Credit video 🎬🖋 @seanmchughwildlife Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is the largest anteater species on our planet 🌎. During my recent camera-trapping study in Guyana 🇬🇾 we captured only three Giant Anteater on the 30 cameras we had across the Iwokrama Forest Reserve. According to locals they say there are two different “species” of Giant Anteater in Guyana, a smaller lighter colored savanna dwelling type and then this, the darker larger more aggressive rainforest version. This is the first time I have heard this theory in South America, but as I look through more photos I am beginning to think they are on to something here. It would take years of genetic sampling and analysis to prove this local hypothesis. It sure is interesting to think that a singular species could be “speciating” due to their different habitat preferences, e.g. rainforest versus savanna. This large individual put on a show for our camera trap by scratching itself blissfully as if it knew we were all watching, enjoy! . . . . . . #anteater #giantanteater #giantanteaters #giant #operationwallacea #opwall #iwokrama #iwokramariverlodge #guyana #southamerica #rainforest #jungle #forest #wildlife #wild #nature #naturephotography #behaviors #striking #powerful #oddlysatisfying #conservation #research #education #learning #beastmode #moultrie #cameratraps #adventure https://www.instagram.com/p/B0eh382FLYb/?igshid=l3w50ln4e3xf
IT and Media guy Michael has just returned from the north of Madagascar, where he’s been working with Operation Wallacea on their long-term ecological monitoring programme.
Back in June I travelled to the opposite end of the country to work with Operation Wallacea, an environmental research and expeditions organisation, on their research site in a village called Mariarano. Along for the ride were Steve, who coordinates our Project Oratsimba and works on the OpWall database; Sam, Executive Conservation Programme Coordinator and general all-around animal expert; and Ryan, one of our past research assistants who came as a herpetology (reptile and amphibian) specialist. Every summer OpWall bring around 50 university students and many more school children to the field site, where they carry out practical conservation monitoring to add to a long-term database.
Before Mariarano I hadn’t even looked around Madagascar’s capital, let alone explored the north of the country, so I was excited for the new experiences that this 6-week field season would bring. To say that I wasn’t disappointed would be a massive understatement! The forests and wetlands around Mariarano are host to an absolutely dizzying range of wildlife, and on our very first casual wander out of the camp we spotted chameleons, kingfishers and snakes in the light of our torches as sportive lemurs screamed from the trees and flying fox bats soared above our heads. As a slightly-lapsed zoologist and IT guy I usually feel quite superfluous on these expeditions as my identification skills are quite lacking, so I was very pleased to spot a tiny gecko with a tail like a dragon clinging onto a leaf. Uroplatus ebenaui – exciting!
My role on the expedition was to run a pilot replacing paper datasheets on surveys with smartphones. There’s some great reasons for going paperless: saving trees; reducing mistakes in transcription; reducing data entry time to virtually nothing; and the ability to take GPS coordinates directly on-device, among many others. I was working with Open Data Kit, or ODK, a fantastic suite of open-source data collection tools developed at the University of Washington which allows you to easily collect data using smartphones or web browsers. The setup required a bit of reengineering as it expected to have an internet connection to upload collected data – not ideal when you can’t even get phone signal! I set up a local network and exported data in the form of CSV files, which can easily be imported into the main long-term database. This year’s pilot ran with 15 phones on four surveys, namely lemur and herpetology routes, bird point counts and opportunistic surveys. It was a great success and next year I hope to have every survey taken on a phone or tablet, across all three camps.
15 smartphones...and a whole lot of charging cables!
Once the system was up and running smoothly I found myself with some free time on my hands, so I took a couple of forest plot survey groups out, put together a basic photography lecture to familiarise the students with their shiny new cameras and typed in a vast number of datasheets! I also visited the other two camps at Matsedroy and Antafiameva: the former with five beautiful lakes and a huge array of wetland birds and crocodiles; and the latter hosting hundreds of flying foxes and a pair of Madagascar fish eagles, plus their baby! Every day came with new experiences (fish samosas definitely count, right?) and it was incredible how the north just feels like a different country compared to my usual surroundings down in the south easy. Madagascar truly does earn the nickname of “the eighth continent”.
It was fantastic working with Operation Wallacea and we all appreciated the opportunity to share knowledge between our two organisations, providing expertise in species identification and receiving ideas for our own Conservation Programme in Sainte Luce, as well as generating income for our Stitch women’s association and the association in Mariarano (more on that later). Bring on next year!
Meet the Honduran Montane Pit Viper (Cerrophidion wilsoni). This snake has a broad diet, including rodents, lizards, and frogs and despite its fierce appearance, is typically a very docile species. This is the most common snake found at our HARCC-Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center field site in Cusuco National Park. #snake #snakes #viper #venomous #reptile #reptiles #opwall #operationwallacea #cusuconationalpark #honduras #rainforest #forest #wildlife #animals #animal #biodiversity #conservation #frog #ecosystem #nikon #natgeo #tropical #nature (at Honduras)
Project Guyana - Operation Wallacea and Royal Ontario Museum
I'm going to Guyana, South America this summer to help with the conservation work done by experts in the Iwokrama rainforest. I need to raise the funds to be able to go, so if anyone would be willing to support me, I have a fundraising page here and I’d be INSANELY grateful. Otherwise just watch the video, the photos/ footage is pretty cool.
