Over the last three years, the Institute of Zoology (IoZ) in Uzbekistan has been an important in-country partner supporting the Central Asian Vultures (CAV) project. During this time, the collaboration has not only helped facilitate fieldwork and outreach in Uzbekistan, but has also provided an opportunity for valuable skill-sharing and capacity building.
Through working alongside the CAV team, IoZ colleagues, Nodirjon and Bunyod, have gained experience in a wide range of areas, including field techniques, transmitter attachment, movement ecology study design, data analysis and scientific manuscript preparation.
Nodirjon and Bunyod have been invaluable members of the field teams during 2024 and 2025, gaining extensive experience in vulture fieldwork and telemetry. The gallery below shows Nodirjon and Bunyod during an expedition into the Nuratau Biosphere Reserve to assist with tagging Cinereous vultures in 2025.
This year, alongside continuing to work with the CAV team, they have begun their own IoZ telemetry studies on a range of species, including Egyptian Vultures and Cinereous Vultures. The teams will continue to collaborate and share data and results from these studies.
During this year’s fieldwork, the CAV team trained and supervised Bunyod and Nodirjon in the complete process of fitting tags to Egyptian and Cinereous Vultures (images below). This included preparing tags and harnesses, testing and programming transmitters, designing databases and establishing robust data-storage systems. The team also supported the development of Movebank accounts, ensuring that the movement data being collected can be securely stored, managed and used well into the future.
Later this year, the IoZ and CAV teams will begin collaborative analyses of the movement data collected from Egyptian Vultures. The aim is to identify important areas for the species in Uzbekistan, including priority sites and non-breeding areas.
Developing local expertise is a key part of the long-term success of conservation research. By combining the experience and expertise of teams working across Central Asia, the partnership between IoZ and CAV is helping to build the capacity needed to continue monitoring vultures and other species in Uzbekistan long into the future.