Hope for the survival of two of the world's most endangered primates has been renewed after China and Vietnam created sanctuaries for them last month.

One reserve, in Khau Ca forest, Ha Giang Province, northern Vietnam, contains 90 Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus avunculus), the UK-based conservation charity Fauna & Flora International said in a news statement this week.

FFI Photo by Xi Zhinong, Wild China

The new 2000-hectare [5,000-acre] nature reserve also supports a relatively pristine subtropical forest with a wide range of other wildlife like macaques, lorises, small carnivores and rare plants, FFI said.

"This new reserve protects the most viable Tonkin snub-nosed monkey population and so represents the species' best chance for survival," said Paul Insua-Cao, FFI's Vietnam Primate Programme Manager. "FFI is proud to have helped to establish the protected area and congratulates the provincial government and local communities on their new nature reserve."

The other reserve, just across the border in China, more than quadruples the amount of protected forest for the cao vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus), FFI said.

FFI photo of cao vit gibbon by Zhao Chao

"The cao vit gibbon is considered the world's second most endangered primate and both species are in the top 25 most endangered primates.

"These two protected areas together contain the world's last cao vit gibbons."

"The new 6,530-hectare [16,000-acre] Bangliang Nature Reserve, in Guangxi Province, is directly adjacent to Vietnam's Cao Vit Gibbon Conservation Area, which FFI helped to establish in 2007. These two protected areas together contain the world's last cao vit gibbons."

"FFI has been encouraging the local government to establish this new reserve ever since the species was discovered in China in 2006," said Luo Yang, FFI's China Programme Manager. "The cao vit gibbon currently lives mainly on the Vietnamese side of the border, but it now has the chance to safely extend its population into China. The future for the species now looks much brighter."

FFI photo of Tonkin snub-nosed monkey  by Xi Zhinong, Wild China

There are just 110 cao vit gibbons and around 200 Tonkin snub nosed monkeys left in the world, according to FFI. Both species are listed as Critically Endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

The main threat to both the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and the cao vit gibbon is habitat-loss. according to FFI.

"They live in rain forests with unique and fragile limestone mountain ecosystems, which are suffering from the collection of firewood, livestock grazing, agricultural encroachment, all of which stem from poverty."

FFI photo of cao vit gibbon by Zhao Chao

FFI engages with local communities to reduce the threats to the two primates. For example, simple and cost-effective measures such as providing villagers with fuelefficient stoves are helping to relieve pressure on the cao vit gibbon's habitat, the charity said.

"In addition, FFI has established community groups to patrol and protect the forest.

"The organization was a critical player in the creation of the two new nature reserves. The in-country teams worked with Chinese and Vietnamese authorities to ensure local people were consulted during the protected area planning process."

FFI will continue to support conservation in both new protected areas by monitoring biodiversity, facilitating community engagement, helping to improve local livelihoods, enhancing the local conservation authorities' skills and resources and also encouraging trans-boundary cooperation for the cao vit gibbon.

Watch this FFI video of cao vit gibbons in their habitat: 

Video by FFI, posted on YouTube

Additional information:

Transboundary Cao Vit Gibbon Conservation Project (FFI)

25 Most Endangered Primates Named (National Geographic News picture gallery)

Extinction Risk for 1 in 3 Primates, Study Says (National Geographic News)

Rising demand for pangolins, mostly from mainland China, compounded by lax laws is wiping out the unique toothless anteaters from their native habitats in Southeast Asia, TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, said today.

Undercover photo courtesy TRAFFIC

"Illegal trade in Asian pangolin meat and scales has caused the scaly anteaters to disappear from large swathes of Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao PDR," TRAFFIC said a panel of experts had concluded.

The investigation was funded in part by Sea World & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund and the National Geographic Society's Conservation Trust. (A description of the research grant can be read at the bottom of this page.)

"China has a long history of consuming pangolin as meat and in traditional medicine," a TRAFFIC report on the investigation states. "Due to continual demand and the decreasing Chinese wild population, in the past few years pangolin smuggling from Southeast Asia has resulted in great declines in these producing countries' wild populations, as well."

Undercover photo courtesy TRAFFIC

Although the animals are protected under national legislation in all Asian range states, and have been prohibited from international trade through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 2002, this legislation is having little impact on the illicit trade, TRAFFIC said in a statement.

Watch this National Geographic video "What in the World is a Pangolin?"

Pangolins are the most frequently encountered mammals seized from illegal traders in Asia, and are highly unusual in not possessing teeth, TRAFFIC said.

"Pangolins, like the laws designed to protect them, lack bite," said Chris Shepherd, acting director for TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

"Pangolin populations clearly cannot stand the incessant poaching pressure, which can only be stopped by decisive government-backed enforcement action in the region,"  Shepherd added.

