The Rhinos of the Namib (commentary)
Commentary by Cyril Christo It was dusk when we followed two massive male white rhinos passing in front of our car near Etosha in northern Namibia. Lysander, just nine, was ecstatic, watching a primeval explosion of power ambling in front of our car reminiscent of the times when rhinos ruled the earth. At dusk, in the sun infused dimming amber light, the blackness of an all-presiding night was pressing upon us. Our guide’s red lights...
Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition – Book Review
By Gabriel Thoumi Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition is a wonderful updated and expanded second edition to the original Birds of New Guinea published 28 years ago. New Guinea is the world’s largest and possibly most diverse tropical island. Ranging from glaciers to steep volcanic valleys to scrubland to remote islands, New Guinea also has some of the most diverse avifauna on Earth, including the bulk of the world’s rightly...
Birds of Western Africa – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi The Birds of Western Africa: Second Edition is a fully updated and comprehensive expansion of the first edition, which was the winner of the 2004 Best Bird Book – Africa, Worldtwitch. This revised second edition, which is both compact and lightweight, is a must for any naturalist or scientist working in the region. The Birds of Western Africa: Second Edition is authoritative and easy to use. It is the most...
Capturing the Wild: Jaguars in Belize
Commentary and photos by: Fabienne Lefeuvre The native inhabitants of Suriname referred to him as a God. He is the third largest cat in the world after the tiger and the lion. The Native American called him ‘yaguar’ which means ‘he who kills with one leap’: the jaguar. The jaguar (Panthera onca) can be found in 18 Latin American countries. Today they are mainly concentrated between Southern Arizona and New...
The Passenger Pigeon – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi In 1800, passenger pigeons may have counted for 2 out of every 5 living birds in North America. Their flocks were in the billions. By 1914, they became extinct when Martha – the last passenger pigeon – died in a cage in the Cincinnati Zoo. On the 100th year anniversary of her death, a new book, simply called The Passenger Pigeon, is a stunningly illustrated and rich cultural memorial to Martha – the last passenger...
Santa Lucia: a Gem amongst Ecuador’s Cloud Forest Reserves (Photos)
Photo Essay and Commentary By: Etienne Littlefair The time is 6:30 am, a faint glimmer of light is just breaking the horizon revealing gnarled epiphyte laden trees still dripping from the rains that had passed through earlier in the morning. In the distance the piercing call of a Wattled Guan cuts through the morning air. I think to myself how lucky I am, as the remnant cloud cover seems to evaporate away leaving a crisp, still...
The Bee: A Natural History – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Did you know… There are 20,000 species of bees on Earth. Bees pollinate 130 of the foods we depend on and are often the sole and only pollinator of the foods we eat every day. Bees and other animals cross-pollinate over 90 percent of Earth’s plants. Bees co-evolved, along with angiosperms – flowering plants – over 100 million years ago. Ancient Egyptians were avid beekeepers possibly as far back as 5,000 BCE – or...
A Dangerous Life – Graphic Novel Review
By Gabriel Thoumi A Dangerous Life is a graphic novel for young teens written by Sheila Hamanaka. It describes the story of an American girl – Amelia – and her life changing experiences when she witnesses an elephant slaughter in Kenya. The graphic novel is a wonderful gift for any young person who is interested in conservation. The language and tone are appropriate for young adults while heartstrings will be pulled as Amelia learns...
In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians describes the great quest to rediscover long-lost and presumed extinct frogs, toads, and salamanders not seen between 15 and 140 years ago. Since the turn of the millennium, over 250 amphibians have not been seen or recorded by science – many now presumed extinct – and it is estimated that over half of the Earth’s 7,000 amphibians are currently...
Penguins: The Ultimate Guide – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Penguins: The Ultimate Guide IS the ultimate guide to penguins. With more than 400 pictures detailing all 18 penguin species on Earth, this book will educate and delight you. While it is a bona fide bird book, Penguins: The Ultimate Guide is also a beautiful coffee table book that would make a great gift for any wildlife lover. Penguins: The Ultimate Guide will provide you with interesting facts about penguins,...
