Carthage professor’s research aids in conservation of rare ape
Carthage biology professor Angela Dassow’s Bioacoustics Research Group is the first international organization to employ passive acoustic monitoring to support threatened animal populations across the globe.
Over the past two years, Prof. Dassow has worked on research funded through the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium to conduct a conservation-based study on Cao-Vit gibbons in northern Vietnam. In partnership with Flora and Fauna International, the on-site organization in Vietnam, the Bioacoustics Research Group has used its technology to help locate these critically endangered primates within the mountainous limestone karst rainforests they reside in.
Locating the gibbons within their habitat is an invaluable aid to conservation efforts. Prof. Dassow and her team aim to give local rangers the ability to travel directly to the gibbons. Increasing the number of direct observations the rangers can make allows them to observe changes in behavior, take note of preferred food sources and nesting trees, and identify infants.
The collected vocal recordings are not only used to locate the gibbons, but, with each observation and data point collected, Prof. Dassow is able to learn more about the complexities of gibbon behavior and vocal communication.
Prof. Dassow took a group of Carthage students with her to Vietnam during J-Term 2023 to conduct this Cao-Vit gibbon research. These students had the opportunity to participate in real field conservation, attend government meetings concerning the effort, and interact with the local people. Prof. Dassow and her team of student researchers are part of an exclusive group to have ever seen Cao-Vit gibbons in the wild.
Prof. Dassow mentors students in the study of animal communication, but fieldwork requires much more than just research skills. For example, the border between Vietnam and China runs straight through the gibbon’s limited territory. Facilitating data sharing across the border requires an in-depth understanding of the regional political environment.
A Carthage liberal arts education develops students’ confidence in their ability to write, communicate, research, and reason effectively. The well-rounded base of liberal arts graduates helps them stand out as they shift to applying their technical skills outside of the classroom.
Prof. Dassow appreciates her student researchers’ ability to connect with varied communities, recognize stakeholders, and form genuine connections. Infant gibbons know a thing or two about connection as well. They spend almost a year clinging to their mother as she brachiates, or swings, from tree to tree.
Prof. Dassow hopes to return to Vietnam within the next year to further explore the complexity of gibbon songs. Male gibbons primarily say, “cao-vit”, and there is variation within the number of times they repeat “vit”. This call is how the species got its name, and Prof. Dassow’s goal is to understand whether or not there is a pattern or specific behavior related to the number of “vits”.
Public awareness for such a remote species is hard to create, but the partnership between Prof. Dassow, her student researchers, and Flora and Fauna is helping to save the world’s second-rarest ape.