10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2014

Well, this time next week I’ll be winging my way to Cape Town via Auckland and Singapore (air transport is weird sometimes), so this is my last beat post of the year. It’s a species that has bedeviled and bewitched me over the years. Cave species obviously excluded, they can go extinct for all I care.

Sharks 177

Sharks Leopards Whales Whaling 177

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2015

And you’ve posted a link to a petition to an airline to ask them to stop transporting trophies. Conservation is concerned about protecting populations, species, habitats, ecosystems. That conservation uses the death of the species it is trying to save is both paradoxical and not. And that lions are really cute.

Lions 218

Lions Hunting Sierra Leone Buffalo 218

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Early starts are the rule when monitoring endagered species in Mkuze Game Reserve, in South Africa, but there’s a particular urgency to this morning’s start. The day before, the day I arrived, was a transport day, and that meant the pack hadn’t been seen in the afternoon. And Pippa, our biologist, was very concerned.

Wolves 192

Wolves Lions Dogs Vet 192

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

Rather than the usual dismal waiting area there were comfortable seats and drinks, and when our transports arrived, we were placed in two large four wheel drives rather than one, so that we wouldn’t feel cramped. This is the place, after all, that people see Sunda Clouded Leopards! It was here that the comfort began.

Lemurs 159

Lemurs Family Rhinoceros Fish 159

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Kooyman (co-author with Jim Mastro) spent decades studying Emperor Penguins and can be considered the world’s foremost expert on the species. Empire Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are the largest living penguin species, almost four feet tall (taller when they stretch), and the least likely to be seen on birding or nature trips.

Penguins 165

Penguins Seals Leopards Research 165