Ryan Long spends his summers in Gorongosa National Park in Africa’s Mozambique. There, you will find him chasing after the region’s antelopes and elephants, as he explores how the varied ecosystems within the park influence its large mammal community.
Long was instrumental in studying the elephants of the region, which are some of the world’s most elegant examples of human-induced evolution. Poachers battered the local herds during a civil war, and Ryan and his research partners found that the spate of violence led to the evolution of tusklessness in female elephants. The number of female elephants without tusks tripled in the park following the war.
When he's not in Africa, Ryan does research in Idaho on the region's bighorn sheep and elk.
Available to speak on:
15-Nov-2023 10:05:55 AM EST