Ecologist - Writer - Photographer

News & updates

European robin: aglow
February 2024 - Photo Gallery of Rick Wakeman - The Return Of The Caped Crusader Tour 2024, at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

February 2024 - The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa’s major land uses, research paper on biodiversity intactness, co-produced as part of the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa Project, published in Nature Scientific Data. Collaboration with Hayley S. Clements & many others.

January 2024 - Photo Gallery of Spock's Beard - UK Tour 2024, at the Classic Grand, Glasgow. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

November 2023 - Photo Gallery of Focus - The Hocus Pocus Tour 2023, at MacArts Centre, Galashiels. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

September 2023 - for World Rhino Day, Farmed rhinos will soon ‘rewild’ the African savanna; published in The Conversation.

September 2023 - quoted in Mail Online article: Why people are so obsessed with finding the Loch Ness Monster: Humans are hardwired to believe things that can't be explained, expert claims; by Jonathan Chadwick.

August 2023 - quoted in PBS News Hour article: Loch Ness monster search party uses new tools to look for an old cryptid; by Bella Isaacs-Thomas.

August 2023 - interviewed live by TRTWORLD on mass emperor penguin death. Watch @ Emperor Penguin Fears - Antarctic penguin deaths due to climate change - TRTWORLD interview.

August 2023 - new Blog ANCIENT GIANT FLYING REPTILES CARED FOR THEIR YOUNG, extended version of The Conversation pterosaur article (below).

August 2023 - Why we think that some extinct giant flying reptiles cared for their young; published in The Conversation.

August 2023 - interviewed live by TRTWORLD on elephant-human conflict in Kenya. Watch @ Human-elephant conflict Kenya - TRTWORLD interview.

June 2023 - Photo Gallery of Peter Gabriel - i/o live - Glasgow 2023. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

June 2023 - Photo Gallery of Richard Thompson - Live at the Queen's Hall 2023. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

April 2023 - interviewed live by TRTWORLD on tiger census India and tiger conservation. Watch @ Project Tiger - tiger census India - TRTWORLD interview.

March 2023 - quoted in Science Focus article: There are two northern white rhinos left, both females. Here’s how science hopes to save them from extinction; by Helen Pilcher.

March 2023 - interviewed for The Gray Area podcast: The Cost Of Saving Pandas; with Benji Jones.

January 2023 - Primates colonised the Arctic during a period of ancient global warming – their fate offers a lesson as climate change speeds up; published in The Conversation.

January 2023 - Photo Gallery of Martin Barre - Aqualung 50th Anniversary 2023, Backstage at the Green Hotel, Kinross. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

December 2022 - some of my landscape photos appear in the Scottish Geology campaign: Geology Does.

November 2022 - featured in research film: Gene Drive Grey Squirrels (output from a social science research project Gene Drive Squirrels in the UK, by Gene Drive Governance).

August 2022 - Photo Gallery of Jakko Jakszyk live - The Road To Ballina, at the Edinburgh Fringe. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

July 2022 - A new plesiosaur, it’s ecological and evolutionary context, and the Loch Ness Monster Blog.

April 2022 - quoted in Daily Mail article: "Is This Nessie's Monster Wake?".

April 2022 - Photo Gallery of Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy live, Backstage At The Green Hotel, Kinross. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

April 2022 - Photo Gallery posted of Rick Wakeman and The English Rock Ensemble live, at the O2 Academy Glasgow. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

March 2022 - Expert range maps of global mammal distributions harmonised to three taxonomic authorities, research paper on mammal mapping published in Journal of Biogeography. Collaboration with Charles J Marsh & many others.

March 2022 - THE GIANT PTEROSAUR THAT PTERRORISED SKIES OVER SKYE Blog.

March 2022 - RAY HARRYHAUSEN: TITAN OF CINEMA - Inspiration to JURASSIC WORLD Blog.

February 2022 - RAY HARRYHAUSEN: TITAN OF CINEMA - Tribute to an Exhibition Blog posted to mark the end of the RAY HARRYHAUSEN: TITAN OF CINEMA exhibition.

