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Posted on November 9, 2009 | 0 Comments
By James Robertson, National Geographic Digital Media
Several news outlets are reporting that a baby female deer jumped into a female lion enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo, in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Unfortunately, the deer had to be euthanized due to its injuries.
Several onlookers with video cameras captured the drama and posted it on YouTube:
Posted on October 26, 2009 | 0 Comments
Leading tiger experts, wildlife conservation charities, and representatives of governments of countries that have wild tiger ranges are meeting in Nepal this week to begin a global dialogue about the threats facing tigers as the world prepares to mark the Year of the Tiger in 2010, WWF says in a news statement.
Amur or Siberian tiger in a rehabilitation center for wild animals in the Russian Far East.Photo © Vladimir Filonov / WWF-Canon
WWF and others are attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop, the first in a series before and during the Year of the Tiger, that brings together decisionmakers from tiger range countries, members of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative, NGOs and the world's leading tiger experts, the Switzerland-based conservation group said.
"They will discuss the specific actions required to halt the extinction of the tiger in the wild."
"Tiger populations are still in steep decline and some estimates predict that tigers could be extinct in the wild by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022."
"Wild tiger populations are at a tipping point," WWF said. "While many important successes have been gained by the global conservation community, tiger populations are still in steep decline and some estimates predict that tigers could be extinct in the wild by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022."
Indian tiger female in the Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan, IndiaPhoto © Michel Terrettaz / WWF-Canon
The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, and co-organized and co-sponsored by the CITES Secretariat, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative, Save The Tiger Fund, and the World Bank.
Indian Tiger, sitting, showing his back, Bangkok Zoo ThailandPhoto © Martin Harvey / WWF-Canon
WWF hopes to secure major political commitments for tiger conservation, through the series of political negotiation meetings occurring throughout the Year of the Tiger and leading up to a final Heads of State Tiger Summit in September 2010.
The skins of Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) and other rare cats are openly displayed for sale in Cholon District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. October 2002.Photo © Adam Oswell / WWF-Canon
Effective conservation of tigers can provide an umbrella for all biodiversity, according to the World Bank, which joined forces with conservation groups to launch the Tiger Conservation Initiative in 2008.
Tiger conservation is thus vital to the conservation of many other rare and threatened species, as well as to sustaining essential ecosystem-services that forests provide, such as watershed protection, soil conservation and carbon storage, the Bank says on its Web site.
Clearing of tropical rainforest for paper industry, palm oil and other plantations in, Sumatra, Indonesia
Photo © WWF-Germany/M. Radday
"Despite their ecological significance, tiger populations are in decline," the Bank adds.
"Tigers occupy only 7 percent of their historic range, and in the last decade their habitats have shrunk significantly. Within a century, wild tiger numbers have plunged from more than 100,000 to about 4,000 animals.
"Tigers have already disappeared from Central Asia, Java and Bali in Indonesia, and most of China.
"Habitat loss, combined with intense poaching of prey species and the illegal trade in tiger parts, has taken a severe toll, with entire populations eliminated from what were once considered secure reserves."
Indian tiger close-up, Bangkok Zoo, Thailand
Photo © Martin Harvey/WWF-Canon
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Lions are urgent focus for Nat Geo's Big Cats Initiative
Lions, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars and other top felines are disappearing, victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans. National Geographic's Big Cats Initiative supports conservation projects, education and economic incentive efforts and a global public-awareness campaign.
India asks for roadmap for reintroduction of cheetahs
Cheetahs are a step closer to being reintroduced to India, where they were exterminated at least a half century ago, following a decision by the Indian government to allow surveys to identify suitable habitat for the big cat.
Big cats, other carnivores avoid African croplands at night
Not much has been known about the distribution and range of some of Africa's most secretive predators, including leopards, that hunt at night and sleep during the day. Where do they prowl after dark? Do they steal across farms when everyone is asleep?
Rare African golden cat caught in camera trap
Yale University anthropologist Gary P. Aronsen was studying primate behavior in Uganda last year when an infrared camera trap he set captured nighttime images of a cat so rare few researchers working in African forests have seen it.
Spain finds room for world's most endangered cat
Olive groves with low production close to the Natural Park of the Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro, in Córdoba, are the most appropriate sites for restoring habitat for reintroduction of the critically endangered Iberian lynx, Spanish scientists have determined.
Posted on October 13, 2009 | 0 Comments
Big cats are in trouble, from lions in Kenya to snow leopards in the Himalaya, the National Geographic Society said in a statement today. "The icons of the natural world--lions, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars and other top felines--are disappearing, victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans.
NGS photo of African lion by Chris Johns
"Large cats are keystone species of their ecosystems; losing them means not only loss of a majestic predator but destruction of a natural balance that affects an entire environmental system, including people."
To address this critical situation the National Geographic Society has launched the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports on-the-ground conservation projects, education and economic incentive efforts and a global public-awareness campaign.
The program's first phase will target lions, whose populations are dying off rapidly across Africa, the news statement explained.
NGS photo of African lion by Chris Johns
"Lions once ranged across Africa and into Syria, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran and northwest India; some 1.5 million lions roamed the earth two millennia ago. Since the 1940s, when lions numbered an estimated 450,000, lion populations have blinked out across the continent and now may total as few as 20,000 animals. Scientists connect the drastic decreases in lions in part to burgeoning human populations".
The first goal of the Big Cats Initiative is to halt lion population declines by the year 2015 and to restore populations to sustainable levels by 2020.
The first goal of the Big Cats Initiative is to halt lion population declines by the year 2015 and to restore populations to sustainable levels by 2020.
As a first step, National Geographic will map all available data on lion populations, demographics and habitat. Using that information, National Geographic will launch a grant program that will fund a variety of conservation projects across the lions' range. These include innovative projects focused on near-term results for saving lions, including anti-poaching programs and projects that test new techniques and technologies.
NGS photo of African lions by Michael Nichols
Proposals for education projects will be encouraged, especially those working directly with community stakeholders to help local populations understand the ecological and economic value of preserving lions and other big cats. Projects that establish economic incentives for local people to ensure long-term survival of lions will especially be a priority.
