89 Conservation During her pursuit of a master’s in Conservation Medicine from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, a GIS course unlocked a path forward. I had this aha moment that I could hand a mobile app to a ranger with deep ecological knowledge, and they could capture data in the field in such an easy way. And then someone far away like me could access, manage, and draw insights from it. — Catherine Ressijac, GIS solution provider for Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservation When she returned to Imire for her master’s thesis, she worked with rangers to implement ArcGIS Survey123, an easily configured GIS app for phones and tablets. The data that came back made her eager to access more of the knowledge rangers have gleaned observing wildlife. “Not only should we be harnessing their knowledge and inviting them to participate in the more formal or systematic scientific process, but we should also be celebrating and crediting rangers for their contributions to conservation science,” Ressijac said. Black rhinos are central to Imire’s identity. The preserve was awarded custody of seven rhinos in 1987. Conservancy rangers and staff have successfully bred 16 rhinos in the last 20 years, with the most recent calf born in February 2023. Still, the animals are critically endangered because of poaching for their horns. There are only 5,500 left, according to the World Wildlife Fund. “Scientifically, we don’t know much about rhino behavior and movement ecology. But with the Imire rangers patrolling them daily, they have a uniquely intimate understanding of Imire’s individual rhinos, their habits and personalities, how they use the landscape they occupy, and how they interact with each other and other species,” Ressijac said. Data Collection and Conservation Management While Ressijac sees rangers as “dynamic field scientists who provide a key data resource,” she notes a common challenge in conservation management: the ability to sustain data collection and scientific research. Some scientists don’t share their findings with rangers or managers. In addition, they may bring technologies that are not useful for conservancy staff. So Ressijac sat down with rangers to test how well Survey123 could fill their data gaps. “I asked them exactly what questions they had about rhinos, about the information they wanted to be captured, how they wanted to collect it, and they had great ideas constantly for me.” The fact that Survey123 works offline was an important capability for rangers who collect data in areas without internet access. Pinning the data to where it was collected allows it to be mapped and visualized by anyone on the Imire staff. As rangers worked with Ressijac to build the surveys and reports, the collaboration helped adapt the app to meet conservancy needs and gave rangers more autonomy over the data collection process. Improvements included an in-app function to capture photos and add them to their reports. They also removed tedious questions such as those about weather reports and thoughtfully added questions about rhino behaviors. The first collaborative surveys collected data on the black rhino diet; behaviors such as walking, lying down, resting time, eating, scent marking, and defecating; and social cues such as movements and mating events. Ressijac’s first foray into rhino data collection for her master’s thesis allowed her to provide management with insights into rhino habitat use, seasonal dietary trends, and individual behavior. The initial surveys she created proved to be a powerful tool for capturing mother-baby dynamics and milestones for the calf, such as suckling, playing, eating, and exploring.
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