Hong Kong-based Zoologist and Wildlife Educator

  • Talking About Wildlife Education On The News

    Talking About Wildlife Education On The News

    I brought the journalists to a school where I presented animals at.

  • I Was Holding a Lizard No One Knew Was Deadly

    I Was Holding a Lizard No One Knew Was Deadly

    I was handling a lizard no one knew was deadly, until just now. Gila Monsters are venomous. It’s been known from day one, since 1890. This is probably the first lizard species ever known to be venomous, over 120 years before we learned that Komodo Dragons are venomous. Gila monster bites are painful but have…

  • New Species In 2023 Named After Celebrities

    New Species In 2023 Named After Celebrities

    DiCaprio’s snail-eating snake (Sibon irmelindicaprioae) This snake is found in the Chocó-Darién Gap forests of eastern Panama and western Colombia. Actor and conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio named it in honor of his mother, Irmelin Indenbirken. Venomius tomhardyi This new species of orb-weaver spider found in southern Western Australia east to Tasmania was named after Tom Hardy because the pattern of black spots on the…

  • Wildlife Education at Nature Discovery Park of K11 Musea

    Wildlife Education at Nature Discovery Park of K11 Musea

    Glad to be invited by K11 MUSEA again!  Sharing my wildlife experience and thoughts on animals is the best thing I can do in the city. Doing so at Nature Discovery Park, Hong Kong’s first urban biodiversity museum and sustainability-themed education park, means even more. This time I was with Freddie the Argentine black and…

  • I Found The Rarest Pig In The World

    I Found The Rarest Pig In The World

    It’s Kinda Sus… Literally, it is a kind of Sus — it means pig, swine or hog in latin that is used in zoology and taxonomy. Sus is the genus of 9 species of pigs including wild boar, domestic pig, and this extraordinary one I was lucky enough to encounter. The World’s Rarest Pig Can…

  • Why Don’t Komodo Dragons Suck?

    Why Don’t Komodo Dragons Suck?

    Learn why the Komodo dragon doesn’t suck in 15 seconds:

  • Wandering The Avenue of The Baobabs, Madagascar

    Wandering The Avenue of The Baobabs, Madagascar

    The video includes baobab trees, Pachypodium, other succulent plants, friendly Malagasy people, and spectacular scenery of beautiful scenic roads shot in rural Madagascar during one of my many field trips to The Great Red Island. Locations: The Avenue of the Baobabs, Marofototra, Morondava, Isalo, Madagascar, Africa Music: Toni Kingston – October Passed Me By –…

  • What Animals Can Sing Besides Birds?

    What Animals Can Sing Besides Birds?

    What Animals Can Sing Besides Birds? Although some birds don’t sing, such as vultures, storks, cedar waxwing, and the females of many species, birds are the best singers in the animal kingdom. Other than birds, many animals can sing. Mammals that can sing include whales, mice, Mexican free-tailed bats, and antelope squirrels. Cold-blooded animals that…

  • How To Tell A Millipede From A Centipede

    How To Tell A Millipede From A Centipede

    Every time when I say I want to show you some creepy crawlies people are expecting spiders and snakes but no one will expect these. I think these are creepier than spiders. Shongololo, The Giant African Millipede these are the African giant millipedes. when I was in south Africa local people called them an interesting…

  • Watch Me Catch A Lizard On Live TV

    Watch Me Catch A Lizard On Live TV

    I was invited again to go live on TV for RTHK 31 All Being Well with Alyson Hau and Ben Cullen. I’m happy to be the first ever guest they have invited twice. So I gave them something special – a flying catch in front of the camera! My Blue tree monitor knows exactly when…

  • On Live TV Show With My Chameleon And Snake

    On Live TV Show With My Chameleon And Snake

    I was invited to go live on TV for RTHK 31 All Being Well with Alyson Hau and Ben Cullen. The entire team and the production are so professional. There’s no script and I didn’t have much prepared in advance. That’s fun! They learned about animals. I learned how a live TV show is produced…

  • Blue Viper Strikes In Slo-Mo | The Longest 15 Seconds

    Blue Viper Strikes In Slo-Mo | The Longest 15 Seconds

    This is one of my captive-bred Komodo Island Pit Vipers feeding in slo-mo

  • Why I Ain’t Black But Have Dreadlocks | Kids Asked Me Hard Questions About Animals And My HAIR!

