Carnivore Research Malawi (CRM) is a non-profit conservation project based in Malawi, created in partnership with the University of Bristol, UK. The project falls under the umbrella of the UK Charity Conservation Research Africa (CRA).CRM and CRA were founded by Dr Emma Stone from the University of Bristol UK. CRM works in collaboration with Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT) and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Malawi (DNPW) and conducts three core activities:
Applied research for wildlife conservation management: by establishing long-term carnivore monitoring and ecology projects to assess species status, threats and provide conservation recommendations; as well as a number of smaller student projects to facilitate and inform long-term conservation management of carnivore populations and their habitats. Project results are used to update IUCN species status reports and assist DNPW in long-term population monitoring and protected area management.
Education and awareness of the ecological role of carnivores, human wildlife conflict mitigation, biodiversity and related issues through comprehensive community based education programmes and teacher training workshops in collaboration with Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT) and their Eco-schools programme.
Capacity building: to increase project effectiveness and long-term success by building capacity in ecological research, biodiversity monitoring and management for DNPW, students from the Lilongwe University of Natural Resources through training courses, attachment programmes and postgraduate research projects at MSc and PhD level.
Malawi is a unique county with remnant populations of carnivores in each national park and very little conservation research. CRM are the only carnivore research organisation working in Malawi to conserve carnivores across the country. CRM started working in Malawi with a focus on the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). The African wild dog is one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores and have undergone severe declines in the last 50 years and viable populations are believed to be limited to only six of 34 previous range countries.As well as the wild dog research project, CRM are conducting a variety of applied research projects on carnivores across Malawi, in Kasungu, Liwonde and Nyika National Parks.
View our projects page for more information about our work www.carnivoreresearchmalawi.org/projects.html.
Volunteering with us gives you an unique opportunity to work in a remote unspoilt African wilderness with very few visitors, untouched by mass tourism as found in Kenya and Tanzania. CRM has two research camps one located on the shores of the Lifupa dam in Kasungu National Park and the other based on the banks of the Shire River in Liwonde National Park, hosted by Central African Wilderness Safaris. Check out our research camps on our website
www.carnivoreresearchmalawi.org/liwonde.html; and www.carnivoreresearchmalawi.org/kasungu.html
We conduct a variety of research projects giving you the opportunity to gain a diverse range of skills. We conduct research on all carnivores and their prey and having ongoing projects including:
Spotted hyaena behavioural ecology project (radio tracking)
Urban hyaena research project
Wild dog research project
Serval and hyaena relocation projects
You will have the opportunity to gain many new skills including field research techniques such as carnivore acoustic call-in surveys, carnivore radio tracking, hyaena habituation, radio tracking and behavioural observations, spotlighting, camera trapping, habitat mapping using GIS, vegetation surveys, and large mammal foot transects.
Download and complete online application form at www.carnivoreresearchmalawi.org/volunteer
and email it to us at volunteer@carnivoreresearchmalawi.org