Jambo!
My name is Taylor, and I am the new Research Assistant
(R.A.) at Serena Camp. I recently graduated from the University of Vermont,
where I studied Psychological Science and English. I have always been extremely
passionate about animal behavior and spent much of my undergraduate career
participating in various volunteer opportunities to get outside and interact
with wildlife. I also had the opportunity to work in a veterinary clinic in
Philadelphia for a year following my graduation, which only increased my love
for animals. Outside of school and work, you can find me hiking, swimming,
painting, sketching, and reading.
This is a picture
of me in Vermont extracting teeth from a White-tailed deer carcass. I
volunteered on this project during my undergraduate career at the University of
Vermont. The biologist that was working at the deer check station with me
taught me how to age deer from the rings on their teeth (similarly to how a
tree is aged from the circles in its trunk).
Even though I’ve only just arrived in Kenya recently
(July 2), I have already learned so many new things. There have been many opportunities
for community outreach, and I particularly enjoyed our visit to the Mara
Elephant Project (M.E.P.), where we put our heads together to chat about our
mutual interest in and compassion for wildlife in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Memorably, we were taught to fly drones and got to see a bird’s eye view of
various creatures in their natural environments.
Here we are
learning how to fly drones at the Mara Elephant Project. The neon orange circle
in the bottom of the photo is a landing platform for the drone. From left to
right: Felix (M.E.P. drone pilot), Jana, me, Brianna, Maya, and Natalie.
Above is an
aerial picture of a giraffe from the drone that we were learning how to fly at
M.E.P.
This partnership led one of M.E.P.’s employees,
Wilson, to visit us at Serena Camp, where we observed him flying a thermal
drone to locate one of our clan’s dens. We quickly discovered that the best time
frame to locate animals with the drone is early morning, as many of the heated
rocks from the day’s sun looked remarkably like various prey animals. One early
morning session with Wilson yielded promising results, and we went out in
search of what we suspected may be our South Clan’s den. Unfortunately, upon inspecting
the area further, it became clear that the hyenas we were witnessing were part
of a neighboring clan that isn’t included in our study. Even though we didn’t
locate the den with the drone right away, the excitement of a fresh lead
kickstarted a new wave of enthusiasm in our search.
Above is a
picture from the thermal drone that Wilson was flying over our South territory.
The white color denotes heat, and the shapes that I have circled in red are
what we suspected to be our study hyenas at their den (which turned out to be
incorrect).
The morning after Wilson left, our team noticed
several hyenas in our North territory coming from the same direction. With a
surplus of people in camp, we have had the opportunity to split into two cars
and cover more ground, and the morning observation crew from North territory
(Eli, Natalie, and Brianna) informed my group of their encouraging findings.
Later that night, Eli, Maya, and I went out to North territory to investigate
the potential den lead, spending time listening attentively for any sign of den
activity in the area that we suspected North clan hyenas to be coming from.
Just as we were thinking about shifting our attention elsewhere, we heard what
we believed to be a cub whoop! While unconfirmed, this gave us enough of a lead
to shift the car closer to the whooping, where we heard a chorus of multiple
hyenas whooping to each other.
Unfortunately, it was too dark to safely navigate to
where we heard the activity, and we decided to touch base with the team and
scope out the area at a different time. The following morning, Jana, Maya, and
I returned to the location with sufficient light to safely off-road and began
to explore. Sure enough, it quickly became apparent that we had located the
den! Before driving closer, we took a quick moment and silently celebrated our
victory, composed ourselves, and then went in to meet North clan’s newest cubs!
Above is WALL (left)
and GLOB (right). Based on their coloring, fur length, and size, our team has
estimated that they are roughly around 5 months old. We can already tell that
Wall is the dominant cub due to the preferred nursing position that he
occupies, meaning that he nurses with his body closest to his mother’s stomach.
Above you can see
MTV, a small black cub. Based on his dark coloring and the early emergence of
his spot pattern, our team has estimated that he is around 10.5 weeks old. You
can tell from the pointy tip of MTV’s phallus that he is a male.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work
collaboratively to pinpoint one of our study’s dens. While it would’ve been thrilling
to find a den using one of M.E.P.’s drones (which still is a possibility for
our other two territories), there was something special about uncovering the
first den I’ve seen here solely relying on the expertise, knowledge, and
stellar communication skills of our research team. Even though it has only been
a few days since our discovery, I have already had the chance to sit in on
several different den session transcriptions. These learning opportunities are invaluable
to absorbing the complexity of behaviors exhibited and getting to know all the
individuals in the clan. I have much admiration and gratitude for the hard work
of everyone here to find the home of our North clan.
More generally, I am incredibly thankful to be working
here for a year and observing these beautiful animals with such an amazing
group of people. From the very beginning, everyone has been so kind,
compassionate and welcoming. Philomon, Moses, and Stephen, who work long-term
in Serena camp, do an impeccable job upkeeping the study’s beautiful campsite,
keeping us all safe in camp, and crafting up delicious meals! Brianna and Maya,
who have been in Serena camp as R.A.s for a year now, are unendingly generous
with sharing their expertise on anything and everything. Natalie, who is the
new R.A. that will be working in Talek camp, is the perfect person to be
learning everything with, and has already helped me with catching up to speed
on training (as she came a month earlier). Jana, who is our R.A. trainer
extraordinaire, is an endless source of information, and always willing to sit
down and walk me through tricky concepts. Eli, who just recently arrived, has
also been patient and thoughtful in teaching all he knows. Many thanks to all
of you that I have mentioned, as well as the many others that I have learned
from but haven’t named due to the increasing length of this blog post!
Hoping to update again soon – fingers crossed that we
find our other two dens for Serena camp within the next few weeks or so!
Warmly,
Taylor
Brianna (left)
and I (right) spelling out M.H.P. for Mara Hyena Project!
