Ongoing research project

HydroMoth is an inexpensive recording device based on open-source hardware and software for use in environmental and wildlife monitoring. Jasmine Stavenow is a PhD student at University College Cork in Ireland and will test the HydroMoth together with other recording devices (ss C-POD and F-POD) for monitoring both baleen whales, dolphins and porpoises. Bald whales use both very low frequencies and up to several kHz, while dolphins range from 1-150kHz. The HydroMoth can be set for this entire frequency range. The HydroMoth is fairly new to the market, so there isn't much reference data. We will test HydroMoth ourselves in the NAUTILOS project, in comparison with AquaClick/PCL.

Dolphins use echolocation – that is, they send out a clicking sound to e.g. find and distinguish between objects. They send out the click sound and listen to the echo that comes back from their own clicks. During fieldwork with wild dolphins in Australia, researchers observed that dolphins find and catch fish in extremely shallow water (less than 50 cm deep). We do not know to what extent dolphins use vision or echolocation, or both, in these situations. We hope to learn more about that through this project.

The dolphins are trained to answer various questions and only use the sonar while performing the task. We hold two different thicknesses of aluminum in front of them and they have learned to search for a specific thickness. To make sure they don't use their eyes to help them, the dolphins have learned to "blindfold" their eyes. They therefore wear eye cups part of that workout. The dolphins have found this a really fun project to participate in.

All toothed whales use sonar to e.g. find food. They are therefore vulnerable to underwater noise. Understanding their sensory world better is definitely important to address such problems and find appropriate solutions to them.

A student from Linköping University will examine the breathing of four of the dolphins due to seasonal cough. Each dolphin will be examined with spirometry once a month for one year. Coughs will be registered by the animal keepers. The spirometry and cough results will be assessed together with blood test results and non-invasive cytology samples (showing the presence of white blood cells indicating inflammation in the upper airways) from the bladder cavity.

Respiratory diseases are one of the most common diseases and causes of death in dolphins. Not much is known about how environmental toxins, such as particles and dust, affect the respiratory system. With increasing levels of microplastics in the environment, this project aims to evaluate the level of microplastics in the respiratory tract of dolphins and relate these to lung health.

This data is important for evaluating the normal occurrence of microplastics in bottlenose dolphins kept in zoos. These levels can then be compared with wild animal samples and used to evaluate whether the level of microplastics in the lungs changes over time. We can also determine if the level of microplastics is correlated with lung disease.

Lung disease is one of the most common causes of death in whales. Wild animals often hide signs of illness and whales generally do not show symptoms of respiratory disease until they are severely affected. Understanding basic lung function in healthy dolphins gives us basic information that allows us to assess the prevalence of respiratory disease in wild dolphins.

Knowledge of the animal's metabolism is important to be able to estimate how much food an individual or group of dolphins needs. In addition, understanding basic energy requirements provides important information that is important for assessing fishing quotas to avoid overfishing and ensure that we leave enough food for the animals in the ocean.

EIT (electrical impedance tomography) is a non-invasive method that provides low-resolution images of lung filling, heart rate and blood flow in the lung. The goal is for Kolmården's dolphins to be able to wear this "belt" for shorter periods and thus provide us with this information. This method is used in humans to evaluate lung function and is useful for looking at lung health.

Climate change and human activity have a potentially large impact on dolphins and whales. This data will make it easier for us to understand how climate change may affect their ability to forage and catch enough food.

Researcher: Andreas Fahlman

The hydrophone (the underwater microphone that can record and record sounds from passing dolphins and porpoises) will be tested at the dolphinarium.

The conservation value of this project is great. The newly developed instrument will be used for acoustic monitoring of wild dolphins and porpoises. This has a variety of conservation applications – e.g. can it be used for species inventories.

Read more here: [The Project - Nautilos] under Activity 3 and 4.

It is well known that respiratory rate, the number of breaths taken in a given time, varies with body mass in mammals. In fact, in terrestrial mammals frequency seems to correlate well with metabolism, but we know less about the relationship between aquatic and marine mammals.

This data may be useful for better understanding both normal breathing patterns and also how they relate to energy expenditure in wild animals.

Understanding basic respiratory function in healthy mammals provides us with fundamental information important to assessing the extent of the problem of respiratory disease for wildlife. Respiratory rate can also be a useful measure to estimate basic energy requirements and can help us estimate the metabolism of mammals in the wild.

Hair is characteristic of mammals and has many functions – such as keeping the animal warm or preventing the animal from getting wet. These functions are linked to the physical properties of the hair, but while the hair care industry has studied human hair and wool in depth, we don't know much about other mammalian hair. The purpose of this project is to study the physical properties of as many different types of species as possible. We will expand our knowledge of the structures of hairs and their function in mammalian fur. Which species has the strongest hairs? In addition, the knowledge from this study will be used to better understand the animals' biology.

This is just an example of the questions this project aims to answer. The project is carried out in collaboration with SLU.

Glycans or complex carbohydrates in breast milk have great medical importance. The function is important for newborn mammals! For example, to promote their microbiome and defend against disease. The composition and structure of milk glycans varies greatly between different mammalian species.

