Animal Behaviour in Science and Conservation

Overview

Syllabus

Courses

• 106 reviews

  6 weeks, 4-6 hours a week, 4-6 hours a week

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  Do you want to understand how and why animals behave the way they do, and how we test hypotheses about behaviour scientifically? This biology and life sciences course provides an introduction to the complexities of wild animal behaviour, and how it is studied.

  Over six weeks, learners will explore the various behaviours animals adopt in order to meet the challenges of their daily lives. We begin with how animals learn and communicate with each other, then move on to discuss how they find food, avoid predators, choose their mates, and rear their offspring.

  The MOOC Introduction to Animal Behaviour is aimed at anyone looking to broaden their understanding of animal behaviour beyond nature documentaries or a typical high school education. No previous knowledge is required, only curiosity and enthusiasm for the subject.

  This course is taught by three top-researchers of Wageningen University & Research, a top-ranked university. Prof. Marc Naguib is professor and chair of the behavioural ecology group and shares his fascination for birds behaviour as they are incredibly mobile and have an amazing repertoire of behaviour. Dr. James Savage is currently a postdoctoral fellow at University College Cork, where he is studying the social behavior of birds across different habitats in a fragmented landscape. Dr. Lysanne Snijders shares her passion for social dynamics of animal populations.

• 1 review

  5 weeks, 4-6 hours a week, 4-6 hours a week

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  Biodiversity in crisis
  Climate change. Habitat destruction. Overexploitation. Wild animals face anthropogenic threats from the growing human population and our increasing consumption rate. Biodiversity is declining, with over 40,000 species threatened with extinction - over a quarter of the species assessed. At the same time, some species have learnt to exploit new opportunities in human-dominated landscapes, leading to human-wildlife conflicts. We live in a shared world, and the only way forward is sustainable coexistence with wildlife. For this we vitally need the animal perspective.

  Take the animal perspective
  Developed by the makers of the popular MOOC ‘Introduction to Animal Behaviour’, this course helps you take the ‘conservation behaviour’ perspective in major conservation challenges, such as environmental change, human-wildlife conflict and wildlife reintroductions.

  Design innovative conservation interventions
  We will explore key concepts from animal behaviour and apply them to practical wildlife conservation issues. Such behaviour-sensitive management has led to successful conservation interventions:

  • A wind farm with technology warning for migrating birds decreased soaring bird mortality to zero with a shutdown period of only 0.2–1.2%.
  • A livestock grazing strategy avoiding cheetah communication hubs reduced livestock losses with 86%.
  • A mammal translocation program taking neighbour relations into account led to 24 times more offspring for translocated individuals.

  Through informative knowledge clips, case studies, interviews, and practical assignments, you’ll learn how you can use animal behaviour in conservation to effectively monitor threats, increase your understanding of the diverse responses to environmental change, and design innovative interventions.

  For whom?
  For professionals working with wildlife, this course will build understanding of how animal behaviour mediates the impact of anthropogenic threats on animal populations. It will become clear how behavioural principles can be used to make behaviour-based management decisions.
  Students of wildlife conservation or animal behaviour will be able to expand their knowledge into a complementary field. Learn how to integrate academic knowledge of behaviour with threatened species conservation planning.

  So, whether you are a wildlife conservation practitioner, a student in environmental or animal sciences, or simply someone with a general interest in animal behaviour or conservation, join us!

Taught by

Marc Naguib, James Savage and Lysanne Snijders

Tags

• netherlands