I had hoped to work on the Eastern side of the Conservancy again like I did last year. Unfortunately, there are no cows on that side of the Conservancy this year! So I have had to change my plan. We picked a couple plains on the Western side with cows and I gave GPS units to these herds for the past two days to see where the cows go. Some of the GPS units are not working very well... sadly. So we are going to try giving each herd 3 units, 2 on the cows and 1 that the herder will carry. It is always something.
I will probably also work some on the East side where there are no cows. This will give me a "no cows" site for comparison to the sites with cattle. Once I make sure this plan is definite, I will put out grazing exclosure cages and camera traps at around 20 sites across, measure the vegetation, and then begin with the behavioral observations.
As far as the research center goes, there was an undergrad group from Marymount University here when we first arrived, but they left on Monday. A few German researchers have been here for awhile, but are leaving tomorrow. So then it will be just me, Blair, Youngin, and 2 guys who I believe are leaving in a week or so. We don't know of anyone else arriving until mid July, so it may be quiet here for a few weeks.
And to end with a photo-- here are two male Eland fighting it out
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