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.
Uroplatussikore by Greg Strait, on Flickr
uroplatussikorea3 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_0816 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_0820 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
Calumma brevicorne
GHS_1731 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_1743 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_1733 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_1707 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
calummabrevicorne1 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
Calumma 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.
GHS_3464 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
Brookesia superciliaris
brookesiasuper1 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3000 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_2954 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_2935 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
Boophis madagascariensis
boophismadagascariensis1 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
Phelsuma lineata
Phelsumalineata 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.
GHS_3483 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3495 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3494 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3499 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3557 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3482 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
GHS_3477 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
uphantastic11 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
uphantastic166 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
uphantastic133 by Greg Strait, on Flickr
uphantastic12 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.
MADAGASCAR PART 1
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1
Greg,
Great photos from a truly magical land....thanks
Great photos from a truly magical land....thanks
- mariquensis
- Posts: 93
- Joined: April 8th, 2012, 12:54 pm
Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1
Fantastic images, thanks for sharing.
Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1
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
John
- csalemi731
- Posts: 23
- Joined: July 24th, 2015, 9:48 am
- Location: New York
Re: MADAGASCAR PART 1
great photos. love the uroplatus!