    Why I Ain’t Black But Have Dreadlocks | Kids Asked Me Hard Questions About Animals And My HAIR!

    Questions for me from students of FabSummer School: 00:46 How old are you? 01:29 What type of animals are spiders? 02:19 What does nocturnal mean? 03:09 Why you don’t afraid of animals? 05:52 What animals do you like the most? 06:59 Can Axolotls actually regenerate their bodies? 08:25 How do pets eat Mr. Toni? 09:55…

  • Just Adopted A Chinchilla From Hong Kong Exodus

    Just Adopted A Chinchilla From Hong Kong Exodus

    We have recently adopted and rehomed many pets that couldn’t make it to stay with their families due to the mass emigration from Hong Kong. This chinchilla is from a repatriating expat. She was so sad and couldn’t hold her tears when I picked him up. I hope this video will make her feel better…

  • Is The Fire Snail Extinct In The Wild?

    Is The Fire Snail Extinct In The Wild?

    Snails are everywhere. The brown ones in Hong Kong are the invasive African snails (Lissachatina fulica). The Snail’s body is soft, unprotected, and vulnerable. But it maneuvers its way across thorns and thistles without harm. Meanwhile, many humans look powerful, fully armored, and invincible, yet become a crybaby when a little bug comes close. But…

  • Formosa Kukri Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 台灣小頭蛇 – 香港野生動物

    Formosa Kukri Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 台灣小頭蛇 – 香港野生動物

    The Formosa kukri snake is also known as Taiwan kukri snake or beautiful kukri snake. In spite of its name, the natural range of this species is not limited to Taiwan but also Vietnam, Japan (Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama), China including Hong Kong, and Hainan. It is a small snake growing to usually…

  • Blue Tree Monitor Is My Childhood Dream Lizard

    Blue Tree Monitor Is My Childhood Dream Lizard

    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Toni Kingston (@kingstoninthewild) Good-looking ones have no personality(?) I said this was my childhood dream lizard. And, I also said blue is the rarest color in animals. But no, this lizard didn’t hold a special place in my heart only by its looks. Eye candies ain’t…

  • I Found The Deadliest Snake in the World

    I Found The Deadliest Snake in the World

    The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) the most venomous snake in the world with a murine LD 50 value of 0.025 mg/kg SC. I was lucky to encounter some in my field trips to Australia.

  • Green Cascade Frog – Hong Kong Wildlife | 大綠蛙 –  香港野生動物

    Green Cascade Frog – Hong Kong Wildlife | 大綠蛙 – 香港野生動物

    The Green cascade frog, also known as Chloronate huia frog or Copper-cheeked frog, is a species of true frog (family Ranidae). As a matter of fact, many frog-like amphibians in Hong Kong are not true frogs. Being quite large in size, bright green all over the back, and can make bigger jumps than most other…

  • Blind Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 盲蛇 – 香港野生動物

    Blind Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 盲蛇 – 香港野生動物

    This 4-inch noodle I found in my backyard is a fully-grown blind snake — one of the smallest snakes in the world. Eyesight is never an important sense of snakes. But most snakes do see and have exposed, visible eyeballs. However, as the name suggests, blind snakes are completely blind. The eyes can’t form images,…

  • Pit Vipers of Asia – A Few of the Eye Candies That Won’t Kill You

    Pit Vipers of Asia – A Few of the Eye Candies That Won’t Kill You

    Many Kiwis, Hawaiians, and Europeans who recently moved to Asia like to tell me how wonderful Asia is and how much they love living in Asia. But there is this one specific nightmare that is bothering them – snakes. I say it’s fair enough to have snakes here. As the largest continent on earth and…

  • Komodo Island Pit Viper (Trimeresurus insularis)

    Komodo Island Pit Viper (Trimeresurus insularis)

    The Komodo dragon is not the only animal in Komodo Island that makes me visit over and over again. This snake has always been the second sought-after species in my previous trips to Komodo Island. The Sunda Island pitviper (a.k.a. Lesser Sunda Island pit viper, White-lipped island pit viper, or Blue insularis viper) is native…

  • Ouroboros: The Snake That Eats Itself

    Ouroboros: The Snake That Eats Itself

    Life, death, and rebirth. Ouroboros (or uroboros) — an ancient symbol depicting a reptile eating its own tail. It symbolizes fertility in some religions. The tail is a phallic symbol (an erect penis). The mouth is a yonic (vagina) or womb-like symbol. In real life, it happens. Although not common, I have seen snakes eating…

