One-eyed wonder

About a month ago, we noticed that Quark, a 5-month old Happy Zebra cub, had a very swollen right eye. The swelling has finally gone down, and now we realize the eye isn’t just damaged…it’s completely gone.


I know what you’re thinking: are you guys really geeky enough to name a lineage of hyenas after subatomic particles?

Um, yes we are. But perhaps you’re also thinking: yikes…what’s it like being a hyena with only one eye?

Hyenas have what we call “binocular vision,” meaning that their vision is a result of two overlapping images – one from each eye – that the brain puts together. This allows for several fantastic advantages, such as depth perception and increased detection. Animals such as predators (which rely on particular visual cues to hunt moving prey) and primates (which need to find and select particular fruits from the surrounding vegetation) often have binocular vision. Their eyes are usually placed closely together on the head and oriented forward.

Animals with “monocular vision” (like the rhino below) have eyes that are on opposite sides of their head, rather than in front. These animals use each eye separately, but the big advantage here is an increased field of view – sometimes nearly 360 degrees. If you’re a tasty Mara antelope and the biggest problem in your life is some scary carnivore creeping up on you while you’re chowing down on grass, you’re going to want to see as much as the world around you as possible. For most prey species, accuracy and depth perception probably aren’t quite as important as knowing what's around you at all times.


OK, enough biology lessons. The point is that, since hyenas need abilities such as depth perception, poor one-eyed Quark is probably at a real disadvantage. Try closing one eye and trying to play darts (first, please make sure nobody else is within striking distance)…it’s not easy. Now, imagine losing an eye and trying to catch a gazelle zipping around at 50 miles per hour.

But, Quark still has one good eye, and we aren’t counting her out quite yet. After all, our resident rebel Moss is likely blind in one eye, and she continues to kick some serious butt. Plus, Quark is pretty high-ranking, so, in theory, she doesn’t need to hunt at all to survive…she just needs to take advantage of others’ success. In any case, life probably isn't going to be easy for Quark.

Cute and cuddly

Many people do not think of elephants, rhinos and giraffes as cute and cuddly. Most people that know me are aware that I don't usually get too excited about things being cute and cuddly. In fact, I usually cheer for predator when they are chasing a baby gazelle. However, twice in the past few weeks I have been to the Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, and there are some really cute animals their with some really sad stories. I have also visited the Giraffe Center was slipped the tongue by a 15 foot tall female giraffe.

At the Elephant Orphanage, they have about 10 young elephants, most them orphaned because their mothers were killed by poachers. They also a few rhinos, including one that was only a few days old on my first visit.

In the first picture, my friend Jesse Matter feeds one of the lovely ladies at the Giraffe Center. Jesse and his wife Cheryl, who recently completed her Ph.D. at UCLA, were visiting Kenya for two weeks. Unfortunately, the picture of Jesse kissing the giraffe were only on Cheryl's camera and not on mine. In the second picture is the baby rhino, with unknown kids used for scale. In the third picture, visiting Fish and Wildlife Ph.D. student Emily Johnston is pictured with the baby elephants parading by. The final picture is me with my "adopted" 3 year old blind rhino, named Maxwell. If you are ever in Nairobi make sure to visit the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center!



Jesse and giraffe



Baby rhino of infinite cuteness



Emily and the elephant parade



Andy and his adopted rhino

What's big, grey, and has two huge horns?

Yesterday, I was having a miserable time finding hyenas - no matter where I looked, they just weren't there! I was frustrated and ready to call it an evening. All of a sudden, I came face to face (well, with 100 meters between us) with something that definitely made up for my bad night...


Last I heard, there were fewer than 10 black rhinos here in the Western Mara. Divide that by the Mara Triangle's 197 square miles...well, you do the math. They're also very shy, spending most of their time in the bushes. You really only see a rhino if you know exactly where it's been hanging out, or if you're unbelievably lucky.

It was one of those rare "right place, right time" moments.