"Emergency grants, such as the one made in 2008 by National Geographic to the Maasailand Preservation Trust in support of its Predator Compensation Fund, will be considered," National Geographic said. "That fund compensates local Maasai herdsmen for livestock kills by lions in and around Kenya's Amboseli National Park, where the lion population has declined drastically in recent years. Reports from the field indicate that lion deaths have dropped considerably in some areas since the project began."
The Big Cats Initiative is made up of conservationists led by National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert. "Having lived and worked in some of Africa's most remote areas for more than 25 years as authors and filmmakers, the Jouberts have embraced the cause of wildlife conservation, especially for big cats," National Geographic said.
The Jouberts are active conservationists in Botswana, members of the IUCN-affiliated Lion Working Group and founding members of the Chobe Wildlife Trust and of Conservation International in Botswana. The Jouberts also work in ecotourism and on building community partnerships.
"We no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to big cats," said Dereck Joubert. "They are in such a downward spiral that if we hesitate now, we will be responsible for extinctions across the globe. If there was ever a time to take action, it is now."
NGS photo by W. Robert Moore
Conservation scientist Luke Dollar, a National Geographic explorer, is coordinating the Big Cats Initiative. "The BCI is the most ambitious, audacious conservation initiative I have ever encountered, much less been a part of," Dollar said in an email. "The extraordinary thing is that the goal is not only a critical response to a global biodiversity emergency; by our current roadmap, it is logical, progressive, and achievable."
National Geographic will collaborate with local and international NGOs, corporations, local community groups and individuals to work with saving lions and ensuring the future of this multiyear initiative.
For more information and how to apply for grants visit the Big Cats Initiative Web site.
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India asks for roadmap for reintroduction of cheetahs
Cheetahs are a step closer to being reintroduced to India, where they were exterminated at least a half century ago, following a decision by the Indian government to allow surveys to identify suitable habitat for the big cat.
Big cats, other carnivores avoid African croplands at night
Not much has been known about the distribution and range of some of Africa's most secretive predators, including leopards, that hunt at night and sleep during the day. Where do they prowl after dark? Do they steal across farms when everyone is asleep?
Rare African golden cat caught in camera trap
Yale University anthropologist Gary P. Aronsen was studying primate behavior in Uganda last year when an infrared camera trap he set captured nighttime images of a cat so rare few researchers working in African forests have seen it.
Spain finds room for world's most endangered cat
Olive groves with low production close to the Natural Park of the Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro, in Córdoba, are the most appropriate sites for restoring habitat for reintroduction of the critically endangered Iberian lynx, Spanish scientists have determined.
Posted on October 13, 2009 | 0 Comments
Cheetahs are a step closer to being reintroduced to India, where they were exterminated at least a half century ago, following a decision by the Indian government to allow surveys to identify suitable habitat for the big cat.
If all goes according to plan, the world's fastest land mammal will be reintroduced to India from Africa. The surviving remnant of Asia's cheetahs, genetically close relatives of their African kin, now found only in Iran, are deemed by experts to be too few in number to risk fragmenting its breeding population.
NGS photo by Chris Johns
If cheetahs are reintroduced to India it could have significant positive consequences for entire ecosystems.
Being top predators, cheetahs require sustainable populations of prey (mostly small antelope and other animals), which in turn require healthy habitat for their own feeding and breeding. Healthy habitat for cheetahs and their prey benefits a host of plants, insects, birds, and many other species.
NGS photo by Chris Johns
"The Ministry of Environment and Forests has given a go-ahead to draft a detailed roadmap for the Cheetah Reintroduction Project, proposed by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), and endorsed by wildlife experts during the consultative meeting held in Gajner, Rajasthan, last month," WTI posted on its Web site last week.
"Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, conveyed the Ministry's decision [on October 6] in a letter addressed to Dr MK Ranjitsinh, Chairman, WTI, who heads the project," WTI said.
"The Minister approved the recommendation for a detailed survey of potential reintroduction sites in four states, shortlisted during the Gajner consultative meeting. The survey will ascertain which of these sites are most suitable for this endeavour as well as what needs to be done in each of them in preparation for the return of the cheetah."
NGS photo by Chris Johns
The survey, that will form the basis for the roadmap, will be carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, in collaboration with the WTI, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the state governments concerned, WTI added.
"We have been given a mandate to prepare this roadmap in four months. The return of the cheetah would make India the only country in the world to host six of the world's eight large cats and the only one to have all the large cats of Asia. The effort would also ensure conservation action in cheetah habitats in India, which so far, has been severely lacking," Ranjitsinh said.
NGS photo by Chris Johns
The meeting in Rajasthan last month debated several issues impacted by cheetah reintroduction, including habitat and prey availability, man-animal conflict, professional project management and source of the reintroduction stock, according to Wildlife Extra, an online wildlife magazine.
NGS photo by Chris Johns
Ranjitsinh, the WTI chairman, stressed the benefits of cheetah reintroduction to the endangered grassland-woodland habitats of India, Wildlife Extra added. "If the project succeeds, we will not only be returning the species to India, but will also be securing grasslands, which despite being the most productive, are also among the least studied and excessively neglected of Indian habitats, and a number of endangered species that survive within these habitats will also benefit," he said.
NGS photo by Chris Johns
Ranjitsinh told BBC News that the plan is to import African cheetahs and release them in the wild in designated open areas, which have been examined and checked thoroughly. "The plan is to bring cheetahs from the wild in Africa and release them in the wild in India. The cat will help in conserving the ecosystem," he said.
NGS photo by Chris Johns
Lions, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and other top felines are quickly disappearing, all victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans.
To address this critical situation, the National Geographic Society has launched the Big Cats Initiative, an emergency intervention to halt the alarming decline of big cats combined with longer-term strategies to restore populations. For more information and to learn how you can help, visit the Big Cats Initative Web site.
Posted on October 9, 2009 | 0 Comments
Not much has been known about the distribution and range of some of Africa's most secretive predators, including leopards and other big cats that hunt at night and sleep during the day. Where do they prowl after dark? Do they steal across farms when everyone is asleep?