  • Mangrove Pit Viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus)

    Mangrove Pit Viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus)

    Taking close-up photos of venomous snakes is always my kind of adrenaline booster. This one was even more exciting with me knowing the fact that there’s no antivenin specifically made for this snake. Bites are treated with polyvalent antivenin in SE Asian hospitals. The Mangrove pit viper (a.k.a. Mangrove viper, Shore pit viper, or Purple-spotted…

  • Common Wolf Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 白環蛇 – 香港野生動物

    Common Wolf Snake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 白環蛇 – 香港野生動物

    Not only pet snakes can have designer morphs. The Wolf Snake is native to a large range of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Individuals of the same species from different locations appear to be very different. Patterns can be variable from patches, collars to bands. Coloration also varies from black, brownish, grayish, olive, to yellowish,…

  • Wild Elephant’s Foot Plants in Isalo, Madagascar | 我在馬達加斯加伊薩盧遇見象牙宮

    Wild Elephant’s Foot Plants in Isalo, Madagascar | 我在馬達加斯加伊薩盧遇見象牙宮

    Yes, this is one of the rare succulents “trending” recently especially in Asia. Keeping them in pots at home is a really good hobby. Finding wild ones in their natural habits is just on another level. Even photos of wild ones are not as easy to find as most other objects. Here is one of…

  • Color Is The New Forbidden Fruit

    Color Is The New Forbidden Fruit

    From yellow vs blue in Hong Kong to black vs white in the States. A world like now everything is politics, things pure as colors have become risky words, is keeping people to think less, speak less, and act less.

  • Interracial Love Also Occurs In Nature

    Interracial Love Also Occurs In Nature

    Interracial love also occurs in nature, though rare — Hong Kong newts (Paramesotriton hongkongensis) and Banded bullfrogs (Kaloula pulchra) co-exist in their natural habitats. They coulda been fighting for food. But they chose to form an alliance to defend each other as one. Even species ain’t no matter. Why races?

  • How Could Black Lives Not Matter?

    How Could Black Lives Not Matter?

    Africa was the birth-place of Homo sapiens. Diamond, sugar, salt, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum and cocoa beans, coffee – All happiness in life is from Africa!

  • Big-headed Turtle  – Hong Kong Wildlife | 大頭龜 – 香港野生動物

    Big-headed Turtle – Hong Kong Wildlife | 大頭龜 – 香港野生動物

    Days of rainstorm brought this little fella to the mountain stream behind my backyard. Not an easy find — the Big-headed turtle is a lesser-known endangered species native to Hong Kong, China, and SE Asia. It is nocturnal and lives in and around mountain streams with fast-running water. Not a slow turtle at all. It…

  • Hong Kong Monkeys | 香港獼猴 – 香港野生動物

    Hong Kong Monkeys | 香港獼猴 – 香港野生動物

    There are around 1,800 wild monkeys in Hong Kong, in 30 social troops. None of them are native to Hong Kong. They were all introduced. There are 2 species – the Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta), Long-tailed Macaque or crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), and their hybrids. Stable populations reside in country parks such as Kam Shan…

  • Wild Boar – Hong Kong Wildlife | 野豬 – 香港野生動物

    Wild Boar – Hong Kong Wildlife | 野豬 – 香港野生動物

    The Wild boars (Sus scrofa) is also known as wild swine, common wild pig, or simply wild pig. Sus scrofa (Linnaeus, 1758)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: MammaliaOrder: ArtiodactylaFamily: SuidaeGenus: SusSpecies: scrofa See more of my encounters with Hong Kong Wildlife. 野豬, 山豬

  • Short-legged Horned Toad – Hong Kong Wildlife | 短腳角蟾 – 香港野生動物

    Short-legged Horned Toad – Hong Kong Wildlife | 短腳角蟾 – 香港野生動物

    If you will ask “What is a horned toad?” Most people will have zero ideas. Those who are into herpetology or herpetoculture will easily name the horned lizards (Phrynosoma sp) which are commonly known as horned toads, even though they are some North American lizards, not toads. Some may think of the much more well-known…