February 2022 - Elephant ivory: DNA analysis offers clearest insight yet into illegal trafficking networks published in The Conversation. My Blog, features an extended version of the article, USING DNA TO TAKE ON MAJOR PLAYERS IN ILLEGAL ELEPHANT IVORY TRADE.

December 2021 - Photo Gallery posted of Rick Wakeman, The Not Quite As Grumpy As Last Xmas Tour, at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

October 2021 - Photo Gallery posted of Genesis, The Last Domino?, at Utilita Arena, Newcastle. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

September/October 2021 - something a bit different. Photo Galleries posted of 3 Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited, Seconds Out + More, shows at Edinburgh Playhouse, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and Caird Hall Dundee. Live Music - Gigs - Prog.

September 2021 - Rhinos: scientists are hanging them upside-down from helicopters – here’s why published in The Conversation.

May 2021 - research paper on activity patterns of Scottish mountain hare (behavioural ecology) published in Ecology and Evolution: The diel activity pattern of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) on managed heather moorland in Scotland. Collaboration with Graham Pettigrew, Valentina Di Vita and Maxine Pettigrew.

February 2021 - Grey squirrels: is birth control the solution to Britain’s invasive species problem? published in The Conversation.

January 2021 - quoted in BBC News article online on contraception of grey squirrel: UK government backs birth control for grey squirrels.

November 2020 - My latest dinosaur Blog: Reimagining Baby Tyrannosaurs.

November 2020 - Monsters, movies, and biomechanics: Celebrating Ray Harryhausen, my article for The Conversation celebrating the imagination and genius of creator of dinosaurs, skeletons, aliens & other creatures, Ray Harryhausen.

October 2020 - Death to Nanotyrannus! Long Live Tyrannosaurs! Blog marking the departure of the TYRANNOSAURS from the National Museum of Scotland, and reviewing latest salvos in the Nanotryannus debate.

October 2020 - Photo gallery to mark opening of Ray Harryhausen: Titan Of Cinema exhibition at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two), titled Ray Harryhausen: Titan Of Cinema - Teaser. #Harryhausen100

September 2020 - Living Planet interview for Deutsche Welle (DW), How panda conservation threatens biodiversity.

August 2020 - interviewed live by TRTWORLD on giant panda conservation and implications for large carnivore conservation. Listen to audio @ Giant panda conservation is failing to revive the wider ecosystem - TRTWorld interview.

August 2020 - Giant panda conservation is failing to revive the wider ecosystem - published in The Conversation.

June 2020 - to mark the centenary of the birth of legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen, I have put together a Ray Harryhausen Tribute Blog, and recorded my first (and so far, only) podcast: The Ray Harryhausen Centenary Podcast, where I talk to fellow Ray Harryhausen fan, palaeontologist, palaeoartist, and pterosaur expert, Dr. Mark Witton. You can also test your knowledge of Ray Harryhausen movies with The Ray Harryhausen Centenary Photo Quiz.

March 2020 - with the sad news of the death of Professor Jenny Clack, I am releasing an unpublished article in my Blog, Filling Romer's Gap: A Tribute to Professor Jenny Clack.

February 2020 - research paper on striped hyena behavioural ecology published in Current Zoology: Social interactions in striped hyena inferred from camera trap data: is it more social than previously thought? Collaboration with Jonathan Tichon, Guy Rotem, Paul Ward and Orr Spiegel.

January 2020 - as Tyrannosaurs exhibition opens at the National Museum of Scotland, I consider what we know about Tyrannosaurs, and recent research that informs the Nanotyrannus debate. Also see Tyrannosaurs: Teaser Photo Gallery, and Tyrannosaurs: The Exhibition Photo Gallery.

January 2020 - The Herald publish article, Having a cat is like tossing a grenade onto a bird table, by Rosemary Goring, based upon my recent article for The Conversation:Rescued grey squirrels to be killed under new law – but Britain’s ‘invasive’ problem runs much deeper. In addition to The Conversation article, you can read an extended Blog version here.

