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Lajos,
in front of Savica waterfall/Slovenia |
Lajos Nemeth - Bóka
Lajos
Nemeth-Bóka (37, pronounced Layosh), a freelance zoologist
lives in the peace and quiet of a village in Zala county,
Hungary with his wife and two small children, surrounded with
a garden, home of 64 butterfly species in it.
He
became a birder at the age of 7, started his butterfly carrier
at 11, and has been a keen "natural historian" ever
since.
As a lepidopterologist, he published his first scientific
paper on butterfly conservation before grammar school and
has been a member of 15 entomological expeditions in Asia
and North Africa, which discovered more than 100 species new
to science (Noctuidae mainly). He was also a major contributor
for the "Prime Buttarfly Areas" and the "Mapping
European Butterflies" projects, and spent years in co--operation
with the best dragonfly-researchers of his country as well.
As a birder, Lajos having a 2400 species world-list and still
holding the record of species on one tour in Eastern Europe
(254 species). Beside his own turfs, his main interest is
the birdlife and natural history of Egypt and the Horn of
Africa. Apart from several articles published in local papers,
he also published in magazines such as Alula, and a regular
lecturer at the British Birdwatching Fair.
His other passions include street-, nature- and conservation
photography, Africa-related issues, rare natural history books,
the golden age of travelling ("belle epoc"), old
trees, fly-fishing, scuba diving, desert exploration, current
affairs and... Hungarian wines.
In addition to travelling widely within his own country, Lajos
started his field research in Slovenia, Croatia and Romania
in 1991, sometimes spending several weeks in bush-campings.
There is nobody in the business who can compete with his mileage
and information network in these areas. He also feels home
in the Middle-East and Ethiopia, where he spend his winters
and guiding photography-, deep desert-, scuba diving- and
birding-safaris too. He loves to go back to his favourite
spots very often and explored Turkey, Nepal, India, Taiwan,
Thailand, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, Yemen (incl.
Socotra island) very extensively.
Lajos started ecotourism in Hungary in 1998 and was one of
the first ecotour-pioneers of Transylvania, and the first
of Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro. He developed wildlife
itineraries for companies like Sunbird, The Travelling Naturalist,
Avian Adventures, Ecotours Ltd. and several others.
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Steve
near Wadi Gemal, Egypt |
Istvan Moldovan
Istvan Moldovan (35), or Steve to his friends,
is a native Transylvanian secler, lives at the foots of the
Eastern Carpathian mountains at Tirgu Mures/Romania, and in
Hurghada/Egypt.
Both
of his parents being enthusiastic mountainers and trekkers,
and Steve raised up respecting and appreciating nature. He
became interested in birds at the age of 16, and has been
a keen bird ringer since 1994. One of his early mentors is
the founder of the largest bird skin and ostheological museum
of the country, Stefan Kohl.
Before
his interest in birding, Steve researched spiders (Arachnology),
and discovered five new species for the Romanian fauna. He
spent years in co-operation with the worldwide spider-expert,
Dr. Ingmar Weiss. As a keen arachnologist and ornithologist,
he has published many scientific papers, and also broadcasted
a weekly radio talk-show focused on the birds of Romania at
his local radio station.
In
2001, Istvan switched continents, to the little known egyptian'
Eastern Desert, where he became the contact person of the
Ornithlogical Society of the Middle East (OSME). The late
Tom Coles became his inseparable friend, and at present he
is helping organize and conduct raptor identification training
for the annual "Tom Coles Memorial Raptor Survey",
held each year in April at the Gulf of Suez migratory bird
flyway.
In
Egypt he is updating the birdlist of Egypt for BLI/Africa,
and is the owner and moderator of the "Birding Egypt"
mailing-list, where some 150 egyptian and foreign birders
exchange observations and questions. Istvan established the
first ringing camp in the Egyptian Eastern desert in 2006
and since 2007 his camp is part of SEEN, a ringing camp network
set up by the "father" of modern bird-ringing, Prof.
Przemyslaw Busse.
At the moment, Steve leading a project for the reintroduction
of the Sacred Ibis to Egypt, in co--operation with LPO France,
and working with Attila D. Sandor and Dick Forsman on a survey
of the largest Sooty Falcon colony in the world, in the southern
Red Sea.
Steve has traveled and tracked birds in Hungary, Slovenia,
Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and Sudan. As a
pro rescue-diver he is interested in marine zoology and a
dedicated high mountain guide and desert explorer.
He has published a number of scientific papers, in Sandgrouse
(OSME), the Egyptian Journal of Natural History, and to the
Journal of Arid Environments.
Steve
is a professional guide, speaking Hungarian, Romanian, English
and Arabic.
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