Stephanie M. Dloniak
 

Writing and teaching about science and nature

 

 

April 27, 2017

New logo and Facebook Page for the Hyaena Specialist Group

Filed under: blog,Carnivores,Hyenas,news,publications — Tags: , , , , — Stephanie Dloniak @ 12:14 pm

We are updating EVERYTHING at the Hyaena Specialist Group!

Here is our new logo:

And here is the link to our new Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/hyaenaspecialistgroup/

Stay tuned for more, including our new website. 

Happy hyena-ing!

 



April 14, 2014

Hope for Big Life in East Africa – new story

Filed under: blog,kenya,news,publications,wildlife — Tags: , , , , , , — Stephanie Dloniak @ 4:23 pm

My latest story has just been published. “Hope for Big Life in East Africa” is a feature in The Collection, a new Scandinavian magazine. I write about the art and conservation work of Nick Brandt. Here is the pdf: The_Collection_Magazine_Nick_Brandt_SMD

You can see more of Nick Brandt’s work here.

And you can learn more about Big Life Foundation here.



March 6, 2013

Conserving large carnivores: Dollars and fence

My guest blog post on lion conservation is up at Scientific American! I write about how data I collected in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve in 2005 were combined with lion count data from more than 40 other sites on the continent to test hypotheses about management options and conditions affect lions. The data were published today in the journal Ecology Letters.

Here is the blog post and here is the abstract of the scientific paper. I am happy to email a pdf of the paper to anyone who needs a copy, just contact me through the website.

Collecting data on lions in the Maara in 2005.

Collecting data on lions in the Maara in 2005.

 



February 8, 2013

Spotted hyenas finally visit!

After a year of camera-trapping we finally ‘captured’ a couple of hyenas! Two spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) made their way across the plot to the fence hole at 4AM on Monday morning! Being a hyena-ologist, I actually leapt from my seat with joy when I downloaded these photos from the camera trap. Have a look at the photo below: I think the first hyena is an adult female, and she appears to have a wire snare around her neck. The second looks like a sub-adult. So maybe a mom with her weaned cub? Just when I start to think I don’t need to check the cameras every day, we get another new species – and this time it’s my favorite!
hyena for post



January 23, 2013

A visit from the bushpig

A new species ventured through the fence hole last week: the bushpig, Potamochoerus larvatus.

Here is a video, composed of the still images taken by my motion-activated Reconyx camera trap:


We have had warthogs on our plot since the day we moved in, and I have hundereds of photos of these portly suburban pigs coming and going through the fence hole since we put the camera traps up about a year ago. Day after day I have gone through the camera trap images full of warthog snouts and butts. I have more images of suburban warthogs than any other wild animal, and we honestly never even considered that there was another species of wild pig in the neighborhood.

But about a month ago, I was quickly reviewing a few days and nights of camera trap photos when I suddenly saw a new shape peering at the camera from the darkness beyond the fence hole. It looked like a warthog without any warts or tusks, and with a swollen, abnormally long face. And it was a bit too hairy in some places, not hairy enough in other places. Even though the photo was blurred and dark, I knew it couldn’t be a warthog. So I turned to my trusted field guides (The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals and Estes’ The Behavior Guide to African Mammals), and confirmed that the only animal it could be was a bushpig. Over the next few weeks I continued to get images of this shy creature checking out the fence hole at night…until she finally decided to come on to our plot at 20:15 on January 17th – and leave just 5 minutes later.

Very little research has been done on bushpigs, but according to the work summarized by Estes, they are widespread in wooded and savanna habitats and can live in any kind of habitat with concealment and food. They are nocturnal and omnivorous: while roots, bulbs, and fallen fruit are thought to be main foods, bushpigs will also readily eat carrion and excrement, and they can even kill small mammals and birds.  Although you can’t see the tusks, they are razor sharp and can be up to 7 cm long. Bushpigs use these tusks to dig deep holes, for defense, and for fighting.

While I was thrilled to see this new species at our house (I have never seen it elsewhere, despite it being widespread and common!), the bushpig is considered a serious agricultural pest in Africa. Bushpig populations can increase in farming areas due to food availability, and their rooting can strip all plants from a sizeable area.

In my next post, I’ll explain how this species has played a role in an astounding number of lion attacks on humans in southern Tanzania.

 



September 17, 2012

Eating Giants: Hippo

Filed under: blog,news,publications,wildlife — Stephanie Dloniak @ 4:12 pm

At the end of my last post, I promised to write more about suburban lions within a day…..as long as nothing else exciting happened on the plot. Well, something exciting did indeed happen and I am finishing up a post about Syke’s monkeys, lesulas, and kipunjis…

In the mean time, apparently I was on tv in the USA last night. Animal Planet aired Eating Giants: Hippo as the first part of a two-part special about what happens to carcasses – who eats first, how long things take, etc. If you missed it, you can watch the video on Animal Planet’s website here.

The show was originally filmed for Channel 4 in the UK, and was titled Hippo: The Wild Feast. I was brought on as the hyena girl, joining the croc lady, the bug girl, the vulture guy, a couple of lion guys and presenter Mark Evans, one of the hosts of Inside Nature’s Giants. It was an incredible filming experience (we even did some live broadcasts!) and South Luangwa, Zambia, is a stunning safari destination.

The show has been reviewed in the NY Times (here).