By using a network of more than 400 camera traps, researchers have been able to monitor a number of carnivores as they move around in darkness across the northern part of the East African country Tanzania.
NGS camera trap shot of a leopard by Michael Nichols
The result of the investigation, according to the study by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), is that the meat-eaters tend to stay within specific habitat, avoiding other areas.
"Surprisingly, all the species surveyed tended to avoid croplands, suggesting that habitat conversion to agricultural land could have serious implications for carnivore distribution," said Wiley-Blackwell in a statement about the research. The study was published in the current issue of the Wiley-Blackwell research journal Animal Conservation.
NGS portrait of a leopard (Panthera pardus) in Africa by Chris Johns
The cameras recorded 23 out of 35 carnivore species known to occur in Tanzania.
Unsurprisingly, the cameras demonstrated that carnivore biodiversity tended to be higher in national parks than in game reserves and forest reserves.
Photo of serval caught in camera trap courtesy of Zoological Society of London
"We explored habitat use for seven species for which we had sufficient information. All species tended to be found near rivers and southern Acacia commiphora woodlands (except one mongoose species), and avoided deciduous shrubland, favouring deciduous woodland and/or open grassland," the researchers said in their paper.
"Camera traps provide a fantastic opportunity to gain knowledge on habitat use and spatial distribution of otherwise elusive and poorly known species," said Sarah Durant from ZSL. "This methodology represents a powerful tool that can inform national and site-based wildlife managers and policy makers as well as international agreements on conservation."
Nocturnal species under-reported
Until now, many of the species had been under reported because of their nocturnal habits, or because they live in heavily forested areas.
Photo of caracal caught in camera trap courtesy of Zoological Society of London
"The strength of the technique to document habitat preference of elusive species is highlighted by camera trap observations of bushy tailed mongooses--including the first ever records of this species from one of the most visited areas in the country," the researchers said.
Previously thought to be rare, the bushy-tailed mongoose (Bdeogale crassicauda) is in fact much more widely distributed in northern Tanzania than had been known, the scientists found by studying the camera trap images.
"These data can also be used to understand how Tanzania's carnivores may respond to habitat changes caused as a result of environmental change," the researchers noted.
Carnivores are sensitive to development
"Carnivores are generally thought to be relatively tolerant to land conversion, yet our study suggests that they may be more sensitive to development than previously thought, and that protected areas need to be sufficiently large to ensure that these charismatic animals will roam in Tanzania for the decades to come,' said Nathalie Pettorelli from ZSL.
All species were also foiund the be affected by rivers and habitat, and the analysis provides important information relevant to the examination of future impacts of climate change, the scientists said.
The project continues to map carnivore distribution across the country, working closely with the wildlife authorities to support local conservationists and to generate information that is used to inform conservation planning.
"Our study provides a first example where camera-trap data are combined with niche analyses to reveal patterns in habitat use and spatial distribution of otherwise elusive and poorly known species and to inform reserve design and land-use planning," the scientists said.
"Our methodology represents a potentially powerful tool that can inform national and site-based wildlife managers and policy makers as well as international agreements on conservation."
Photo of wild dog and warthog caught in camera trap courtesy of Zoological Society of London
From lions in Kenya to snow leopards in the Himalaya, the big cats of the world need help.
Lions, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and other top felines are quickly disappearing, all victims of habitat loss and degradation as well as conflicts with humans.
To address this critical situation, the National Geographic Society has launched the Big Cats Initiative, an emergency intervention to halt the alarming decline of big cats combined with longer-term strategies to restore populations. For more information and to learn how you can help, visit the Big Cats Initative Web site.
Posted on September 29, 2009 | 0 Comments
Does interaction between humans and animals provide significant health benefits?
Many pet owners say that that their animals provide company, happiness, and other emotional fulfillment.
NGS photo by Howell Walker
"Being around dogs can have a calming effect," pet writer Maryann Mott reported for National Geographic News a few years ago. "Studies have shown that physiological changes occur when people touch dogs: a drop in heart rate, lower blood pressure, and reduced stress."
In a separate news story, Lara Suziedelis Bogle reported that "therapy dogs" seem to boost the health of sick and lonely people. "Most people are familiar with dogs that assist their blind or otherwise disabled owners," Bogle wrote. "Therapy dogs offer a different kind of help. Some pay informal social visits to people to boost their spirits, while others work in a more structured environment with trained professionals like physical therapists and social workers to help patients reach clinical goals, such as increased mobility or improved memory."
NGS photo by Dean Conger
This fall, the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) will explore the many ways animals benefit people of all ages. The opportunity to do this will be at the International Society for Anthrozoology and Human-Animal Interaction Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
"Lowers blood pressure, encourages exercise, improves psychological health--these may sound like the effects of a miracle drug, but they are actually among the benefits of owning a four-legged, furry pet."
"Lowers blood pressure, encourages exercise, improves psychological health--these may sound like the effects of a miracle drug, but they are actually among the benefits of owning a four-legged, furry pet," ReCHAI said in a statement about the conference.
"Research in this field is providing new evidence on the positive impact pets have in our lives," said Rebecca Johnson, associate professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing, the College of Veterinary Medicine and director of ReCHAI. "This conference will provide a unique opportunity to connect international experts working in human-animal interaction research with those already working in the health and veterinary medicine fields."
NGS photo by William E. Eppridge
The conference, from October 20 to October 25, will feature presentations that will show how beneficial animals can be in the lives of children, families and older adults.
Marty Becker, a veterinary contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America" for more than 12 years, will give a presentation called "The Power of Love: the science and the soul behind that affection-connection we call The Bond."
NGS photo by W. Robert Moore
Other conference discussions will include ways that human-animal interaction benefits humans and animals, new facets of human-animal interaction, and ways to apply new human-animal interaction knowledge to their fields, the university said. Some of the presentations will highlight the special role of companion animals in facilitating reading and physical activity in children and adults.
"Pets are of great importance to people, especially during hard economic times," Johnson said. "Pets provide unconditional love and acceptance and may be part of answers to societal problems, such as inactivity and obesity."
