As the Director of the Endangered Species Interventions Program at Bat Conservation International, I spend a lot of my time working with partners worldwide to prevent the extinction of threatened bat species. Like any rare species it is a challenging task but their nocturnal and elusive behaviour can make protecting bats especially challenging. This is […]
species
Return of the Mac: The resurgence of Macquarie Island and the Subantarctic Bedstraw
Realising that you’ve made a mistake is usually a discouraging experience, but there are a few exceptions to the rule. Realising that a presumed extinct species is still alive and kicking is one of these happy exceptions. Cases of mistaken extinction are more common than you might think, especially if it is a species that […]
How to Get the First Photo of an Extinct Monkey
There had been no trace of Bouvier’s red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus bouvieri) since the 1970s. In 2008, after almost 40 years without a recorded sighting, scientists considered it extinct. Bouvier’s red colobus is so rare that if you google it, you won’t find a single picture of it on the internet. This monkey lives in […]
19 years for a moustache
The moustached mystery The existence of the Guadalcanal moustached kingfisher, also known as the Mbarikuku, had remained a mystery to scientists for decades. Having a large, orange and white body with a prominent blue “moustache” and blue wings, the species is very showy. However, due to its secluded environment, it has remained poorly documented and […]
Playing Hide and Go Seek in Kalalau Valley
Hawai’i is easily one of the most isolated places on earth, home to over ten thousand species found nowhere else in the world; each arriving as a castaway through the agency of wind and sea thousands of years before human habitation. Without the threat of predation or competition, Hawaii’s native plants and animals developed remarkable […]
Un-masking the true identity of the Tasman Booby
Remote volcanic islands, ancient bones, scientists and a species brought back from the dead. It might sound like a Jurassic Park rip-off but this is the story of how a diverse team of researchers un-covered the fate of the Tasman Booby. Unearthing history On Lord Howe Island, the husk of an old volcano 1600km east […]
On the path of the Spreadwing
We were threading on a narrow foot path, running across a rainforest leading to the Adam’s Peak mountain, the most sacred mountain in Sri Lanka and the fourth highest in the country. Our team of five naturalists was ascending the mountain slowly as we were frequently held by interesting animals, beautiful sceneries of forests, mountains […]