Franziska Elsner

Franziska is part of the NERC-funded Earth, Atmosphere and Oceans doctoral training programme at the University of Manchester. She is supervised by Dr Catherine Walton and is working with Chester Zoo to investigate the genetic composition of the European captive population of Eastern black rhino compared to the wild populations remaining in Africa. Her PhD is funded by NERC and Chester Zoo.

“I’m an evolutionary biologist by training and during my masters I was lucky enough to work with some fantastic European lab groups, covering topics ranging from ecology to molecular biology and bioinformatics. My interest throughout however, has always been in conservation and particularly in applying genomic methods and evolutionary concepts to conservation biology.

This project offers an amazing opportunity to put my skills to use in applied conservation and be involved in something really special.

Although the black rhino remains in crisis, the zoo population is growing well thanks in part to work carried out at Chester Zoo by Dr. Katie Edwards. The recent baby boom has led to a renewed drive to reintroduce zoo-born animals to the wild. As the captive population was founded by individuals mainly from Uganda, where they have since been wiped out, these animals and their descendants could have preserved valuable genetic diversity no longer present in the wild.

My work will use genetic markers to characterise the genetic diversity present in the zoo population and compare it to wild populations. I will also look at the consequences of the current breeding program to evaluate how well it works to preserve genetic diversity.

This project will contribute to identifying which zoo-bred animals are most suitable for reintroductions currently being planned in Rwanda.”

Supervisors:

Dr Catherine Walton (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester)

Dr Susanne Shultz (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester)

Dr Sue Walker (Chester Zoo)

Professor Graham Kerley (Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, Centre of African Conservation Ecology, South Africa)

Dr Mark Pilgrim (Chester Zoo)