Sci Comms writer & naturalist. Debut non-fic GROUNDBREAKERS on the return of Britain’s wild boar out w/ Bloomsbury 1 Feb 2024! Rep’d by James Macdonald Lockhart. https://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3mhiygw2lqk2dI have taken the perfect photo of my dad and his dog20 Mar 2026 16:58 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhiygw2lqk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3mhbjzwirlc2zReminder to all in the Bristol area/surrounding environs that I'll be talking about the future of #WildBoar in Britain at the gorgeous Belmont Estate next Wednesday evening! Tickets here 👉 belmont.estate/events/17 Mar 2026 17:52 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhbjzwirlc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3meep4zbib22gThis book is sublime. That is all.08 Feb 2026 19:46 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3meep4zbib22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3mec5kp45n223Blueskyers, what do you think - is the creature in this (hilarious) video a #WildBoar or a peccary? Looks like the latter to me… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdhTN-skok807 Feb 2026 19:26 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mec5kp45n223https://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3mck6s67h7s2xSUPER interesting new paper here from scientists in Argentina which find that termites incorporated megafauna bones into their nests & may have thinned out the Pleistocene fossil record in parts of South America as a result! https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.259691816 Jan 2026 13:19 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mck6s67h7s2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3mcfxn7sejc23Thank you so much Anand! [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Jan 2026 21:00 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcfxn7sejc23https://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3m7pzlxa7is2hThe wonders of our world are infinite https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/ceq1000742go11 Dec 2025 16:46 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7pzlxa7is2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3m6zcsqq7bk2hAt Chaparri Bear Reserve in Peru (bonus trip while out here for work). Their habituated peccaries take belly rubs therefore we must assume wild boar would also enjoy them02 Dec 2025 16:00 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6zcsqq7bk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3m4yf774gvk22Currently obsessed with this new paper which infers that North America is missing a large bioturbating herbivore which basically means that feral hogs are ground sloths in pig’s clothing https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2025.015806 Nov 2025 20:20 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4yf774gvk22https://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3m33tivbfh22iJust 7 days left to enter your poem or flash story on the theme of “In the dark” to the @walklistencreate.org writing competition! (And I’m a judge 😍) https://write.walklistencreate.org/wr_instance/write-about-walking-in-the-dark/13 Oct 2025 18:23 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m33tivbfh22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3m2bvlxym3s26Frustrating when you come across a glaring error in a well-reviewed book that makes you wonder if other “facts” therein are wrong too. Thylacine ancestors in Australia date back at least 30 mya? Maybe getting confused w/ dingo. Vital for authors to check & re-check text before publication…03 Oct 2025 10:51 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2bvlxym3s26https://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3m25puocskc2kI did not want to see the news tonight that Jane Goodall has died. But what a life. What a human. What an impact she had on our understanding of our fellow Earthlings and their right to life. We are so much poorer for having lost her.01 Oct 2025 18:58 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m25puocskc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3ly45ybhmek2gWhen your fiancé is reading a biography of Francis Crick, who was married to your great aunt Odile, and points out this bit and says “Look, your accident gene runs in the family”05 Sep 2025 17:15 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ly45ybhmek2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lxtlyktazc2tI was utterly charmed by @bsbicountries.bsky.social’s quest to find a medley of Britain’s endemic species. Also, YES to Pokémon references in nature writing02 Sep 2025 07:32 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxtlyktazc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lxosma23ek2dOnline this Tuesday evening. Delving into the exciting & urgent question of how we can include the lives & experiences of nonhumans in writing w/ fellow author Emma Geen, hosted by @walklistencreate.org! Tickets here: https://walklistencreate.org/walkingevent/words-to-light-the-dark-writing-the-worlds-of-other-animals/31 Aug 2025 09:47 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxosma23ek2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lwrax6l2ak2dBelieve there are still tickets going for my panel with @sophiepavs.bsky.social & Peter Cairns at the Edinburgh Book Fest tomorrow morning - if you’re around, come! https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/chantal-lyons-sophie-pavell-peter-cairns-landscape-and-beavers-and-boars-oh-my19 Aug 2025 15:44 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwrax6l2ak2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lwguqq67dc2rTwo brilliant new reads on coexistence with creatures great & small - @adamweymouth.bsky.social on wolves, & @julianhoffman.bsky.social on fellow humans, bears, wrens, swallows & beyond in Greece ❤️15 Aug 2025 12:39 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwguqq67dc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lw2acdsrxc2rI’ve always heard that damsons are generally too sour to eat as they are - but I’ve found a tree near me whose fruit is green-fleshed yet divine (like miniature Victoria plums). Are my tastebuds off or have I found a Magical Damson Tree?10 Aug 2025 12:01 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lw2acdsrxc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lvohpyeb2c27On 2 Sept at 7pm, I'll be holding an online @walklistencreate.org writer's salon with Emma Geen (author of one of my all-time favourite sci-fis) on the deeply fascinating question of how to write the worlds of other animals. Book a ticket and join us! https://walklistencreate.org/walkingevent/words-to-light-the-dark-writing-the-worlds-of-other-animals/05 Aug 2025 19:42 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvohpyeb2c27https://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lvh4wit6gc2hSorry but this photo of my parents’ rescue dog from Sri Lanka being walked in the rain kills me02 Aug 2025 21:40 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvh4wit6gc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lubokq3ids2nThanks so much Dave :) [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Jul 2025 00:14 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lubokq3ids2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3ltqvw7u2l22vLoved @argatyredkites.bsky.social’s new book on his ultimately triumphant battle to save #beavers from being shot & bring them to his land in Scotland. 1/212 Jul 2025 08:11 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltqvw7u2l22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3ltcijyzw5k2dRaced through this by @drjuliashaw.bsky.social - had no idea of the issue of illegal gold miners in South Africa! Compelling storytelling throughout.06 Jul 2025 14:34 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltcijyzw5k2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lt4yvkuq222zWonderful to see the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social going from strength to strength & to see so many deserving books on the longlist this year! It remains an absolute honour for my book to have been Highly Commended in the Conservation category last year ❤️ https://wainwrightprize.com/news/longlists-and-judging-panels-announced-for-2025-wainwright-prizes/04 Jul 2025 10:11 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lt4yvkuq222zhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lsmhh2zy622qWe must protect the precious babirusa 🥲 [contains quote post or other embedded content]27 Jun 2025 20:16 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsmhh2zy622qhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lsjzr2nxe22qThank you so much Nic 😍 (I think we spoke at the Small City Bookshop event?) [contains quote post or other embedded content]26 Jun 2025 21:06 +0000at://did:plc:jphsaa46nfaeh75we27foufc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsjzr2nxe22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/chantallyons.bsky.social/post/3lrxyxylvj22sThank you so much Tom - it’s always a pleasure to get a nuanced review like this one! 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