NGS photo by Gilbert M. Grosvenor
In 2008 ReCHAI sponsored the "Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit for Seniors." In the preliminary program, a group of older adults were matched with shelter dogs, while another group of older adults were partnered with a human walk buddy. For 12 weeks, participants were encouraged to walk on an outdoor trail for one hour, five times a week. At the end of the program, researchers measured how much the older adults' activity levels improved.
"The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent...The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities."
"The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent," Johnson said. "They had more confidence walking on the trail, and they increased their speed. The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities. The human walking buddies tended to discourage each other and used excuses such as the weather being too hot."
"The few studies that have been conducted suggest that pet ownership may have multiple health and emotional benefits for both children and adults," said James Griffin, a scientist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "But there has been relatively little rigorous research documenting these benefits and examining how and why they occur. By providing support for this conference and additional research studies, we hope to generate some answers."
NGS photo by Emory Kristof
The Human-Animal Interaction Conference will bring together people around the world working on similar projects as ReCHAI, Johnson said. These people include nurses, physicians, veterinarians, social workers, psychologists, physical and occupational therapists, and activity directors.
"Today, pets are in more than 60 percent of American homes," said Charlotte McKenney, assistant director of ReCHAI. "Research involving human-animal interaction can be extremely beneficial. More people are incorporating pets into their leisure time, such as making them part of their exercise routines, taking them to dog parks and bringing them to family events."
For more information or to register for the conference, visit the conference Web site.
Posted on September 19, 2009 | 0 Comments
Yale University anthropologist Gary P. Aronsen was studying primate behavior in Uganda last year when an infrared camera trap he set captured nighttime images of a cat so rare few researchers working in African forests have seen it.
Photo courtesy G. P. Aronsen, Department of Anthropology, Yale University
The three images made by the camera trap of the African golden cat (Profelis aurata), a cougar-like feline about twice the size of a domestic cat, were released by Yale this week.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the African golden cat as Near Threatened, "as it seems reasonable to believe that the species could have declined on the order of 20 percent over the course of the last 15 years across its range, due mainly to the impact of habitat loss, hunting and loss of prey base."
Photo courtesy G. P. Aronsen, Department of Anthropology, Yale University
Although seldom seen or photographed, skins of the golden cat are more frequently encountered in museums, and among hunters and bushmeat markets, according to IUCN. The golden cat preys occasionally on tree-living primates, but its diet consists mainly of rodents and squirrels, according to analysis of its scat, which is about the only research that has been done about the feline.
Cryptic Animal
"It is a very cryptic animal. Almost nothing is known about it," said Aronsen, research associate in the Department of Anthropology, who described the photographs in the online edition of the African Journal of Ecology.
"The camera traps often capture images of elephants, chimpanzees, and small antelopes, so seeing this cat was a very welcome surprise," Aronsen added.
Aronsen showed the images to three experts, who confirmed the identification as the golden cat, Yale said in a statement.
A colleague of Aronsen's has worked for years in Kibale National Park, Uganda where the photos were taken, and has seen the animal only once, Aronsen said.
The researcher knows of only one other published photograph of the cat in the wild, taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Photo courtesy G. P. Aronsen, Department of Anthropology, Yale University
The cat looks much like a mountain lion of the American West and is much smaller than the lions and leopards that once roamed the park, Aronsen said. "While these larger cats have been eradicated by human encroachment in the park, the golden cat's smaller size may have helped it survive in Uganda's shrinking forests.
"Hopefully, the presence of this predator is a good sign of the forest's health--even though it's a smaller cat, the forest has to have enough resources to sustain it."
"Hopefully, the presence of this predator is a good sign of the forest's health--even though it's a smaller cat, the forest has to have enough resources to sustain it."
Aronsen is a member of a Yale research team working at Mainaro, in Uganda's Kibale National Park, including David P. Watts, professor of anthropology, and Simone Teelen, research affiliate. Support for this work is provided by the Great Ape Trust of Iowa and the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation.
Posted on September 18, 2009 | 0 Comments
Olive groves with low production close to the Natural Park of the Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro, in Córdoba, are the most appropriate sites for restoring habitat suitable for reintroduction of the critically endangered Iberian lynx, Spanish scientists have determined.
This is also the the only place, along with Doñana National Park, where this species lives, FECYT (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) said in a statement this week.
Photo of Iberian lynx courtesy Miguel Rodríguez / SINC
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Iberian lynx, or Spanish lynx, as "critically endangered," meaning it faces "an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild."
WWF says the Iberian lynx is the most endangered cat species on Earth. Only a few hundred individuals survive in isolated patches of mountain forest in southern and central Spain.
The Iberian lynx could be the first big cat to become extinct since the saber-toothed cat, says Fauna & Flora International. Watch this FFI video about the cat:
Video courtesy FFI.
The comprehensive study to find land suitable for habitat restoration for the cat had to weigh a range of factors, including optimal land use, the impact of human resettlement, and geographical features.
The process involves tough choices and illustrates how difficult it is to reverse human development.
"Researchers from the regional government of Andalusia's Institute for Agricultural and Fishing Research and Training (IFAPA) have studied the impact and risk of these mountain olive groves being abandoned, in order to come up with an appropriate management system for them (conventional, mixed or organic), or to suggest they should be reconverted to Mediterranean forest," FECYT said.
The risk of these olive groves being abandoned is "due to their location, which has serious socioeconomic implications (mainly in terms of the population leaving rural areas) and environmental ones (erosion and risk of fires)," said Manuel Arriaza, director of the study and a researcher at IFAPA.
"Although the olive groves have low production levels and high production costs, they are areas with great environmental value," Arriaza added.
The researchers used georaphical information systems (GIS), and also took into account experts' opinions about the commercial and noncommercial functions of the olive groves, as well as those of 480 people in the province of Córdoba about the importance that society places on these functions in agricultural areas, FECYT said.
"The scientists evaluated the socioeconomic functions (olive oil production and retention of the rural population), environmental ones (prevention of erosion and fires, conservation and improvement of biodiversity, with special focus on the habitat of the Iberian lynx), and cultural ones.
