Sian Waters

Durham University | DU · Department of Anthropology

People are assisted by dogs in many activities which may bring them into contact with primates, often leading to negative interactions and outcomes for one or other species. People’s perceptions and behaviour towards dogs vary and are influenced by cultural and other factors. We present incidents of dog-primate harassment and predation found during...

The future of primatology requires embracing the idea of “shared space” (Lee, 2010) and developing solutions for mutually respectful coexistence. With a growing human population, increasing demands for natural resources, and continued fragmentation of traditional habitats, primates across their range face the challenge of surviving in human-dominat...

Pet primates are those kept typically for companionship, enjoyment, and status, although their uses as pets may extend beyond these parameters. The trade in pet primates is historically rooted, with many primates playing important roles in human cultures and religions. Thus, it is not surprising that current sociocultural trends reveal an ongoing f...

The Endangered Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is endemic to Morocco and Algeria. The species occurs in three main areas of Morocco, one of them the Rif Mountain range in the far north of the country. Over two years, we undertook extensive surveys of potential Barbary macaque habitat throughout the Rif Mountains. Here, we report on the presence o...

Species reintroductions and translocations are widely used management interventions to restore locally extinct or augment severely depleted species. In such projects, the human dimension issues that influence the success of these conservation interventions are encountered at five different stages of the project life cycle: (1) planning, (2) initiat...

In January 2021, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Primate Specialist Group Section for Human Primate Interactions (IUCN PSG SHPI) published best practice guidelines on the use of non-human primate imagery online. This paper explores the contribution of professional primate keepers to the detrimental online sharing of images...

Understanding the historical context of an area enables an incoming conservationist to reflect on their role in communities and to better position themselves both politically and socially within them. Here, we explore how outside agencies and institutions, including a former colonial power, have affected and influenced local communities who share t...

The Human-Wildlife Interactions Working Group (HWIWG) was formed in 2018 by members of the IUCN/SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group (CTSG). HWIWG creates connections between field practitioners and researchers to collectively address key issues concerning translocation programs. The goal of HWIWG is to aid in the success of release prog...

Primate conservation can be challenging if researchers have little or no understanding of the human–primate interface because of the many anthropogenic impacts affecting primate populations, such as hunting. Hunting primates was an important cultural and social activity for the Tikuna of the Colombian Amazon. In the recent past, tribal laws laid do...

This commentary emerged from a panel presentation at the International Primatological Society Congress in Nairobi, Kenya, 2018. The goal was to provide regional updates on the status of primate removal from habitat countries, especially for the pet trade, and develop guidelines that could help primatologists address this critical problem. The trade...

Overview of the work carried out by the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group Human‐Wildlife Interactions Working Group

People's perceptions of primates vary across and within cultures and may not be consistent with their behavior toward the primates themselves. We used qualitative data from semistructured and unstructured interviews with shepherds from 10 villages around Bouhachem oak forest in Morocco to describe and discuss shepherds' behavior when they encounter...

The Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra has experienced a resurgence in Europe attributed to pollution control policies particularly organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). However, little is known about the species' presence in North Africa. Here, we report the first direct observations of otters in two major rivers in the western R...

Conservationists consider open and direct communication as best practice even when their data conflict with local beliefs. However, ensuring the effective delivery of a controversial message without overtly challenging community identity is difficult. Such a scenario needs high levels of meaningful contact and trust-building dialogue between conser...

IUCN-RSG Human-wildlife interactions Domestic and feral dogs: threat and mitigation of dogs and dog owners in reintroduction programs Chaired by Jake Owens, Global Cause Foundation & Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Brief Background There are an estimated 700 million domestic dogs worldwide. This does not include the unknown number o...

Ethical practice for reintroducing wildlife in landscapes inhabited by people – discussion notes by Sian Waters May 16th 2-3pm gmt. Reintroduction is a useful conservation strategy but it is rarely conducted in spaces that are totally devoid of people. Therefore, some kind of strategy of relating to and including people directly and/or indirectly...

