A Rwandan Biologist Spots a Great Lakes Bush Viper! - Observation of the Week, 5/23/23

Our Observation of the Week is this Great Lakes Bush Viper (Atheris nitschei), seen in Rwanda by @mmindje!

“I have always been fascinated by nature since I was a child where I could always play in the bushes around my home,” says Mapendo Mindje, a PhD student in Natural Sciences at the University of Koblenz. “Later, my early interest prompted me to apply for biological courses at the high school and later studied Wildlife Resources management as an undergraduate.”

I further did my MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and am currently doing a PhD in Natural Sciences where my project deals with amphibian diversity in Rwanda. My current interest is in amphibians and I dedicate my time taking people in wetlands showing them the amphibians that live in Rwanda.

I have been surveying the amphibians and reptiles in the Gishwati-Mukura Landscape Biosphere Reserve. The forest is well known to have many individuals of Atheris nitschei [great lakes bush vipers] and opportunistically, I observed the species on the tree branch and also along a stream bank in the same forest.

The great lakes bush viper occurs in wetlands, meadows, and mountain forests throughout central Africa, and average about 60 cm (2 ft) in length. Opportunistic feeders, they’ll prey on lizards, amphibians, birds, rodents, and other small animals, usually catching them via ambush. Like other vipers they are venomous and a bite is medically significant. This is one of only 15 observations of the species on iNaturalist.

Mapendo (above) heard about iNat when he participated in a bioblitz run by the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Society, under the guidance of Providence Akayezu, a National Geographic explorer.

I use iNaturalist as a way to contribute data for Rwanda, especially amphibian occurrences. I am deeply happy about iNat and of course it gives an idea about probable species identity which I always look for. Before, I could go out in nature, take photographs and save them on my drives but today, with the iNat app, I simply load them not only for Identification but also to keep data.

(Photo of Mapendo by Umulisa Christella. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.)

- you can find Manpendo’s publications here.

- take a look at Mapendo’s Amphibians of Rwanda project!

- Mapendo spoke about wetlands last year for World Wetlands Day!

Posted on May 23, 2023 09:53 PM by tiwane