"The results suggest that the most highly-valued function of mountain olive groves is their ability to retain the rural population (24%), followed by production of olive oil (17%) and the prevention of erosion (16%).
"On the basis of the interviews and the geographical features of the area, the model's final proposal suggests that 36% of the land should be planted to conventional olive groves, 23% should be reconverted to Mediterranean forest, 22% should be mixed olives and forest, and 19% organic olive groves."
However, once the best areas for restoration of Iberian lynx habitat have been generically identified, "other aspects not covered by the initial land analysis should also be looked at before any action is taken, such as the size of the rabbit population present, or fragmentation of certain areas," Arriaza said.
Posted on August 13, 2009 | 0 Comments
Dozens of skins of various species, including Sumatran tigers, were seized and suspects were arrested in the latest raids on illegal wildlife traders by Indonesian authorities, the Wildlife Conservation Society said today.
Photo courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society
The most recent raid took place in Jakarta on August 7 and recovered two complete tiger skins and those of many other protected wildlife species, the New York-based conservation charity said in a statement. This raid resulted in the arrest of four suspects for attempting to illegally sell a Sumatran tiger skin.
"Four suspects were arrested in the raid and 34 skins of various species were recovered, including two tiger skins," said Colonel Agus Sutisna, Director of the Special Crimes Unit of the Jakarta Police. "The skins were destined for sale to collectors in Indonesia and abroad. This successful operation was a joint collaboration between the Police, the Department of Forestry and NGO partners."
On July 16, a raid in Sumatra recovered 33 tiger skin pieces, ranging in size from a few centimeters to larger pieces, and resulted in another wildlife trader arrested, WCS said.
"Both raids were conducted by the Indonesian Police and the Indonesian Department of Forestry, Directorate-General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA), working in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation Society's Wildlife Crime Unit and local partners.
"These raids, part of recent stepped-up efforts by Indonesian authorities to control the illegal wildlife trade, bring the number of arrests to 20 in the last 18 months for trading in tiger parts. Seven of these cases have already resulted in prison sentences and fines, and the rest are awaiting trial."
Last month also saw the sentencing of four traders in Jakarta arrested earlier this year and found guilty of illegally possessing and selling tiger skins, bones, and teeth, WCS added.
Photo courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society
In Indonesia, tigers (Panthera tigris) are now only found on the island of Sumatra, where the subspecies is considered a distinct form: the 'Sumatran Tiger' (Panthera tigris sumatrae), WCS said. "Former populations in Bali and Java are extinct. The total population of tigers on Sumatra is probably now less than one thousand."
Under Indonesian law it is illegal to kill, possess, buy or sell tigers or their body parts.
Tigers are killed by hunters to supply the demand for tiger parts such as skins, teeth, bones, hair, WCS said. "These parts are used as souvenirs, in traditional medicine, and as talismans. Many of the tiger parts traded in Indonesia are bound for export to east Asia. Tigers are also killed when they become involved in conflicts with local farmers."
The WCS Wildlife Crime Unit provides data and technical advice to law enforcement agencies to support the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes. In Jakarta it operates as part of the Forum Against Wildlife Trade, an alliance of local organizations fighting illegal wildlife trade.
"We commend the work of the Indonesian police and forestry department in these recent cases for their commitment to uphold and enforce the law," said Dr Noviar Andayani, Director of the WCS Indonesia Program. "We also commend the courts for the message they send when these cases are tried fairly and sentenced heavily."
"It is only through decisive action against those that participate in this illegal trade that we can stamp it out."
"The illegal trade in wildlife threatens not only iconic animals like the tiger, but also many other endangered species of marine and terrestrial animals," said Dr. Elizabeth Bennett, director of WCS's Hunting and Wildlife Trade Program. "It is only through decisive action against those that participate in this illegal trade that we can stamp it out."
"The Indonesian Government is committed to stopping illegal wildlife trade and strengthening its commitments to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)," said Mohammed Awriya Ibrahim, Director of Forest Protection for PHKA. "We are seeking to put a stop to the capture, possession and trade of protected wildlife in Indonesia,"
Other wildlife traded illegally from Indonesia includes rhino, elephant, orangutan, birds, bears, orchids, marine and freshwater fish, turtles, fragrant timber, pangolins, coral, snakes, bats and sharks, according to WCS.
Posted on August 5, 2009 | 0 Comments
Help choose the name for this furball and be eligible for a prize by taking part in a poll to name one of the newest snow leopards born at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.
The naming poll kicks off today and continues through midnight, August 12. To vote, visit http://www.zoo.org/ and click on "Name a Snow Leopard Cub." Ballots also are available at the zoo. All ages are eligible to vote.
"The cub's twin sister has been named Batu (pronounced BAH-too), Mongolian for firm, hard, honest," the zoo said.
"The naming poll invites snow leopard fans ages 18 and older to enter to win a fabulous snow leopard prize package: a 12-month ZooParent adoption (with a plush and certificate); a signed copy of "Saving the Ghost of the Mountain: An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in Mongolia by award-winning author Sy Montgomery; and a commemorative framed photo of the snow leopard cubs," said a statement released with this photograph.
The cubs were born on Memorial Day to first-time parents. They and their mother remain off public exhibit to ensure continual bonding and proper nursing, the zoo said. "Since snow leopards are solitary animals in the wild, the father is separated and is in the snow leopard exhibit with Nadia, another adult female."
The winning name will be announced when the cubs make their public debut at noon, Saturday, August 15, during the zoo' Snow Leopard Day. The annual event is hosted by the zoo and its conservation partner, the Snow Leopard Trust.
The Snow Leopard Trust was created in 1981 by the late Woodland Park Zoo staff member Helen Freeman, the namesake of the mother of the new cubs. "Through innovative programs, effective partnerships, and the latest science, the Snow Leopard Trust is saving these endangered cats and improving the lives of people who live in the snow leopard countries of Central Asia," the zoo said.
