‘Mammals of Africa (MoA), by Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Thomas Butynski (Director of the Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme), Michael Hoffmann, Meredith Happold, Jan Kalina, is a series of six volumes which describes, in detail, every currently recognized species of African land mammal.
By Anne-Marie C. Hodge, PhD student at the University of Wyoming. Website: www.annemariehodge.com
In most people’s minds, the equator is oppressively hot. It’s buggy. It’s either monotonously sandy or a forbidding, entangled mass of enormous trees and tropical marshes. Fortunately, these stereotypes are often untrue. In central Kenya, the equatorial region is an idyllic landscape, in large part due to its elevation—the average elevation of the region is 2,010 meters (6,595 feet) above sea level. The Lolldaiga Hills, which lie just sixteen miles north of the equator, comprise a picturesque, pleasant landscape of rolling hills, a lush river corridor, and stunning highland topography. With the iconic Mount Kenya just “next door,” and the Aberdare Mountain Range not far to the southwest, one could easily compare this breathtaking landscape to Montana. The abundant African wildlife roaming the landscape will quickly remind you, however, that you are near the top of the world in one of East Africa’s paragons of biodiversity.
In September, Mr. Julius Muthiu, a Guide/Research Technician at Lolldaiga Hills Ltd., attended the European Primate Network’s ‘Primate Conservation and Research Workshop’. This 2-week workshop, was funded by the EU and held at the German Primate Research Center, Göttingen, Germany.