Blog Archives

Delight for a wildlife fan

A rare treat — a fabulous Giant Stag Beetle (Lucanus elaphus). My fingertips for scale. Incredible!!! Saw this one at a city greenway last week. The huge jaws are only on males, they fight for females just like male elk,

Posted in Stinkbugs, Stick Insects, & Stag Beetles, Wildlife, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , ,

Orangutans left-handed; chimps and gorillas are righties

Photo showing an orangutan engaged in the TUBE task. Photo used with permission of the researcher  William Hopkins. Mmm, love that peanut butter Apes are right-handed or left-handed, just like us. Not a big surprise, since they’re our closest evolutionary

Posted in Animal behavior / animal intelligence, Primates, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We are family: new evidence of our close link to chimpanzees

Photo: wikimedia commons People are good at detecting human personalities accurately, even from expressionless mug shots. A study last year showed that we can reliably tell who is extroverted, emotionally stable, agreeable or imaginative – just from their blank and

Posted in Africa, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , , ,

Insects breeding faster due to global warming

This post now appearing on the Daily Me Those of us concerned about greenhouse gases and climate change have a new study to ponder. This study, from Dr. Florian Altermatt at UC Davis, documents once again the biological effects of

Posted in Climate change, Energy-efficient housing, Environmental footprint, Sustainable choices for your home, Sustainable Living, Wildlife, Wildlife behavior, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Toad and lizard come to call

All photos and text by Sally Kneidel, PhD, of sallykneidel.com I had fun this week. To my joy, I was twice asked to retrieve or rescue a little animal in a bad situation. One was an Anolis lizard on my

Posted in Wildlife, Wildlife behavior, Wildlife habitat, Wildlife survival Tagged with: , , , , ,

Monkeys persecuted as “pests”

Vervet monkeys are regarded as pests in southern Africa, and are often persecuted the same way gray wolves were persecuted to local extinction in the United States. But vervet social behavior is in many ways very similar to our own.

Posted in Africa, Eco-travel, South Africa, Sustainable Living, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , , , ,

A sustainable, locally run, and off-the-grid resort in South Africa; great for birding

All photos and text by Sally Kneidel, PhD, of sallykneidel.com Children of the Hamakuya community. Community residents find employment at the small “green” resort of Tshulu Camp, bringing needed revenue into the village. My husband Ken consulting his bird guide

Posted in Africa, Eco-travel, Energy-efficient housing, Environmental footprint, Food, Going Green (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel), South Africa, Sustainable Living, Wildlife, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , , , , ,

We were lucky to see lions on a kill. But are lions disappearing from Africa?

We watched two lions work over a buffalo kill for 3 days. But we learned that lions are sharply declining in Africa – sad and scary news!

Posted in Africa, Eco-travel, South Africa, Sustainable Living, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , ,

Female hyenas, all hermaphrodites, bully the males and steal prey from lions

Female hyenas are all hermaphrodites and dominate the males. They’re also Africa’s 2nd most powerful carnivore. See our photos and story from June.

Posted in Africa, Eco-travel, South Africa, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , , ,

South African Village Hopes to Benefit from 2010 World Cup

This small indigenous village near Kruger National Park is trying to transition to sustainable livelihoods based on eco-tourism and educational tourism. The 2010 World Cup may help.

Posted in Africa, Eco-travel, Energy-efficient housing, Environmental footprint, Wildlife, Wildlife behavior Tagged with: , , ,

What’s this blog about?

These days, I blog mostly about nature and wildlife. Even the tiniest creatures make me happy! You'll also find here lots of posts about plant-based foods, health, and ecotourism. Ecotourism can support local people who make a living through sustainable use of wildlife, habitat, and natural resources.

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Link to our other blog, Veggie Revolution

Our other blog, Veggie Revolution, focuses more on food than this one does, especially the environmental, health and humane aspects of our food choices. That blog was started in 2005 and continues today, while the blog you're reading now began in 2009. Some of the newer posts are on both blogs, but Veggie Rev has at least 260 more posts than this blog, including Sadie's travels to Morocco. In the sidebar of Veggie Rev, you'll see links to each year that can take you back to all the posts for a particular year.

Veggie Revolution blog