This 2 January 2020 video from Zambia says about itself:
At Kafue National Park, one cheetah has adapted his hunting strategy to find more prey: he hunts in the forest, instead of the open plains. This flexibility is good news for the future of Africa’s most endangered big cat.
This 14 December 2019 video, recorded in Zambia, says about itself:
Why Hovering is a Key Skill for the Pied Kingfisher
The pied kingfisher is the largest bird in the world that is able to hover without using air currents. This means it doesn’t need a perch to hunt for fish, but can do so from the middle of a lake.
This 7 December 2017 video from Zambia says about itself:
An American biologist sets out to study the little-known Kinda baboon species – and this involves getting close to them in their natural habitat. Everything is of interest, from their fur patterns to their mannerisms.
This 7 August 2019 video says about itself:
WOW!! Zambia To Expel London-Based Copper Miner Vedanta
It is not “business and usual” on the African continent for many multination corporations that have been exploiting us for a long time. Many are facing huge tax bills and even the possibility of having their various licences cancelled. The most recent case is Zambia which is already at an advanced stage of “kicking out” London-based copper miner, Vedanta.
This 18 July 2019 video from Zambia says about itself:
Carmine bee-eaters use their long slender bill to pluck bees out of the air. Then, to neutralize their dangerous sting, they’ll smash the bee against the ground, several times.
This 11 July 2019 video, recorded in Zambia, says about itself:
How Giraffe Spots Act Like a Natural Air Conditioner
The dark patches on a giraffe’s skin have more blood vessels than the light skin. This can help heat dissipate, allowing them to stay cool.
In a new Ethology study, researchers examined information on two adjacent giraffe populations in Kenya to determine whether human activities and high predation affect their social networks: here.
This 17 May 2019 video from Zambia says about itself:
A Wildebeest Bull Stands Up to Two Cheetahs
A wildebeest bull takes exception to a couple of cheetahs who are feeding too close to his herd. Amazingly, he decides to take a direct stand against them, forcing them out of his territory.
This 16 November 2018 video says about itself:
How Zambian Villagers Learned to Coexist With Elephants
In the 1950s, villagers waged a constant war against elephant herds that raided their crops. But a man named Norman Carr figured out a way to call a truce between the warring factions.
This 27 August 2018 video says about itself:
How a New Generation Is Saving Zambia’s Lions | National Geographic
Zambia is one of the last remaining strongholds for large African carnivores like lions, yet human conflict is impacting their populations. National Geographic Explorer Thandiwe Mweetwa and Fulbright Scholar Henry Mwape are conservationists working with the Zambian Carnivore Program to ensure these big cats will be around for generations to come.
This 2013 aquarium video is called Neolamprologus obscurus.
From ScienceDaily:
How a fish species in Lake Tanganyika works together to secure additional food sources
March 6, 2018
Cooperative behaviour to acquire food resources has been observed in hunting carnivores and web-building social spiders. Now researchers have found comparable behaviours in a fish species. A tiny striped fish called Neolamprologus obscurus only found in Lake Tanganyika in Zambia excavates stones to create shelter and increase the abundance of food for all fish in the group. Led by Hirokazu Tanaka of the University of Bern in Switzerland and the Osaka City University in Japan, this study is the first to document how team work in fish helps them to acquire more food. The research is published in Springer’s journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
Neolamprologus obscurus is a highly sociable species of cichlid found only in the southern reaches of Lake Tanyanika. These zebra-striped fish feed mainly on shrimp and other invertebrates found along the bottom of the lake. At night, shrimp move into the water column, but by dawn they sink back to the lake bottom to hide in crevices and holes, including the shelters that the fish have dug out under stones. Such excavation work is always done as a group, as is subsequent maintenance efforts. Breeding fish seldom leave these safe havens and are supported by up to ten helpers from their family group. The helpers protect the brood, and constantly remove sand and debris that fall into the cavities.
“The function of these excavated cavities is much like that of the webs of social spiders, which live in groups and share the trapped prey among group members,” explains Tanaka.
In this study, Tanaka and his colleagues wanted to find out if the size of the cavities at the bottom of the lake relate to the abundance of food available in the area, and if the presence of helpers influences the size. Through hours of scuba diving in Lake Tanyanika, the researchers created artificial cavities and examined the stomach contents of some of the fish. In another experiment, the researchers removed helpers that were assisting breeding fish. Within a week, enough sand had fallen into the cavities to decidedly shrink these spaces. This effect was augmented when the helpers removed were big.
One of the key findings was that the size of an excavated crevice had an influence on the amount of shrimps that subsequently gathered in it. When there were more helpers around, the space that could be created was bigger and more shrimps could be gathered.
“Helpers in Neolamprologus obscurus extend and maintain the excavated cavities, and by doing so, contribute to an increase in food abundance inside the territory of breeding females”, explains Tanaka.
“Fish living in groups may be able to increase and maintain considerably larger excavated cavities per capita compared to solitary living fish. Consequently, group living enables Neolamprologus obscurus to efficiently increase the prey abundance in their territory. This increases the body condition and future reproductive success of breeders and/or helpers”, adds Tanaka, who suggests that there is a clear benefit to group living for this species of fish.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 