January 2020 - The Times publish article, Culling grey squirrels but loving cats? It’s nuts, says scientist, based upon my recent article for The Conversation:Rescued grey squirrels to be killed under new law – but Britain’s ‘invasive’ problem runs much deeper. The Times article lacks the wider context of my original The Conversation article - which is about how society views and treats the grey squirrel. In The Conversation article (and also my interview with Marc Horne) I acknowledged the damage (ecological and economic) caused to woodland and forestry by the grey squirrel. Research indicates that domestic and feral cats take a lot more native birds than grey squirrels do, and are likely to have a greater impact. That does not mean "Domestic cats are more destructive and invasive than grey squirrels" - this requires evaluation of ecological (and economic) impact across a number of planes. In my discussion with Marc Horne, I also acknowledged the welfare and ethics concerns of keeping domestic cats indoors - this is not going to be good for all cats. In addition to The Conversation article, you can read an extended Blog version here.

December 2019 - Rescued grey squirrels to be killed under new law - but Britain's invasive problem runs much deeper - published in The Conversation. You can read an extended Blog version of the article that explores the ethical side in a bit more detail here.

October 2019 - Tyrannosaurus rex and the dinosaur teeth of Skye: Windows into the lives of dead dinos - Palaeocast republish my Blog inspired by the visit of Trix. the Tyrannosaurus rex, to the Hunterian Glasgow, and theropod dinosaur teeth from the Isle of Skye.

September 2019 - Walking in the Footsteps of Dinosaurs - Palaeocast republish my article from Earth Archives - with new images not in original Earth Archives version.

September 2019 - appeared on BBC Scotland's The Nine to talk about poaching of white rhino in South Africa and wildlife crime: view here.

September 2019 - interviewed for The Daily Dive Podcast (USA) on the Loch Ness Monster: does it exist? You can listen to the interview here.

September 2019 - Have scientists finally killed off the Loch Ness Monster? - published in The Conversation.

August 2019 - Dinosaur egg bonanza gives vital clues about prehistoric parenting - published in The Conversation, bringing palaeontology and behavioural ecology together - to re-imagine the lives of colonial-nesting egg laying dinosaurs. Also see my Blog, Dinosaur egg discovery reveals social lives of dinosaurs, that extends on The Conversation article with additional interpretation and images.

July 2019 - Hail Trix, one of the 3 most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons in the world. And I got to meet her. Photos and my thoughts linking to recent description of theropod teeth from the Isle of Skye @
Tyrannosaurus rex and the dinosaur teeth of Skye: Windows into the lives of dead dinos.

July 2019 - Full Flow - Explorations of the Flow Country, a new Photo Gallery posted in celebration of the Flow Country's programme to become Scotland's next UNESCO World Heritage Site.

June 2019 - The Blog is becoming an Amorphophallic Blog... New entry to mark the 3rd flowering of Edinburgh's own Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum), New Reekie 3 and the Power of Plants. Accompanying photo gallery with additional images also posted: Titan arum at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

May 2019: Implications of death of Tam, the last Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. My latest article for The Conversation: Scientists race to save the Sumatran rhino as last male in Malaysia dies.

April 2019: Quoted in Sunday Times ('Sunday' section) article, 28/04/19: The future is a grey area for much-maligned squirrel, by Nick Harding, p13, Country Matters. For the record, "I would prefer to see a more nuanced approach to licencing - allowing rescue and release of greys in areas where there are no red squirrels and no economic forestry concerns." You can read my grey squirrel article, In defence of the grey squirrel, Britain’s most unpopular invader for The Conversation, here.

March 2019 - The Blog has been coaxed out of hibernation. By a rancid smelling plant. Wee Reekie - Smaller but Smellier... Associated Photo Gallery with additional images here.

February 2019 - Seeking out dinosaur footprint sites in Portugal. Photos to follow.

