Thirty years ago, a small boy stood in the shade of a big tree and had his little mind blown. It was — and still is — the biggest tree on the planet.
Author: mike shanahan
A cautionary tale: Kony 2012 – The backlash
Would you give guys like these your money if they said they would spend it well? Or follow them into a messy world of politics and power that you don’t really understand? Many thousands did this week without asking the questions that social media now enable us to ask. From at least some quarters of the internet, the online backlash was swift.
The humbling history of the tiny wasps that upset a Noah’s ark narrative
It’s the land that time forgot, a remote island whose strange life forms have survived in splendid isolation since the time of the dinosaurs. Or is it? Because while biologists have long thought this, geologists disagree. Now, genetics detectives may have closed the case with a study of tiny wasps. Their findings are a reminder that we are just part of a much bigger picture and of a story that never ends.
A typical landscape from the south of Grande Terre. Strange forests occupy the north of the island.
A rare encounter between man and beast
What happened when a cop met a deer on a crowded street in New York City? Click on the image to find out (you’ll need sound on) then come back here and let me know what you think of the message and how it has been communicated.
(Hat tip to Suzanne Fisher for finding this)
Rafts of rubber and a hotel for birds with spit that sells
There’s plenty of room at the Hotel Sri Tahjung. Any time of year… you can find it here. But if you want to stay, you’ll need a pair of wings and plenty of saliva. Continue reading
The near empty forest that proves conservation is failing
“Boleh makan… Boleh… Boleh.” As I turned the pages of my copy of Mammals of Borneo to reveal more images of wildlife, Siba anak Aji said the same thing each time. “Can eat… Can… Can.”
It was 1998 and I was doing ecological research in Lambir Hills National Park in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Siba, my research assistant, was explaining which of the wild species his Iban community would consider eating. The list was long.
The only animal off the menu was the moonrat. Little wonder — this weird white creature, which is not a rat but a cousin of the hedgehog, stinks of ammonia. Everything else, said Siba, was fair game.
Hunting was of course banned in Lambir Hills and for Siba and many other members of his community the park was a source of jobs not meat.
But for others the forest was a larder. Continue reading
Borneo’s eco-stranded apes with nowhere to call home
Who’s that hiding in the trees? It’s a Bornean orangutan, an ape with an unhappy history and an uncertain future. Continue reading
Golden green grunge for rare red orangutans
It’s a biologist’s dream — a rock band that’s named after plankton and makes conservation cool. Continue reading
Millions of long lost logs and a single special tree
If the ground beneath my feet last week could talk, it could tell a long story of land and logging, crime and conservation — the kind of story that defines rainforest politics. Continue reading
Game reveals complex links between poverty and threats to apes
There were 50 ape experts in a room and a quick game to play to break the ice. “If you agree with the statement, go to the left side of the room,” said the facilitator. “If you disagree go to the right.” Continue reading
Under The Banyan 