ARK fund trainee report for march

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Sunday, 24 April 2011 13:48

Rebecca Meijerink (Stoas Hogeschool) and Garbrielle van Zuilen (Van Hall Larenstein, Equine, Leisure and Sports) are currently doing an internship at ARK and the (LDF) Latvian Fund for Nature. During this internship the area usage of the Konik horses in the Dvietes floodplain is researched and reports are made on the benefits for carrion-eaters of leaving horses, cattle and other animals that died in the area.

Upcoming spring in Latvia

Our first week in Latvia was a major experience for us: the culture, the people, the snow, the cold, the Dvietes floodplain, the car driving behavior, the shops and the whole environment: it differs a lot from the Netherlands! It took a while for us to get used to everything but it all worked out now.

First Foal

The winter season in Latvia is still more than present but here and there the first signs of spring are starting to show. Roads are mostly free of snow and the sun is peeking through more often. The animals in the Dvietes floodplain are moving around a bit more as well: spring must arrive soon, hopefully! The first foal was born on the 8^th of March! It is a colt and although it is still cold outside he seems to be doing very well. We were given the honor to name him and decided his name should be Kaikane: strong sea in Hawaiian.

Circle of live

We’ve been here for over three weeks now and mainly focus on two things; one learning how to recognize the horses. But even more, we’ve been working on the show called ‘dood doet leven’ project. A Dutch project that promotes leaving large grass eaters that died in nature areas to show that carrion eaters can benefit from it! The problem this project wants to point out is that due to sanitarian rules in the EU a big part of the ecosystem (depending on carrion) is left without food! For more information see; http://www.youtube.com/user/dooddoetleven In the Dvietes floodplain a dead calf is the current subject that our infrared cameras are focused on. Already al lot can be seen: a raven was filmed but also some raccoon dogs and foxes. It is very interesting to follow and the hopes are up a golden Eagle will be attracted by the calf. It hasn’t been spotted just yet, but we’ll keep hoping!

Area Usage Research

The area usage research has not started yet as all animals are fed. Because of the heavy snowfall and cold the horses and cattle were not able to find enough food on their own and are now solely eating what humans bring them (haylage). However, the horses are starting to move around a bit more now and hopefully this is an indication spring will arrive soon and we can start our research. We will see!

Last Updated on Sunday, 24 April 2011 13:58