The Genet Project

Look, who's pretty 🤩

Hide photography is very different to normal photography and especially when you decide to spend the whole night in the hide, it can we very difficult, tiring and boring.

However watching out of the hide into the darkness can be very mysterious and the waiting game can create some serious suspense, and when the animal emerges from the dark it all becomes worth it and an adrenaline rush takes over.

The Genet came to the waterhole for a drink of water and our cameras were in full burst mode, I was very happy to be able to capture the full length of the beautiful animal and also be able to get a wonderful reflection at the same time.

Come join me on safari and witness the same magic and even more.

Thanks for reading and sharing.

Image taken using Canon EOS 1DX MK3 + Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS 2

Take Only Photos, Leave Only Footprints.

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Monday smiles from our friends at Shepreth Wildlife Park😁

Monday laughs with the Red Pundas, #7 🤪

Take a look at These two genets Living in a Zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany! They are so cute 😍

Shepreth Wildlife Park (UK) is planning a livestream🎥 about their Pardine Genets!🐱 Do you have any Questions for their genet keepers❓ Just comment on their original post and make sure to stay tuned for all things genet💚💛

We love our Pardine Genets, Obi (in the tunnel) and Amara! Comment below if you'd like to learn a little more about them on a Facebook Live!

Don't forget, you can adopt either one of these amazing creatures, details are on our website!

Gaffel just woke up and even though he knows it's a little late, he wants to wish you all Happy Eastern!

How did I get the idea for this project?

Well, we keep two small-spotted genets, which are usually considered as easy to breed. Now Ginger and Gaffel have been living together for a few years and nothing happened. A few month ago a camera trap revealed the real reason behind this: He is just not into her. The images show her clearly being in heat and to say he is not interested is putting it lightly...

Since then one suspicion arose: Maybe they are different subspecies?! This would be the most plausible Explanation, and I'm going to find out!

Thank you so much to Lea Petersen, Emile Prins and their colleagues from GaiaZOO in Kerkrade for hosting a fantastic Workshop!

The Small Carnivore Taxon Advisory Group invited zoo professionals from all over Europe (and the US and Singapore) to meet up and exchange ideas and knowledge about small carnivores.

As you can see I had the fantastic opportunity to give a talk and present my study to raise awareness about this Project.
It was not just a lot of fun, but very helpful and inspiring. Thank you so much!

The small-spotted genet is a viverrid, that lives in habitats all over Africa, but it can also be found at the Mediterranean coast of Spain and France.
Historically there has been some confusion among scientists about two questions.
“How many genet species are there?” and “Do they have subspecies?” Due to new techniques and advancements in research possibilities, the answer to those questions changed over time. Until the year of 2008 the genet species Genetta felina was recognized as subspecies of my study object Genetta Genetta, today it’s a species for itself.
We are right now looking at five subspecies: Genetta Genetta genetta, G. g. senegalensis, G. g. dongolana, G. g. pulchra and G. g. grantii. As you can imagine: If you just look at an animal, without knowing anything about else about it, it almost impossible to decide which subspecies it belongs to!
To make things worse: The appearance of genets is not distinct between subspecies. That is why I need to work with molecular methods to analyse the DNA of small-spotted genets.