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Articles by Ryan Truscott
Scientists clone Southern Africa’s wild fruit trees as forests disappear
Researchers at gene banks scattered across Southern Africa have spent decades collecting and duplicating specimens of valuable wild fruit trees. Among the species cloned by researchers from the Landscape Alliance is the wild loquat — an evergreen tree that produces large quantities of highly sought-after berries that provide income and nourishment for millions of people.
‘A good way to die’: triumph and tragedy among dispersing African wild dogs
A pack of wild dogs has recorded the longest journey by an African mammal by clocking up more than 4,100 kilometers (2,500 miles). The record is documented in a new study that tracked wild dog dispersals over nearly 20 years across Zambia. Some of the dogs studied were killed in wire snares at the end of similarly epic journeys.
Tanzania’s first official wildlife corridor links savanna elephants to rainforest
African savanna elephants are using a narrow strip of land across the densely populated Kilombero Valley in southern Tanzania to migrate. It’s Tanzania’s first officially designated wildlife corridor, linking Nyerere National Park’s open savanna woodlands with the high-altitude rainforests of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Local landowners have designated parts of their farms for the corridor and co-manage it with the government.
World Heritage status for South Sudan parks will be a boon for the birds Original
South Sudan’s Boma and Badingilo national parks are best known for the massive herds of antelope that migrate across them each year. But the landscape is also a key habitat for birds — resident species like shoebills, and those that migrate between southern and northern parts of Africa. In July, the parks and surrounding areas were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which conservationists hope will attract support to conserve the region’s rich biodiversity.
Tiny trackers reveal where migratory shorebirds need protection across Africa
For the first time in South Africa, scientists monitored the migrations of 23 small wading birds from the country’s west coast as they embarked on a migration to the Arctic tundra, uncovering stopover sites they say could benefit from protection. In February 2026, the researchers captured 23 birds in Western Cape province and tagged them with tiny satellite transmitters to followed their movements, tracing different routes across Africa.
‘Rare animals, photography and Instagram’ could help an Ivorian rainforest
In late May, Mongabay accompanied a group of conservationists and scientists to Taï National Park — a large rainforest in Côte d’Ivoire famous for its habituated western chimpanzees. Despite the presence of these charismatic apes, the park gets relatively few visitors, whose presence could help to support conservation efforts and deter poachers.
Côte d’Ivoire’s tree-climbing crocodile needs to be protected, scientist says
On a recent visit to Taï National Park, in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, Mongabay accompanied Ivorian environmental scientist Christine Kouman on a night-time boat trip up the Hana River. The river is home to Africa’s rarest crocodile, the critically-endangered West African slender-snouted crocodile. For more than a decade Kouman, whose work has been supported by Project Mecistops.
In search of the ‘rare and beautiful’ in an Ivorian rainforest
In late May, Mongabay visited the Taï National Park in southwestern Cote d’Ivoire. The park protects the largest remnant of Upper Guinean forests in West Africa, which is itself home to unique animals. One of these is the white-necked picathartes, a bird that builds its mud-cup nests on rock walls deep inside the rainforest. A Mongabay correspondent accompanied a member of the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves to visit a rare nesting site in the hope of spotting its elusive occupants.
The quest to reconnect imperiled rainforest in West Africa
Conservationists working with the official national parks agency in Côte d’Ivoire are planning to create an ecological corridor linking Taï National Park with Grebo National Park in neighboring Liberia. The corridor has support from the Ivorian village of Nigré, where residents will grow native trees alongside their crops to facilitate animal movements.
Electric fences help farmers and elephants coexist in Zambian borderlands
In 2015, Malawi and Zambia signed a treaty to create a transfrontier conservation area that allows wildlife to cross from Malawi’s Kasungu National Park, to Zambia’s Lukusuzi and Luambe national parks. Much of Kasungu’s eastern boundary is fenced, but there’s no fence along its western boundary, located along Zambia’s eastern border. This means the elephants can move out of the park into an area of human settlements to reach Lukusuzi. But they also raid farmers’ fields.
