Luke Hunter

Coordinator - Global Carnivore Program
Wildlife Conservation Society, New York

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

"I have seen some of the most spectacular and remote parts of Australia and been able to travel the world with my work."

I completed a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Zoology at Monash in 1991, and then headed to South Africa in 1992 to do a PhD at the University of Pretoria's Mammal Research Institute. My doctorate focused on the behaviour and ecology of wild cheetahs and lions reintroduced into areas of their former range, and assessed the effectiveness of reintroduction as a tool to establish new populations of large cats. In 1998, I expanded that study into a post-doc at the University of Natal as part of a large-scale effort to unite various efforts to reintroduce large cats in South Africa.

Seven years living in Southern Africa fostered a major interest in the effects and benefits of wildlife-oriented tourism, an interest that led to writing field guides for wildlife watching in Southern Africa and, more recently, in Central America. I have also written and photographed two books on cheetahs and worked as the senior researcher for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Natural History Unit. My latest book “Cheetah” has just been published ( Hunter, L. & D. Hamman. Struik-New Holland, 144pp, 2003)

At present, my research is focused on ongoing monitoring of reintroduced lion and cheetah populations which now comprises the longest running database on field reintroductions in Africa. In 2002, I initiated a project on the landscape ecology of leopards in South Africa, with an emphasis on the role of sources and sinks in their population dynamics. Hunters and farmers heavily persecute leopards once they leave protected areas and the research focuses on how the species copes with different land uses. The project has resulted in the establishment of a leopard conservancy in KwaZulu-Natal Province in which consumptive utilisation of the species is being managed to ensure a viable population is protected.

My current job is Coordinator of the Global Carnivore Program with the Wildlife Conservation Society, New York. WCS has the largest collection of field projects and the most experienced field scientists on carnivores of any conservation organization in the world. The Global Carnivore Program uses this expertise and experience to develop and implement innovative strategies for studying and protecting the earth's most endangered carnivores.

We currently conduct conservation projects on jaguars, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs, Ethiopian wolves, wolverines and grizzly bears, to name a few. I am also the Carnivore Section Chair of the IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group and a member of the IUCN Cat and Hyaena Specialist Groups.

The greatest challenge of my job is achieving results that further the conservation of large carnivores in the wild. Carnivores require large areas with lots of resources, and often come into conflict with humans- all of which conspire to make the job of protecting them extremely difficult. But the greatest reward and what I most enjoy about the job is over-coming these challenges. WCS has a long history of very palpable conservation achievements in the wild, foremost among them, the setting aside of vast new protected areas which carnivores require for their long-term survival. Being a part of that is extremely gratifying.

My most enjoyable period at Monash was my Honours year with Alan Lill. This was my first exposure to conducting my own research project and it confirmed my wish to become a research zoologist. It also set me on the path of learning how to ask interesting questions and test hypotheses, the mainstay of conducting useful conservation biology. My Honours project examined social behaviour in guinea pigs but the training I received enabled me to go on to study lions, leopards and cheetahs. The process of learning how to do science was the critical thing and it was perhaps the most important lesson I learned at Monash. Today, I advise graduate students looking for a research project to begin with small, useful steps rather than grand, world-beating ones. Guinea-pigs can lead anywhere.