Muktar Abute, vet team leader for the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Project (EWCP), grabs his vaccination kit, while the rest of us pull on boots and head torches.
Thunder rolls in the distance as we pick our way down the steep mountain path. We’re at an altitude of almost 4,000m and it’s raining, but the prospect of finding a wolf distracts me from the icy chill.
I’ve made the journey to these remote slopes to document the work of the EWCP, an organisation dedicated to saving the species from extinction. We soon find our quarry, its leg caught in a rubber-edged hold trap. Programme manager Edriss Ebu, joined by field director Eric Bedin, throws a red blanket over the struggling animal to calm it down. The wolf is anaesthetised, released from the trap and moved a few metres away.
Trying to capture all the action on camera is tricky: the rain is still coming down, it’s almost pitch darkness and I am burdened by a large and ungainly poncho. The team from EWCP works fast and in almost complete silence. Keeping a close eye on the wolf ’s wellbeing, Muktar performs a brief physical exam, measuring and weighing the animal and examining its teeth, while Eric records the corresponding data. He then checks the identification tag on the wolf ’s ear and shaves a small patch of its leg to take a blood sample.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2022 من BBC Wildlife.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2022 من BBC Wildlife.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Jump Around - Bagheera Kiplingi - The acrobatic spider with a predilection for veggie food
Spiders eat flies, right? everyone knows that the 45,000 or so spiders in the world are all obligate carnivores, more or less – eating other animals, mainly invertebrates. Nature, however, loves an exception, and one particular spider missed out on that ecological memo. It goes by the wonderful scientific name of Bagheera kiplingi, and its claim to fame is that its diet is – at least mostly – vegetarian.
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See It, Save It? - Wildlife tourism can be a powerful ally in protecting nature - but it can also harm it. We weigh up the pros and cons.
The sums of wildlife travel aren’t as simple as more tourists equals happier nature. How much did my visit really contribute to the conservation of Lady Liuwa and her habitat – and was that outweighed by carbon emissions from my flights? Did my presence disturb the animals’ natural behaviour more than it reduced the threat of poaching or benefited local communities?The question of whether wildlife travel is, on balance, good for wildlife is a complex one – and there’s no simple answer.
Can Your Really Offset Emissions? - Planning an overseas wildlife-watching trip entails facing some inconvenient truths
Imagine (or maybe you don't need to) that you hanker after the safari trip of a lifetime in sub-Saharan Africa. A 17-day tour beginning at the iconic Victoria Falls, passing through Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, taking in some of the continent’s most wildlife-rich national parks, and ending on the lush island of Zanzibar.
Metamorphosis: a life-changing event
WITH EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST JV CHAMARY
New series for BBC One: Asia
Settle in this autumn for a new natural-history extravaganza on BBC One and iPlayer: the longawaited Asia, presented by Sir David Attenborough.
Loss of Antarctic sea ice could impact seabird food supply
Albatrosses and petrels may be forced to fly further to feed
Tarsiers in trouble
Urgent action is needed to ensure survival of the Yoda-like primate
SNAP-CHAT
Chien Lee on shrew loos, rogue drones and being rained out of bed
VISIONS OF NATURE
The winners of the Wildlife Artist of the Year competition 2024, from David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
