Aidan Branney, M.Sc.

Caught this cutie today in the bush. A bay spotted bush snake 🐍

Caracas Residents Report Loud Explosions, Aircraft Overflying Residents in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas reported loud explosions and aircraft overflying the city, with multiple areas experiencing power outages.

Fuck.

New ocelot paper investigating factors that drove home range size in endangered ocelot populations in Texas! Hope you can give it a read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lions across Africa are under threat from habitat loss, poaching, and wildlife trade.

A continent-wide survey of 132 lion subpopulations was conducted in collaboration with landscape managers and lion researchers to determine perceived threat severity.

[1/2] @biology.ox.ac.uk

Image showing Hobson Lab logo (with parakeets, a social network, and R code), two Monk Parakeets, and several individually-marked parakeets with the text "Now recruiting PhD students!!"

**PhD POSITIONS** I am recruiting 1-2 PhD students to work on sociality and cognition in Monk Parakeets, starting Fall 2026. Full ad is here: hobsonresearch.com/index.php/20... (please help spread the word!)

Another successful round of giraffe captures for the GECP. We tagged 8 female giraffes and are currently monitoring them with solar powered tail tags.

Such a beautiful lioness came by the waterhole today 🦁

After weeks of patience a lioness finally decided to come take a drink from the waterhole.

I've argued that bioinvasions should be treated w/ the same precautionary approach applied to natural disasters (redpath-staff.mcgill.ca/ricciardi/Ri...). Society invests in plans for extreme hazards that may never happen, b/c their occurrence is unacceptable. Invasions should be treated similarly.🧵

Insane close encounter with bush elephants at the watering hole

We're hiring! Remote work on red wolf behavior 🐺🧪
jobs.rwfm.tamu.edu/view-job/?id...

Another successful round of captures pictured animals were handled under professional veterinary care and captured with all proper regulatory permits for Etosha National Park. #carnivores #lions #hyenas #wildliferesearch #predators #africanwildlife

Work made possible by the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, the Etosha Ecological Institute, the University Namibia’s School of Veterinary Science, the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

Using the GPS collars deployed it will allow for the furthering of conservation efforts within the park but it will also allow for my colleagues and me to analyze spatial and movement patterns of prides and clans within the park as well.

I was on GPS collaring and measuring duty and these measures are often great ways to monitor growth and individual health across time. The canines of lions and hyenas are truly impressive to behold in hand.

Another successful round of captures for the Greater Etosha Carnivore Program. We were able to successfully GPS collar and collect data from seven lions (Panthera leo) and three spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta).

Such a phenomenal evening aiding in the recollaring effort for this lioness: XPL139 with the Lion Ranger Program in NorthWestern Namibia.

With a fresh collar on her, the Lion Rangers will be able to continue monitoring her movements and potential conflict with livestock owners in the Kunene. 🦁

Elephant encounter in the Kunene region. Such wondrous creatures

😂 some terrified KFC workers

If you clicked on the note this event happened over a decade ago and served as an important reference. Condor numbers have gone up since the time of that event.

If only it were that simple, pumas are hungry predators and easier prey is quite compelling

Thankfully pumas are not endangered in the state of CA but they are a species of conservation concern which does create a management conundrum with CA condors in the mix haha

New note on a puma preying on California condors in Southern California. Hope you can give it a read: doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...

Woah! Such an important study published in Nature today! Quick thread with some of their key figures!
🧵

So many tracks out in the bush of the Kunene region in Namibia ! Lots of sign of lion (Panthera leo), spotted hyena (Crocutta crocutta), and African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus). Really cool to see how they move on the landscape.

The Human Shield Hypothesis: Does Predator Avoidance of Humans Create Refuges for Prey? The human shield hypothesis posits that predators avoid areas of human disturbance due to perceived risk from humans, and prey therefore seeks refuge in these areas of perceived safety. Our systemati....

Have you ever cited or come across a mention of the 'human shield hypothesis' and wondered: what is the evidence for this hypothesis, and what is the quality of that evidence? Wonder no more!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

a close up of a lion 's face with its mouth wide open ALT: a close up of a lion 's face with its mouth wide open

Excited to finally go in the field after a year of reading, writing, taking classes at UGA. Etosha and Kunene here I come !

One final reptile before changing continents : a baby yellow bellied slider 🥺

Wake up, babe! New White House detailed budget just dropped (spoiler: it’s not great for science)

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

One final pina colada before changing continents to kick off my PhD in Namibia