Radio and satellite alerts help Zambian farmers live with dangerous wildlife
In Zambia’s Eastern Province, a community radio station beams out programs and messages on coping with human-wildlife conflict. Tuning in are villagers living in a transfrontier conservation area straddling this part of Zambia, and neighboring Malawi. When Mongabay visited, residents were mostly worried about attacks by hyenas, which officials say have recently claimed the lives of four children.
As elephants return in eastern Zambia, communities adapt to coexistence
Four years ago, more than 200 elephants were relocated to Malawi’s Kasungu National Park, which shares an open border with three farming districts in eastern Zambia. The elephants regularly move into farms, sometimes raiding granaries and destroying crops and posing a risk to people. Amid deep skepticism, conservationists and wildlife officials are working with locals to change attitudes, turning conflict into coexistence.
Conservationist wins top award to protect lions and people in Zimbabwe
A Zimbabwean conservationist working to reduce conflict between lions and livestock farmers is a winner of one of this year’s Whitley Awards, better known as the “Green Oscars.” The prize money will fund the expansion of the work led by Moreangels Mbizah and her NGO, Wildlife Conservation Action, in a region that is a hotspot for human-carnivore conflict.
Un goyavier envahissant gagne du terrain dans les forêts de Madagascar, avec l’aide involontaire des lémuriens
L’île de Madagascar, haut lieu de la biodiversité animale et végétale, connaît un taux de déforestation élevé depuis les années 1950. Une fois dégradées, ces forêts deviennent vulnérables à l’invasion d’une plante non indigène, le goyavier-fraise, originaire du Brésil. En consommant les fruits du goyavier, dont ils raffolent, les lémuriens en dispersent aussi les graines, contribuant ainsi à l’expansion de cette espèce envahissante.
An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping
The island of Madagascar is a hotspot for animal and plant biodiversity, but since the 1950s it has suffered high rates of deforestation. Once damaged, these forests are susceptible to takeover by a nonnative plant invader, the strawberry guava tree originally from Brazil. The guavas produce delicious fruit that the lemurs relish and whose seeds the lemurs themselves help to spread.
Satellite images identify vulture breeding colonies by their droppings
A new study reveals that colonies of critically endangered Rüppell’s vultures are visible via satellite images. A group of researchers scanned more than 6 million square kilometers (2.3 million square miles) in seven countries in East and Central Africa to look for the tell-tale whitewash formed by droppings deposited by the birds beneath their nests. In all, the team pinpointed 232 potential nesting sites, mostly in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad.
Citizen science rediscovers rare South African moth
Citizen scientists in South Africa have rediscovered an emerald-green moth that’s been missing for nearly one-and-a-half centuries. A dozen male moths had their photographs posted online from 2020 to 2023, providing proof-of-life for Drepanogynis insciata. Until now, scientists only knew of the moth from illustrations and two faded specimens, collected around 1875 in the Western Cape town of Swellendam, and kept in London’s Natural History Museum.
How Southern African farmers & elephants can both adapt to coexist
By Ryan Truscott – Mongabay In Southern Africa, people live alongside elephants, but not always peacefully. The growing reports of human-elephant conflict have triggered calls for elephant culls in some countries, like Zimbabwe. But conservation groups are working hard to promote coexistence, using technology that can warn farmers about approaching elephants or link farmers to more lucrative markets to offset the cost of living with one of Africa’s most charismatic mammals.
How Southern African farmers & elephants can both adapt to coexist
In Southern Africa, people live alongside elephants, but not always peacefully. The growing reports of human-elephant conflict have triggered calls for elephant culls in some countries, like Zimbabwe. But conservation groups are working hard to promote coexistence, using technology that can warn farmers about approaching elephants or link farmers to more lucrative markets to offset the cost of living with one of Africa’s most charismatic mammals.