  • Painted Chorus Frog – Hong Kong Wildlife | 粗皮姬蛙 – 香港野生動物

    Painted Chorus Frog – Hong Kong Wildlife | 粗皮姬蛙 – 香港野生動物

    The Painted chorus frog (Microhyla butleri) has many other common names such as Butler’s narrow-mouthed toad, Butler’s pigmy frog, Butler’s rice frog, Butler’s ricefrog, noisy frog, or Tubercled pygmy frog. Microhyla butleri (Boulenger, 1900)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: AmphibiaOrder: AnuraFamily: MicrohylidaeGenus: MicrohylaSpecies: butleri See more of my encounters with Hong Kong Wildlife. 粗皮姬蛙, 巴氏小雨蛙

  • Scarab Beetle – Hong Kong Wildlife | 金龜子 – 香港野生動物

    Scarab Beetle – Hong Kong Wildlife | 金龜子 – 香港野生動物

    Because of its glamorous metallic colors, these were the popular bugs Hong Kong kids used to spend their springs and summers finding them in the bush back in the 1970’s to 80’s. There are over 30,000 species of scarabs in the world. In Hong Kong, the more common scarabs include The green chafer beetles (Anomala…

  • Aliens In Hong Kong |  香港的外來入侵物種

    Aliens In Hong Kong | 香港的外來入侵物種

    Believe it or not? Aliens are everywhere in Hong Kong. There must be some around you. Of course, I am talking about alien species – the plants or animals introduced outside their original distributions. From mile-a-minute weed, water hyacinth, to house cockroaches, red fire ants, apple snails, to tilapia, and the vertebrates I mention below.…

  • Red-whiskered Bulbul – Hong Kong Wildlife | 紅耳鵯 – 香港野生動物

    Red-whiskered Bulbul – Hong Kong Wildlife | 紅耳鵯 – 香港野生動物

    Red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), or also called Crested bulbul, is a passerine bird in Asia, a member of the bulbul family. It is a resident frugivore found mainly in tropical Asia. In Hong Kong, it is more common than most of other bulbuls such as the Sooty-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster). Pycnonotus jocosus (Linnaeus, 1758)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum:…

  • Asian Water Dragon – Hong Kong Wildlife | 長鬣蜥 – 香港野生動物

    Asian Water Dragon – Hong Kong Wildlife | 長鬣蜥 – 香港野生動物

    Never getting a PR ID card (permanent residency) in spite of residing in here for decades. Expats who live in here and have their kids and grandkids bred, born and raised in here are called locals. But when it comes to wild animals it’s not how it works. An alien species, it is among the…

  • Wild Ploughshare Tortoise Is The Rarest Species I’ve Ever Found

    Wild Ploughshare Tortoise Is The Rarest Species I’ve Ever Found

    Today is Endangered Species Day. (瀕危物種日) The rarest animal I’ve ever found was the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis). Only around 20 of them are in the wild. But that’s a subspecies of leopards. In terms of a full species, this is the rarest one in my experience. Let me introduce the most endangered species…

  • Gray’s Chinese Gecko – Hong Kong Wildlife | 中國壁虎 – 香港野生動物

    Gray’s Chinese Gecko – Hong Kong Wildlife | 中國壁虎 – 香港野生動物

    Gray’s Chinese gecko (Gekko chinensis) is a species of gecko endemic to southern China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan) and Hong Kong. There are 8 species of geckos in Hong Kong. The Gray’s Chinese gecko is the second most common gecko after the “house gecko”, Bowring’s gecko (Hemidactylus bowringii) Gekko chinensis (Gray, 1842)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ReptiliaOrder:…

  • Amphibious Litter Cockroach – Hong Kong Wildlife | 東方水蠊 – 香港野生動物

    Amphibious Litter Cockroach – Hong Kong Wildlife | 東方水蠊 – 香港野生動物

    Opisthoplatia orientalis (Burmeister, 1838)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: InsectaOrder: BlattodeaFamily: BlaberidaeGenus: OpisthoplatiaSpecies: orientalis See more of my encounters with Hong Kong Wildlife. 東方水蠊, 金邊土鱉, 東洋斑蜚蠊, 東洋斑蠊, 短翅蟑螂, Amphibious Litter Roach

  • Jumping Spider – Hong Kong Wildlife | 跳蛛 – 香港野生動物

    Jumping Spider – Hong Kong Wildlife | 跳蛛 – 香港野生動物

    These teeny weeny little spiders have huge eyes! Jumping spiders have 4 pairs of eyes – 1 principal pair that is movable and 3 secondary pairs that are fixed. There are over 6,000 described species of jumping spiders in the world, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species. Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum:…

  • What Sort Of Naturalist Am I?

