W. Maartin Strauss, Ph.D.
Husband & father.
Field biologist (animal capture/handling, biologging, 📷traps, field physiology, pop surveys, project/staff management, vegetation surveys)
@UCNZ
SAE @Conservation Science & Practice.
❤️: ☕️ 🍷🚴♂️ 🎹 📷
https://www.wmstrauss.com
- How cute are black rhino calves! Weighing in at up to 50 kg at birth - rather small compared to an adult (~800 - 1200 kg) - calves stay with their mothers for about 3 years. Source: San Diego Zoo Safari Park #UngulatesAreAwesome
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- Although there are three extant subspecies in the wild, the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is critically endangered. As for all other #rhino species, poaching remains the major threat, while habitat loss and population fragmentation also threaten the species. #UngulatesAreAwesome
- Ungulates (hoofed animals) are either even-toed (e.g., sheep), or odd-toed, such as this black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), which is, of course not black in colour! 🤷 Here you can see the hooked (pointed) top lip that helps black rhinos feed on thin tree branches & leaves. #UngulatesAreAwesome
- Reposted by W. Maartin Strauss, Ph.D.Please repost: 🚨Field assistant position 🐧 We offer a 14-months field assistant position through the French Polar Institute to work on king penguin ecophysiology and behavioral ecology. Requirements: EU citizen < 30yo having experience with harsh fieldwork & wild bird/mammal handling/sampling.
- From Monday Feb 2, I'll share weekly posts on ungulates from across the globe: 1 spp/week, focussing on their biology, conservation, fun facts & nice photos. #UngulatesAreAwesome Photo credit: XAttlexattle, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
- Reposted by W. Maartin Strauss, Ph.D."Some have argued the impact of introduced species has been overstated, and that introduced species should be seen as a legitimate part of Australia’s ecosystems. Scientific evidence and conservation outcomes do not support this." theconversation.com/yes-feral-ca... - @aunz.theconversation.com
- Using multiple lines of evidence, we show that feral cats and red foxes are strongly implicated in most Australian mammal extinctions and in the ongoing imperilment of numerous extant species. academic.oup.com/bioscience/a... A large collaborative effort to rebut Wallach and Lundgren (2025).
- New paper in #AnimalBehaviour - expertly driven by former post doc Dr Anne Pandraud. kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
- Our summer camping trip led us to the spectacular Abel Tasman National Park - great hiking, swimming, kayaking, etc.
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- I'm looking forward to the International Deer Biology Congress #IDBC2026 in Dunedin in Feb. Based on the program there's a great balance between presentations & field trips! I'm looking forward to sharing ideas, extending my network & learning more about the NZ #deer industry. #UngulatesAreAwesome
- Reposted by W. Maartin Strauss, Ph.D.The call for abstracts for #ECCB26 is now open! Researchers, policymakers + practitioners are invited to submit their abstracts for oral presentations, posters, or speed talks by 15 Feb, 2026. We hope to see you in Leiden! #conservation #networking #conference
- Great to be elected onto the new committee of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society - one of three NZ based committee members. @awmsociety.bsky.social
- Here we go - this is how temperatures have changed over time in Aotearoa, New Zealand. These changes likely increases the environmental impact of many invasive spp across the country... #ShowYourStripesDay #PF2050
- Today, there are only three extant genera of the Perissodactyla (odd-toed hoofed animals) worldwide, a group that had >100 genera in the early Eocene. Equus is one of the surviving genera. The plains zebra (Equus quagga) occurs through much of east and southern Africa. ##UngulatesAreAwesome
- Another beautiful sunrise over the (still rising) Kavango river, and Bwabwata National Park on the opposite bank.
- It's great to be back in Namibia's Zambezi Province (the old Caprivi strip) after 18 months. The flood plains are still inundated, which is likely to make our work a bit trickier than anticipated...
- Did you kow that there are four different species of #giraffe across Africa - Masai, northern, reticulated & southern? Pictured here is the South African subspecies of the southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa giraffa) photographed in Marakele National Park, South Africa. #UngulatesAreAwesome #SANParks
- I am excited to be part of the organising committee of the next AWMS conference. DYK that It will be held in Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2–4 December 2025? The conference theme is 'New challenges. New solutions'. Abstracts open on 1st July 2025! Find out more: awms.org.au/conference/a...
- What they said! 😀
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- Our new paper has just been published by @jexpbiol.bsky.social (free access!). Using body temperature we provide insights into physiological states that drive animal movement. #MovementEcologyFramework requires #animalphysiology 4 #mechanistic understanding journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
- It's usually entertaining when one gets to sit and observe the common #warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), widely distributed from West Africa across sub-Saharan Africa to Ethiopia. #UngulatesAreAwesome
- @drrobmorley.bsky.social Welcome!
- A day late for #ReverseTheRedDay but the excitement was real when I saw a specimen of this plant, described as “the botanical equivalent of finding a small dinosaur still alive on Earth.” in the Christchurch Botanical Garden. #conservation #WollemiPine www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...
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- The Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) is the only mammal to have recovered from being "Extinct in the wild" (1972) to Vulnerable (2011). Picture from when I worked in the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Jiddat-al-Harasis (Oman) - one of only a few fog deserts. #MondayMotivation #Ungulates #WildlifePhotography
- In celebration of International Zebra Day (Jan 31). Mountain zebra (Equus zebra), Mountain Zabra National Park, South Africa. #SANParks, #wildlifephotography
- Reposted by W. Maartin Strauss, Ph.D.We are searching broadly for a PhD candidate interested in the evolvability of heat tolerance and the interaction between evolution and plasticity in 🐦🐣, based at @biologylu.bsky.social. Be great if you could re-post. Details 👇 #ERC #HotLife @ercresearch.bsky.social
- Join us as a Doctoral student in Biology w/focus in ecological physiology. A PhD project with @cyanistesnord.bsky.social “HotLife – Pathways to survival in a hotter world” supported by @ercresearch.bsky.social. #lunduniversity Please apply no later than 18 February! lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
- One of my favourite activities during the #publication process is working through the journal proofs (read out loud word-by-word, and sentence-by-sentence) with a co-author, to assess consistency with what was submitted. New paper loading!
- #MondayMotivation Staring down the challenges of the new week like this endangered Southern mountain reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula), photographed during a hike in the #Drakensberg. #Ungulates #WildlifePhotography
- Hippo, photographed while on foot in North Luangwa National Park (Zambia). When thinking of #hippo it is perhaps easier to appreciate that there is an evolutionary relationship between all the even-toed #ungulates and #whales. #WildlifePhotography #AfricanWildlife
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- All animals are awesome but #ungulates are more awesome than others! Perhaps my African roots cloud my judgement? Nah... To showcase their beauty, I'll share my favourite ungulate pictures every week, like this Steenbok (Raphicerus campestris), from Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa.
- Happiness is... the first two invited reviewers accepting the assignment. 😀
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