The University of Georgia graduate student has been in Sierra Leone only since October setting up cameras on Tiwai Island as part of her efforts to document the elusive hippo. Her research on pygmy hippo biology is part of a cooperative agreement between Warnell and Conservation International to develop and implement a comprehensive conservation plan for this endangered species over the next 10 years.

April Conway, far left, is shown here with her guides on Tiwai Island. (Photo courtesy of April Conway)

Conway is in Sierra Leone during the dry seasons, from October to May. She hopes to find out where the pygmy hippos are and determine an accurate population estimate. Other research goals are to document their feeding habits, along with anything else that can lead to a greater understanding of the animals. Since arriving on Tiwai Island, which is in the southeastern part of the country, Conway has photographed a variety of animals she never intended to find:

• The chimpanzee, which is endangered due to hunting and habitat loss. Although there are an estimated 30 chimps on Tiwai Island, Conway says there’s a lot of mystery surrounding their behavior and movements. They are often heard drumming, although no one knows what they are using;
• The white-breasted guinea fowl, listed as a vulnerable species. Conway’s cameras captured an image of these rare birds in one of the very few documentations of the species on Tiwai Island;
• And several species of forest antelope called duikers, which although fairly common, are heavily hunted and sold in the bushmeat trade.

Conway is using the same type of trail cameras often used by deer hunters to photograph the pygmy hippos, which are notoriously difficult to study in the wild. The cameras are digital and use infrared diodes to capture images instead of the visible light flash. She’s also using GPS to find random locations where the animals might happen by, working with two assistants chosen by local communities to help her. Her research has proven to be difficult: To even get around, she has to use a machete to hack through dense vegetation, and the Moa River surrounding the island not only has swift-moving and crocodile-infested currents, but has many hidden boulders than can easily flip a canoe. She reaches her research locations through the use of hiking, motorboats and dugout canoes. She has also had trouble communicating with residents in her host country due to language barriers.

This is the second trip Conway has made to Africa. She previously spent two years in Niger as part of the Peace Corps. She said that stint in poverty-stricken Niger helped prepare her for the rigors of researching the hippos. “It is still a culture shock, but I already have the coping skills to deal with loneliness, lack of creature comforts and being the only foreigner around for most of the time.”

Conway, who is working at the Tiwai Island Research Station in the Pujehan District, is the first foreigner undertaking research there since the end of the civil war. Her work is being funded by Conservation International and the Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum Conservation Grants Program in collaboration with the Environmental Foundation for Africa, which is in charge of research at Tiwai Island. Other funding requests from additional agencies are pending. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has estimated that there are about 3,000 pygmy hippos left in all of Africa, scattered among fragments of the once-widespread forests. Deforestation and hunting have been the main threats to the species.

She said she’d hoped to see a pygmy hippo in person her first month on Tiwai Island, but has not yet been successful. She has, however, found numerous signs that they wander the 29,000-acre island – footprints and areas they are obviously grazing. In just the short few weeks she’s been in Sierra Leone, Conway said she’s learned which plants the pygmy hippos like, particularly one called “kwa woli” in the Mende language. The pygmy hippos, whose larger hippopotamus cousins can outweigh them by 2,000 pounds or more, also frequently travel to the smaller islands surrounding Tiwai. She said she intends to explore those islands, but Conway said she hopes her research will open the door for other scientists to study the hippos, especially as Tiwai Island has tremendous biodiversity. “It is also interesting, because it is a community-led conservation program, so the villagers have a lot of input as to how the island is managed,” she said.

Conway captured this pygmy hippo on one of the cameras she has set up around Tiwai Island. (Photo courtesy of April Conway)

Conway is advised at UGA by Drs. John Carroll and Sonia Hernandez-Divers at Warnell. Carroll is very excited about the preliminary results and said, “More than a year of planning and our experience studying elusive species has helped get April started on this project. However, it is hard work by a dedicated young student who understands living in the bush and the fundamentals of research that has allowed this project to move forward so quickly.”

Dr. Mohamed Bakarr, vice president of Conservation International, was lucky enough to be visiting Conway when she got her first photos of pygmy hippos. He said, “It was quite exciting, and April was in great spirits as a result of her early success.”

Conway, whose trip to Sierra Leone took almost a week, said the danger involved in her work hit home recently as she was “hurtling down some rapids in a dugout canoe … and yet, if I got hurt or anything happened to me, I realized in that moment that I was doing what I wanted to be doing.”

“There is never a moment that is the same as the last here in Sierra Leone,” she said. “I did not realize how much of my blood and sweat I would be putting into this work,” she said. “But it is good work, and I hope I continue to grow as a researcher and as a human being. I am having the time of my life and appreciate everything and everyone who has brought me to this point.”

High-resolution photos from Conway’s research can be downloaded from Warnell’s Web site at: http://www.warnell.uga.edu/news/index.php/tiwali-island-photos/

Also, more information about pygmy hippos can be seen here:
http://gamebird.forestry.uga.edu/pygmyhippo

Conway’s work is being featured on the University of Georgia’s home page as of Jan. 15, 2009, and can be seen here: www.uga.edu/aboutUGA/learn-pygmy hippos.html

Contact Sandi Martin, public relations coordinator, at (706) 542-2079 or at smartin@warnell.uga.edu.