Projet Mandrillus: volunteer field assistant

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Jules Dezeure

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Oct 27, 2021, 7:53:21 AM10/27/21

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Role description

The Projet Mandrillus aims at longitudinally studying wild mandrills in Southern Gabon. We are currently recruiting a Volunteer Field Assistant for our 2022 field season. These positions combine practical research with training and are entirely field-based. The volunteers are trained by and work alongside local field assistants, field managers, students and researchers, contributing to the research activities of the Projet Mandrillus. Following established protocols, the fieldwork will primarily involve daily follows of a natural population of mandrills on foot, collecting data on the behavior of individually recognizable animals, together with the collection of non-invasive measurements and samples. Please visit the website of the project to get an idea of the scientific programs that are currently running (http://www.projetmandrillus.com/research-and-conservation.html).

Positions available

One Volunteer Field Assistant position is currently available running for 12 months, starting on February 2022.

What we cover

Once the volunteers arrive in the field site, the Projet Mandrillus covers all their work-related costs, including accommodation (private equipped room with air-con and private bathroom, shared kitchen) and a stipend for meals (about 200€/month).

Volunteers need to take at their own charge, a repatriation and health insurance for their entire stay (we will ask for a proof).

Who are we looking for?

This position is open to all with an interest in animal behavior and ecology. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants who:

• Are friendly, easy-going people, happy to live in small team at a remote field site

• Are strongly motivated, reliable, honest and committed

• Have good levels of physical fitness and stamina - you will be following the mandrills on foot 12 hours a day, 4-5 days per week, over mountainous terrain, in heat

• Show good initiative, with a willingness to learn and show attention to detail

• A good level in French is a plus

What do volunteers get out of it?

• An amazing opportunity to share the lives of wild mandrills in an equatorial forest landscape

• An opportunity to learn new skills and gain experience, especially those relevant to research in behaviour and ecology

• An opportunity to be involved in a long-term project on African wildlife, hosted by an international research institution

• An opportunity to use this field experience with the as a stepping stone on to future Masters and PhD degree courses

• Experience a new culture and share knowledge with local assistants

How to apply

If you would like to apply, please prepare a CV and a detailed covering letter that should explain why you would like to work on the project. The CV should include the names of two referees with e-mail contact details.

Applications must be sent at projetma...@gmail.com as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is the 14th of November. We will notify successfully shortlisted candidates few days after this deadline, and interviews will be held by skype the following week.

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The Study Site

Weather

Gabon has an Equatorial climate with little seasonality. Precipitations are important, almost every day from October to May, and days may be hot (up to 30°C), although the Parc de la Lékédi benefits from a cooler weather because of its altitude (600m). The long dry season, from June to September, is characterized by cool weather (temperatures can fall below 18°C) with no precipitation.

Landscape

The Parc de la Lékédi (http://www.parcdelalekedi.com/) is characterized by a mix of savannas and gallery forests interspersed with rivers and riverbeds. Equatorial Marantaceae forests are found in the area.

Wildlife

The Parc de la Lékédi is home to a variety of wildlife including forest buffalos, several apes (chimpazees, gorillas) and other primates (cephus, nictitans) and, of course, mandrills! Predators include, occasionally, leopards (but don’t expect any encounter with them!). Birds and reptiles also abound. As well as plenty of butterflies!

Location

The Parc de la Lékédi is located in Southern Gabon. It is only a 1 hour drive from Moanda, the nearest town that comprises hotels, petrol stations, banks, basic shops and markets.

https://g.page/parc-de-la-lekedi?share

Working Conditions

Data collection requires full-day follows of the study group. This ensures that the location of the sleeping sites used by the mandrills each night is known, which in turn facilitates their pick-up by observers early the next morning. If the day begins late, or ends early, the mandrills can be lost and may take several days to relocate. Each day, seven days a week, a team of at least two persons goes in the field from approx. 6am-6pm. A driver brings every day the team by car the closest to the mandrills. When mandrills are located with high confidence, the team enters into the forest and starts following the mandrills. Field assistants work 4-5 days per week and benefit from one day or two days off per week during the entire stay.

Working with mandrills in the Lékédi landscape

Observers and local field assistants spend half the day on foot in the company of the mandrills in the forest. Forested environments may be physically demanding because there are often closed and hilly. Field team members travel (with small backpacks) up to 10-12km a day, ascending and descending small hills and slippery, muddy, slopes as they follow the mandrills. The mandrills are habituated to the presence of human observers, allowing data to be collected from close proximity without causing disturbance, but observers must always act carefully and responsibly when in the company of these wild animals. Data collection is largely conducted with handheld computers. Faecal and urine samples are also collected on a routine basis. On-site supervision and detailed guidelines will be provided describing how to work with the mandrills in the forest.

Living Conditions

Accommodation
The fully-furnished, air-conditioned rooms are located in a small research complex where the lab and offices are. It is located at the entrance of the park near other houses: the house of the researcher of the park, the one of the director of the park and another one for the vet of the park.

Food
Field team members prepare their own food in the communal, fully-furnished kitchen located in the research complex. Once every two weeks, the manager brings the field team members to Moanda to buy food and supplies.

Telephone and e-mail

The Field team members are advised to buy a local mobile phone chip when they arrive in Libreville or in Moanda. In the office the Project has a computer connected to internet.

Visitors and vacation

Volunteers cannot make arrangements to receive visitors during their stay at the Project (including local visitors). In addition, tourists are not allowed to visit the study group of mandrills.