IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group

I am a carnivore ecologist and former senior scientist at the University of Bern and the former director of the Foundation KORA – Carnivore Ecology and Wildlife Management. I have been involved in research projects on carnivore ecology for 40 years and have supervised projects in the frame of the Swiss carnivore projects. My main field of interest is the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx and the re-integration of large carnivores into human dominated landscapes.

I have developed and managed national, regional and global project portfolios on invasive species, carnivore ecology, human wildlife conflict and wildlife management for government, NGOs, IGOs and universities for over 25 years. These have focused on the UK, the UK Overseas Territories, South and South East Asia, Japan, the Indian Ocean and Southern Africa. Over the last ten years I have focused on large carnivore conservation. This included establishing and running a tiger conservation programme at IUCN, and coordinating a series of projects in Southern Africa, as part of the "Africa Range-Wide Cheetah Conservation Initiative". I am now working with the SSC Cat Specialist Group, developing and coordinating projects across the group.

Dr. Tadeu G. de Oliveira is an Adjunct Professor at Maranhão State University (UEMA) and researcher for Instituto Pró-Carnívoros, whose main interests are the ecology, conservation and natural history of felids, carnivores and endangered species. Currently he is leading a long-term, continental-wide conservation program on the smaller Neotropical felids: Wild Cats Americas Conservation Program, which is doing hard-core conservation actions, population monitoring, status assessment, and understanding their ecology and natural history. He is also the founder and current chair of the Tiger Cats Conservation Initiative – TCCI (https://tigercatsconservation.com/), and founding member of the Ocelot/Margay/Jaguarundi Working Group and Pampas Cats Working Group. Other research includes mammalian community composition and monitoring in rainforests, savannas and semi-arid scrub of Brazil, as well as statewide biodiversity assessment towards the Ecologic-Economic Zoning of Maranhão State.