Undercover picture of pangolins courtesy TRAFFIC

According to pangolin hunters and traders, there are so few pangolins left in forests throughout Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao PDR, they are now sourcing animals from their last remaining strongholds in Southeast Asia and beyond, TRAFFIC said.

"Recent large seizures back up these reports. They include 24 tonnes of frozen pangolins from Sumatra, Indonesia, seized in Vietnam this March and 14 tonnes of frozen animals seized in Sumatra this April. There have also been recent instances of African pangolins seized in Asia."

"Pangolins save us millions of dollars a year in pest destruction ... we cannot afford to overlook their ecological role as natural controllers of termites and ants."

"Pangolins save us millions of dollars a year in pest destruction," says Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. "These shy creatures provide a vital service and we cannot afford to overlook their ecological role as natural controllers of termites and ants."

Pangolin photo by Bjorn Olesen/TRAFFIC

The key to tackling the pangolin crisis is better enforcement of existing national and international laws designed to protect pangolins, better monitoring of the illegal trade, and basic research to find where viable pangolin populations still exist and whether ravaged populations can recover given adequate protection, according to TRAFFIC

The experts on pangolins consulted in the investigation included scientific researchers, government law enforcement officers from most Asian pangolin range States, CITES management and scientific authorities and animal rescue centres, who convened at a workshop hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore at the Singapore Zoo.

Watch this TRAFFIC video "Pangolins in peril":

National Geographic Grant

The National Geographic Conservation Trust contributed to the funding of the TRAFFIC investigation with a grant made in 2007.

Here is the project description:

Regardless of there being no legal trade permitted under national or international regulations, pangolins are the most numerous mammal species found in confiscated cargoes throughout Southeast Asia.

Photo of traditional medicines using pangolin body parts courtesy TRAFFIC

The majority of these shipments are bound for China, for use in traditional medicines and for consumption as wild meat and tonic food.

The bulk of the pangolins currently in trade are likely Manis javanica sourced from Malaysia and Indonesia, as populations in most other range countries have already been decimated.

Undercover photo of pangolin scales courtesy TRAFFIC

Middlemen in Singapore are likely to play a significant role in directing trade, but pangolins have been seized regularly in Malaysia, Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam en route to end-use markets.

However, very little is known of the actual dynamics of this trade, making focused interventions difficult.

TRAFFIC aims to examine and document the trade in detail and work closely with relevant authorities to take action to save pangolins from further illegal exploitation.

More about pangolins from TRAFFIC:

The full report, "Proceedings of the workshop on trade and conservation of pangolins native to South and Southeast Asia" can be downloaded at http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_mammals51.pdf

There are four species of pangolin in Asia; Thick-tailed pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), Philippine pangolin (M. culionensis), Sunda pangolin (M. javanica) and Chinese pangolin (M. pentadactyla).

All pangolins in illegal trade are wild-sourced as they cannot be captive bred on a commercial scale.

Photo of pangolin courtesy TRAFFIC

In the wild, pangolins breed slowly, producing just one young at a time, making populations particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of IUCN and WWF.  

Undercover photo of pangolins courtesy TRAFFIC

The Geography of Swine Flu and Other Pandemics

The United Kingdom is the country most at risk to the spread of a swine flu epidemic, reports Maplecroft, a research organization that focuses on global risks to business.

The UK-based company released three maps and indices revealing the countries most at risk from an influenza pandemic, including swine flu and bird (avian) flu.

Maplecroft also created the Influenza Pandemic Risk Index (IPRI), which consists of three categories: Risk of Emergence, Risk of Spread, and Capacity to Contain. "Each index generates a list of countries most at risk and that require a tailored policy response on the part of government and business," Maplecroft said in a statement.

The map of Risk of Spread shows the United Kingdom most at risk to the spread of an influenza pandemic, ranking number 1 out of 213 countries. The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Russia, Canada and Japan are also categorized as extreme risk because of their high population density, urbanization and busy airports.

Even though the UK and other developed Western nations are at extreme risk of spread, their capacity to contain influenza pandemics ranks low risk, however. "Large stockpiling of drugs and a sophisticated health infrastructure, which the Capacity to Contain index captures, means they have very effective measures with which to fight human influenza," Maplecroft explained.

Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as the area least able to contain pandemic influenza with 27 out of the 30 most extreme risk countries.

"The capacity of a country to contain the spread of human influenza depends on factors of wealth, health infrastructure, education resources, information and communication networks, and governance."

"The Risk of Emergence index unsurprisingly categorises Mexico as extreme risk and ranks the country as fourth most at risk, whilst Vietnam, China and Bangladesh top the table," Maplecroft said.

Countries most prone to risk of emergence of swine or avian flu in humans are poorer countries that have dense rural populations, with living quarters in close proximity to livestock, Maplecroft said. This is compounded by poor hygiene, lack of access to clean water and sanitation and poor public health education.

