How Kalahari puff adders react to climate change may be key to their survival strategies

Wits University PhD candidate Azraa Ebrahim tells Farmer's Weekly of her research on puff adder thermal biology and space use, and dispels some of the fears that people have of these fascinating creatures.

- Azraa Ebrahim

On a sunny Kalahari afternoon moments after landing at Tswalu Kalahari Wildlife Reserve, writer Brian Berkman had a chance meeting with Azraa Ebrahim and assumed she was another guest about to also begin her safari.

Assumptions were quickly corrected as Wits University doctoral candidate Ebrahim told Farmer’s Weekly of her Tswalu Foundation-funded research into puff adder thermal biology and space use.

According to the Tswalu Foundation, the foundation stemmed from a vision that Jonathan and Jennifer Oppenheimer had to provide a means of both encouraging and facilitating environmental research at Tswalu Kalahari. In 2009, this vision became a reality when the foundation was created with seed money from the family being used as initial capital to fund various research projects on Tswalu. From its humble beginnings, the Tswalu Foundation has grown into a world leader in the field of environmental research within the southern Kalahari and attracts research teams from across the globe. In order to generate income for research, a core objective of the foundation has always been to stimulate interest among staff and guests through ongoing interaction with both researchers and foundation staff during their visits to Tswalu.

Through the carefully selected research projects on the go at Tswalu Kalahari, the foundation continues to contribute in a meaningful way to the scientific and ecological management, not only of this reserve, but of communities both locally and internationally.

IN THE BEGINNING

Ebrahim told Farmer’s Weekly that growing up, she always wanted to pursue a career in zoology or conservation.

“While I did not have a specific interest in reptiles, I wanted the opportunity to work with wildlife and be based in the field.