    What Sort Of Naturalist Am I?

    naturalist/ˈnatʃ(ə)rəlɪst/noun1. an expert in or student of natural history. especially: a field biologist2. a person who practises naturalism in art or literature. 1. Yes, I studied the natural history of animals2. Umm.. depends Already too much compromise living in a society where getting your own body naked outside is a misbehavior. Born naked. Gone naked.…

  • Banded Bullfrog – Hong Kong Wildlife | 花狹口蛙 – 香港野生動物

    Banded Bullfrog – Hong Kong Wildlife | 花狹口蛙 – 香港野生動物

    Banded bullfrog (Kaloula pulchra) is also called Asiatic painted frog, Malaysian narrow-mouthed toad, Asian banded bullfrog, Rice frog, Bubble frog, and Chubby frog. Kaloula pulchra (Gray, 1831)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: AmphibiaOrder: AnuraFamily: MicrohylidaeGenus: KaloulaSpecies: pulchra See more of my encounters with Hong Kong Wildlife. 花狹口蛙, 亞洲錦蛙

  • Harvestman – Hong Kong Wildlife | 盲蛛 – 香港野生動物

    Harvestman – Hong Kong Wildlife | 盲蛛 – 香港野生動物

    Before you want to learn about Harvestmen (also called Daddy longlegs or Harvesters), let me explain a little about invertebrate classification – Fun fact: They are not spiders. Because of having 8 legs, these bugs are not insects. However, it does not necessarily make them spiders. There are many other bugs with 8 legs. They…

  • Lychee Stink Bug – Hong Kong Wildlife | 荔枝椿象 – 香港野生動物

    Lychee Stink Bug – Hong Kong Wildlife | 荔枝椿象 – 香港野生動物

    Lychee giant stink bug (Tessaratoma papillosa) is beautiful bug growing to 24 mm. Nymphs are especially colorful. But it is considered a pest by farmers as it feeds on lychee and longan trees by sucking the saps from its flowers, young fruits, and twigs. They are called stink bugs because when threatened their defense mechanism…

  • Pinkwinged Grasshopper – Hong Kong Wildlife | 短額負蝗 – 香港野生動物

    Pinkwinged Grasshopper – Hong Kong Wildlife | 短額負蝗 – 香港野生動物

    Atractomorpha sinensis (Bolívar, 1905)Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass: InsectaOrder: OrthopteraSuborder: CaeliferaFamily: PyrgomorphidaeSubfamily: PyrgomorphinaeGenus: AtractomorphaSpecies: sinensis See more of my encounters with Hong Kong Wildlife. 短額負蝗, 紅後負蝗, 紅后負蝗

  • Sooty-headed Bulbul – Hong Kong Wildlife | 白喉紅臀鵯 – 香港野生動物

    Sooty-headed Bulbul – Hong Kong Wildlife | 白喉紅臀鵯 – 香港野生動物

    The Sooty-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) is a species of songbird in the Bulbul family. Other than Hong Kong, it is also found in most of south-eastern Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. In Hong Kong, it is far less common than its cousin the Red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus). Pycnonotus aurigaster…

  • Oriental Ratsnake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 水律 – 香港野生動物

    Oriental Ratsnake – Hong Kong Wildlife | 水律 – 香港野生動物

    One of the most commonly seen snakes in Hong Kong, non-venomous, growing to 150 to up to 255 cm. The Oriental ratsnake (Ptyas mucosa) is also known as Common ratsnake, Indian rat snake, ghora pachar, darash or dhaman. The proper form of the species name is mucosa, as Ptyas is a feminine word form. Older…

  • Leopard Cat – Hong Kong Wildlife | 豹貓 – 香港野生動物

    Leopard Cat – Hong Kong Wildlife | 豹貓 – 香港野生動物

    The only native cat of Hong Kong – The Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) Civet cats are not cats, and the South China tigers (Panthera tigris amoyensis) has been locally extinct long ago. Leopard cats are as big as some larger domestic cats, with a body length of 40-60 cm, and weighing 2-3 kg. Do not…