After poppin’ some major wheelies in the airport security line, they flew with the camera buggy to the Ruaha and Katavi National Parks in Tanzania. The national parks provided the BeetleCam with some amazing photo-opts while keeping the brothers at a safe distance which decreased their pant-wetting probability by like, 25%.
The first real test came when the team spotted some African elephants. The elephants proved to be a little harder capture than first assumed given their super sensitive hearing (their ears are REALLY big). But eventually, being the curious monsters they are, the elephants came over to check out the buggy on their own.

“What the H.”

“Smells like peanuts. I love peanuts.”

Next up: LIONS.
::Keep reading or you will regret it for the rest of your life.::

This is where the qualifier “largely” I used in the second sentence of this post comes into play. When you’re driving a toy Hummer with an expensive duct-taped camera right into a pride of lions, you think “What could go wrong?” But then you’re reminded that they’re MF’ING LIONS when they grab your camera and take it into the bush to gnaw on it. But. Thankfully, the brothers were able to snag these incredible photos from the mangled camera body:

“Dude. It’s cool. I’ve read Jose Cansenco’s twitter page. I know how to handle perceived threats.”

Absolutely terrifying.

So with camera one gone (a Canon 400D = $600), they had to think fast. The brothers’ only option, other than to spend the rest of their African vacay at the hotel bar drinking tequila sunrises, was to strap their other camera (a Canon EOS 1D MK III = $6,000) onto to the ATV. No pressure.

Needless to say, the brothers steered clear of Africa’s top predators. And I’m glad they did because it meant they were able to capture one of my favorite animals, the African Buffalo. Sure, they can be ferociously aggressive toward humans and other threatening animals, but a small motorized camera buggy didn’t seem to bother them. In fact, they were pretty interested in the thing.

The BeetleCam Brothers will be making another trip to Africa later this year. Hopefully with lion repellent in tow. You should all, every single one of you, check out their blog, blog.burrard-lucas.com/ and subscribe to the RSS feed or email list so you won’t miss a thing. And for more videos like this one, head over to the BeetleCam page.

Thanks so much to Will (of Will & Matt) for the great photos and information about the BeetleCam.

I rate this PG-13

Truly, a remarkable piece of science. Only the best for Zooillogix readers.

In an age where people are inundated with edited sound bytes, rapid-fire video clips, and computer-generated animation, WildCam’s live streaming video gives viewers the time and space to develop a unique bond with the animals they watch. Some viewers even become “citizen scientists,” making discoveries about animal behaviors and reporting them to local staff via the online WildCam forum.

And how they did it in remote places outside of any 3g network, I have no idea. I’m sure a series of tubes was involved. Check out the live feed here: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/wildcamafrica/

And then, if you can handle it, watch the amazing “Animal Confrontation” highlight reel.
Warning: the 2:50 mark shows evidence of the carnivorous food-chain. Unfortunately, it’s an auto play video, so I’m having to link to it instead of embedding. Here is it: Totally Radical Animal Confrontations

… there will only be 140 prints available.

In addition to the nature-geek eye candy, viewers of the artwork are can read information about the species’ present status, habitat, threats to their survival, zodiac sign, and thoughts on the dwindling economy.
Each print purchase supports a conservation effort specific to that species. The above print benefits The Marmot Recovery Foundation (I wish I owned that domain name, marmots.org, so bad), and was created by Molly Schafer.

You must check them all out: http://endangeredspeciesprintproject.com/home.html

Well, almost. Here’s some info from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s press release:

“With the assistance of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Cameroon Program, a film crew from the Hamburg-based NDR Naturfilm managed to video the elusive Cross River gorilla earlier this year in a stand of montane trees after weeks of effort in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary. The protected area was created in 2008, with the guidance of WCS, specifically to protect the world’s rarest great ape.

“These gorillas are extremely wary of humans and are very difficult to photograph or film,” said Dr. Roger Fotso, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Cameroon Program. “Eventually, we identified and staked out some of the gorillas favorite fig trees, which is where we finally achieved our goal.”

“It’s unbelievable that one great ape subspecies has never been filmed for TV so far,” said Jörn Röver, Head of NDR Naturfilm. “We hope that our international production helps to raise awareness for these magnificent creatures and the work of the WCS.”

The only previous footage available of the rare apes was taken from a long distance with a shaky, hand-held camera in 2005 by a field researcher.”

This clip is the first professional video of the elusive and highly endangered Cross River gorilla. It is the world’s rarest great ape, numbering fewer than 300 individuals along the border of Nigeria and Cameroon.

Too bad the only apparent video equipment the team had on hand was my dad’s camcorder…

Christine Drea, Marylene Boulet, and Marie Charpentier from Duke University carefully obtained genital gland secretions from 17 sexually mature female ring-tailed lemurs.
Side note: most species of lemurs live in completely female dominated societies. The only other mammal to consistently do the same is the hyena.

Those samples were compared to previously gathered samples from 19 males. Turns out they found the first molecular evidence of relatedness markers in the gland secretions. The scents of the lemur hoo-ha’s were more similar the more closely related they were, thus providing a biomechanism to tell the lemurs who to wink at, and who not to.
The whole article can be found on the BMC website.

And I thought it was my brother’s bathing and eating habits.

This epic venture (which we’ve posted about here and here) is quickly coming to a close… snorkles are being given one last clean-out blow, goggles are getting a final spit rub, and wetsuits are being signed with “be-cool-stay-in-fish-schools.” To mark the occasion, COML provided an end of the year press release last week, the full version of which is a Zooillogix-Recommended read. The following incredible video was included in the press release.
My favorite comment on the YouTube page: “Damn nature, you scary!”

We’re eagerly waiting to see the whole thing be revealed in London on October 4, 2010. We’d do live reporting if Andrew was allowed to leave the lower 48.

While traipsing through the Magombera forest in east Tanzania, Dr. Andy Marshall spotted a helpless little creature being eaten by a twig snake. With the courage and strength often associated with ecologists, Dr. Marshall rescued a new species of chameleon from the jaws of certain death. Well, actually he and his team startled the snake, causing it to drop the chameleon where Marshall’s team then picked it up.
Dr. Marshall and his cohort Michele Menegon named the species Kinyongia magomberae (the Magombera chameleon). That’s chameleon species number 161 for those keeping track at home.

When not stumbling on new creatures, Dr. Marshall works as a conservation researcher with the Environment Department at the University of York. His research is assessing the current state of the Magombera Forest. The forest is home to an incredibly high biodiversity but, as you might have guessed, that biodiversity is being threatened. It’s currently unprotected and vulnerable to damage by illegal squatters from surrounding areas. As a part of his project, Dr. Marshall’s team is attempting to educate the local population on sustainability for the forest.

Listen to Dr. Marshall tell it like it is (audio from U of York):

You can read more about Dr. Marshall, the Magombera chameleon, and the Magombera Forest on the University of York’s website.