September 2018 - Reviewing recent reports and events relevant to rhino and wildlife crime, my latest article for The Conversation for World Rhino Day 2018: Rhino horn must become a socially unacceptable product in Asia.

August 2018 - 'Walking in the footsteps of dinosaurs' published by Earth Archives, Fossils and Evolution. I intend to post an Isle of Skye image gallery - so please revisit in the coming days to see more photos of the site, and perhaps some more toy dinosaurs...

July 2018 - My analysis of Nature Communications paper regarding assisted reproductive technology applied to white rhino: Hybrid embryos raise hope of resurrecting northern white rhino – but what’s the point?, published by The Conversation.

May 2018 - I was recently interviewed by New York Times about the issues surrounding resurrection of the northern white rhinoceros, read more in the article: Scientists See Promise in Resurrecting These Rhinos That Are Nearly Extinct.

April-May 2018 - Currently running Edinburgh Napier University Scotland Field Course with our MSc Wildlife Biology and Conservation, and MSc Ecotourism students. Check out my Twitter feed for photos & updates from the Field Course.

April 2018 - The Independent republish recent rhino article as Africa’s northern white rhino shouldn’t be resurrected ‘Jurassic Park-style’.

April 2018 - The Northern White Rhino Should Not Be Brought Back to Life, published in The Conversation.

January 2018 - Palaeocast republish The Skye dinosaur footprint vandal: Lessons for assault on U.S. National Monuments, as Guest Blog. More on the backstory @ my Blog: Why Fossils Matter.

December 2017 - Popular Science article, The Skye dinosaur footprint vandal: Lessons for assault on U.S. National Monuments, published by Earth Archives, Fossils and Evolution. More on the backstory @ my Blog: Why Fossils Matter.

October 2017 - ReWildScotland features my latest Blog as the Guest Blog: The Future of Scotland's Landscape: Geology and Biodiversity.

September 2017 - Global Greed is Driving the Rhino to Extinction published in The Times for World Rhino Day 2017. Visit my Rhino Gallery for more info, articles, images, videos and links on rhino. I have more to say on the matters raised, re. wildlife crime, trafficking, promoting sustainable benefits to local communities, and demand reduction. Watch this space.

August 2017 - A conservation assessment of Mungos mungo. From The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. Now published online by South African National Biodiversity Institute and Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa.

May 2017 - Scientific paper published (Open Access) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biased escorts: offspring sex, not relatedness explains alloparental care patterns in a cooperative breeder.

March 2017 - Scientific paper published (Open Access) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), Explaining negative kin discrimination in a cooperative mammal society.

March 2017 - shortlisted in the Scottish Botanical category of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2016. To view my shortlisted image, Green on Pink, captured on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, click here. To view more images from Ardnamurchan, view my Scotland Photo Galleries: Ardnamurchan I: Portrait of the Region and Ardnamurchan II: Landscape of Contrast. Check out the winning SNPA images here.

March 2017 - Radio Merseyside played out an interview with me about grey squirrels and red squirrels on 13/03/17. The Formby Reserve on Merseyside is one of northern England's few remaining red squirrel populations. You can listen to the broadcast @ Roger Phillips.

March 2017 - I appeared on Radio Scotland to discuss the grey squirrel cull with Susan Davies, Director of Conservation at the Scottish Wildlife Trust on 09/03/17. You can listen to the broadcast @ The Kaye Adams Programme.

March 2017 - quoted in The Times article Public outcry at grey squirrel ‘massacre’ planned by charity by Environment Editor Ben Webster.

March 2017 - In defence of the grey squirrel, Britain’s most unpopular invader, published in The Conversation. To see images of red and grey squirrels visit my Scotland's Squirrels Photo Gallery.

December 2016 - Dawn of 'Trumpocene' era spells disaster for world's primates - The Independent republish my The Conversation article on primates, climate change and Trump.

December 2016 - Dawn of 'Trumpocene' era spells disaster for world's primates, published in The Conversation to coincide with the opening of Monkey Business at the National Museum of Scotland. More @ my Blog - Monkey Business: All Primates Great and Small.

