Remembering Joanna Toole

When an airliner recently crashed near Addis Ababa, among those lost was my vibrant friend and colleague Joanna Toole. This blog page is dedicated to her memory and provides links to the other sites where she has been celebrated. Extending a virtual hug to those who lost their big sister, daughter, partner, friend and good colleague, and all who mourn her.

The ablove images are just a sample of some of the many happy times Jo shared with me and others as our family of animal advocates moved around the world to various meetings. The top left photo is from Kruger National Park in 2016. (She is grinning because she has once again contrived to get me into an incriminating photo with evidence of alcohol consumption.) Then, Provincetown (2015), Jo posing with some decorative ‘ghost gear’. Next, very characteristically, with her soul-mate Claire Bass at the IWC meeting in Slovenia in 2014. The final three photos are with another of Jo’s buddies, Claire Petros, and were again contrived by Jo who hauled us onto the main stage at the end of the Convention for Migratory Species meeting in Manilla. This was in 2017 and I think we are channeling ‘Charlie’s angels’ in the middle image.

Her flame burned bright and, in the tear-stained days since she died, there have been many accolades and an outpouring of love and appreciation that attest to the remarkable lady that we have lost. I have battled to think of the right things to say or do as the enormity of this loss continues to sink in, I hope these images bring smiles – as Jo always did.

Here is a link to some words that her close friend, Claire Bass, and I wrote which were published on the WDC website. 

Here a tribute from her employer - The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

Here, lovely words from Oceancare.

The March Badgers

It is still cold at night but the badgers again are busy. Back in the den there may be cubs. If there are, we will not see them until much later. Meanwhile the adults are certainly hungry. (The snacks are mainly hidden under the plastic lids - safe from the local cats - each with a pebble on top.) 

In the last little film one of the two badgers seems to realise that there is an especially tasty treat under one of the lids. She firmly 'bunts' the other badger away and pulls out the little bowl that it is in.

Animal Culture Meets Conservation

An international group of researchers working on a wide range of species, from elephants and crows, to whales and chimpanzees, argue in an article in Science that animals' cultural knowledge needs to be taken into consideration when planning international conservation efforts.

The paper makes a compelling case that growing scientific evidence on social learning across a wide range of species, which can lead to unique animal cultures, is important for both conservation practice and conservation policy.

Insights into animal cultures can provide valuable information on 'what' groups of animals to conserve, and on 'how' best to conserve them. For example, understanding how grandmother killer whales pass on valuable information to their offspring, or why some groups of chimpanzees have a culture of cracking nutritious nuts with stone tools while others do not, can be key to evaluating conservation challenges for such species.

In many animal species, inexperienced young learn key survival skills by observing knowledgeable elders in their social group. This includes learning about how to communicate, how to forage efficiently, and where to migrate to when conditions become less hospitable. For example, the transmission of knowledge on migration routes in whooping cranes, and bighorn sheep, can provide critical information for the success of future generations. Unlike genetic transmission, social knowledge can be passed on within generations, so knowledge about new food sources can be shared, potentially providing resilience in changing environments.More HERE

Paper available HERE

Jesus Lock - Cambridge

I have visited the city of Cambridge many times but my journey across the city this time took me to a part of town that I have not seen before. This included Jesus Lock on the River Cam. the only lock in the city. There is also a well-established community of house-boats near by known as the "camboaters".

Jesus footbridge built in 1892.

Camboaters dwellings by the willow

Jesus Lock (1836)

Some fine houseboats

Jesus Lock again

River Cam with spring blossom and a green sheen starting to break out on a willow.

The Winter Fox

A vixen comes visiting

And a bonus badger