grist for the blogmill (what’s in a name?)
Category: foolishness | Date: Oct 05 2008 | By: Seamus
A while back we had some NPR folks out here to do a story on Lion conservation in east africa. I found them to be thoughtful, very bright people and a pleasure to host. The story hasn’t been aired yet, I guess partly due the somewhat tidal US economic and political landscape (which takes precedence over matters of the earth clearly). Nevertheless, I have found some engaging stories on the NPR site which I read while I am waiting for our humble undertaking to hit the airwaves.
So, my sandal-wearing lentil-eating lefty regulars, today I give you some subversive diversion: a link to Robert Krulwich’s story on naming of species in science. An excerpt reads as follows:
In 2005, a beetle fancier, professor Quentin Wheeler, and his student Kelly Miller named a bunch of slime mold-eating beetles after President George W. Bush and some prominent members of his Cabinet: Agathidium bushi, A. rumsfeldi and A. cheneyi.
Some of Wheeler’s liberal colleagues assumed that this was not a compliment - slime, after all, being slime. But Wheeler says he’s been a lifelong Republican, and to prove his good intentions, he named one of the beetles after his wife.
So I wonder to myself, doesn’t this tell one less about Wheeler’s respect for Bush, and more about his view of his wife’s importance?
Thanks to BookishGypsy for the link. Silly Sunday strikes again… signing out from southern Maasailand.
Technorati : linnaeus, nomenclature, science, species, taxonomy
Versace meets Kalashnikov
Category: General | Date: Oct 03 2008 | By: Seamus
A connection of mine, Eric Miller is having an exhibition in Cape Town. He is an excellent photographer, and has a snappy domain where the rest of his work is: www.eric.co.za/. If you happen to be on the dark continent, do make an effort to get to the University of Cape Town, Centre for African Studies, and check it out.
Technorati : africa, arts, congo, no lions, photography, rebels, sudan
more lions collared
Category: General | Date: Oct 01 2008 | By: Seamus
2L asked a question yesterday relating to the new study animals here. One of the reasons I’ve been posting very little recently is because we’ve been very active in the field. There are now 3 more lions with collars on Kuku ranch (to the south of here), and one of the lions here has had his collar changed. The pic below shows a view of Kuku ranch, looking south. In fact, the area between the man radio-tracking, and the flat-topped hill is Ndelie’s core territory.
So in summary, we now have 11 collared lions in the study, and 3 of them are wearing GPS collars (Iridium satellite phone download). Luckily the GPS collars were donated to the project (by Vectronics, Ol Donyo Wuas lodge and Masai Wilderness Conservation Trust). They have a fat price tag on them… the three collars alone amount to about 18,000 usd. So as you can see, I am deeply concerned about your economies in the so-called developed world, and am trying my best to stimulate economic growth and the virtues of capitalism (by ordering expensive equipment from you). If you would like me to I can send some food as well. Hmmn. I might tie the food aid to your behaviour in the international political arena though. This could get messy.
Technorati : lion conservation, lions, research
lionsgalore
Category: General | Date: Sep 28 2008 | By: Seamus
People like to touch sleeping lions. I think it might be something that refers to our evolution… a kind of fascination with dangerous situations or animals. Here are some folks who I work with, having a closer look at one of our most recenty collared lions.
Technorati : lion conservation, lion research, lions, maasai
environmental goes dutch
Category: General | Date: Sep 25 2008 | By: Seamus
Its strange how the world becomes a smaller place when one has internet access. Today’s post came to me through links from two continents. And then I was struck by the extraordinary geographical spread of entries for the Picnic2008 Green challenge. L tells me the whole gig was really interesting, and mentioned particularly Ethan Zuckerman’s talk.
Technorati : environmentalism, new paradigms
Take note: Kenya is part of the Global economy
Category: Politics | Date: Sep 24 2008 | By: Seamus
I can’t help but notice that the so-called developed world is having a tough time financially. “Pole” as they say here in East Africa.
I fully understand that the consequences of this slow-down are dire for some. But you need to smile sometimes… there are still lions here in southern Kenya. Life goes on. Africa has been here for a long time. We’re good at surviving… while the dollar becomes every more desperate.
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Technorati : US economy, dollars, doom and gloom, lions, recession, stock markets
weather and other generalities
Category: Maasailand weather report | Date: Sep 23 2008 | By: Seamus
Its starting to warm up here. And the fire season is upon us. The hills are hazy most days, and the smell of bushfire pervades, not that you can make it out so well in the photo.
Digideconstruction / don’t try this at home
Category: General | Date: Sep 22 2008 | By: Seamus
Two of our radio-receivers stopped working at the same time. I decided to salvage parts from them and try to at least have one funcional receiver by the end of the morning. It was just a matter of switching boards, and some fiddly soldering. Here’s what my desk looks like this morning. I lent my toolbox to my colleague Steve, so had to do the whole job with a “swisstool”
(these are receivers that are used to track the collared lions by the way)
Technorati : DIY, how to break stuff elegantly, lions, radio repair
avoidance behaviour
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 19 2008 | By: Seamus
I’ve just arrived home after some extensive travelling. Our lion-tracking site has just been updated, and Ndelie’s avoidance of an area in the centre of his range is quite striking. If you activate the “boma markers”, then press “play” you can see how he avoids the boma at the base of one of the hills.
Technorati : GIS, lion conservation, lion research, lions
mobile applications, and more tech-babble
Category: General | Date: Sep 17 2008 | By: Seamus
I have been thinking quite a bit recently about how mobile communication technology can interface with the management of wildlife, problem animal control etc. We are heavily dependent on mobile phones, but it is interesting to think for a minute about how africans are customising mobile techology to suit their needs, rather than take off-the-shelf tech solutions. Martin and Sophie for instance are grabbing GSM components and with the addition of a GPS and a pinch of this and that, are manufacturing state-of the-art wildlife GPS collars (South Africans are African too by the way - and so are Egyptians). Check out some links on Ethan Zuckerman’s blog (My Heart’s in Accra) for more food for thought on this subject. Thanks Nomad for the heads-up.
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