Photo credit: Ryan Hawk
Posted on August 1, 2009 | 0 Comments
Looking like a poster child for South African tourism, Johari, a 2-month-old African cheetah, is one of four cheetah cubs being raised by keepers at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.
The cub and its two siblings, a male named Shiley and a female named Taraji, were born on May 24 and were rejected by their mother, the zoo said.
"On June 17, a single female cheetah named Lindiwe was born to an inexperienced mother, so keepers intervened," the zoo added in a statement. "Often when a single cub is born, the mother chooses to walk away because the chance of one cub surviving is minimal."
All four cubs were moved to the care center where they are being hand-raised by keepers.
The cheetah is listed as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's (
Photo taken July 31, 2009, by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.
Posted on July 10, 2009 | 0 Comments
The risks of legalized farming of tigers are too great a gamble for the world to take, the World Bank told the 58th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Standing Committee, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland this week.
"We cannot know for sure if tiger farming will work. And if it does not work the downside risks are just too high--irreversible harm," says a formal statement read to the CITES meeting yesterday by Keshav Varma, director at the World Bank and leader of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative.
NGS stock photo of wild tigers in a pen by Michael Nichols
CITES is an international agreement between 175 governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
The Bank's position on tiger farming repudiates a controversial suggestion that poaching of wild tigers for traditional medicine and aphrodisiacs would diminish substantially if tigers, which breed prolfically in captivity, could be farmed--much like other animals are farmed for food.
"This is not surprising. There are myriad unknowns and even more unknowables that no amount of research can cast light upon."
"The truth is that we cannot provide answers to these counterfactuals that can only be known after the fact," the bank says in its statement.
NGS photo by Michael Nichols
"We cannot know for sure if tiger farming will work. And if it does not work the downside risks are just too high--irreversible harm."
Having carefully weighed the economic arguments, the Bank says, it urges the CITES community to uphold the ban on wild tiger products and for all countries to continue to ban the domestic trade of wild tigers.
"We also call upon the international community at large to join efforts in providing the necessary technical and other support to the respective countries in phasing out tiger farming. This is the only safe way to ensure that wild tigers may have a future tomorrow."
The World Bank's statement was endorsed by WWF International, a global environmental organization with headquarters in Switzerland.
"Stopping all trade in tiger parts, and phasing out these tiger farms, is of the utmost urgency if the tiger is to survive in the wild."
"Stopping all trade in tiger parts, and phasing out these tiger farms, is of the utmost urgency if the tiger is to survive in the wild", said Susan Lieberman, director of the Species Programme of WWF International, "It is time for the world community to join together, with tiger range state governments, to stop all poaching of tigers for illegal trade, and WWF welcomes the engagement of the World Bank in these efforts".
Tiger trade is prohibited internationally and banned domestically in all of its range countries, including China--historically the largest market for tiger products, WWF said.
"However, owners of privately run tiger farms and a contingent of wealthy business men across China have been pressuring the Chinese government to allow legal trade in tiger parts within China and lift its domestic tiger trade ban, implemented in 1993."
National Geographic Magazine published a cover story about wild tigers in December, 1997. "No one knows how many wild tigers exist today," the article said.
"The commonly cited estimate of 5,000 to 7,000 is a guess, since census methods can be faulty, some governments inflate numbers, and cat experts may understate numbers for fear of losing protected status.
"What is certain: If tigers are to survive in the wild, they need massive human intervention."
Save the Tiger Fund, a program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundaton, estimates that there were less than 5,000 tigers left in the wild by 2005--down from an estimated 100,000 in 1980. Only two countries had populations of more than 500 wild tigers.
By contrast, according to Save the Tiger Fund, there were more than 15,000 tigers in farms, safari parks, and menageries.
Video: Tiger Eye: Up Close and Personal
Watch how National Geographic photographers used motion-sensitive cameras to capture tigers in the wild.
More from National Geographic News:
India's Tigers Number Half as Many as Thought
Chinese Tigers Learn Hunting, Survival Skills in Africa
As Tigers Disappear, Poachers Turn to Leopards in India
Black Market Tigers Linked to Thai Temple, Report Says
Saving Jaguars, Tigers Can Prevent Human Diseases?
Captive Tigers Harbor Rare "Purebred" Genes
Tiger Habitat Plummeted 40 Percent in 10 Years, Survey Finds
Posted on June 18, 2009 | 0 Comments
ZooTube video by Woodland Park Zoo
Endangered in the wild, snow leopards are evidently stable and thriving in a breeding program managed cooperatively and carefully by North American zoos.
Photo by Ric Brewer, courtesy Woodland Park Zoo
Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo gave its new snow leopards their first physical check-up this week.
"We're pleased to announce that both cubs appear to be progressing normally. They're healthy and vigorous, and maternal care appears to be very good," said Woodland Park Zoo Associate Veterinarian Kelly Helmick. The cubs, a male and a female, currently weigh between 3.6 and 4 lbs.
The cubs are the first offspring for the 4-year-old mother, Helen, and 3-year-old father, Tom. The first-time mom and cubs are off public exhibit to allow bonding and proper nursing. "Since snow leopards are solitary animals in the wild, the father has been separated and is on public view with the zoo's other adult female, Nadia, in the snow leopard exhibit," the zoo said.
Nine Snow Leopards Born This Year
The last birth of snow leopards at Woodland Park Zoo was in 2000. A total of nine snow leopards have been born this year in five AZA zoos.
"The birth marks another milestone for Woodland Park Zoo and North American zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), as the cubs will help bolster the genetic diversity of the endangered species," noted zoo Interim Curator Tina Mullett in a news statement.
"These beautiful conservation ambassadors help visitors connect with snow leopards and become inspired to learn about and take action to help preserve their future in their range countries."
Photo by Ric Brewer, courtesy Woodland Park Zoo
The North American breeding program aims to maintain a stable population of captive snow leopards of around 300 cats, ensuring genetic diversity. There is a similar program in Europe.
Some 700 snow leopards are thought to live in captivity worldwide. Estimates of how many snow leopards are in the wild vary between 3,500 and 7,000.
Captive leopards not only retain a breeding pool for the endangered species in zoos, but they can also serve as ambassadors for their wild relatives, helping raise awareness and funding for wildlife conservation.
