young female lions which are genetically similar to those lost from the national park, and collaboration with local communities could pave the way for lions to…
