The Endangered Wildlife Trust continues to work on ways to unlock new technologies to curb the onslaught on South Africa’s rhino population, says Louwrens Leeuwner, Senior Conservation Manager: Business and Wildlife.
Collisions with overhead power line cables are thought to be the main driver of apparent population declines of the Ludwig’s Bustard (Neotis ludwigii). Endangered Ludwig’s Bustard populations are assumed to be decreasing, with a more than 50% reduction expected over the next three generations.
A recent paper published by Jessica Shaw from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, using EWT/ESKOM data, and coauthored by three EWT staff members, describes the results of a large scale eight-year experiment that tested the efficacy of power line markers in reducing bird collisions with the lines.