Strategies for conserving species threatened with extinction are often driven by ecological data. However, in anthropogenic landscapes, understanding and incorporating local people's perceptions may enhance species conservation. We examine the relationships shepherds, living on the periphery of the mixed oak forest of Bouhachem in northern Morocco,...

Primates are difficult to categorise due to some of the human-like characteristics they possess. Here, we examine the complexities that exist in a commensal relationship between an introduced population of Barbary macaques and local human populations on Gibraltar. In Western culture, much has been done to recognise primates' human characteristics w...

The shared evolutionary histories and anatomical similarities between humans and non-human primates create dynamic interconnections between these alloprimates. In this foreword to Folia Primatologica's special issue on "Ethnographic Approaches in Primatology," we review the ethnographic method and existing literature at the intersection of primatol...

This is a short report presenting the key findings and actions of a first meeting of IUCN-RSG members to discuss Human-wildlife interactions as they affect reintroduction programmes.

With the rise in popularity and accessibility of the internet, a growing number of people are selling goods online. Classified advertisement websites such as eBay, Gumtree and Craigslist allow users to sell goods or services directly to consumers, bypassing the need for an intermediary. The convenience, anonymity and widespread reach of these websi...

Wildlife trafficking threatens food security and livelihoods in developing countries. In the Neotropics, primates have been used for millennia by indigenous people for different purposes such as consumption, pets, cultural artifacts, and traditional medicine. In more recent times, hunting has become commercialized and primate harvests have increase...

Biodiversity conservation is one of the grand challenges facing society. Many people interested in biodiversity conservation have a background in wildlife biology. However, the diverse social, cultural, political, and historical factors that influence the lives of people and wildlife can be investigated fully only by incorporating social science me...

Barbary Macaque Awareness & Conservation works with both rural and urban populations in Morocco, addressing the challenges of differing social and cultural perspecitives through tailored educational programmes

We collected hair samples from two road-killed animals known as golden jackals Canis aureus in Bou-hachem forest in northern Morocco. Analysis of 353bp of cytochrome B and 296 bp of d-loop of the mito-chondrial genome placed these two individuals in the same lineage of African wolf Canis lupus lupaster identified by Gaubert et al. (2012). This is t...

Agricultural areas where people grow crops to feed themselves and their families are often physically enclosed by a fence or represented by a forest edge (Figure 1). The purpose of these physical boundaries is obvious to people but not necessarily recognised by the wild animals they are designed to obstruct (Waters, 2014). Wild animals that cross t...

PhD Abstract, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK

A reintroduction programme is a way to restore a species that has become extirpated from a part or all of its range. The Swift fox Vulpes velox has been the focus of a number of reintroductions over areas of Canada and the northern United States from which it had previously been extirpated. A common problem of reintroduction programmes is the lack...

We conducted a preliminary survey of the presence of the endangered Baird’s tapir outside protected areas in Belize during March to May 2006. We found that Baird’s tapir occurred in every district We conducted a preliminary survey of the presence of the endangered Baird's tapir outside protected areas in Belize during March to May 2006. We found th...

A survey of Vulnerable Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus populations in the Djebela region of northern Morocco was conducted in October-November 2004 and the species' presence verified in four areas. This macaque occurs in habitat types ranging from matorral (shrub vegetation) to higher altitude fir forest. A total of 89 individuals were observed in...

We released 123 (57:66) captive-bred swift fox (Vulpes velox) on Blackfeet Tribal Lands in Montana, USA, over five years using a semi-hard release method. The restoration of the culturally important species was in accordance with a request from the Blackfeet Nation for the Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI) in Alberta, Canada to provide captive-br...

Knowledge of locomotor budgets is useful both for ecological studies and for the evaluation of captive conditions. The traditional method of obtaining these data involves many hours of observing the animals, which is time-consuming and not always practical (especially for nocturnal prosimians). In addition, it is often very inaccurate, due to probl...

Information on reproductive parameters and social behaviour of the White-faced saki Pithecia pithecia is limited and new data reported here will be useful for the long-term management of the species and should prove useful to the maintenance of other more threatened pitheciines. A survey of 29 collections holding White-faced sakis has revealed prob...