Thought I may as well introduce myself formally, as I haven't yet done so...
I'm Mo, and I'm a zoo-o-holic... I live in London. I regularly visit collections in the UK and further afield whenever I get the chance, and document most of what I see with photographs. I like to use my photographs to help me understand taxonomic relationships between species and subspecies, and to create my distinctive artwork (like the moco in my avatar, from an individual seen at Artis Zoo, Amsterdam).
Favourite UK collections would be: Colchester, Chester, Highland Wildlife Park, Paradise Wildlife Park, and any WWT reserve with an actual collection. Also visited some zoos in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Greece. I am visiting Hamerton in Cambridgeshire this weekend, and will be at Edinburgh Zoo on 19th September (my birthday!).
Favourite animals: Carnivora, especially small and rarely seen species. Probably favourite of all time would be the grison - I have been lucky enough to see them twice at both German institutions that currently have them. But I also love pretty much all vertebrates, and aim to see as many species as I can in my time on Earth.
Other than zoos and illustration, my zoological interests stretch to taxonomy and systematics, birdwatching, and vertebrate palaeontology. I have tried to pursue a career in the latter, but have mostly given up, but remain closely involved with wildlife wherever I go. I am writing a dictionary on the etymology of mammalian scientific names.
If any of the above sound like something you want to know more about, please ask! I'm eager to contribute to this community as it has already helped me greatly in choosing institutions to visit.
I'm Mo, and I'm a zoo-o-holic... I live in London. I regularly visit collections in the UK and further afield whenever I get the chance, and document most of what I see with photographs. I like to use my photographs to help me understand taxonomic relationships between species and subspecies, and to create my distinctive artwork (like the moco in my avatar, from an individual seen at Artis Zoo, Amsterdam).
Favourite UK collections would be: Colchester, Chester, Highland Wildlife Park, Paradise Wildlife Park, and any WWT reserve with an actual collection. Also visited some zoos in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Greece. I am visiting Hamerton in Cambridgeshire this weekend, and will be at Edinburgh Zoo on 19th September (my birthday!).
Favourite animals: Carnivora, especially small and rarely seen species. Probably favourite of all time would be the grison - I have been lucky enough to see them twice at both German institutions that currently have them. But I also love pretty much all vertebrates, and aim to see as many species as I can in my time on Earth.
Other than zoos and illustration, my zoological interests stretch to taxonomy and systematics, birdwatching, and vertebrate palaeontology. I have tried to pursue a career in the latter, but have mostly given up, but remain closely involved with wildlife wherever I go. I am writing a dictionary on the etymology of mammalian scientific names.
If any of the above sound like something you want to know more about, please ask! I'm eager to contribute to this community as it has already helped me greatly in choosing institutions to visit.
) twice myself, but haven't even seen any of the South American species in a zoo. Tayra would be the dream!