Corridors, not culls, offer solution to Southern Africa’s growing elephant population
By Ryan Truscott – Mongabay Elephant populations in Southern Africa are stable or growing, but the space available for them is not. Often, elephant populations are constrained, increasing their impact on the environment or surrounding communities, and triggering calls for controversial solutions, like culls or contraception.
Corridors, not culls, offer solution to Southern Africa’s growing elephant population
Elephant populations in Southern Africa are stable or growing, but the space available for them is not. Often, elephant populations are constrained, increasing their impact on the environment or surrounding communities, and triggering calls for controversial solutions, like culls or contraception.
Scientists chart a new source, and length, for Africa’s famous Zambezi River
A new study suggests that the Zambezi River, Africa’s fourth-longest, is 11% longer than previously thought, with its most distant source lying in Angola, not Zambia. While the finding leaves the Zambezi as Africa’s fourth-longest river — after the Nile, the Congo and the Niger — the redefinition of its most distant source underscores Angola’s enormous contribution to sustaining the river best known for Victoria Falls.
Scientists chart a new source, and length, for Africa's famous Zambezi River
Historically, the Zambezi River in Southern Africa was believed to begin its journey at a spring in northwestern Zambia. A new study suggests the river actually starts off in a shallow depression in Angola’s southern highlands, at the source of a river called the Lungwebungu, giving the Zambezi a new total length of 3,421 km (2,126 mi), or 342 km (213 mi) longer than previously thought.
Colony of world’s highest-flying bird under threat in Uganda
Researchers in Uganda say the country’s only nesting site of critically endangered Rüppell’s vultures is under threat from hunting, charcoal burning and farming. Two nesting colonies are built on cliff faces in Luku Central Forest Reserve, in Uganda’s northwestern Arua district. The district hosts tens of thousands of people displaced by violent conflict in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Tanzanian conservationists mourn death of plant expert Aloyce Mwakisoma
Aloyce Mwakisoma, a renowned plant expert from Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains, was struck and killed by a bus on Oct. 6 near the village of Sanje. Mwakisoma, who was born and raised in the Udzungwas, had an encyclopedic knowledge of the plants and animals found in his home in the Eastern Arc. His colleagues recognized him as one of the many local experts whose indigenous knowledge powerfully informs the description and protection of the continent’s biodiversity.
Mozambican reserve harbors largest documented breeding population of rare falcon
A new study estimates Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique hosts 68–76 breeding pairs of Taita falcons, likely the world’s biggest population of the rare raptor. Niassa’s granite inselbergs provide hunting advantages over larger falcons, allowing the Taitas to thrive. Woodland clearance, charcoal production, agriculture and domestic fowl could shift the balance in favor of peregrines and lanners, but conservation measures and the resilience of miombo woodlands offer hope.
Discovery of dazzling blue butterfly underscores peril facing Angola’s forests
Scientists have described a new butterfly species, Francis’s gorgeous sapphire (Iolaus francisi), from Angola’s Namba Mountains, where its survival depends on mistletoe plants. High-altitude evergreen forests, known as Afromontane and covering about 590 hectares (1,460 acres) in the Namba Mountains, are the largest of their kind in Angola but remain without legal protection.
L’essor du cacao contribue à une nouvelle vague de déforestation au Cameroun
Un nouveau rapport indique que le Cameroun a perdu ces cinq dernières années près de 782 000 hectares, soit 4,2 % de son couvert forestier. Cette déforestation est due à l’essor de la production de cacao pour approvisionner le marché européen et menace la biodiversité dans la région du Littoral au sud-ouest du pays.
Bicolored waterberry: The overlooked tree shaping Zambia’s rivers
The bicolored waterberry (Syzygium guineense subsp. barotsense) is a dominant tree along the Kafue and other major Zambian rivers, where it plays a vital structural and ecological role. Though capable of self-pollination, the tree’s flowers attract bees, birds and moths, creating vibrant micro-ecosystems in its canopy. While not currently threatened, riparian clearing poses local risks, and the trees’ value to pollinators may offer a path to conservation.
