All posts by Sarah Bell

Current PhD candidate studying the effects of the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, including investigating any cultural changes that may have happened due to the epidemic and how these changes effect wildlife and the environment. Sometimes I am in the U.K. and sometimes I am in Sierra Leone.

Traps on the Serengeti capture endangered species

Normally this would be horrible news, but these traps are animal friendly. Are any traps animal friendly, you may ask? Well yes! Camera traps! 225 camera traps have been set up over 390 square miles in hopes to get a sense of how the Serengeti functions as an ecosystem without humans being present.

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odd animal profile: sunda flying lemur

It’s not a lemur, and it doesn’t fly, so the name is a little misleading. But I bet you’ve never heard of it before! This little gliding animal is pretty rare and in fact, there’s not much known about them. They’re not a new species, people just don’t seem to concerned with learning more about this fuzzy little creature.

Sunda Colugo  or Sunda Flying Lemur feeding

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mother Dana and baby Kea

I’m such an emotional sap. This brought tears to my eyes! But how could it not? It’s the miracle of birth seen in a completely new way. This captive Sumatran orangutan named Dana gave birth to a beautiful new baby girl, now why is this so fantastic? Well firstly because Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered, but secondly because it was the first ever orangutan birth caught on film so completely.

Photo from Durrell Wildlife Park
Photo from Durrell Wildlife Park

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a love for lions

Happy world lion day! While doing my routine daily scroll through National Geographic’s website I came across something new. Something titled The Serengeti Lion This website is dedicated to photos, videos, and sound bytes from the Vumbi pride.

From National Geographic
From National Geographic

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pura vida

Costa Rica’s motto is pura vida which means pure life. They have been ranked the third greenest country in the world time and time again by Yale’s Environmental Performance Index or EPI. When looking to travel through Costa Rica, eco-lodges and environmental tourist destinations are everywhere. The country has planted well over 5 million trees in the last five years, this previously third world country is now leading the environmental example for countries everywhere. While trying to uphold their green status the government has recently decided that the best way to experience wildlife is through national parks, where nature can be enjoyed naturally. This has lead to the closure of the two public zoos and the relocation of the residents to animal sanctuaries, where the native animals will hopefully be released back into the wild.

Photo by Lindsay Fendt from Tico Times
Photo by Lindsay Fendt from Tico Times

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hi dad, i’m not going to be a doctor anymore…

I actually got an unpaid internship at a zoo! That about sums up the phone call my poor father got after I was accepted into the intern program at the Palm Beach Zoo. I was over the moon and his mild shock couldn’t change it. I think that my parents had known all along that I wouldn’t end up being a doctor. I just couldn’t stay away from those animals! After spending an entire school year choosing to wake up early and shovel tiger crap instead of stay out late at parties I was now choosing to seal my fate in the zoo world.

Serena and Me

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“non-human persons”

India is the fourth country to ban keeping cetaceans in captivity, behind Costa Rica, Hungary and Chile. Dolphins and other cetaceans have long been kept as a source of entertainment and guaranteed income in zoos and theme parks alike. But knowing what we know now about cetacean intelligence, is that really the right thing to do?

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requirements require updates

I’ll say it. I have now decided to give myself the title ‘former zookeeper’ because the more I examine zoo’s and the way they operate the less I am satisfied. Most zoos put their animals first, most zoos put most of their animals first, but really, I’ve learned that its a department to department kind of thing. I’ve seen departments who really value and I’ve seen places that are more likely to put the people’s experience before their animals welfare.

This photo is from the San Antonio Zoo, the ONLY U.S. Zoo to make it to the list of top 10 worst zoos in the world.
This photo is from the San Antonio Zoo, the ONLY U.S. Zoo to make it to the list of top 10 worst zoos in the world.

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‘merica

Happy 4th of July! What? It’s the 9th you say? Shh… I’ve been on vacation!

The birthday of America, a day to drink and shoot off fireworks and not really think about what the 4th of July is actually celebrating. It was the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed in, which gave us freedom from the Britts across the pond. But I’m not really here to talk about history, well, not U.S. history, but I thought that I would give you guys a little information about the interaction between the U.S. and the bald eagle. 

From First People
From First People

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