IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
©IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group
Volume 37 Issue 1 (January 2020)
OSG Group Member Awards
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SIR PETER SCOTT AWARD FOR CONSERVATION MERIT
Nicole Duplaix, Co-Chair of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group, received the Sir Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit in recognition of her significant and 50-year service to global conservation through her work to conserve biodiversity, and most especially her extraordinary efforts to conserve the thirteen species of otters throughout the world. The award was presented in October 2019 by the IUCN Species Survival Commission, at the Leaders Meeting in Abu Dhabi. The award cites Nicole’s “constantly enthusiastic, positive and encouraging personality that that enabled to help countless conservationists worldwide.” The Sir Peter Scott Award, named after the first Chair of the SSC, is the most prestigious award by the Commission; previous awardees include Dr. Russ Mittermeier and Dr. Simon Stuart. Her vision, energy, commitment, deep knowledge of the otter family, and constructive support of young researchers and conservationists the world over has made her the hero of the otter world, and earned her our affectionate title of “Mama Otter.” Congratulations Nicole, from otter lovers everywhere.
SAWMA WILDLIFE EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER 2019
Dr. Dave Rowe-Rowe was born in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape in 1938. After growing up in both the rural Eastern Cape and Botswana, Dave matriculated from Port Shepstone High School (KZN) in 1956 and initially trained as a biology teacher, qualifying in 1959. Perhaps it was the trauma of having to teach teenage kids, but in 1966 Dave joined the scientific staff of the then Natal Parks Board and later gained entrance (without having completed a prior degree) into the University of Natal, Durban to undertake a Master’s degree. He demonstrated rather nicely that the decision to let him register for a Master’s was fully justified by graduating (with distinction) in 1976. His thesis covered aspects of the biology of several southern African mustelids, work which he continued throughout his career and for which he is probably best known. Dave was awarded his PhD on the ecology of several mammals in the Drakensberg in 1983 (whilst still working for the Parks Board).
Apart from spending 30 years in the service of the Natal Parks Board (now Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife) where he was at the coalface of wildlife management in South Africa, Dave was also one of the founding members of SAWMA in 1970. In fact, Dave is one of the very few life members of SAWMA and has been since 1971. Moreover, Dave served as SAWMA’s journal editor between 1986 and 1993, a tenure of 7 years which makes him the longest serving editor in the association’s history.
Dave not only served as editor for SAWMA but also for several other important publications, including:
- the Lammergeyer (the Natal Parks Board Journal) for 10 years;
- the Natal Parks Board leaflet series: Wildlife Management Technical Guides;
- the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin for 4 years;
- Proceedings of the Sixth International Otter Colloquium.
Before he retired, Dave was responsible for research on a broad range of species and ecosystem processes including freshwater fish, antelope, small mammals, aspects of fire ecology, habitat management and carnivore ecology. This diverse suite of study animals and systems is evident in his publication record wherein he has published more than 100 peer-reviewed and popular articles and attended numerous conferences and workshops (many times as an invited expert). However, it is his work on mustelids and otters more specifically that Dave is best known. Indeed, apart from publishing numerous papers on otters, he has also been a member of the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist group since 1974 and acted as the coordinator for Africa between 1974 and 1996. Dave remains the “go to” individual for all things otter in Africa. Although retired (and at the age of 80!) he is still regularly contacted for his expert input and many of his early (and seminal) papers on otters continue to be widely cited. Another little-known fact about Dave is that he is also somewhat of a poet, having published a collection of 14 poems in a book entitled: “Green water, grey sand, and high places”.
Dr Mike Mentis, a contemporary of Dave writes:
“I have known Dave for more than 50 years as a colleague and a friend. I know no one who is more deserving of SAWMA’s Wildlife Excellence Award. Possibly his humility and modesty mislead people. But for those who have worked with him, he is an astute observer of wildlife and people with has an admirable ability to read ‘sign’ and ‘body language’. His work is always professional, perceptive and pragmatic. In his quiet way, Dave has been a foremost contributor, in substantive content and by example, to the science of South African wildlife management, and it has been an honour and privilege to travel the journey with him.
There is also an excellent video about Dave and his life available at: