Kirk Olson
Organisation
Department of Natural Resources Conservation University of MassachusettsField of expertise
Resource predictability and movement strategies in ungulatesSpecies
- Gazella subgutturosa - Goitered Gazelle
- Procapra gutturosa - Mongolian Gazelle
- Equus hemionus - Asiatic Wild Ass
About
I have been focusing on developing an understanding of movement patterns, population size, human impacts and basic natural history of Mongolian gazelles in Mongolia 's vast eastern steppe. This has consisted of marking and tracking known individuals, conducting large scale driving transects, collecting vegetation and fecal samples, and carrying out household interviews of nomadic herders. This project has involved a great deal of collaborators. Much of this work is near completion and future efforts will focus on understanding how gazelles perceive changes in their environment in relation to movement patterns and investigation of wolves in the steppe. I also have had the opportunity to work with Dukha reindeer herding people in the remote forests of Northern Mongolia . Here the focus has been to investigate reasons for decline in the reindeer population and wildlife use by subsistence hunters.