September - November 2000 August - Novemeber 2001 Rauri Bowie Percy FitzPatrick Institute University of Cape Town Cape Town South Africa Rauri did both his undergraduate degree in zoology and microbiology and his post-graduate degree in conservation biology at the University of Cape Town. He was awarded the H.E. Joosub Prize for the best conservation biology student in 1998. His masters dissertation was on the conservation of a marine gastropod (abalone) using molecular tools and his results have been applied to management both locally and internationally. Rauri has completed research projects on bats, butterflies and mole-rats and also lectures to final year BSc students reading the department’s Vertebrate Zoology course. His PhD is on the evolution and conservation of Africa’s montane birds with a particular emphasis placed on the sunbirds (Nectariniidae). Sunbirds display a high degree of endemism and species richness and play an important role in plant pollination making them a major montane group. The research project has two main components. The first consists of a morphometric and DNA based study of a large percentage of the 77 African sunbird species. The second component will focus exclusively on the double-collared sunbirds of which there are 12 recognised species in Africa. Whereas some of the species are fairly broadly distributed, the majority have extremely limited ranges and in some cases populations that are likely to total less than 2000 individuals. Among these are Neergaard’s Sunbird, which is a South African red data book species. The Skye Foundation and Charitable Trust have kindly sponsored some aspects of the project.
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