The Expo is Coming!!

Don't miss out on your chance to hear the latest field research and efforts to save some amazing endangered species straight from the worlds leading conservationists mouths.

Professor Claudio Sillero will be at the Expo to talk about his work with the Ethiopian wolf and I'll be at the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme's table with lots of images from my time spent in Ethiopia with the wolves.  Aby stuffed plush toys, cards and more will be available for purchase with proceeds going straight to help the wolves!

Visit http://wildnet.org/ to get your tickets today!

Otterly Crazy

Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris kenyoni

I love most marine mammals but otters are in my top five favorite critters to photograph thanks to their playful nature, adorable faces and trickster attitudes. They are curious and will get into anything you might leave around - stealing boat covers, climbing up on kayaks or just popping up next to your boat to say 'Hi'.
 

 

Highly prized for their luxurious fur (850,000 to 1 million hairs per square inch) this member of the mustelidae (weasel family) was hunted to near extinction. They once numbered close to 1 million individuals but in the 1900's their population plummeted to 1-2,000. Today they have rebounded and while still threatened, it's not unusual to see otters floating along the Alaskan coastline or crunching on clams with wild abandon.

Unlike other marine mammals, otters rely on their fur to keep them warm rather than a blubber layer.  They spend quite a lot of time keeping their luxurious fur clean, tangle free and full of air bubbles.  It's a lot of fun to watch them rolling in the water as they groom.

 
The average life span of a sea otter in the wild is 10-20 years with females averaging 5 years on their male counterparts.  The oldest recorded otter in captivity lived to 28 years! As an otter ages it's fur becomes more and more blond so it's pretty easy to tell who's been around the block.

Denali National Park

I've been hidden away in my office for the last few months working on a book for the Ethiopian Wolf Project and it's finally off to the copy editor so I get to take a little break.  Today I got to drive up to Denali National Park.  I've never been able to visit late in the season before so it was a real treat to see the park wrapped in red and gold.

Tragedy in the Congo

Wildlife Conservation Network supports many conservation efforts around the world including my beloved Ethiopian wolves.  On June 24th one of their supported projects, the Okapi Conservation Project in the Congo was attacked by rebels, six people were killed as well as 13 resident Okapi.

The Congolese and UN armies have moved in and secured the area but the rebels stole all of the food and medical stores and burned down the projects buildings.  People are returning to their villages but without aid the prospects are grim.  You can read the full heart wrenching account by the OCP's Director John Lukas on the WCN website.

Please consider making a donation to the Okapi Conservation Project.  No amount is too small, they need all the help we can give them.