Hello

The Canid Specialist Group (CSG) is entering a new quadrennium and I would like to canvass the opinion of those with an interest on the conservation of canids that are not formal Members of the CSG (if you are a Member you would have seen a similar survey I sent out last week; there is no need to fill this one as well!).

With this in mind I have prepared a short questionnaire which can be completed online (by clicking on the link at the end of this message). The objective of this survey is to develop a better idea of peoples’ interests, skills and areas of expertise, and to invite you into a broader “Canid Family”, from which I could draw support from in addition to that I receive from the formal CSG Members. Please pass this on to other people you think might be interested.

You will notice that the last question of the survey enquires about the level of participation you would be prepared to consider. I propose three levels of participation:

1.       Friend of Canids - General interest on canid conservation and research that wish to be kept informed of CSG’ activities and receive canid relevant information through the Canids-L list.

2.       Canid Contact – Resident or regular visitor to a country with important canid populations, and have detailed knowledge on their distribution and status. We aspire to have at least one Canid Contact person in each Canid Range country.

3.       Young Professional - Students and/or young researchers actively involved in protecting and studying canids. We have found that the CSG resources are actively used by young students and researchers and we answer many queries from them. We aspire to promote CSG activities amongst those up-coming canid conservation practitioners.

[Please note that this participation will not equate to full SSC Members by the IUCN. However, those Young Professionals will be fostered to become members once they acquire the relevant expertise]

Click here to get to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=98731384891. It should not take you more than 2 minutes to complete. Survey closes on Friday 28 October 2005. 

While I have your attention… if you are planning, are undertaking, or have recently completed a project on any aspect of canid biology and/or conservation please submit it to the Canid Project Database: http://www.canids.org/canid-db-add.php

I look forward to hearing back from you

Best wishes

Claudio Sillero, Chair 

IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group