Insect Collection Manuel Ortego

During my Christmas Break in Spain, I got to visit the Insect Collection Manuel Ortego in Madrid. The collection consists of 22.404 insects, collected by Manuel Ortego Forniés (grandfather) between 1940 and 1989, Manuel Ortego Gamboa (father) between 1980 and 1990 and donated to the Madrid City Council by Manuel Ortego Navarro (grandson) in 2018. Mr. Ortego Forniés started collecting insects at the age of 10, and kept collecting insects as a hobby while he painted for a living. His son worked at the Natural Sciences museum and founded the Madrid Entomological Group.

The collection is formed by 186 entomological boxes, and 92% of the insects belong to the order coleoptera, 8% to lepidoptera and one only individual belongs to the order odonata. There is a total of 1218 genera, 3750 species, 66 coleoptera and 28 lepidoptera families.


It is stablished at the Casa de Campo's Lake, right next to the Interpretation and Education Centre. The entomological room where the collection is located possesses an entomological laboratory.



Between 2018 and 2019, the collection staff have been working on a data base to register all the information provided on the tags associated to the different insects (date and place of capture, common and scientific name of the species, identification number...)


Other projects are currently being carried out, such as the breeding and releasing of Graellsia isabellae, an endangered butterfly species. They also perform activities involved in the control and management of Pine processionary Thaumetopoea pityocampa, a species which happens to be highly damaging for other animal and plant organisms.

Graellsia isabellae

The visit was very instructive and it was amazing getting to see such a big entomological collection. I am aware not everyone appreciates insects, but I personally find them very interesting and even beautiful. Also, the projects the staff are involved in seem very important and I hope they perform them succesfully.

Internship with EGA Wildlife

A few months ago, I applied for an internship with a small company called EGA Wildlife. It is a small consultant located in the Spanish Pyrenees specialized in the study and monitoring of large wild mammals and in the management and conservation of protected areas.

The company is formed by professionals in Zoology and conservation biology. They perform different activities, specially population records of wild ungulates such as Wild Goat, Wild Boar, Roe Deer, Red Deer and Pyrenean Chamois; which they have tracked every year for the last 30 years or so. They use different tools: field work, Geographic Information Systems, ecological data analysis...

Pyrenean chamois (own picture, taken in the French Pyrenees)

The company started in 1992 with two members widely experienced in the field of biodiversity conservation. Most of the work is performed in the region of Aragón, but they also work in other Spanish regions and even other European countries. They work primarily for public administrations and collaborate with non-governmental organizations dedicated to biodiversity management and conservation.

They have produced over 100 scientific reports, some of which are listed here:

Long term monitoring of wild ungulates in Aragon, Spain: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Long-term-monitoring-of-wild-ungulates-in-Aragon-Spain

Can roe deer hunting be selective? A case study from the Pyrenees: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338565606_Can_roe_deer_hunting_be_selective_A_case_study_from_the_Pyrenees

ESTIMATING IBERIAN WILD GOAT ABUNDANCE IN A LARGE RUGGED FOREST HABITAT: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337439519_ESTIMATING_IBERIAN_WILD_GOAT_ABUNDANCE_IN_A_LARGE_RUGGED_FOREST_HABITAT_Estimacion_de_la_abundancia_de_la_cabra_montes_en_un_habitat_forestal_de_montana_de_gran_superficie

Population estimates of forest ungulates in the Señorío de Bértiz Natural Park: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333618502_Population_esti-mates_of_forest_ungulates_in_the_Senorio_de_Bertiz_Natural_Park

EGA Wildlife website: http://www.egawildlife.com/

In December I sent my CV in order to apply for the internship, which I was really interested in, since it is very related to my Zoology course and to what I want to orientate my career to. They seemed particularly interested in my Zoology degree, which I had to describe in detail.

During Christmas break, I got to visit to their office in Saragossa, Spain, where I had a job interview, as well as they explained to me what my role in the company would be during the internship (September to December): I would join them for the field work–this means waking up at 4AM sometimes!–, collect data an analyze it, as well as attending various biodiversity congresses all around Spain. Sometimes they get miscellaneous work, such as measuring ungulate skulls or dissecting wild boar corpses, which I will have to make as well. They decided they will accept my application so that I would start my internship in September.

To sum up, this internship is a great opportunity to start implementing everything I've learnt during my course after I graduate. I'm really excited since it is exactly what I was looking for, and the location –the Pyrenees, in my home country– is stunning. I have really high expectations for this opportunity and I truly hope to learn a lot.

Trip to Chester Zoo- with "behind the scenes" ethical review session

On Thursday 30th of January, we went to Chester Zoo as part of our Animal Ethics and Welfare module. The aim of the trip to such a prestigious zoo was not just to see the animals, as you would expect for a trip aimed at Zoology students; but to show us the other side of zoos: all the role they play in animal conservation projects, education, research, and, of course, entertainment. 

We arrived at the zoo by 11 AM. Until 1:30 PM we were allowed to roam around the zoo and see all the animals we wanted to–at least as many as we could, since Chester Zoo is considerably big!

The first animals you can see when you enter the zoo are the Asian elephants. They are right at the entrance, in a big shelter. We were lucky to see two elephant babies playing together.

One of the Asian elephants.

Then we headed the butterfly house, enjoying the view of some other exotic animals on the way. It was really humid inside, so my camera lenses, however, I managed to take some pictures with my phone. The butterflies were incredibly varied in colours and shapes, likely original from tropical places. Some of them even perched on us!

Butterfly

Afterwards, we went to the lions, sleeping. I managed to take some good photos of them.

Lions sleeping.

Bat house.

We could see many more animals, such as red pandas, dik-diks, malayan bears, binturongs, white rhinoceros, chimpancees, painted wolves, babirusas, jaguars, the tiger, a handful of monkeys and a spectrum of different bird species... I specially enjoyed the bat house, where you get to enter the building where the bats live and see them closely. Of course, it's very dark in there.

 

At 1:30 PM, we all regrouped and assisted to the talk given by two members of the zoo staff. The first bit of the talk was dedicated to teach us the role of modern zoos: they split their aims in conservation, education, research and entertainment. The guy who gave the talk insisted that the entertainment bit was really important since zoos need to earn money somehow. Zoos are regulated and supported by associations such as WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums). Some of the topics they deal with are the human-wildlife conflict, sustainable development, visitor and community engagement, wildlife wealth and welfare... They also perform biodiversity surveys and conservation breeding. Some ethical questions were debated about animals in captivity and similar issues.

The second bit of the talk was given by a member of the zoo staff whose role at the zoo was involved in animal welfare. Here we learned about the different laws that regulate zoos and aquariums and how these don't allow animals living in inappropriate places.

The visit, overall, was very instructive and entertaining. It was a great opportunity to visit such a great zoo which I hadn't visited before and to learn different viewpoints regarding the ethics of modern zoos from a zoo staff's perspective.

For more information about Chester Zoo: https://www.chesterzoo.org/