insert_link Africa Madagascar: giant tortoises have returned 600 years after they were wiped out By Grant Joseph, University of Cape Town A six-year-old project to return giant tortoises to the wild in Madagascar could result in thousands of the 350kg megaherbivores re-populating the island for the first time in 600 years. The first group of Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) were brought in from the Seychelles in 2018, and have been reproducing on their own since. Ecologist Grant Joseph explains how reintroducing […] todayFebruary 5, 2024 15
insert_link Africa Three new species of frogs found nestled in Madagascar’s pandan trees Guibemantis rianasoa, a new frog species from Madagascar. Image courtesy of Hugh Gabriel By Liz Kimbrough via MongaBay Scientists have described three new frog species that dwell exclusively in the spiky leaves of pandan trees in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests. Lead researcher Hugh Gabriel, from the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany, described the frogs’ sounds as “soft clicks that sound like rain falling on leaves.” And he would know. Gabriel […] todayFebruary 2, 2024 9
insert_link South Africa South Africa ramps up commercial solar installations to counter load shedding By Conrad Onyango, via bird story agency South Africa is leading other countries in a radical shift towards more reliable energy sources as its business and industry owners contributed the highest addition of the 3.7-Gigawatt peak (GWp) in new solar capacity on the continent in 2023. The Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) annual Solar Outlook 2024 released recently revealed that South Africa more than doubled its new solar installations, from […] todayJanuary 24, 2024 14
insert_link Opinion Pieces Madagascar cave art hints at ancient connections between Africa and Asia By David Burney, University of Hawaii Unique, prehistoric rock art drawings have been discovered in the Andriamamelo Cave in western Madagascar. I was part of a team that discovered and described these ancient treasures. They’re the first truly pictorial art, depicting images of nature with human-like and animal-like figures, to be seen on the island. Until recently, rock art in Madagascar had only yielded a few sites with basic symbols. […] todayDecember 13, 2023 6
