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 […]
conservation
Stumbling Upon an “Extinct” Rodent on the Edge
A rat may not sound like an animal worth caring about. But, the San Quentin kangaroo rat (Dipodomys gravipes) is not your ordinary rodent. Kangaroo rats get around by jumping on their two hind legs like miniature, pouch-less kangaroos. One of the 22 species of kangaroo rat, the San Quentin kangaroo rat exists only in […]
Who’s Protecting Who? The rediscovery of the Black Softshell turtle in the wild
The deity, Vishnu, is a powerful figure within Hinduism. As a formless, abstract being, he is only recognizable in his reincarnations. In one of his appearances, Vishnu appears as half man – half tortoise. This second turtle avatar, referred to as Kurma, helps “restore the cosmic equilibrium” in times of crisis, returning to the earth […]
The tale of the Night Parrot: An epic of rediscovery against the odds
Parrots are birds. Birds fly. So parrots fly. Simple, right? Well, not exactly.