Fieldwork with meerkats in S.Africa

Field volunteer needed to work on Meerkats or Slender mongoose
(at Kalahari Meerkat Project), South Africa

Begin: immediately, or whenever possible (for 6 to 12 months)
We are looking for two volunteers interested in working as field
assistant for a minimum of 6 months on a project on meerkats, and a
project on slender mongoose, investigating aspects of communication and
cognition. You will be based at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (run by
Cambridge University UK and Zurich University Switzerland), located on
a game reserve (Kuruman River Reserve) in the South African Kalahari
close to the Botswana border. Your main work will be to collect the
basic data (behavioural, spatial, feaces, etc…), perform experiments,
and progress or maintain habituation of the partly habituated groups of
meerkats or slender mongoose.

Biology/zoology/veterinary students with a BSc/ Vordiplom or equivalent
are preferred as candidates. Applicants must have an interest in
working in the field and show a high patience with the animals. Tasks
involved include radio-tracking the groups, do habituation work at their
sleeping burrow as well as following them during foraging, behavioural
observations, if possible to weigh them, GPS recordings, and perform
experiments such as playbacks. You will need an international driver’s
license.

Volunteers are paid a monthly allowance to cover their food, and
accommodation will be provided for free. Flight to South Africa (and
home) will have to be organized by the applicant, but we will pay the
inland traveling (bus from Johannesburg to Kuruman or Upington return,
and the pickup from Kuruman or Upington to the study site) as well as
400 US$ towards the international flight.

If you are interested in this position, please send a CV and a short
letter stating your motivation to apply, and two names acting as
referees to:

marta.manser@ieu.uzh.ch
Prof Marta Manser
Animal Behaviour
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies
University of Zurich
Winterthurerstr. 190
8057 Zurich
Switzerland
Tel. 0041 44 635 52 82