Ongava Research Centre (ORC) will be well-represented at this year’s conference of the Southern African Wildlife Management Association (SAWMA) in Windhoek. This is the first time that the conference is being held outside of South Africa and this year it’s all about landscape and transboundary perspectives in the region. ORC staff members and students will be presenting their work on carnivores in the Greater Etosha Landscape, as part of the Greater Etosha Carnivore Programme (GECP). The conference will be held at Arebbusch Lodge from 6-11 October and will be hosted by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. We are also proud to be among the conference sponsors this year.

Our delegation led by resident carnivore ecologist, Dr Stéphanie Périquet-Pearce, will consist of postgraduate students Mburaje Keja (Namibia University of Science and Technology), Maddie Melton and Brennan PetersonWood (both University of Georgia). While Maddie will be presenting results from her recently completed Masters, Brennan and Keja will be sharing some insights into their ongoing Masters projects. Our cohort’s talks will range from wildlife fence-crossing behaviour to human-carnivore coexistence to citizen science. Brennan will also serve a proxy speaker for University of Georgia PhD candidate, Jessy Patterson, who has been busy investigating the effects of tourism on the spatial ecology of lions in the area. With all of this in mind, Stéphanie will be providing an overview of the GECP, which she co-leads. So, if you find yourself at this year’s event, please feel free to connect with us.