• Question: When I am older I would like to study animals and zoology too! What is your favourite animal you have encountered and how many habitats have you saved?

    Asked by anon-253608 to Gareth, Ana Filipa on 9 May 2020.
    • Photo: Ana Filipa Palmeirim

      Ana Filipa Palmeirim answered on 9 May 2020:

      Between all the animals I have been studying, my favourite is a an arboreal marsupial that leaves on the top to very tall trees, it is called bare tailed woolly opossum. This animal is very fun, it has an incredible eyes (you can check in my photo, I am holding one of those) and makes a really interesting noise. It is hard to say I have saved any habitat, yet I have contributed to maximise the species persisting in many habitats. For example, my studies show that the creation of small amount of forests is not good for biodiversity, instead, a larger amount of forest is needed to support more species and avoid the extinction of more sensible species, like my favourite that can be gone if the very tall trees disappear.

    • Photo: Gareth Mason

      Gareth Mason answered on 11 May 2020:

      I usually only get to see a glimpse of the animals I work with unless it’s the breeding season and they’re displaying and more predictable. However, I always love seeing foxes when I am out, and goshawks too. Goshawk are very shy birds of prey that live in big quiet woods, but are fearsome predators who are skilled at catching birds like pigeons, crows, jays, and also squirrels.

      Part of my job is to monitor and protect certain habitats. One special kind is ‘limestone pavements’ which I have to visit every year to see which plants and flowers are growing here, and if we need to change the way we protect the habitat. This could mean, for example, grazing the area with more sheep, or less.

Comments

  • Photo: anon-253608

    anon-253608 commented on :

    Wow!

  • Photo: anon-253685

    anon-253685 commented on :

    Cool

  • sophiesteward commented on :

    I think one of my favourites has to be the african hunting dog. They are a fascinating and beautiful animal, but I’m intrigued by there level of ‘agression’ you could say towards prey and other species, for instance I had learned that they are one of the few canids that cannot be domesticated, I find that absolutely amazing. I love their giant ears, and the slightly terrifying sounds they make when calling to each other, their persistence and intelligence. They are a top predator to be admired.

  • Photo: Steve

    Steve commented on :

    It has to be penguin. When I worked in the Antarctic we had a large number of Adelie penguins all around us. We also had three species of seal. Leopard, Elephant and Weddle seal.

  • Photo: Helen

    Helen commented on :

    My favourite animals are ladybirds – they have such amazing ways of living their lives and they are really important in controlling pest insects too. There are many other insects that fascinate me – I am working with some amazing scientists on pollinating insects, bees and hoverflies as examples, and ways in which we can get a better understanding of the numbers of these important animals. Do you have a favourite animal?