The study has value in terms of both conservation and welfare. By categorizing glycan variations between different species, our understanding of evolutionary and environmental factors that can be important information for conservation work increases. At the same time, the result will be important medically. The study also contributes to better conditions for survival in various species of newborn mammals.

The project is carried out in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg.

On the savanna, it happens that elephants wander into villages, private properties, schools or the park rangers' field huts and can cause great damage there. Every year, 500 people are killed by elephants, making it the third most dangerous animal in Africa (after mosquitoes and hippos). LiU's goal is to construct a seismic sensor system that can detect elephants by their footsteps before they enter inhabited areas, and thus provide an early warning that allows them to be scared away. LiU intends to build three prototypes that together can locate elephants and track them.

For various reasons, goats can be disposed of or put to sleep. The "Osteo project" wants to take advantage of the opportunity to save the skulls of these animals and keep them for scientific research. All biological material is available to academics, veterinarians and researchers who want to carry out work aimed at better understanding these species, as well as our zoo populations.

The goal is to evaluate the wolverine's food and microbiome with modern DNA sequencing, and investigate whether the food can predict the composition and diversity of the microbiome. The research group plans to examine both wild wolverines from the entire range in Sweden as well as wolverines in zoos to gain a better insight into the wolverine's microbiome.

The long-term goal of the project is to create a better understanding of what the wolverines' microbiome looks like and how it is connected to their health and well-being. We also want to find out how much of the microbiome depends on what food they eat, how they live and differences between the sexes. By investigating the connection between food and the microbiome, we create a better understanding of how we can preserve the microbiome of wild animals, with applications in, for example, conservation research, veterinary medicine and wildlife management. In addition, the results could potentially identify specific bacteria linked to good health, which in the future could be developed into probiotics to improve the health of carnivores in zoos.

The big cats often have the "stomach ulcer bacteria" Helicobacter in their stomachs, which can cause "Tiger disease". This is a severe form of gastritis that leads to poor appetite, weight loss and sometimes even death, especially for the leopards who have extra sensitive stomachs. Kolmården collaborates with Umeå University to better understand Tiger Disease, with the ambition of developing a better treatment, without having to use antibiotics. For this project, the stomach ulcer bacteria is collected from the sick animals and tested to see if the bacteria can adhere to tissue samples from the cats' stomachs.

A healthy stomach is a prerequisite for securing the future of the big cats.

Since 2015, Kolmården has been a valuable testing arena for project Ngulia. Over the years, we have tested various technical solutions such as drones, radar and various surveillance cameras to follow animals and people, tags on the animals to analyze their movements, microphones for gunshot detection, geophones for elephant location, etc. These examples of activities have been in the form of time-limited tests. More long-term, we use the Kolmården savannah as a twin of technology solutions we have or will introduce in Ngulia.

Digital supervision aims to facilitate conventional supervision with technical solutions, both for domestic animals, zoos and animals in the wild. The park rangers in Kenya require monthly supervision of their 130 rhinos, i.e. each individual must be seen monthly. To help them, they have about fifty tracking cameras, where they have to change the battery and memory card every two weeks, as well as manually go through tens of thousands of images to find the few where you can see both ears on a rhinoceros, and thus determine the individual. They patrol miles every day to find traces of them. We have made this work easier with the App, and our intelligent tracking cameras that can identify species of animals will make their work even more efficient. The tags we develop can become a game-changer, where we can automatically register individuals when they visit a watering hole, and read activity parameters such as number of steps per hour.

Electrical impedance tomography is a non-invasive method that provides low-resolution images of lung filling, heart rate and blood flow in the lung. This method is used in humans to evaluate lung function and mechanics and is useful for looking at lung health. We know very little about respiratory physiology in rhinos and EIT is a potential method to increase knowledge and possibly improve lung health.

The goal is that Kolmården's rhinos will be able to wear a belt for shorter periods, which can give us this information.

Electrical impedance tomography is a non-invasive method that provides low-resolution images of lung filling, heart rate and blood flow in the lung. This method is used in humans to evaluate lung function and mechanics and is useful for looking at lung health. We know very little about respiratory physiology in rhinos and EIT is a potential method to increase knowledge and possibly improve lung health. The aim is that Kolmården's rhinos will be able to wear a belt for shorter periods, which can give us this information.

EIT (electrical impedance tomography) is a non-invasive method that provides low-resolution images of lung filling, heart rate and blood flow in the lung. The goal is for Kolmården's sea bears to be able to wear this "belt" for shorter periods and thus provide us with this information. They have also learned to breathe into a spirometer to be able to measure how much oxygen and carbon dioxide comes in and out of the body. This method is used in humans to evaluate lung function and is useful for looking at lung health.

Climate change has a potentially large impact on marine mammals. It seems e.g. such as the fish swimming down deeper than usual to access cooler water, causing marine mammals to dive deeper and hold their breath longer to access the fish. This data will make it easier for us to understand how climate change may affect their ability to forage and catch enough food.

Researcher: Andreas Fahlman