River of giants: Canoe team tracks hippos in one of Africa’s last strongholds
A team from The Wilderness Project has conducted a survey of hippos along Zambia’s Kafue River, one of the last strongholds of the species in Southern Africa. The expedition faced regular close encounters with hippos, which are highly territorial and can be dangerous to people, especially when traveling by boat.
Wildlife & tourists on the up in Zambia’s Kafue Park: Q&A with manager Craig Reid
Zambia’s Kafue National Park, co-managed by Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and conservation NGO African Parks, is home to up to 22 different species of antelopes, the highest diversity in Africa, more than 500 species of birds and at least 2,400 hippos in the river from which the park takes its name.
Wildlife & tourists on the up in Zambia’s Kafue Park: Q&A with manager Craig Reid
Zambia’s Kafue National Park, co-managed by Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife and conservation NGO African Parks, is home to up to 22 different species of antelopes, the highest diversity in Africa, more than 500 species of birds and at least 2,400 hippos in the river from which the park takes its name.
‘Croc on a rock’: How a group of explorers suffers for science
A team from The Wilderness Project is traversing Zambia’s Kafue River by canoe, collecting ecological data as part of a long-term survey. The expedition involves grueling portages over sharp, slippery rocks, close encounters with crocodiles and hippos and physically demanding conditions. Researchers gather DNA from fish and invasive crayfish, record nocturnal wildlife sounds and retrace a sampling transect first surveyed the year before.
From cattle to crayfish, human pressures mount on Zambia’s Kafue River
A group of scientists paddled the length of Zambia’s Kafue River to document ecological pressures, including invasive species, habitat changes and human encroachment. Australian red-clawed crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) have infested the river, outcompeting native species, disrupting fisheries and altering fishing practices. The crayfish invasion spans nearly the entire 1,600-kilometer (995-mile) river, traced to an original introduction in 2001.
A success story at Zambia’s leopard hotspot: Interview with ecologist Chisomo M’hango
At the Musekese Conservation research station, deep in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, trainee field ecologist Chisomo M’hango analyzes camera trap images of leopards, lions and wild dogs. M’hango and colleagues have identified 95 individual leopards, one of the highest densities of this vulnerable species anywhere in Southern Africa.
Mining spill highlights need to protect Zambia’s vital Kafue River & its fish
Researchers from The Wilderness Project (TWP) are documenting fish diversity along Zambia’s Kafue River to build a DNA reference library. The TWP scientists are collecting fin clippings and environmental DNA to help identify species, including some potentially new to science, without needing to catch them in the future. The river, a vital source of food and income for local communities, suffered from major pollution in February when a mine waste dam failed upstream.
Traffickers slither through loopholes with wild-caught African snakes and lizards
South Africa’s native reptiles and amphibians, including threatened species, are being illegally captured and exported for the global pet trade. A recent study found that eight of the 10 most-exported reptiles from South Africa are native species, most of which are not protected by CITES, the global wildlife trade convention. Conservationists suspect some breeders falsely claim wild-caught reptiles, such as giant girdled lizards, are captive-bred to bypass trade restrictions.
In West Africa, hooded vultures vanish as abattoirs modernize
For centuries, hooded vultures in West Africa have lived in close association with people in towns and cities. The vultures’ dependence on scraps thrown out has grown in line with the overhunting of large-bodied mammals in the wild. But changes in the way these scraps are disposed of at slaughterhouses in many districts appears to be impacting the vultures. The birds now face fierce competition from feral dogs, and from people who harvest slaughterhouse waste to feed their livestock.
New strategy launched to protect Tanzanian biodiversity hotspot
A conservation strategy for the next 20 years has been launched to protect Tanzania’s most biologically rich landscape. The Udzungwa Mountains are home to rare and endemic plants and animals, including a small population of kipunjis, a genus of monkeys only revealed to the world in 2006. Sustainable financing is being sought to fund the conservation strategy and boost livelihoods and social well-being in communities surrounding three core protected areas.
