Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings

Featured image: Trading tiger and rhino products: Conservation Threat or Innovation?

Trading tiger and rhino products: Conservation Threat or Innovation?

Brendan Moyle • Nov 03, 2018

China recently opted to end its 25 year ban on the domestic trade in tiger and rhino parts. These products were banned from use in 1993 and mention of their application in TCM was removed from official publications. This was done mostly under pressure from Western governments and NGOs, who saw this legal trade as a threat to wild populations … Read More

Featured image: Our secret urban wildlife: Big Spiders

Our secret urban wildlife: Big Spiders

Brendan Moyle • Aug 27, 2018

Middle child was having breakfast when a big spider scuttled across the floor, heading for the table. It was a rare sight. One of our native tunnel-web spiders. It was out of its tunnel and out in daylight (it is normally nocturnal). This is the second occasion I’ve noticed one of these spiders inside our house. This is really not … Read More

Featured image: Reflections of a science blogger

Reflections of a science blogger

Brendan Moyle • Jul 05, 2018

It is the tenth anniversary of the Science Media Centre. That also means I have been blogging here since 2009. This was not the first blogging platform I used. I originally started in the Opera blog community. Opera shutdown their blog service in March 2014 as what was supposed to be a support community for their browser users took … Read More

Featured image: Our secret urban wildlife: Giant centipedes

Our secret urban wildlife: Giant centipedes

Brendan Moyle • Jun 12, 2018

One thing I like about returning to NZ from places like China, is being around nature again. We live in one of the few parts of the world, and certainly the developed world, where wildlife is sometimes not just at our doorsteps, but also inside as well. Urban Forests Some of this is down to our urban forests. Our urban … Read More

Featured image: Aotearoa Bike Challenge 2018

Aotearoa Bike Challenge 2018

Brendan Moyle • Mar 02, 2018

It’s been a harder challenge for me this year. I injured myself with a lumbar strain and have had to avoid strenuous exercise for most of the month. While I still ended up with a lot of rides, I was down in both distance and number compared to last year. And certainly none of the big rides I managed in … Read More

Featured image: A sad and tragic end

A sad and tragic end

Brendan Moyle • Feb 06, 2018

I got home on Monday night and my notifications on my phone exploded. Esmond Martin was dead. Murdered in his Nairobi home. For those of us who knew him, the shock spread through the conservation community. The news was picked up by more news sources in the next 24 hours. By Tuesday morning the NZ Herald was … Read More

Featured image: Ending Trophy Hunting of Elephants: Is this a Conservation Success?

Ending Trophy Hunting of Elephants: Is this a Conservation Success?

Brendan Moyle • Nov 23, 2017

Following a wave of popular outrage, the US government appears to be backtracking on the decision to allow the import elephant hunting trophies. Nonetheless, despite the support of celebrities and Animal Rights groups like the HSUS, it is not obvious this will help conserve elephants.  Sadly I don’t host popular talk shows or star in movies. I do research … Read More

Featured image: Walking in water: First trip to the Pararaha Stream

Walking in water: First trip to the Pararaha Stream

Brendan Moyle • Sep 27, 2017

The track wasn’t marked on the map. It was supposed to be for experienced hikers only.  I’d decided to tackle the Pararaha Stream from the Lone Kauri Road end. It’s an area of the Waitakere Ranges I hadn’t explored before, so I was unsure what to expect.  I guessed I’d need my hands free. So the tripod was carried in a tripod … Read More

Featured image: What a lot of water: Waipunga Waterfall

What a lot of water: Waipunga Waterfall

Brendan Moyle • Sep 11, 2017

I stood in the drizzle, watching the large waterfall sending clouds of spray and mist upwards. It has been raining a lot in NZ.  Not only have we had several cyclones dump a lot of water on the North Island, winter has had some decent downpours as well.  This is partly good news for waterfall photography. The hard bit is … Read More