Carolina Rivera González
- Project name: Conservation assessment of an EDGE amphibian hotspot
- Project site: Xocoyolo, Mexico
- EDGE species: Cuetzalan salamander, Aquiloeurycea quetzalanensis & Townsend’s dwarf salamander, Parvimolge townsendi
- Active: 2021 - ongoing
Biography
Carolina gained an BSc from the Universidad de las Américas Puebla-Mexico before entering her current role as an amphibian keeper at Africam Safari Zoo. As part of her role she undertakes animal care duties and has learnt to ascertain the needs of the living collection as well as maintaining their enclosures.
Carolina is looking forward to learning new skills and develop her current abilities linked to wildlife conservation to be able to successfully lead her EDGE project. In addition to this she hopes to be able to work with locals to preserve at risk species, finding better resolutions for both.
EDGE Project
Carolina’s project aims to estimate the population size of A. quetzalanensis and confirm the presence of P. townsendi in Xocoyolo identifying the main threats the species are facing in the area.
Her objectives are to:
- Estimate the population size of A. quetzalanensis in Xocoyolo;
- Investigate factors affecting A. quetzalanensis abundance and occupancy in Xocoyolo;
- Estimate genetic viability and effective population size of A. quetzalanensis;
- Assess prevalence of chytridiomycosis in A. quetzalanensis populations;
- Confirm the presence of P. Townsendi in Xocoyolo;
- Understand how people use the forest in Xocoyolo;
- Understand people’s perceptions of amphibians in Xocoyolo and use the information to design and deliver an education programme that addresses negative perceptions.
