Okay, well maybe love is too strong of a word. BUT I will say I was fond of this particular monkey. It all started when I began my internship at a sanctuary in Panama. We were rehabilitating juvenile howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) that had been rescued from the pet trade. The goal was for these juveniles to eventually disperse and
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A dog sits on cue. Do you give them a half a treat, one treat or two treats? I would probably give one quarter to one eighth of a treat. That isn’t just because I am particularly frugal. There are a lot of variables like breed and age of the dog and the size and quality of the treats to
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It wasn’t until I started traveling that I really appreciated beans and rice. But ever since I spent that month in Costa Rica, things have never been the same. What I love is that I can throw together a big batch at the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge for future meals! Breakfast? Throw some fried
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Many people in the conservation world and beyond have heard the term “Meatless Monday” by now. Between publicity events at universities involving free t-shirts and recipes to social media, Meatless Monday has always been a hot topic. The concept is simple enough – cut out meat from your diet for one day. This isn’t some ploy by vegetarians and vegans
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During my summer in Rwanda, I spent most of my time quite literally at the interface between humans, wildlife (i.e. baboons) and domestic species (i.e. cattle). Because Rwanda suffers from severe overpopulation, virtually all of their “wild” places are in close proximity to human settlements. I saw this as a sort of glimpse into the future of the rest of the world, if the human
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For lack of a better phrase, this book pretty much “fell into my lap” during an environmental education conference. Having attended a panel about Leopold, I discussed with the instructor how I had not yet acquired a copy to read; he insisted I take his, and I did so graciously. I had heard of Aldo Leopold; who in any
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When I tell people I am a primatologist, the number one question I get is “Why?” It’s not an easy question for me to answer. I typically enter into a fifteen minute (at least) conversation discussing the plethora of information out there, and how much still needs to be studied. Mostly because it’s not a simple answer, but also because
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The days are getting shorter here in Tampa, FL and with less sunlight means less opportunities to take great pet photographs. By utilizing sunlight we can achieve more natural expressions and composition. Lighting is essential to great photography, and with fast moving animals, lighting is even more critical. Another benefit of natural sunlight is we can almost completely limit the
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This photo was taken at Sunken Meadow State Park (Long Island, NY). Sometimes I get so caught up in zig-zagging across the globe that I forget how beautiful nature can be, even in the midst of suburbia. Sunken Meadow in particular has always had a special meaning to me, as the beach that I frequented most often as a
Read moreI spent 7 months last year (Jan-Jul 2014) collecting behavioral data on wild olive baboons in Kenya. Here I give an overview of a typical day at the field site. The alarm goes off at 5:10 AM. I growl and scramble for the snooze button. Repeat 1 to 3 times. By 5:25 AM I have my headlamp on, and I
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DANTAisms 