© Emma Chen
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INkawu VERVET project (IVP) - Prof. erica van de waal
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IVP was established in 2010 by a team of researchers from Switzerland and the UK (South African NPO, number: 202-031) and is a long-term running field site directed and led by Prof. Erica van de Waal. IVP researches vervet monkeys’ behavioural ecology and cognitive evolution by using a combination of field experiments and natural observations. The project is located on a private game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal (Mawana Game Reserve), South Africa and hosts many local and international researchers.
The Urban Vervet Project (UVP) works in close collaboration with the Inkawu Vervet Project (IVP). Beyond our research targeting primate adaptation to the urbanized habitat and its anthropogenic changes, together with IVP, we take a cross-habitat comparative within-species approach with the aim to uncover environmental impacts on vervet monkeys’ behavioural plasticity. For these purposes we adapt similar data collection methods and observational protocols, facilitating empirical comparisons to be made across habitats and troops. We collaboratively collect faecal and blood samples for population wide analyses. For more information, please see: https://inkawuvervetproject.weebly.com/
The Urban Vervet Project (UVP) works in close collaboration with the Inkawu Vervet Project (IVP). Beyond our research targeting primate adaptation to the urbanized habitat and its anthropogenic changes, together with IVP, we take a cross-habitat comparative within-species approach with the aim to uncover environmental impacts on vervet monkeys’ behavioural plasticity. For these purposes we adapt similar data collection methods and observational protocols, facilitating empirical comparisons to be made across habitats and troops. We collaboratively collect faecal and blood samples for population wide analyses. For more information, please see: https://inkawuvervetproject.weebly.com/
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Within South Africa, the UVP is collaborating with University of KwaZulu-Natal and Prof. Colleen Downs, whose team previously studied this population of semi-urban monkeys (2016-2017). UVP resumed and extended data collection here since November 2022. For more information, please see: https://agriculture-science.ukzn.ac.za/staff-profile/prof-colleen-downs/
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the crow wildlife sanctuary
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Alongside other wildlife, exposed to human impacts on their ecosystem and habitats, vervet monkeys also fall victim for injuries, pet trade and allocations. In such situations wildlife rehabilitation centres come to the rescue, providing safe havens and necessary care for wildlife recovery, whilst seeking for suitable habitats where animals can continue a life in peace. The UVP collaborates with South Africa’s longest run wildlife rehabilitation centre, the CROW. Here vervet monkeys are held for temporary periods under captive care, which provides great comparative conditions for our intraspecific research approach. For more information, please see: https://crowkzn.co.za/
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© Sofia Forss
Sinergia project - SNSF
The UVP is a project partner and collaborator in the intradisciplinary Swiss National Science Foundation’s Sinergia project “The Food-Medicine Continuum in Vervet Monkeys: Investigations on the Interplay between Diet Quality, Stress Coping, and the Endocannabinoid System”, led by following four PIs: Jürg Gertsch (University of Bern), Claire Bertelli Lombardo (University of Lausanne), Joseph (Yossi) Tam (the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) & Erica van de Waal (University of Lausanne). For more information, see: https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/10000189
