Handbook

This topic will provide students with hands-on experience to study animals in the field and in captive conditions to support animal conservation, biodiversity, and ecology. Students will become familiar with the ethical requirements of working with live animals and will complete Flinders Animal Ethics Welfare training. This topic will teach students a broad range of capture and handling techniques relevant for both field and captive studies, and will be taught husbandry practices through interactions with Flinders’ aviaries and Animal House. Field scientists will teach students how to collect biological information (e.g. tissue or blood samples), tag animals (externally or internally), and track their movements. Students will learn each of these aspects for a variety of organisms, such as spiders, lizards, fish, birds, mice, koalas, and sharks and will get the opportunity to practice these methods themselves. By the end of this topic, students will be competent in handling and studying field and captive animals.