ALL WRAPPED UP IN ANACONDAS
NMHU professor’s book about anacondas aims to inform nonscientists and share his love for the snakes because “people will only protect what they love.”
LAS VEGAS, N.M. — New Mexico Highlands University biology professor Jesús Rivas’ book is the first to help nonscience readers explore the life of giant green anaconda snakes in the wild.
Oxford University Press earlier this summer published Rivas’ book, “Anaconda – The Secret Life of the World’s Largest Snake.” His study area is primarily in the Venezuelan Llanos — a vast plain that floods during the wet season from May through October.
“My biggest goal with this book is to convey my experience learning about anacondas and their lives,” Rivas said. “Anacondas are fascinating. I want to share my love of anacondas because people will only protect what they love.
“The more we know about endangered anacondas and their place in the ecosystem, the better the chance we can conserve them.”
The 300-page book features numerous photographs, including ones of Rivas involving Highlands University students in his anaconda field research in Venezuela.
“Jesús Rivas is one of those risk-taking pioneers studying large animals most vulnerable to extinction that are especially valuable in helping us appreciate the lives of charismatic animals before it’s too late,” wrote Gordon Burghardt in the foreword of Rivas’ new book. “This fascinating book gives us deep glimpses into how anacondas live in nature.”
Burghardt, who was Rivas’ Ph.D. adviser at the University of Tennessee, is a professor in both the Ecology and Evolution Department and the Psychology Department.
Rivas is known globally for his anaconda research, which spans 28 years. He is a Venezuelan-born herpetologist — a scientist who studies reptiles and amphibians. Rivas founded the ongoing Anaconda Project in 1992, which focuses on research and conservation.