MADAGASCAR PART 1

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DarwinsBulldog
Posts: 14
Joined: June 3rd, 2015, 2:31 pm

MADAGASCAR PART 1

Post by DarwinsBulldog »

March 2016 I set off for Madagascar to help establish a captive frog breeding facility on the grounds at Parc Ivoloina. The first breeding facility of its kind in Madagascar was established six years ago. The facility has come a long way and is doing some great work with golden Mantellas as well as cracking the breeding and husbandry code of a some other leaf litter and tree frog species. Devin Edmonds who is very accomplished in frog husbandry and breeding dedicated the last six years of his life getting that first facility off the ground and running. Thanks to Devin's hard work and dedication, if disaster strikes and any one of the number of threats facing amphibians hits any given species or population in the country there is a facility where frogs can be taken in and worked with in situ. I hope one day every country will have dedicated facilities to work just with amphibian declines and captive breeding. The original breeding facility is located in the town of Andasibe and is where I started my trip. Andasibe is a neat little town with a great deal of excellent rainforest that is heavily protected by both local and national agencies. As many of you probably know, Madagascar is interesting in that you are not allowed to step foot on any of the protected lands without a guide. The guides in Madagascar run the gamut, from drunks who are not only no help but a hindrance, to really dedicated and passionate locals who love sharing their nations natural history with others and have sharp eyes in the field. I spent days and nights with guides as well as just walking the roads around the national and locally run protected forests by myself.

Uroplatus sikorae
Between my guides and I sikorae could be found both day and night in the forest and on trees along roads running through the forest.


ImageUroplatussikore by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Imageuroplatussikorea3 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_0816 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_0820 by Greg Strait, on Flickr


Calumma brevicorne

ImageGHS_1731 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_1743 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_1733 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_1707 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Imagecalummabrevicorne1 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageCalumma brevicorne2 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Brookesia thieli
I cant express how happy I am that I was able to encounter a number of species of Brookesia in the wild on this trip. I will look back on all of these little chams and die a happy man one day.

ImageGHS_3464 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Brookesia superciliaris

Imagebrookesiasuper1 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3000 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_2954 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_2935 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Boophis madagascariensis

Imageboophismadagascariensis1 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Phelsuma lineata

ImagePhelsumalineata by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Uroplatus phantasticus

My guide and I spent a week looking for these beauties at night and then ended up finding two in three days. What else can I say, they are a life changing species to encounter.

ImageGHS_3483 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3495 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3494 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3499 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3557 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3482 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

ImageGHS_3477 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Imageuphantastic11 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Imageuphantastic166 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Imageuphantastic133 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

Imageuphantastic12 by Greg Strait, on Flickr

MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME!!! I hope you all enjoy this half as much as I enjoy reading all of your posts.
sjohn
Posts: 19
Joined: December 10th, 2013, 7:36 am
Location: NC

Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1

Post by sjohn »

Greg,
Great photos from a truly magical land....thanks
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mariquensis
Posts: 93
Joined: April 8th, 2012, 12:54 pm

Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1

Post by mariquensis »

Fantastic images, thanks for sharing.
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Ribbit
Posts: 601
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 10:28 am
Location: Monterey Peninsula, CA
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Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1

Post by Ribbit »

I missed this most excellent post because I was off herping in Malaysia (pretty good excuse). These photos are fantastic (phantasticus!), especially the ones that really show the animals blending into their environments, though the Phelsuma lineata next to the lightbulb is also an amazing shot. I hope there are many more parts to come.

John
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csalemi731
Posts: 23
Joined: July 24th, 2015, 9:48 am
Location: New York

Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1

Post by csalemi731 »

great photos. love the uroplatus!
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