Blog

The only Empress moth in the bush…

All living organisms go through stages of growth and reproduction. The emperor moth does its growing and reproducing in remarkable ways. The egg hatches into a caterpillar in the summer in southern Africa, developing into a strong worm, hungry Read more

Termite sampling across Namibia

Dr Barbara van Asch and Christi Greyling (MSc student) from the Genetics Department of Stellenbosch University visited Ongava Research Centre in March while on a fieldwork trip to collect Macrotermes termites and Termitomyces (locally called Omajowas) for Read more

Sunday shopping done differently

The mopane worm (Gonimbrasia belina) is an unusual edible little critter found in parts of southern Africa. Its life cycle is particularly interesting. After hatching from an egg, the caterpillar feeds on mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane Read more

From the field to the lab: there is a (smelly) story written in scats…

Anyone who has ever worked with carnivores knows that this can be a rather smelly business. Whether it involves carcasses or fresh faeces, their smell can never really be forgotten, nor can their value to study carnivore ecology!

Within Read more

Curiosity, big and small…

Hello! I´m Tomás Azevedo, a veterinary student from Portugal. As of late I have been learning more about wildlife veterinary care, as well as conservation medicine. You can imagine my excitement when I was hooked up with Ongava Research Read more