We’ve finally uploaded the photos from the April trip to Flickr, you can check out some new wildlife images here. We’ve also sorted the images by type of animal and posted some albums featuring Landscapes, History and Culture and Underwater images, so be sure to stop by the Statia Wildlife Flickr page to see them!
They’re the animals that make an island special! With a limited range—often encompassing just a handful of islands—the regional endemics found on Statia are the most precious part of the island’s natural heritage. Learn more about them in Wild Statia.
These true survivors are one of the most spectacular species in the Lesser Antilles, but they are endangered. Learn why Statia is important to their survival in this week’s Wild Statia.
On an island where Coralita is a widespread invader that is potentially harming native vegetation, we take a look at the critters that are fighting Coralita…one bite at a time!
What makes Statia special? There are so many ways to answer that question, but one answer is reptiles. Why is the combination of reptiles on Statia different than any other island on earth? Find out with some “reptile math” in the latest Wild Statia article.
Although months of work remain before the upcoming book about the Wildlife of Statia is completed, wildlife lovers can enjoy some of the fruits of this project today. Les Fruits de Mer has launched an online image gallery and a curated set of wildlife images designed to be used as desktop wallpapers and screen savers. Both are free to access and can be found at the project’s website: statiawildlife.com.
The desktop wallpaper and screen saver image collection is available for free download in the Extras section of the site. The 24 images in the collection include a wide variety of wildlife plus a handful of images featuring Statia’s unique landscapes. The images are available in three different sizes, optimized for different computer screens.
“We spend a lot of time on our computers—perhaps too much time,” explains co-author Mark Yokoyama. “Why not turn them into a window on local wildlife? I would love to see these images used as screen savers in homes, offices and schools.”
The image collection and a more extensive online gallery, hosted at the Statia Wildlife account on flickr.com are seen as opportunities to make this valuable information as publicly accessible as possible, and to expand the impact of the book project itself. All of the images are free to share and use for any non-commercial purposes.
“We’re writing a book, but there are many other ways to share the results of this research,” says Hannah Madden, co-author and Terrestrial Areas Manager for St. Eustatius National Parks (STENAPA). “It is exciting for us to explore new ideas and test the boundaries of what a book project can be. It’s also wonderful to share what we are learning as we go.”
The team is also posting regular updates about the project on statiawildlife.com and looks forward to releasing more free materials during the course of the project. Mark Yokoyama also authors a regular column—Wild Statia—in the Weekender section of St. Maarten’s Daily Herald about Statia’s wildlife and the book project.
The book project is managed by the non-profit association Les Fruits de Mer, with funding from NuStar Terminals, N.V. and support from the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation, STENAPA and the Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute (CNSI).
Check out the latest Wild Statia column in The Daily Herald’s Weekender section. It’s about the birds one can see around town on Statia and their role as ambassadors for the entire wild kingdom.
Wild Statia is back with an article about an intriguing insect species that may be new to science. We’re looking forward to many interesting discoveries during this project, and this may be one of the best!
The latest Wild Statia article takes a closer look at the Red-billed Tropicbird, the importance of Statia to our local population of this bird and the research being done to understand it better.
