Hippos: The Web's newest stars

摘要

Want to wake up to the sounds of the African savannah-the snorts of hippos, the squawks of vervet monkeys? Starting last week, the Mpala Research Centre and Wildlife Foundation in central Kenya began live-streaming the antics of African wildlife via a website that includes video feeds from a riverbank popular with hippos, as well as with elephants, zebra, and antelope. The view is of "our principle work site, " says Douglas McCauley, an ecologist from the University of California, Santa Barbara. "It's spectacular to share our site with millions of people." Inspired by a 3-year project to study hippos' role in the ecosystem, the website is supported by $500, 000 from the Annenberg Foundation/Explore.org and includes an illustrated field guide to 88 local animals, interviews with researchers, and lesson plans for teachers. The researchers hope to harness citizen scientists to help record the hippos' behavior.