Conservation & Science Staff Bios
Felix Lankester, M.S.
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Director of Tanzanian Programs Lincoln Park Zoo |
Education
- M.S. – Wild Animal Health, Royal Veterinary College, London University, UK
- B.V. S. – Liverpool University, UK
About Felix Lankester:
Felix is a British veterinarian with a Master’s of Science degree in Wild Animal Health. After several years working with domestic animals and wildlife species in the United Kingdom, he became focused on the field of primate conservation. Two stints as a clinician with the Orangutan Foundation in Kalimantan, Borneo, was followed by a five-year posting as project director and head veterinarian of the Pandrillus Foundation’s Limbe Wildlife Centre—a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation program based in the Southwest Province of Cameroon. Through this work Felix became deeply involved in the ongoing battle against the bushmeat trade that is currently ravaging the forests of the Congo Basin. He has published papers on a variety of clinical conditions affecting wild animal species and the evolutionary history of great apes.
In 2009 Felix and his family moved from Cameroon to Tanzania to take his current post as director of Tanzanian programs for Lincoln Park Zoo. His primary responsibility is the coordination of a disease-surveillance and control program called the Serengeti Health Initiative, which specifically focuses on infectious diseases, such as rabies, that impact wildlife, livestock and public health.
A recent collaboration between Lincoln Park Zoo and the University of Glasgow has seen Felix take up responsibility for the coordination of a research program looking into the control of malignant catarrhal fever (MCF), a viral infectious disease that wildebeest give to cattle. The conclusion of this program will hopefully result in an effective vaccine against MCF, an understanding of the economic impacts the vaccine will have on Maasai pastoralist livelihoods and a Ph.D qualification for Felix!
Despite now being based in east Africa, Felix continues to work in the world of great ape conservation through his position as veterinary director for the Pandrillus Foundation.
Publications
Lankester, F., Anyam Kiyang, J., Bailey, W and Unwin, S.J. 2010. Dientaomeba fragilis: initial evidence of pathogenicity in the western-lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. 41(2): 350-352.
Gonder, M.K., Locatelli, S., Ghobrial, L., Mitchell, M., Kujawski, J.T., Lankester, F.J., and Tishkoff, S. 2010. Evidence from Cameroon reveals differences in the genetic structure and histories of chimpanzee populations. PNAS.
Ghobrial, L., Lankester, F.J., Kiyang, A.J., Akih, E.A., de Vries, S., Fotso, R., Gadsby, E.L., Jenkins, P.D. and Gonder, M. K. 2010. Tracing the origins of rescued chimpanzees reveals widespread chimpanzee hunting in Cameroon. BMC Ecology 10:2.