‘3,000 year-old’ trees in Tanzania are new species
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‘3,000 year-old’ trees in Tanzania are new species
A group of botanists has discovered a new species of rainforest tree in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains. A total of around 100 mature trees were found growing in two village land forest reserves surrounded by abandoned croplands, and initial assessments suggest some of them could be up to 3,000 years old. The team behind the discovery says the trees are vulnerable to extinction because of their low numbers and tiny distribution.
When a chimp community lost its males, it also lost part of its love language
A new study from Côte d’Ivoire highlights the urgent need to integrate chimpanzee cultural preservation with conservation. The study documents the loss of a socially learned behavior — a mating signal — among a group of chimpanzees following the poaching of all of the group’s male members. Once lost, behaviors that could be crucial to chimpanzee survival take years to reemerge.
When a chimp community lost its males, it also lost part of its love language
A new study from Côte d’Ivoire highlights the urgent need to integrate chimpanzee cultural preservation with conservation. The study documents the loss of a socially learned behavior — a mating signal — among a group of chimpanzees following the poaching of all of the group’s male members. Once lost, behaviors that could be crucial to chimpanzee survival take years to reemerge.
Forest of rare trees in Zanzibar now earmarked for ‘eco-resort’
Botanists surveying a remote forest reserve on Pemba Island in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago have discovered a forest of rare trees — the only place in Africa where they’re known to occur in the wild. The botanical survey, the first of its kind in 35 years, has shed light on Ngezi Forest Reserve’s rich plant biodiversity.
Birds guide honey-hunters to most of their harvest in Mozambican reserve
A new study reveals the economic importance of wild honeyguide birds to villages in northern Mozambique. Three-quarters of the honey collected by honey-hunters in Niassa Special Reserve is found with the help of the birds, a new study finds. Some of the honey is sold, underscoring the economic importance of the birds to families in a region where rates of hunger, poverty and unemployment are high.
‘An oval with legs’: In search of Tanzania’s tiny island antelope
On Zanzibar’s second-largest island, Pemba, lives a diminutive antelope that hasn’t been officially recorded in at least 20 years. Its long absence has fueled fears the animal may have been exterminated from Ngezi Forest Reserve by hunters. In early December, a group of scientists and conservationists set up camera traps to try to find signs that this subspecies of the tiny blue duiker is still alive.
Growing conservation and community: Interview with Ngezi reserve chief
Khamis Ali Khamis has a long career in community-led conservation in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago, the last six years of them in charge of Ngezi Forest Reserve on the island of Pemba. He says the main challenge facing the 2,900-hectare (7,200-acre) reserve is maintaining a balance between nature conservation and resource extraction by the growing human population living around it.
‘An oval with legs’: In search of Tanzania’s tiny island antelope
On Zanzibar’s second-largest island, Pemba, lives a diminutive antelope that hasn’t been officially recorded in at least 20 years. Its long absence has fueled fears the animal may have been exterminated from Ngezi Forest Reserve by hunters. In early December, a group of scientists and conservationists set up camera traps to try to find signs that this subspecies of the tiny blue duiker is still alive.
Growing conservation and community: Interview with Ngezi reserve chief
Khamis Ali Khamis has a long career in community-led conservation in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago, the last six years of them in charge of Ngezi Forest Reserve on the island of Pemba. He says the main challenge facing the 2,900-hectare (7,200-acre) reserve is maintaining a balance between nature conservation and resource extraction by the growing human population living around it.
Boko Haram, fishermen, and the threat to black crowned cranes
The black crowned crane, a charismatic bird species vulnerable to extinction from trapping and habitat loss, faces a new threat at one of its key habitats in the Sahel. Chad’s Lake Fitri, just south of the Sahara, is a massive wetland that is a magnet for African waterbirds and migratory birds from Europe.
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