We attended the International Felid Biology & Conservation Conference at Oxford University in Oxford, England. 

A monumental undertaking which was attended by 300 research scientists from almost every corner of the globe, the conference was supported by the Panthera conservation organization, Oxford University’s Wildlife and Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and the IUCN’s Cat Specialist Group, of which we have been members since 2002. 

The event was full to the brim with fascinating lectures from studies ranging from the Brazilian Pantanal where jaguars roam to the open savannahs of East Africa, home to lions, leopards, cheetahs and a host of smaller felid species.  We heard updates and reports about the cougar and bobcat in North America, the European and Scottish wildcats and of course, the mighty tiger in India, Burma and the Far East.  In total there were over 100 lectures including nine excellent plenary lectures on specific topics from Ecology to Genetics, Evolution to Behaviour.  Only Oceania and Antarctica, neither of which have native cat species, were unrepresented.

From the narrower perspective of leopard research and conservation, there was a tremendous amount of information to be gleaned, with focused lectures on sustainable leopard trophy hunting in South Africa (Guy Balme), the spatial co-occurrence of leopards and dholes in India (Advait Edgaonkar), the Armenian leopard (Igor Khorozyan), leopard ecology and conservation in Gir National Park (Jamal A. Khan) and their status in the Congo Basin (Philipp Henschel) and South Africa’s Cape Mountains (Quinton Martins).  In addition there were dozens of poster presentations including work that we presented on the Sri Lankan leopard in Ruhuna (Yala) National Park (see pdf). 

Notable as a theme throughout the conference was the emphasis on the relationship between humans and wild cats, particularly the conflict that often ensues from the continued encroachment of people into wilderness areas.  Identifying areas of potential conflict before it becomes entrenched and finding creative solutions to these complex issues are of increasing importance. 

This is one of the central goals in our work in Sri Lanka where human-leopard conflict is presently a relatively minor problem, mostly involving predation on dogs and livestock, but one which has the potential to escalate as forests continue to be fragmented.

It is always nice to meet colleagues and discuss strategies and this was perhaps the highlight of the entire event.  It was a particularly good opportunity to hear about some of the emerging research techniques as well as reports about the pros and cons of older methods that have now been well tested. 

As our upcoming project in the central hills of Sri Lanka is to involve more intensive camera trapping methods, we were particularly interested to hear about this and had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Ullas Karanth, one of the global pioneers of camera trap censusing. 

Along with the rigorous science of population estimations, spatial dynamics, intra- and inter-specific interactions, genetic analysis, morphology and feeding ecology there were some rousing lectures about the old fashioned importance of conservation.  None was more inspiring than the Conservation and Management plenary talk by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz which acted to re-galvanize the collective will of the conference attendees to continue with the struggle to learn about and conserve the world’s wild felids.

» Download the Presented Poster in pps