Staff, Students & Associates

Conservation Biology Masters Students (2012/13)

Heinz Ortmann

Email: heinz.ortmann@uct.ac.za

Heinz grew up in Howick in the Kwa-Zulu Natal midlands. His school holidays were spent visiting game reserves in Zululand and this is where his passion for the outdoors and in particular birds began. He became involved in the Lepidopterists Society of Africa during his high school years largely as a result of an interest in butterfly collecting. Having finished school in Pietermaritzburg he went to Stellenbosch University, completing a BSc Honours in Conservation Ecology at the end of 2011. His research project was on African Wild Dogs Lycaon pictus on a private game reserve near Hluhluwe, which stemmed from his volunteering with Wildlife Act, an organisation that monitors key species in Zululand reserves such as Lion, Cheetah and Wild Dog. He also has been involved in collecting data for the South African Butterfly Conservation Assessment (SABCA), which was conducted to update the Red Data list for South Africa’s butterflies. Heinz has a particular interest in seabirds and this is one of the reasons he has chosen to further his studies at the Fitztitute.

Mini-thesis

Population size and biology of the endangered Wilkins’ Bunting (Supervisor: Peter Ryan)