Postcard from Bishkek

The internet is full of pages, photos and videos of cats and dogs … most of them looking ‘cute and cuddly’ or doing ‘adorably cute’ things.  I admit, of course, that I have added to that with stories of my cats … and a couple of years ago, I wrote a postcard about Felis Kyrgyzstanus – […]

A few years ago, I was introduced to a teacher from the UK who had accepted a job in a school here in Kyrgyzstan … it was thought that two Brits living in a foreign land might want to know each other. As it happens, she seemed to know me already- at least, she recognized me. […]

The world’s numismatists were given a surprise Christmas Present last Friday, when Kyrgyzstan issued the latest in its series of commemorative coins. It’s a gold coin depicting one of the most majestic beasts to road this small country’s mountain ranges … the Snow Leopard, (Ak Ilbirs in Kyrgyz, or Uncia uncia in Latin). Although it […]

Geckos are family of lizards – the largest family of lizards and are thought to be one of the oldest among reptiles which can be traced back as far as the Mesozoic era – from 70 to 250 million years ago – the so called Age of Reptiles … the Age of Dinosaurs. There are about […]

Yesterday, I asked several of our Kyrgyz colleagues a question … and they all, rather shamefacedly admitted that they didn’t know the answer: What’s the Kyrgyz word for Stork.  I know that the Russian word is Aist, ( … there’s a rather fine Russian cagnac called Byeliy Aist – White Stork), but what’s the Kyrgyz […]

Serendipity – finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it. This week saw a BBC documentary about a serendipitous moment that led to a surprising discovery … about an American breed of horses found in a remote mountain valley here in Kyrgyzstan. It’s a fascinating story that is well worth telling … […]

Back in 1979, a thirteen part wildlife series was broadcast on the BBC, in which the naturalist David Attenborough traveled the globe to present the story of the evolution on the planet. It was one of a series of prestigious documentary series for which the BBC was, and is, famous … such as Alistair Cooke’s […]

To be honest, although it is listed as one of the fauna that is found in Kyrgyzstan, it’s very unlikely that a visitor to the country will encounter one. In fact, although it is one of the widely spread monitor lizards in the world with a distribution from the Sahara to Central and South East […]

Yesterday I wrote a postcard about the Chupacabra, the legendary monster first reported in 1996 in Puerto Rico but which, apparently, has appeared or at least been blamed for attacks on livestock in may far flung places … even in the Kochkor region of Kyrgyzstan. As usual with such legendary creatures, the sightings are rare, […]

Who would have thought it … there is day dedicated to Turtles! May 23rd is World Turtle Day and has been since 2000 and was established in order to bring attention to and promote efforts to help protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world..  Although it is called World Turtle Day and […]