Portrait of a Turkana woman (photo)
Nov17

Portrait of a Turkana woman (photo)

A Turkana woman in Northern Kenya in 2007 More photos of the Turkana people.

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Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley – book review
Jul28

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...

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Update: interview on toxic pesticide used to kill wildlife (and endangering people) in Kenya

An interview in four parts with Paula Kahumbu, Executive Director of WildlifeDirect, provides detail and context on the use of the neurotoxic pesticide Furadan to kill lions and birds en masse in Kenya. Lions are down to around 2,000 individuals in Kenya. Kahumbu, recently awarded an Emerging Explorer by the National Geographic, and WildlifeDirect are working to pressure the government to estimate the environmental and human cost of...

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Toxic pesticide used to kill birds by the thousands (warning: video is graphic)

A new video from WildlifeDirect shows the brutal impacts of the neurotoxic pesticide Furadan being used intentionally to kill entire flocks of birds, which are later sold as meat. Ducks, pigeons, and storks are often targeted. The process is brutal. “Based on a survey I did in 2009, 6,000 birds were killed every month. Tens of thousands are killed every year. I’m very concerned and I think man is at risk too–that is...

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Wangari Maathai muses on trees, activism, and God (radio)

Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Green Belt movement, Wangari Maathai, started a tree-planting campaign to create a better world for the impoverished and marginalized people of her native country, Kenya. For such views, she faced threats of assassination, violence, and censorship from the government. Now 71, Maathai speaks to Krista Tippett, the host of the radio show On Being, about the importance of trees, how ecology and...

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Pictures of baby animals with their mothers for Mother’s Day

Mother tarsier and baby on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Mother and baby orangutan in tree in Sumatra. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Mother Panamanian golden frog with green baby. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Southern Tree Hyrax with baby in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Baby crowned lemur clinging to its mother in Madagascar. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Mother Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) with babies...

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Photo: black-and-white colobus hanging out

A black-and-white colobus (Colobus angolensis) in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

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Photo: silhouetted ibis
Feb20

Photo: silhouetted ibis

Hadeda ibis in a tree in Kenya. This species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

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Photos: Loita-Purko Masaai in Kenya
Feb16

Photos: Loita-Purko Masaai in Kenya

Photos from Loita-Purko Masaai communities in the Loita hills of Kenya. On the western edge of the Great Rift Valley, the Loita hills rise to approximately 2600 meters. Including rainforest and rich wildlife, the hills provide the Masaai people with medicinal plants, honey, fresh water, and grazing. All photos by Rhett A. Butler. To see more photos of the Loita...

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Photo: young hippos
Jan31

Photo: young hippos

Young hippos in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of hippos.

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Picture: Baby elephant drinking milk

Orphaned elephant drinking milk at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.

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Hairy elephant-relative with baby
Dec02

Hairy elephant-relative with baby

This bizarre animal, resembling a rodent, in Kenya is a southern tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax arboreus). Although the size of rabbit, the hyrax is actually closely related to the elephant and belongs to the Afrotheria clade that includes not only elephants, but manatees, sengis, tenrecs, and aardvarks. Four species of hyrax survive today. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Click to see more photos of...

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Small antelope on Mount Kenya
Oct17

Small antelope on Mount Kenya

A Suni (Neotragus moschatus), a small East African antelope, photographed on a trek up Mount Kenya. Photo by Rhett A. Butler, 2007. To see more photos of Mount Kenya.

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Turkana woman
Oct12

Turkana woman

A Turkana woman. Photo by Rhett A. Butler, 2007. The Turkana of northern Kenya are semi-nomadic livestock herders inhabiting a harsh dry region, particularly susceptible to drought and therefore climate change. Surviving in a land of famine, the Turkana have long been marginalized by Kenyan government and society. To see more photos of the...

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Photo: Mt. Kenya sunrise
Oct05

Photo: Mt. Kenya sunrise

Mt. Kenya sunrise. Photo by Rhett A. Butler in 2007 More pictures from Mount Kenya

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