This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Summer 2013 I completed the 2nd field season of an ongoing Capture-Mark-Recapture project for African Giant Pouched Rats (CM) Cricetomys ansorgei (formerly C. gambianus) in Morogoro, Tanzania.
I capture rats, take measurements, give them an individual identifying microchip, and then release back into the wild. It's pretty simple. Sometimes I see them again, sometimes I don't. So far, it's the females that I catch over and over again in a given area. Males are captured (and re-captured) less frequently.
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