A comprehensive survey to gather genetic data about the last Javan rhino population in Vietnam kicks off in November 2009.
WWF announced today that a comprehensive survey of Cat Tien’s Javan rhino population will begin next month and continue until April 2010. The purpose of the study is to gather urgently needed genetic data in order to develop a local conservation management strategy for these critically endangered mammals.
It is estimated that there no more than five individuals of this rare Javan rhino subspecies (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) still surviving in Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park.
A donation of three tons of grapes has been converted, via wine, into funds for the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) project to save endangered dolphins endemic to New Zealand.
A Hector’s Dolphin showing the characteristic round dorsal fin.
The Wine
It started with Gemma McGrath who had moved from a job on Whale Watch boats to a barmaid in the small Otago village of Bannockburn which is about as far away from the sea as one can get in New Zealand.
This post consists of a few lines and a link to what’s happened since some of my recent posts where there has been significant action. Each item is identified and linked by the date and title of the original post.
Three more Giant Sable Antelopes, have been sighted in Angola. This brings to six the number of this rare species, which was feared to have become extinct, that have been sited in the last few weeks.
Malaysian authorities rescued nearly 100 pangolins from a poacher who was planning to sell the endangered animals for meat and “medicine.”
A raid on a house in northern Kedah by officials from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks yielded 98 pangolins and three kilograms of pangolin scales. The Straits Times reported that the self-employed man in his 40’s was arrested, and faces up to 23 years in jail and a fine, if convicted of the five different illegal possession charges.
Farmers illegally using poison to kill suspected livestock predators are causing Namibia’s vulnerable vulture populations to decline.
As a consequence of farmers continuing to illegally use poison for livestock management, several lappet-faced vultures (Torgos tracheliotos) recently died from consuming the carcass of a poisoned jackal.
Tragically, this news comes shortly after the Vultures Namibia’s fundraiser gala raised N$8 000 for lappet-faced vulture conservation in Namib Naukluft Park. Lappet-faced vultures are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are Africa’s largest vulture species - with a wingspan of up to 2.8 meters.
A female pangolin was rescued after straying into an urbanized area of coastal Neelankarai and making her way into a garden.
Unfortunately, the rapid development of the Neelankarai area is crowding into the surrounding wildlife habitat, and has required the recent rescue of many small animals by forest department officials. However, this was the first time a pangolin had been rescued from someone’s home, according the the Times of India.
The pangolin apparently climbed up a compound wall in order to get into the home’s garden. Officials from the animal rescue and rehabilitation center in Velachery were called, and were surprised to find the pangolin in such a populated area. One of the wildlife officers told TOI that there is a population of pangolins at nearby Guindy National Park.
The pangolin was taken to the animal rescue center and is to be released, presumably at Guindy National Park.
A recent study hopes its findings are enough to safeguard a small population of Ganges River Dolphins from Oil India Ltd.’s recent proposal to deploy seismic exploration activities along the bed of the Brahmaputra River.
The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) has a tenuous population at best - with possibly just 2,000 overall.
Although a proposal by Oil India Ltd. prospect for oil along the bed of the Brahmaputra threatens to decimate this species even further, an extensive report submitted by Dr. Abdul Wakid to the IUCN hopes to establish protected areas for the Ganges River Dolphins in the Brahmaputra river system - before it’s too late.
… a recent proposal by Oil India Ltd. to initiate seismic exploration (using explosives and airguns) along the bed of the Brahmaputra River to prospect for oil has potentially disastrous implications for Ganges River dolphins.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSG), found that one third of sharks are at risk for extinction. The group analyzed 64 known species of open ocean (pelagic) sharks and rays and found that globally, 32 percent or 20 species, are considered Threatened, which includes Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. The threat is even higher, 52 percent, for the 21 species regularly caught in high seas fisheries.
The Giant Sable Antelope has been positively sighted for the first time in decades, proving that it is not extinct, while a less threatened species was sold for almost half a million dollars.
The Sable Antelope
The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) is an antelope found in the wooded savannah of East and Southern Africa. They stand from 120 to 140 centimetres (4 to 4½ foot) at the shoulder and weighing between 200 and 270 kilograms (440 and 600 pounds). Males are very distinctively black, with white underbelly, cheeks and chin. They have a shaggy mane and ringed horns which arch backward and are up to more than 1½ metres (5 feet). It is a majestic animal mainly as a result of its striking colour and massive horns.
According to the most recent data estimates, roughly 70 million sharks are caught (and killed) each year, most of this is for food, some for sport, and sadly, some just out of fear.
But most of the commercially fished sharks are in fact killed for their fins only–their mutilated carcasses are simply tossed overboard. This is known as “finning”. The fins make their way into a dish known as shark fin soup–a prized delicacy in Japan but also in some Scandinavian countries and in Germany. And as its popularity increases, so do catches–and almost any shark will do (100 out of 400 species are presently exploited for food, according to the Shark Foundation). According to the IUCN (which tracks endangered species with its annual “red list“) and governmental and NGO conservation groups, one third or more of all shark species are endangered.
