Understanding human needs is key to wildlife ecology research

The Department of Anthropology's Primate and Predator Project will be showcased on BBC One's Animals with Cameras show this week looking at their work with local farmers to try and stop crop raiding by baboons. Based in the Soutpansberg mountain range of South Africa, the project aims to better understand the ecology of local species and the threat that human activity poses to their conservation. Here project Director Professor Russell Hill , Department of Anthropology, discusses the challenges of managing a research project abroad and successfully engaging with local communities. How did the Primate and Predator Project come about? In some respects it came about by chance. A PhD student and I went to South Africa in 2007 to look for a field site to study vervet monkeys. The airline lost his bags, forcing us to change our plans a bit. On trying to visit a specific nature reserve the local tourist information office recommended we instead visit a 'man in the mountains who has monkeys' .