Background information:
Allanblackia is the name of a tall canopy tree that produces big fruits with many seeds inside. People collect the seeds because they can be pressed for vegetable oil (you've probably heard of corn oil, olive oil, or canola oil which all come from seeds, too). However, when people collect the seeds from the forest, then there are fewer seeds left for the animals to eat. This isn't a big problem if only a few people are collecting seeds, but many people are collecting seeds all around the Amani Nature Reserve.
What do you think the animals will do if there are fewer Allanblackia seeds? What do you think will happen to Allanblackia over time in the nature reserve?
To answer the first question, think about the answer to mystery photo #1. For the second question, think about why seeds are important in a plant's life cycle.
Hi Ms. Carrie!
ReplyDeleteWe had a few questions we wanted to ask you. We know you have a lot of experience studying wildlife and their habitats, and we were hoping these questions would help us better understand our novel (The Monkey Thief). Thank you so much--we are loving the website and can't wait to hear more about your work!
-Ms. Kruger's class
1. In our novel The Monkey Thief, we have a problem in the rainforest with monkeys being stolen from the wild to use as pets. Do you have any similar problems in Tanzania?
2. In our novel, the main character (Steve) is trying to better understand monkeys by observing them. He tries to act normally around them so they get used to him being around. What kinds of animals have you observed, and how do you observe them?
3. In our story Steve’s uncle is trying to preserve part of the rainforest to have a habitat for the monkeys. Do you know of similar things being done in Tanzania to help monkeys (or other animals)? Are these successful?
Ms. Kruger's class,
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to answer your questions!
As far as I know, the area of Tanzania where I work does not have problems with illegal monkey collection. Some other animals like snakes and chameleons are legally collected for the pet trade from the forest outside of the nature reserve. There are international agreements that limit how many of each species can be sent to other countries.
Scientists can learn a great deal from observing animals, but we can't always observe them directly. Most primate are active during the day in relatively open areas (trees) where it can be possible to watch them, and many scientists have been able to accustom primates to their presence. Bats and rats are active at night which makes them much harder to see. I am using motion-sensitive cameras to observe rats. For bats my method is even less direct- I observe what bats eat by looking for the scraps they leave behind. Watching ANY kind of animal in whatever friendly way you can is great practice for a young scientist.
Protecting animals' habitats is the most important way to protect them. The Amani Nature Reserve, where I work, was created in 1997 to protect thousands of acres of rainforest from being logged. The forest is home to many species of plants and animals that are very rare! Even just since 1997, much of the forest outside of the nature reserve has been cleared for small farms so it is important that the reserve exists.