terraristic & aquaristic commercial portal

Peter Kirk

BSc (Hons) in Zoology and Ecology. Specialist Field – Entomology.

I have had an interest in invertebrates and reptiles from the age of about 4, so for over 45 years now. I have been keeping exotic invertebrates (hawk moths, silk moths, mantids) since the age of 12 and have been keeping and breeding tarantulas for over 30 years. I have kept reptiles for about the same length of time. I currently have a combination of tarantulas, scolopendra, coleoptera and snakes (blood and short-tailed pythons, some royal pythons).

Apart from an early paper describing the species Avicularia purpurea, the main area that I have focussed on is the arboreal tarantulas of the Far-East; more specifically the genus Poecilotheria. I have written two papers describing new species of Poecilotheria; P. smithi and P. pederseni (now synonymised with P. vittata). I am also cited as co-author of the paper describing the species P. rajaei. I have an interest in all of the arboreal genera from the Far-East but more specifically Cyriopagopus and Phorminochilus. I have travelled to, and carried out research in, Sri Lanka, India, Sabah and Sarawak.

I am currently the Chairman of the Society as well as the Editor of the Journal and I am also the longest-serving member of the BTS Committee. I lecture regularly at the BTS Lectures and other events during the year.

I am a senior manager for the Civil Service, employed by the Government where I have been working for almost 30 years. I am also a qualified Body Piercer.

I have many varied interests including judo (2nd dan) and Shotokan karate (4th dan), scuba diving, jungle-trekking, wildlife photography (particularly macro-photography).