Program Overview

MOOC Animal Behaviour in Conservation

The MOOC Animal Behaviour in Conservation is a course designed to equip participants with the skills to assess human-caused impact on diverse species and apply behavioural principles to design more effective conservation actions.

Why follow this course?

Biodiversity in crisis

Climate change, habitat destruction, and overexploitation are threatening the survival of wild animals, with over 40,000 species facing extinction. This course helps participants understand the importance of taking the animal perspective in conservation efforts.

Take the animal perspective

Developed by the makers of the popular MOOC ‘Introduction to Animal Behaviour’, this course explores key concepts from animal behaviour and applies them to practical wildlife conservation issues.

Design innovative conservation interventions

Through informative knowledge clips, case studies, interviews, and practical assignments, participants will learn how to use animal behaviour in conservation to effectively monitor threats, increase understanding of diverse responses to environmental change, and design innovative interventions.

Is this course for you?

• For professionals working with wildlife, this course will build understanding of how animal behaviour mediates the impact of anthropogenic threats on animal populations.
• Students of wildlife conservation or animal behaviour will be able to expand their knowledge into a complementary field and learn how to integrate academic knowledge of behaviour with threatened species conservation planning.

What you will learn

• Connect key behavioural concepts to relevant conservation challenges
• Understand how animals use behaviour to mitigate anthropogenic threats
• Recognize which behavioural traits can serve as threat and management indicators
• Identify successful examples of behaviour-based conservation management
• Use relevant resources to find species-specific information on biology and conservation challenges
• Design a basic species action plan incorporating a behaviour-based conservation action

Course details

• Organised by: Wageningen University & Research
• Duration: 5 weeks, 4-6 hours per week
• Course leaders:
  • dr. L (Lysanne) Snijders
  • prof.dr. M (Marc) Naguib

Related education

• MOOC Introduction to Animal Behaviour
• MOOC Urban rewilding: restore your local ecosystem
• MOOC Climate Action in Biodiverse Landscapes

Education for professionals

Wageningen University & Research offers a range of education programmes for professionals, including custom-made programmes and courses in various themes such as agriculture, biotechnology, and environment and climate.

General information

• All programmes: Wageningen University & Research offers over 300 programmes in different price ranges, learning formats, and levels.
• Custom-made programmes: available for organisations and individuals.
• FAQ's: available on the university's website.
• Contact: available for further information and inquiries.

Education per theme

• Agriculture, Horticulture and Animals
• Biotechnology and Chemistry
• Food Systems and Sustainable Business
• Data Science, AI and Robotics
• Environment and Climate
• Food, Nutrition and Health