Notable Notes

Zeb Hogan, Ecology graduate student working with Bernie May in Animal Science and Peter Moyle in Wildlife, Fisheries and Conservation Biology, has received two grants from the National Geographic Society’s Conservation Trust for a project to research and conserve Mekong giant fish in Cambodia. The critically endangered Mekong giant catfish Pangasianodon gigas, the endangered giant carp Catlocarpio siamensis and the river catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus are three of the largest freshwater fish in the world, measuring up to three meters in length and weighing 660 pounds (300 kilograms). Hogan purchases these species from fishermen and releases them alive into the Tonle Sap River. Prior to release, they are weighed, measured and tagged, and DNA is collected from P. gigas and P. hypophthalmus.

In the short term, purchasing and subsequently releasing captured wild fish decreases the probability of their extinction. The buy-and-release project also generates an appreciation for endangered species conservation in Cambodia. In the longer term, the tagging and genetics research will help to determine the migratory patterns, habitat use and exploitation rates of P. gigas and P. hypophthalmus. This knowledge is critical to the development of a long-term conservation strategy for these and other important Mekong fish species. His research is summarized in National Geographic and American Scientist. Zeb’s children’s book about the plight of this fish and environmental degradation in southeast Asia was also released in November 2003.

Rebecca Fox, an Animal Behavior graduate student working with Dr. Jim Millam in the Animal Science Psittacine Research Project, was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa Graduate Fellowship for her research on novelty and fear in parrots. In one study, she presented a series of items to young orange-winged Amazons, apparently increasing the courage of the babyparrots, except for presentations of a few odd items such as a stuffed elephant that was just too frightening. She also compared tameness of baby parrots hand-raised by humans with those raised by their parents but handled by humans for 20 minutes a day after becoming cognitive at several weeks old. She found both groups similar, defying claims that these birds must be hand-fed to be tame.