Emeritus Professor Rudi van Aarde obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Pretoria (UP) and has been doing research at the University for the past 45 years.
He leads the Conservation Ecology Research Unit (CERU), a small group of scientists and technicians within the Department of Zoology and Entomology. The group is studying elephants.
His research matters, he says, because nature is the essence of life. He hopes to achieve a better world for elephants through his research.
Prof Van Aarde’s advice to school learners or undergraduate students who are interested in his field is to have passion for what they want to do. His main hobby, whether he is working or not, is photography.
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A new series of maps drawn up by Emeritus Professor Rudi van Aarde of the University of Pretoria (UP) and Dr Ryan Huang of Duke University in the US details where African elephants prefer to roam in Southern Africa.
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This gallery features photography of elephants in their natural habitat by Prof Rudi van Aarde and a map showing where their preferred areas are based on the elephants' movement patterns.
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An international study led by the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Professor Rudi van Aarde suggests that the mass die-off of 350 elephants in one area of northern Botswana last year could be attributed to the fencing-in of these animals.
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A new study from the Conservation Ecology Research Unit (CERU) at the University of Pretoria set out to unravel migration in the world’s largest terrestrial mammal – the savanna elephant.
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A new study from the Conservation Ecology Research Unit (CERU) at the University of Pretoria provides an estimate of the number of elephants that should be present in 73 protected areas spanning 21 African countries.
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