Hi. I am in my third year of studying Applied Animal Science (BSc), and so need to decide on a dissertation topic for my fourth year honours project. During the summers I go to South Africa to work for a cheetah reintroduction program which also have a nature reserve with animals such as leopards, servals, caracals, wolves and lions etc. My lecturer mentioned to me that it would be beneficial if I could carry out my research on the animals there this year as it would be a more open environment than a local zoo, with species not available here. However, I am really struggling to decide if I should carry out my research there and follow the animal behaviour route, or if I should choose a topic such as the reintroduction of wolves to scotland which would possibly provide me with more background literature. I could also do the reintroduction of cheetahs but as there are still wild cheetahs in South Africa I don't think I would get as strong a public opinion. There are 2 female grey wolves at the reserve in South Africa, but I feel this is too little to do research with, especially since I have no wolves near home to compare to. I am extremely keen on doing something conservation related, but also would enjoy studying the behaviour of the cheetahs as there is a large number of them to study, both hand raised and wild rescues. Basically, if anyone has read this and understood what my interests are please give me ideas!!! I can't decide between the two topic areas and I am very scared I will choose one that won't be sufficient for 10,000 words. Behaviour or conservation?
I believe they were given to the owner as a gift as they were used in a police breeding program to create police dogs that were german shepherd x grey wolf cross. I think the program failed within the police force and there's actually a high number of wolfdogs as pets within SA due to this. The two wolves are female and the older is dominant.
Does your honours project have to be a literature review or an actual scientific study, or do you get a choice?
