Hayo mambo ya discovery, eti mzungu kagundua maziwa yetu kama Victoria na Nyasa, wakati wenyeji wanaijua tangu makarne!
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| In this photo taken Wednesday, March 30, 2011 and released by The Wildlife Conservation Society on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, a Matilda's Horned Viper is photographed in a forest habitat in southwestern Tanzania. The world's newest snake was discovered in a small patch of southwest Tanzania about two years ago and was introduced last month in an issue of Zootaxa as the world's newest known snake species. |
A snake named Matilda: New species in Tanzania
By JASON STRAZIUSO
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The world's newest snake has menacing-looking yellow and black scales, dull green eyes and two spiky horns. And it's named after a 7-year-old girl.
Matilda's Horned Viper was discovered in a small patch of southwest Tanzania about two years ago and was introduced last month as the world's newest known snake species in an issue of Zootaxa.
Tim Davenport, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, was on the three-person team that discovered the viper. Thanks to his daughter, the snake will always carry a family namesake.
"My daughter, who was 5 at the time, became fascinated by it and used to love spending time watching it and helping us look after it," Davenport told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We called it Matilda's Viper at that stage ... and then the name stuck."
Only three new vipers have been discovered across Africa the last three decades, making the find rare and important. The Wildlife Conservation Society is not revealing exactly where the snake lives so that trophy hunters can't hunt it.
Davenport said he is not sure how many live in the wild because snake counts are hard to do. Twelve live in captivity and a breeding plan is being carried out.
Davenport, a Briton who has lived in Tanzania for 12 years, said that while many people fear snakes, most are harmless and help keep rodent numbers down. Matilda's horned viper can grow to 2 feet (65 centimeters) or bigger, he said.
"This particular animal looks fierce and probably is venomous (though bush viper bites are not fatal)," Davenport told AP via an Internet chat. "However, it is actually very calm animal and not at all aggressive. I have handled one on a number of occasions."
The Wildlife Conservation Society runs the Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo in New York, and Davenport said it would be a "great option" to showcase the new horned viper at one of those locations, but that nothing has yet been decided.
http://www.atherismatildae.org/
6 comments:
Da Chemi, you are out of your depth when it comes to matters that require brains. I suggest you stick to the writtings of "birthdays ya dada Doreen in Newyork", where you seem to be able to punch well above your weight. New species of different animals/creatures are discovered everyday, and this "supposedly newly discovered snake" may have been familiar to the locals, but not in the world database of species. Afterall, they only claim to have discovered the new species and not invented it. Discovery and invention are two different words which can be translated into the same word in swahili to most swahilis who speak swahili as a second language. To most swahili speakers those two words translate into "Gundua and Vumbua", which are also two different words. Most folk cannot work out the difference between "Gundua and Vumbua". This may cause some controversy now and again but personally I dont see what the fuss is all about. Scientific explorations and ethnocentric kneejerk reactions do not have to be mutually inclusive.
Tafadhali mwambie dada Doreen anialike kwenye birthday yake ijayo.
Wakatabahu.
Kabla ya mzungu kukanyaga Afrika kulikuwa hakuna Ziwa, milima, wanyama. Mzungu alivyokuja ndo wanapewa majina ya kizungu eti na ni vyao! Waafrika tuchachamae kwa kweli!
Ina maana mzungu kaja na Abracadabra kuna maziwa, milima, wanyama, miti, watu? Wangetuheshimu wanatoa majina ya kienyeji. Badala yake wanawapa majina ya kizungu bila kujai historia! Sucks!
Matangalu, I agree with Da Chemi. It is an insult for wazungu to come to our home and claim they discovered things which the locals already knew about. If anything they should give it an indigenous name not the name of some child. This is a slap in the face to Tanzanians!
Hii ni aibu kwa serikali ya Tanzania! Wanakubali kuibiwa hivi hivi? Hao wazungu hawakutambua wenyeji huyo nyoka lazima ana jina la asili.
Miaka kama 17 iliyopita, nikiwa nacheza na wenzangu nilikutana na nyoka kama huyu, maeneo ya lower moshi, na ilikuwa aning'ate, bahati tulimuuwa, yaani nyoka huyo alikuwa kama huyu kwa kila kitu.
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