Snow Leopard Trust
As part of Woodland Park Zoo's partnership with field conservation projects around the world, the zoo partners with the Seattle-based Snow Leopard Trust. The Trust was created in 1981 by the late Woodland Park Zoo staff member Helen Freeman, the namesake of the mother of the cubs, Helen.
"Through innovative programs, effective partnerships and the latest science, the Snow Leopard Trust is saving these magnificent cats and improving the lives of people who live in the snow leopard countries of Central Asia," the zoo said.
"Woodland Park Zoo has a long history of caring for snow leopards and conserving them in the wild, since the zoo's first snow leopards arrived in 1972 from the USSR. Under the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan (SSP), managed by AZA, 28 cubs have been born at the zoo and sent to zoos worldwide to help diversify the genetic pool of the managed population."
Get more Zoo News >>
Snow leopard cubs are born helpless, with their eyes closed, and rely for several weeks on their mothers for nutrition.
Monitoring Snow Leopards by Web Cam
"To minimize disturbance, staff have minimal physical contact with the new family and are monitoring mother and cubs in a birthing den via a web cam," the zoo said.
The new parents, Helen and Tom, arrived last year from Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls and Los Angeles Zoo, respectively, under a breeding recommendation made by the SSP for snow leopards. "Introducing new animals, especially with the important goal of breeding, requires a methodical strategy. Matchmaking doesn't always work out for animals, just like it doesn't always work out for humans," explained Mullet.
"Our keeper staff invested many hours into daily observations of visual introductions between the adults before introducing them together physically. The expertise and patience of our staff and, of course, letting nature take its course, have paid off with a successful introduction, breeding and these precious cubs."
Photos of the neonatal exam can be found on the zoo's blog.
The Snow Leopard is among 39 Species Survival Plans that Woodland Park Zoo participates in, including the western lowland gorilla, Humboldt penguin, Komodo dragon and red panda. Under the auspices of AZA, SSPs also involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction and field projects.
Related blog entries about snow leopards :
Snow Leopards Take Up Manhattan Residence
Snow Leopards, 32 Other Species Receive Protection in Afghanistan
Posted on June 12, 2009 | 0 Comments
One of the world's rarest and most charismatic big cats, the snow leopard, has moved into very fancy digs in New York's Central Park. Heating and airconditioning are included.
WCS photo by Julie Larsen Maher
"The exhibit's rugged evergreen habitat, complete with a rocky waterfall, replicates the critically endangered snow leopard's home below the tree line in the mountains of Central Asia," says a news statement by the Wildlife Conservation Society, operator of Central Park Zoo.
The multi-million-dollar exhibit's design makes use of the latest behavioral enrichment ideas and technology. "Hot rocks provide warmth during the winter; and shallow caves and trees offer shade in summer. Fog and a waterfall add ambient cooling and dramatic visual effect; rocks and deadfall encourage the cats to pounce and play," WCS said.
WCS photo by Julie Larsen Maher
Three cats in the exhibit can be viewed nose-to-nose from two lookouts.
"This wonderful new exhibit will offer its visitors a quick escape from New York's urban landscape to Asia's great mountain ranges," said Steven E. Sanderson, WCS President and CEO. "We hope that all who visit this exhibit will be inspired to join our efforts to help save these animals and other rare species around the world."
Scientists estimate there are only a few thousand of these cats left in the wild; approximately 700 live in captivity.
WCS is a world leader in the care and conservation of snow leopards. The Bronx Zoo, also operated by the conservation charity, became the first zoo in the Western Hemisphere to exhibit the rare spotted cats in 1903.
WCS photo by Julie Larsen Maher
In the past three decades, nearly 80 cubs have been born in the Bronx as part of the SSP, and have been sent to live at 30 zoos in the U.S. and eight countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. All the WCS snow leopards are a part of the Species Survival Program (SSP), which helps ensure healthy populations of select endangered species in zoos, WCS added.
Central Park Zoo's new snow leopard facility includes an off-exhibit area that will serve as the breeding area and can accommodate cubs.
WCS photo by Julie Larsen Maher
The Allison Maher Stern Snow Leopard Exhibit is named in recognition of a $7 million leadership gift to the WCS Gateways to Conservation campaign by Allison and Leonard Stern. "Mrs. Stern has a personal passion for animals and volunteered at the Central Park Zoo in 1988. She has been a WCS trustee since 1992 and currently serves as Vice Chair of the WCS Board," WCS said.
Related news:
Snow Leopards, 32 Other Species Receive Protection in Afghanistan
LEOPARD PICTURES: Rare Snow Cats Caught by Camera Traps
Posted on June 7, 2009 | 0 Comments
Susan Boyle, eat your heart out.
Nora, the piano-playing cat, has won the YouTube vote. At more than 13,600,000 views, the Bach-loving feline is much, much more of an Internet phenom than the singing star of "Britain's Got Talent."
Nora has been featured in Entertainment Weekly, The Times of London, Public Radio International, CNN, the Daily Show, and Pianist Magazine. She even has her own page on Wikipedia, which traces her celebrity since her first YouTube video was posted in 2007.
The BBC reported today that the ivory-tickling cat has had a piece of chamber music written for her by acclaimed Lithuanian conductor Mindaugas Piecaitis. The four-minute piece for the Klaipeda chamber orchestra had its premiere on Friday, with a video of the six-year-old feline soloist in the background, the Beeb reported.
The piece is titled "Catcerto." It was written to accompany Nora's taped solo.
Nora, who started her life in a cat shelter, has a blog and her own Web site, which she shares with her owners, Philadelphia artists Burnell Yow! and Betsy Alexander.
Apparently there are five other felines in the family, but there's no word on the Web site whether or not the others are also musical.
The family is making the most of Nora's of fame. DVDs of her playing the piano and the book "Nora the Piano Cat's Guide to Becoming a Good Musician" are available for purchase. A Nora ring tone, featuring notes she actually played on the piano, may be downloaded from her Web site for free.
