Wow! I have now finished my surveys of koalas on all the islands and mainland near Mackay in the state of Queensland, Australia, and can report that the damage done by Cyclone Ului back in March 2010 was quite impressive. The week on Rabbit Island and the adjacent mainland last month was a real eye-opener for me. I have been studying koalas in the relatively benign environment of St. Bees Island for over 10 years and the nearby islands for 4 years. In that time I have not seen any cyclones hit the islands this hard, so I had no idea of the kind of damage these storms are capable of.
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I’m pleased to report that there have recently been two tangible steps forward for the conservation of Andean (spectacled) bears and the tropical dry forest in northeast Peru, where we’re working with our collaborator, the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society (SBC). (Read post In It for the Long Haul.) In fact, both advancements involved SBC either directly or through collection of data and outreach resulting in greater community and governmental interest in conservation.
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The weather has turned cool, but the strong winds that accompanied cyclone Ului are long gone, and once again we are in coastal Queensland, Australia, looking for koalas (see previous post, Koalas: Not All Doom and Gloom). We have spent the last week in the west, catching koalas at Clermont, but now we have the sea to look at instead of the open plains. Our project at St. Bees has uncovered many interesting facets of koalas’ lives, but sometimes the most interesting things come to you by chance, and this trip is the result of one such chance.
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Kachikau was a large female elephant, approximately 30 years of age, and the matriarch of her family herd of 8. Her nature seemed to be one of a calm, reserved matriarch. Not once had we witnessed her show any signs of aggression or distress. She kept her calf close to her side and was an attentive mother, much to the pleasure of the young one, who seemed shy among the larger elephants.
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Megan is doing polar bear field research in Alaska’s North Slope. Read her previous post, Field Note: Like a Heat Wave.

I spent the morning setting up sensitive microphones in the relative warmth of a “polar bear” den, which we dug ourselves. The floor of the den was about 2 meters (6.5 feet) below the surface of the snow. After I relayed the cable to a crew-member, I took a moment and sat on the floor of the den. I admired the construction of the den and the quiet, protected environment that we had created.
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When we talk about climate change, one of the first things we need to clarify is the difference between climate and weather. The term “climate” refers to the longer-term trends in atmospheric conditions that characterize a particular region. The term “weather” refers to what’s happening at the moment: the day-to-day atmospheric conditions in a particular location. For example, I can guess that right now, in San Diego, the weather is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius), and there is no rain. That description of the weather fits right into the climactic norms for San Diego in April. Right now, the weather at our field site on the North Slope of Alaska (see previous post, The Science of Shoveling Snow) is about -11.2 degrees Fahrenheit (-24 degrees Celsius), with light winds out of the northeast and no precipitation.
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I arrived yesterday in Alaska and traveled up to the North Slope this morning. Today is the first day of fieldwork for our study of how vehicular noise penetrates the snow and ice of a polar bear’s den. Much of our polar bear research revolves around exploring their acoustic ecology. Our interest, and that of our project sponsor, Polar Bears International (PBI), is to develop a better understanding of the impact of industrial and vehicular noise on denning polar bears. Because pregnant polar bears excavate snow dens in some of the same areas that hold much of the Arctic’s petroleum deposits, there is a keen interest to assess the potential impacts of these activities and develop more effective mitigation strategies in the near future.
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I have been analyzing photos taken by remote camera traps in the montane forest region of southeast Peru while studying Andean (spectacled) bears. Fortunately for my ego, I can easily identify most species photographed by the remote cameras, even though I’ve never seen these animals before except in a book. To be honest, there are some animals that are so distinctive they cannot be confused with anything else. Here are two creatures going about their business while being “caught” on camera!
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Shortly after arriving in the small town of Beloha, word of our arrival spread quickly. Not many vazas, a Malagasy term for light-skinned foreigners, come to this area of Madagascar, especially ones studying tortoises. We definitely drew some curious stares, and in a manner of minutes we had offers to see tortoises.
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Russ has been doing field research in various parts of Peru (see previous post Who’s Watching Whom?) to study Andean (spectacled) bears.

Even after looking at hundreds of remote camera photos, it’s amazing how difficult it can sometimes be to see which animal triggered the camera to take a photo. Sometimes I can only see the animal by looking at the sequence of photos in rapid succession and observing what moves or changes from one picture to the next. Other times, it’s easy to see the animal, because eyes often shine in the reflection from the infrared flash.
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