Newly Emerging Set of Global Risks

"It is important to see a newly emerging set of global risks--whether pandemics, conflict and terrorism, resource security including water stress, or climate change as inter-related," said Alyson Warhurst, Chair of Strategy and International Development at Warwick Business School and one of the founding directors of Maplecroft.

"Climate change is causing drought and flooding which in turn leads to crop failures and the destruction of livelihoods which in turn lead to poverty and the conditions that we see increase vulnerability to pandemic flu."

Sources used to compile the Influenza Pandemic Risk Index include: WHO, UNESCO, FAO, World Organisation for Animal Health, World Bank, Environmental Research Group Oxford, World Resources Institute and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The three IPRI maps and risk categories may be accessed on the Maplecroft Web site.

Maplecroft specializes in the analysis and creative visualization of global risks. Indicators, reports and interactive GIS maps are among the tools the company uses to assess vulnerability to over 100 global risks. The tools allow major international bodies to formulate strategy, control risk exposure, secure industry leadership and work towards a sustainable future, the company said in its statement.

FFI photo by Zhao Chao

"With only about 100 cao vit gibbons remaining in the world, the recent birth of this baby has extra significance," Fauna & Flora International said today.

"This species is only found in one location in the world, on the international border between Vietnam and China," the UK-based conservation charity said in a news release. "This birth is a sign of hope for the species' long term recovery."

The gibbon was born in Bang Liang Nature Reserve in Guangxi province, China.

Fauna & Flora International's conservationists in Vietnam and China are working with local government and communities to reduce the threats to the population of cao vit gibbons, the world's second rarest ape species.

Gibbons have the longest arms of any primate, relative to body size, according to the FFI species profile about the cao vit gibbon. "Their hand-over hand method of swinging from branch to branch, known as brachiation, enables them to move at breathtaking speed. With its spectacular locomotion and haunting, bird-like calls, the cao vit gibbon is a real show-stealer." Watch the FFI video below to see and hear the cao vit gibbon.

Although classified as "lesser apes," cao vit gibbons are highly intelligent and show complex social behavior, the species profile adds. Males and females proclaim and protect their family territory with "duets," which can be heard 2 kilometers [1.6 miles] away.

They have also evolved a highly specialized diet of flowers, fruit and young leaves.

"The narrowness of its ecological niche, combined with its ostentatious behavior has, however, helped to precipitate the cao vit gibbon's sharp decline. Though no longer a significant factor today, hunters posed a serious threat to the gibbons in the past, easily locating them in the forest.

"Such pressures have been compounded more recently by environmental changes to which the gibbon is unable to adapt; livestock overgrazing, firewood collection and encroaching agriculture are all contributing to the ongoing loss and fragmentation of its traditional habitat, jeopardizing the cao vit gibbon's survival."

Watch this FFI video to see and hear the cao vit gibbons in their habitat:

Along with the Hainan gibbon, the sister species from which it has recently split, the cao vit gibbon is one of the two most endangered apes in the cao vit gibbon world, FFI says.

The species formerly ranged across much of China and Vietnam. Today only an estimated 110 individuals remain, confined to the karst limestone forest along the China-Vietnam border.

The species was considered extinct until an FFI-led team discovered a small remnant sub-population in Vietnam's Cao Bang Province in 2002.

FFI has been working to conserve the species since that first group was found. "We have established community groups on both sides of the border to patrol and protect the gibbon's habitat. In addition, by working with local people, we are identifying and implementing simple and cost-effective measures to relieve pressure on the forest, such as providing villagers with fuel-efficient stoves," the charity says.

"In fact, the cao vit gibbon is acting as a valuable flagship species, helping to secure protected area designation for the biologically rich, but threatened, karst limestone forest on which its survival depends."

Additional information:

Transboundary Cao Vit Gibbon Conservation Project (FFI)

25 Most Endangered Primates Named (National Geographic News picture gallery)

Extinction Risk for 1 in 3 Primates, Study Says (National Geographic News)

 

Keepers capture the moment a rhino ratsnake (Rhynchophis boulengeri) emerges from its shell at ZSL London Zoo -- the first time this species of snake has been bred in a European Zoo.

ZSL London Zoo's Reptile House produced a clutch of eight snakes, three of which have been exchanged with other European zoos in a program to increase the captive population of this species, which originates from the mountains of Vietnam.

The reptiles, which are often nicknamed "green unicorns" because of their hornlike features, will turn green when they reach around one year of age. They will reach about 40 inches (one meter) long and feed on geckos, frogs, and rodents.

Note: I will be adding photos from zoos to my blog from time to time. Zoos play a vital role in teaching urban people about animals and nature, which hopefully will encourage support for conservation of the same species in the wild. Increasingly, zoos are also serving as arks to shelter endangered species from the global extinction crisis.

Photos by Ferry van Stralen/Courtesy ZSL London Zoo