Elliot Connor is a young conservationist living in Sydney, Australia. He is a passionate insect-lover, and his raised fig tree leaf beetles, spiny leaf stick insects, and assassin bugs in addition to his three pygmy bearded dragons at home. He runs a field naturalist group in the Sydney area, and has recently won a competition […]
Lost & Found
In the Footsteps of Giants: Reviving the legacy of a lost naturalist
If you’re reading this (and I’m pretty sure you are), then the chances are that you’ve heard of a bloke by the name of Alfred Russel Wallace. Unfortunately, however, many people haven’t, so you’ll forgive me if I take a minute to explain. The year is 1858 and a small group of white-haired, balding British […]
The Trouble with Tortoises: How a Galapagos giant was rediscovered after more than a century
They say that television is a force for evil, corrupting our youth as they while away their days, eyes glued to shining screens. Television is meant to be ‘fake’, ‘artificial’, dominated by corporate powers and indoctrinating children with conforming world views and a profound apathy that grows with each generation. So what would you think […]
From saddle cover to media sensation: the story of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey
During his famous 5 year-long expedition to Latin America (1799-1804), Alexander von Humboldt collected, together with his naturalist partner, Aimé Bonpland, around 60,000 plant specimens and an unknown number of animal specimens that we can safely assume to be in the thousands. Some of these specimens were being shown and described to the scientific world […]
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 […]
Searching for the Santa Marta Toro: A tale of a Roach & a Rat
Off the coast of northern Colombia lies a formidable mountain, which towers over the small Caribbean city of Santa Marta. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM) is the tallest coastal mountain range in the world, rising from sea level to over 5,700 m. Older than the Andes, the Sierra Nevada’s dramatic topography has made […]
Searching for the Southern Sea Otter
This is an oldie but goodie for the Lost and Found archives. In a letter dated February 2nd, 1915 to the California Department of Fish and Game, lighthouse keeper John W. Astrom reported on a small southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) population of the coast of Big Sur. Little did Mr. Astrom know that […]
Worth losing a finger for: the Anatolian meadow viper
The Anatolian meadow viper was always an enigmatic species. It belongs to the same group as many widespread vipers, such as the common adder. However, unlike the common adder, which is distributed across Europe and Northern Asia, the Anatolian meadow viper lives only at the top of the Ciglikara mountain plateau, in south-west Turkey. Since […]
Meet the Lost & Found team: Amy Gallagher
Amy Gallagher (also known as Amiluu) is a UK based freelance illustrator, greeting card designer, and comic artist. Her style is playful and charming; often using themes of humour and cheekiness to create engaging imagery. ¬Her other interests lie in food (and lots of it) Tove Jansson, fitness, animation and games. She loves her dog […]
Lost and Found
Loss, decline and extinction: some of the most common topics of conversation in the more than 15 years that we have spent talking about nature conservation. It is true that today the natural world faces great threats, but that should not keep us from finding hope in those few stories that can illustrate just how far a passion for nature can take those passionate enough. And who does not love a good adventure?