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Summary: I've been fortunate to research wildlife and engage in wildlife management and conservation efforts in Africa and the USA since 2005. I'm currently a senior wildlife biologist at the New Mexico Department of Wildlife. The focus of my work is wildlife abundance and habitat conservation, wildlife management, and human-wildlife conflict resolution. Having been certified in wildlife capture and chemical immobilization, the main species I work with in my current role are mountain lion, black bear, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, and collared peccary. Other projects I'm sometimes called to are Mexican gray wolf, bighorn sheep, and gemsbok (oryx) in the White Sands area. Most importantly, I'm husband to an amazing wife and father to a wonderful son.
My primary focus is mammals, specifically large carnivores and ungulates. I've also been a large carnivore ecologist in Uganda from roughly 2015 to 2022, researching lion, leopard, and spotted hyena in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This included reviewing and reporting on human-carnivore conflict prevention and mitigation trials, large carnivore ecological research, and GPS collaring and monitoring lions to obtain information about movements, livestock depredation, and conservation. When not studying wildlife, I sometimes lead wildlife safaris to Africa. My favorite wildlife reserves are Botswana's Chobe National Park, South Africa's Welgevonden Game Reserve, and the Victoria Falls/Zambezi River area of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Prior to becoming a wildlife biologist, I was an aspiring nature and science journalist, following in the footsteps of trail blazers like writer David Quammen and photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols. Having been strongly influenced by their 2004 MegaTransect through Africa's Congo Basin with ecologist J. Michael Fay, I found myself working as a freelance writer, independent researcher, and amateur photographer for the National Geographic Society's Voices for Wildlife (2014 to 2018) under the tutelage of my then-editors David Braun and Ollie Payne. I primarily covered elephant, lion, and rhinoceros conservation initiatives. It was a number of travels around several countries in Africa for the National Geographic Society, spending time with local people, working with field biologists and rural communities, talking at length with eminent lion biologist Craig Packer, and earning an advanced degree in biology and natural science that transitioned me to wildlife science. Today, my interest and work in wildlife biology exists as a focal point for my love of naturalistic observation, applied scientific research, sustainable wildlife management, and resolving human-wildlife conflict. Other than my website, which I mostly maintain for work and memory purposes, you really won't find me too much elsewhere online. My favorite thing to do is spend time with my wife and son. Aside from that I enjoy the outdoors, exercise, and reading as many books as possible. Or just sitting in my backyard at dawn and dusk, watching and admiring the birds that visit my feeders. With thanks and appreciation: My wife & son My parents The late Norm Macdonald Researchers/Other Professionals Craig Packer - Director, Serengeti Lion Project Robb Edgecomb - Owner, Executive Breakaway Tours Dereck Joubert - National Geographic Explorer-at-Large David MacDonald - Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Head, Oxford University Alexandra Zimmerman - Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford University Moses Konde - Owner, Uganda Tours Dan Stiles - Member, IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group Mike Norton-Griffiths - Wildlife Economist Laurence Frank - Project Director, Living With Lions Glen Martin - Author & Environmental Journalist Thomas O. McShane - Senior Sustainability Scientist, Arizona State University Jonathan S. Adams - Conservation Biologist & Science Writer Philipp Henschel - Lion Program Coordinator, Panthera Luke Hunter - Executive Director, Big Cats Program, Wildlife Conservation Society Byron du Preez - Oxford University/WildCRU Hwange Big Cat Project Editors David Braun - Director, Voices for Wildlife, National Geographic Oliver Payne - Articles Editor, National Geographic George Okello - Editor, East African Wild Life Society John Nyaga - Editor, East African Wild Life Society Andy Hill - Editor, East African Wild Life Society |
Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers
Darting a large male black bear.
Chemical immobilization and general health check of a mountain lion.
Capture and sedation of a gray wolf in Minnesota.
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park (America's Serengeti)
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