September 2016 - Horns of a Dilemma - The Independent republish ‘Medical tourism’ to South Africa will only drive rhino closer to extinction article.

September 2016 - ‘Medical tourism’ to South Africa will only drive rhino closer to extinction, published in The Conversation. For World Rhino Day 2016 and CoP17 (the CITES conference: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

August 2016 - New Photo Gallery: Republika Hrvatska: Croatia featuring butterflies, graffiti, holy pigeons, red tractors, and dead fish.

August 2016 - IUCN Species Account for Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) published online by International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

June 2016 - New Photo Gallery: Colours of Kerala (India) featuring sleeping street dogs, noctural fish market, Indian crow, gecko, monkey, and elephant.

June 2016 - Outdoor Photography Magazine publish my reminisces on what happens when a Canon gets into a fight with a Land Rover with a couple of images in the Your Letters section in the July 2016 issue (p14). You can view the article here or in the Magazine Articles+ section. The images also appear in recent Blogs: on mongooses and fieldwork in Uganda.

May 2016 - Discover Wildlife republish BBC Wildlife Magazine article (May 2016): Unusual alliance between warthogs and mongooses by Stuart Blackman includes quotes from interview with me. To view my mongoose research pages click on: Sharing of reproduction and care of young in banded mongooses and Effects of anthropogenic waste disposal on banded mongoose demographics.

May 2016 - Scientific paper published (Open Access) in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Evidence of Oxidative Shielding of Offspring in a Wild Mammal. Banded mongoose mums protect foetuses from physiological damage during gestation.

May 2016 - Wild News article in BBC Wildlife Magazine (May 2016, p14): "Team-up is Mammal Milestone: New Research Reveals Cross-species Co-operation between Warthogs and Mongooses" by Stuart Blackman includes quotes from interview with me. To view my mongoose research pages click on: Sharing of reproduction and care of young in banded mongooses and Effects of anthropogenic waste disposal on banded mongoose demographics.

May 2016 - now Twitter active: Follow me here...@jgilchrist13. Alerts re. website updates & other topical points of interest will post to Twitter.

March 2016 - shortlisted in the Scottish Landscape Sea and Coast category of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2015. To view my shortlisted image, Storm at Eshaness, captured on Shetland, click here. To view more images from the Shetland Islands, view my Blog entry: When the Wind Blows: Wild Shetland. Check out the winning SNPA images here.

March 2016 - Civil war among the mongooses...and why it’s all about sexual success published via The Conversation. Article taking a peek into the fascinating social conflict within banded mongooses. You can read more @ my Blog page on The Return of Mr. Mongoose. I have also added an antique video clip from the TV series Vets in the Wild that featured the banded mongooses and our research (way back in 1999). You can view the video here. The Civil war among the mongooses... story was picked up by the Daily Mail in an article: Cuddly mongooses wage civil WARS: Normally close-knit families are torn apart in shrieking battles... and it's all about sex.

March 2016 - Scientific paper published (Open Access) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses.

January 2016 - I was recently interviewed by Time Magazine about South Africa's controversial and ongoing decision to open domestic trade in rhino horn, and the issues are reported in the article: Legalizing the Sale of Rhino Horn May Only Endanger the Animals More.

January 2016 - To Trade or Not to Trade? That is the question posed in an article that I wrote on rhino and the rhino horn trade, also featuring some of my photographs, published in Biosphere Magazine. You can view the article click here or in the Magazine Articles+ section. To visit the Biosphere Magazine website click here.

November 2015 - the death of Nola, one of the last northern white rhino, prompted me to write an article, Only a Jurassic Park-style intervention can now save the northern white rhino, analysing the implications, published in The Conversation. You can read additional thoughts in my Blog, The Death of a Rhino, with videos of rhino capture and processing, and photos, available in my Rhino! gallery.

October 2015 - I was recently interviewed about South Africa's rhino poaching epidemic by Time Magazine, and some of my thoughts, alongside those of others involved in rhino conservation, are reported in the article: Meet the Black Mambas, the Scourge of South African Poachers (subscription required).