Reporter’s Journal: A story sans words
Special Reporting Initiatives photographer Dominic Bracco II tries to capture the aquaculture scene at Liangzi Lake. A local fishfarmer attempts to capture his own view. Dominic’s photos will appear with Erik Vance’s reporting on the demand for sustainable fisheries products in China.
Reporter’s Journal: It isn’t a beluga
Special Reporting Initiatives Fellow Erik Vance gets up close and personal with a finless porpoise housed at Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, China. Vance and his colleague, photographer Dominic Bracco II, are reporting on the market for sustainable fisheries in China. Photo credit: Shouqi...
An armadillo the size of a golf ball
Meet Rica, the baby three-banded armadillo. Rica is a tiny new arrival at the Edinburgh Zoo born on August 24th and weighing in at just 81g or roughly the size of a golf ball. She was born to proud parents Rio and Rodar who only arrived at the zoo in March of 2014. “This is the first birth of any armadillo species at Edinburgh Zoo and it is amazing how quickly little Rica is growing up! She is just amazing to watch; always full of...
A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Tanzania – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Tanzania provides the most up-to-date guidebook for trekking in Tanzania. It includes detailed species accounts and delightful photos of 135 of the larger mammals of Tanzania. It is the first book to include both marine mammals and recently discovered species of Tanzania. While Tanzania has over 340 recorded mammal species, over 200 of these are rodents, bats, and shrews. For...
The Amazing World of Flyingfish – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Do you remember when you were a kid and you heard about flyingfish for the first time? I do. I was amazed. Fish that could fly! I wondered how far they flew and if they flew for real. The first time I saw flyingfish in person, I had the good fortune to be sailing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, south to north. We were giddy with delight to see these amazing small fish of the sea. In The Amazing World of...
A Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring– book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Great Britain is known as a nation of birdwatchers – or twitchers – who will travel to great lengths to conserve bird habitat and to observe birds in the wild. Yet in certain circumstances, Great Britain’s birds of prey are persecuted. This cultural dichotomy is explored in wonderful detail in A Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring. Great Britain has 15 species of birds of prey,...
Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley is another Adam Scott Kennedy tour de force! Following up on the Kennedys’ series of bird and mammal books for Kenyan and Tanzanian travelers, previously described here on Mongabay.com. The Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley is ideal for the traveler on safari visiting the Rift Valley’s national parks, such as Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Mount Longonot, and Hell’s Gate. The...
The Extreme Life of the Sea – book review
By Gabriel Thoumi The Extreme Life of the Sea, written by father and son team Stephen R. Palumbi and Anthony R. Palumbi, is simply a tour de force, a splendid must read for any natural history enthusiast. In The Extreme Life of the Sea, we are taken through the challenges of the Earth’s oceans. From its great depths and abysses to extreme pressures and anaerobic environments, and in each location, we learn about the remarkable...
The allure of the Amazon: real or imagined?
Commentary by Nick Werber What is it about the Amazon that fires the imagination? For as long as I can recall it has been a symbol for the Earth as it wants to be; a flourishing paradise perhaps, a place of explosive variegation, the jungle in full bloom. Like the untamed areas outside of the cities in Brave New World, The Heart of Darkness and The Lost World, the jungle has formed an archetype for all that is natural and untouched by...
India plans new railway through protected areas, threatens already-imperiled wildlife
—Special report by Sanjay Gubbi and Shreya Dasgupta— On a winter day in November 2013, a passenger train in the eastern state of West Bengal in India collided with a herd of 40 to 50 elephants, killing five adults and two calves. This was not an isolated event. Such grisly incidences have killed tigers, leopards and several other wildlife species in the past. In fact, train-kills like these have become a routine...