Ryan Truscott

About

Freelance wildlife and nature writer based in southern Africa.

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49 stories

Farmer Ignatius Kakompe standing by a pod mahogany tree felled recently by illegal loggers.

Defending the hidden forest gems of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province

Ryan Truscott 31 Oct 2024

Stunning photo is the first ever of a yellow-crested helmetshrike. Image by Matt Brady.

‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains

Ryan Truscott 23 Sep 2024

Close up of the shiny, bulbous brown compound eyes and dark brown and blue thorax of a Gambles's flatwing's (Neurolestes nigeriensis). Image © Jan van Leeuwen.

Search for rare Nigerian damselflies finds forest habitats under threat

Ryan Truscott 22 Aug 2024

DRC conflict hinders search for Itombwe nightjar, but ‘lost’ bird may yet be found

Ryan Truscott 25 Jul 2024

‘Extinct’ trees found in Tanzania spark hope for ecosystem recovery

Ryan Truscott 16 Jul 2024

‘Explorer elephants’ in transfrontier conservation area offer solution to tree damage

Ryan Truscott 28 Jun 2024

Members of BirdWatch Zambia with binoculars, pointing at something interesting out of the frame. Image © WeForest

Zambian forest reserve rebounds with a little assistance

Ryan Truscott 20 Jun 2024

All conservation is local: Interview with Angolan conservationist Kerllen Costa

Ryan Truscott 23 May 2024

Tracing Africa’s ‘fading biological fingerprints’ in Angola’s threatened forests

Ryan Truscott 23 May 2024

A forest restoration project brings birdsong back to Angola’s highest mountain

Ryan Truscott 20 May 2024

Bonobo. Image by Maud Mouginot.

Bonobos, the ‘hippy apes’, may not be as peaceful as once thought

Ryan Truscott 12 Apr 2024

Researcher Alain Senghor K. Ngute looking at a photo of a millipede on a laptop, and making notes on a clipboard on the desk in front of him. Image by Haimdu Mnendendo.

Tanzania’s ‘mountain of millipedes’ yields six new species

Ryan Truscott 26 Mar 2024

A small, bright green chameleon with pale orange patches on its head, clinging to a matching stalk with its tail curled tightly. Image courtesy Christophe Bernier.

New ecoregion proposed for Southern Africa’s threatened ‘sky islands’

Ryan Truscott 13 Mar 2024

Superb starling perched on a thorny branch, showing off iridescent blue head, equally shimmering green of its wings and orange breast. Image by Harvey Barrison via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)

In Kenya, vicious ants are nesting birds’ best neighbors, study finds

Ryan Truscott 27 Dec 2023

New volcano toad from Mount Kenya reveals an ancient lineage

Ryan Truscott 4 Dec 2023

Aerial view of the NGOWP team's mekoro along the Cuando River.

New study pushes for protection of one of Africa’s ‘least understood treasures’

Ryan Truscott 15 Nov 2023

A kipunji.

World owes it to Tanzania to keep Eastern Arc forests standing, study shows

Ryan Truscott 6 Oct 2023

Termitomyces schimperi (called othepo in Lomwé) for sale at the Gilé market.

Wild mushroom harvest helps keep trees standing in Mozambique

Ryan Truscott 1 Sep 2023

A red-tailed monkey in Mabira Central Forest Reserve.

Conservationists work to restore last remnant of a once-great Ugandan forest

Ryan Truscott 25 Aug 2023

Crowned eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus), Uganda. Image by Rafael Vila via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Communities not the true threat to Mabira Forest: Q&A with Ugandan conservationist Achilles Byaruhanga

Ryan Truscott 25 Aug 2023

A woman carries firewood out of the Mkingu Forest Nature Reserve.

From cardamom to carbon: Bold new Tanzanian project is regrowing a rainforest

Ryan Truscott 18 Jul 2023

John Lyakurwa poses at Bondwa Peak while doing research in the Uluguru mountains, another massif within the Eastern Arc Mountains.

The value of mountains: Q&A with Tanzanian herpetologist John Lyakurwa

Ryan Truscott 18 Jul 2023

Mopane worms on mopane leaves.

Southern African caterpillar that feeds millions may be next climate casualty

Ryan Truscott 15 Jun 2023

A golden-rumped elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon chrysopygus).

Study shows Kenyan elephant shrew may be adapting to human disturbance, drought

Ryan Truscott 25 May 2023

The orange ground-thrush.

Fires threaten Afromontane forests’ ‘whole new world’: Q&A with Martim Melo

Ryan Truscott 22 May 2023

a western chimpanzee in a tree

Guinea’s crab-fishing chimps are in good health, study shows, but threats loom

Ryan Truscott 3 Apr 2023

A female bonobo.

DRC’s endangered bonobos face another threat to their survival: malaria

Ryan Truscott 22 Mar 2023

A pygmy chameleon.

Six newly described chameleon species reflect Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains’ fragility and richness

Ryan Truscott 3 Mar 2023

A golden blue-legged baboon spider.

Study: Online trade in arachnids threatens some species with extinction

Ryan Truscott 1 Mar 2023

Beekeeper using a bamboo ladder to reach a hive in Umalila, in Tanzania's Southern Highlands. Image by Paul Latham via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

For Tanzania’s traditional beekeepers, modern hives just don’t buzz

Ryan Truscott 23 Jan 2023

An African penguin standing sleepily in a patch of green. Image by Alberto Ziveri via Flickr (BY-SA 2.0)

Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin

Ryan Truscott 15 Nov 2022

Zebras in Okavango Delta.

Protecting the peatlands and woodlands in Angola’s ‘source of life’

Ryan Truscott 11 Nov 2022

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Snow and cold at the original CarbFix injection well in Iceland during late 2011 made working conditions at this field site more challenging.

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