Having not posted a blog for a year so I thought it was about time I get back into the swing of blogging. So my New Year’s resolution is to do just that ! If I can remember how to do it of course ! Here’s a few images to get us going. I had […]
Tag: Ethiopia
Minimising the poisoning of migratory soaring birds: new guidance released
Soaring birds act as natural pest control for crops by feeding on agricultural pests such as rodents and insects. Yet throughout the Rift Valley / Red Sea region these birds are being poisoned by unsustainable agricultural practices. To counter this, the Migratory Soaring Birds project has released its “Guidance to minimize poisoning of migratory soaring […]
Google Earth spurs discovery of a ‘new’ chameleon species
Google Earth has spurred the discovery of another new species. In this case, the creature is a pygmy chameleon, one of four previously unknown Rhampholeon chameleon species described from the remote ‘sky islands’ in Mozambique. The Mount Mabu pygmy chameleon (Rhampholeon maspictus) was discovered after Google Earth images of a tract of forest led Julian […]
Sky islands: exploring East Africa’s last frontier
The montane rainforests of East Africa are little-known to the global public. The Amazon and Congo loom much larger in our minds, while the savannas of East Africa remain the iconic ecosystems for the region. However these ancient, biodiverse forests—sitting on the tops of mountains rising from the African savanna—are home to some remarkable species, […]
The neglected giraffe: world’s tallest animal in need of conservation assistance
Just two year’s before his assassination, Julius Caesar brought to Rome one of the world’s most astonishing living creatures: a giraffe. The animal was among Caesar’s spoils from his campaign in Egypt and according to the Roman writer, Dio, the giraffe, which was arguably the first to ever touch European soil, was paraded in the […]
Working to save the mystery antelope that’s little bigger than a pet cat (photos)
Little is known about the silver dik-dik (Madoqua piacentinii) population that roams the dense coastal bushlands of eastern Africa, but experts are working to learn more about the mysterious species. Weighing little more than a domestic cat, the small antelopes are found in a long, narrow coastal strip spreading across 250 kilometers (155 miles) from […]
Primate call gives clues to human speech origins
A bizarre sound made by a primate could help to reveal more about the origins of human speech, a study suggests. Scientists have found that the gelada, a species that is closely related to the baboon, makes a gurgling noise that shares features with human language. They believe the monkey’s call could be similar to […]
The Geladas of Ethiopia by Adam Riley
Geladas are the sole survivors of a once abundant branch of primates that historically foraged across the grasslands of Africa, the Mediterranean and India. These relics of times gone by now cling to a precarious existence on the sheer cliffs of Ethiopia’s mountains, from which each morning they materialize, to forage on nearby moorlands, before […]