Meet our grantees

Wild Animal Initiative funds academic research on high-priority questions in wild animal welfare.

The goal of our grants program is to fund research that deepens scientific knowledge of the welfare of wild animals in order to better understand how to improve the welfare of as many wild animals as possible, regardless of what causes the threats to their well-being.

We showcase our grantees and their projects here and continuously update this page as new projects are added.

Small, Least concern, Turkey, Mammals, Population ecology, Animal welfare science, Human-wildlife conflict, 2023, Not published Wild Animal Initiative Small, Least concern, Turkey, Mammals, Population ecology, Animal welfare science, Human-wildlife conflict, 2023, Not published Wild Animal Initiative

From rehabilitation centers to the wild: Evaluating brown bear stress using blood and scat parameters

Grantee: Morteza Naderi

Institution: Koç University

Project summary

Brown bears play a prominent role in the ecosystems of northern and eastern Turkey. However, there are serious long-term threats to their welfare and viability that are common to other large omnivores, such as habitat fragmentation and increasing contact with humans. For example, open garbage dumps are located across the bear’s distribution and affect behavioral patterns in bears, including seasonal migration habits, whereby the bears would normally move into different areas to exploit seasonal resources. This project will involve a collaboration with KuzeyDoga, one of the only nature conservation NGOs in Turkey, to monitor the behavior and stress physiology of individual free-living bears using GPS collars, camera traps, and blood and fecal glucocorticoids (GCs).

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