September 2015 - to coincide with World Rhino Day 2015, The Conversation has published an online article written by me and featuring one of my rhino images: Spy-cam rhinos to take on poachers with devices hidden in their horns. I, and the rhinos, would be grateful for any attention and support that you can generate via social media, the internet +. Also check out Chopping Off the Rhino's Horn and the War on Wildlife Crime. Videos of rhino capture and processing, and photos, available in my Rhino! gallery.

August 2015 – letter and photograph published in Outdoor Photography Magazine (Issue 195, September 2015, p17). My letter, The Trouble with Trees, was published alongside my image The Black Wood of Rannoch. You can view the letter and image as they appeared in the magazine here. Click here to view more ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) images in my Abstracts with Trees gallery.

July 2015 - presentation at the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare - International Animal Welfare Science Symposium, Zagreb, Croatia. The focus of the Symposium was 'Animal Populations - World Resources and Animal Welfare'. I presented on 'Stress physiology of game animal capture and cull: Welfare and productivity for the wildlife industry’ based upon my research on ungulates in South Africa. See the Blog for some personal reflection on animal welfare prompted by the symposium.

July 2015 - addition of new Gallery celebrating the recent bloom of the giant corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum, at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

June 2015 - first experience of India via University networking visit to Kerala region. Elephant and tiger - did not see any but they loomed large as conservation issues. See Colours of Kerala Blog post for more information.

May 2015 - The Blog...Opening entry of monthly Blog posted. Exploring Uncharted Terrain.

January 2015 - new Gallery added with photographic highlights from 2014: see the Year in Pictures 2014 Gallery.

January 2015 - some of my more artistic (impressionist-style) images now feature in a new gallery of their own within the Scotland Galleries: Abstracts with Trees.

December 2014 - Melvita Nature Images Awards publish their 2014 award-winning entries (view here) including my abstract image of a European Robin awarded 2nd place in the Birds category....! This is my first placing in a major international nature photography competition. You can view my prize winning image here.

December 2014 - the British Ecological Society used one of my Madagascar Chameleon images as the cover image for their Strategic Plan (2015-2019).

November 2014 - new photo galleries added with images from Ardnamurchan region, Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands following a recent trip. Click here.

November 2014 - shortlisted for Scottish Seabird Centre Nature Photography Awards 2014 in Creative Visions of Nature category. Shortlisted images are on display, and open for public vote, at the Discovery Centre exhibition through to 22nd February 2015. You can view my shortlisted image here.

October 2014 - online article published on Chopping Off the Rhino's Horn and the War on Wildlife Crime, for The Conversation. Videos of rhino capture and processing posted in my Rhino! gallery.

October 2014 - new photo gallery added with Camera Trap photographs of wildlife from South Africa. Click here.

September 2014 - website re-organisation in progress with transfer to www.jasongilchrist.co.uk. New content will be added shortly. Watch this space.

July-September 2014 - field research in South Africa on game animal stress physiology. I was involved in the capture and de-horning of yet more white rhinoceros - in order to reduce risk of poaching. Check out the RHINO! gallery where you can view a photo slideshow and videos of rhino capture and de-horning. Sadly, Northern Cape lost its first rhino to poaching during my fieldwork.

March 2014 - shortlisted in the Natural Abstract, and Environmental categories of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2013. To view my shortlisted images click here for the Natural Abstract image, or here for the Environmental image. Check out the winning images @ www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com.

January 2014 - new Gallery added on the Edinburgh Portobello beach Sperm Whale carcass removal: see The Joppa Whale Gallery (A Photostory).

February 2013 - new Gallery and Links added on rhino endangerment prior to field research (and rhino capture) in South Africa: click here.

February 2013 - Mammals of Africa published by Bloomsbury: co-authored Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) species account featured in Volume V (Carnivores +). To read excerpt, visit the Magazine Articles+ section.

January 2012 - original website goes live.