Posted on June 6, 2009 | 2 Comments
The Florida panther has made a dramatic recovery. Whether it will continue to survive now depends on whether we protect its shrinking habitat.
Photo by Stuart L. Pimm
By Stuart L. Pimm
Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch
There's a small plane circling me a thousand feet up and its annoying noise makes it difficult for me to hear the Cape Sable sparrows I'm trying to census for my research. On these April mornings at sunrise, there's usually nothing but bird songs here in the middle of the Everglades.
Then I understand why the plane is there: its crew are tracking a Florida panther carrying a transmitter and the animal must be close to me. What a thrill! This big cat almost went extinct, and did go extinct in Everglades National Park. It's presence near me is wonderful---it's back, testimony to a very successful and unusual conservation effort.
Whether the panther can survive in the long term is now the subject of a battle over a key provision of the law that has kept it alive--the Endangered Species Act.
NGS illustration of Florida panther by Walter A. Weber
Florida panthers once occurred across the southeastern U.S., but their range shrank as human settlement expanded. By the time it was declared a Federally Endangered species in 1967, only a few individuals remained in southwest Florida.
With such few individuals, soon every cat was related to each other. And with inbreeding came a variety of genetic problems that reduced the animals' ability to reproduce. "The only solution was to bring in 'new blood'--female panthers from Texas," Sonny Bass of Everglades National Park told me. "It was very controversial, but it worked very well indeed."
Bass and colleagues released eight Texas females in 1995. "Five bred, and now most of the panthers have a Texas ancestor," Bass said. Their offspring spread more widely and recolonized Everglades National Park, including the animal near me as I did my survey. [Read the National Geographic News story about this: Texas Cats Help Triple Florida Panther Population.]
Bass should know. "In the early days of my panther work, I was in a small plane seven days a week tracking animals," he said. Before and after the Texas introductions there was a major effort to find and radio-collar every cat and to follow its movements.
Photo courtesy FWS
A lot of panthers--especially males--die on roads and at night. Five have been killed on the roads this year, a couple of dozen in each of 2007 and 2008.
As cats disperse looking for new territories they cross roads. Nothing in their evolution prepares them for cars traveling at high speed.
While some of the cats moved back into the National Park, most live in the western Everglades, in the region known as Big Cypress. They are generally more wooded.
Panthers in Immediate Jeopardy
It's these cats that are in immediate jeopardy. There are many new towns planned--one to be called "Big Cypress"--part of the sprawl of new housing developers plan to build inland from Florida's southwest coast.
Joe Browder is the long-term environmental leader who brought the land now called Big Cypress National Preserve back into the U.S. National Park system. He explained to me the reason why Sierra Club, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and other groups have recently asked the Secretary of the Interior to assure that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service does not reject the groups' petition to designate key areas in southwestern Florida as "critical habitat" under the Endangered Species Act.
"Secretary of Interior Salazar should designate critical habitat for the panther because designation not only defines those areas needed for the species to survive, but also provides some later opportunity to discourage developers from building in the wrong places. Designation is an essential first step to make the planning process effective," Browder told me.
"Without designation, there's a much higher probability that developers will build their roads and cities on lands the panthers need, so the open space in the planned development may make the real estate more attractive, but won't protect the panther from traffic deaths and loss of prey."
"To escape extinction, the panther needs the right lands protected."
As someone who studies species extinction--and how to prevent them--I share Browder's concerns. The panthers in south Florida have had a miraculous initial recovery, with the help of some sexy Texans. But to escape extinction the panther needs the right lands protected, something that can be done and still leave developers room to build new communities.
The Florida panther is now the only large cat east of the Mississippi. The wild areas of Florida would be somehow just so much tamer were the last one to die in a head-on collision with a car on a Federal highway.
Professor Stuart L. Pimm is a conservation biologist at Duke University, North Carolina. A former member of the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration, Pimm is the author of dozens of books and research papers, including the book "The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth."
Earlier NatGeo News Watch posting by Stuart Pimm:
Many Mammal Migrations Are at Risk of Extinction, Research Finds
Additional information about the Florida panther:
The Genetic Rescue of the Florida Panther (Stuart Pimm's research)
Florida Panther Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (FWS)
Florida Panther Net (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
Florida Panther (National Wildlife Federation)
The Florida State Animal: Florida Panther
Florida Panther (Defenders of Wildlife)
Florida panther poster courtesy FWS
Posted on June 4, 2009 | 0 Comments
Snow leopards, wolves, Marco Polo sheep, and brown bears are among 33 endangered and threatened species that have gained the protection of the Afghanistan Government, the country's National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA) has announced.
Snow Leopard photo by Julie Larsen Maher/WCS
The listing of protected species--20 mammals, seven birds, four plants, an amphibian, and an insect--provides legal protection to Afghanistan's wildlife, which have been devastated by more than 30 years of conflict, said the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
NEPA, WCS (with funding from USAID), Kabul University, and Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, created the Afghanistan Wildlife Executive Committee (AWEC) to facilitate the listing, the first of its kind in Afghanistan.
Marco Polo sheep Photo by Stephane Ostrowski/WCS
"In July 2008, AWEC began evaluations of species such as the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, and Asiatic black bear," WCS said in a statement. "To make status determinations, AWEC and WCS worked with world experts to obtain the most recent and accurate information available for Afghanistan and the region, and then evaluated those data using scientific criteria established by the global authority on species listing: the IUCN Red List."
The list of protected Afghanistan wildlife may be expanded to as many as 70 species by the end of the year, WCS added.
Asiatic Black bear Photo by WCS
"The Wildlife Conservation Society commends the Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency for showing a continued commitment to conserving its natural heritage--even during these challenging times," said Steven E. Sanderson, President and CEO of WCS.
"WCS believes that conservation can often serve as diplomacy, and we are optimistic that this commitment to conservation will benefit all of Afghanistan's people."
Pallas Cat photo by Julie Larsen Maher/WCS
The snow leopard and other species are under pressure from excessive hunting, loss of key habitat and illegal trade.
Snow leopard pelts for sale in tourist shops sell for as much as $1,500 each, WCS said."International trade in species like the snow leopard is illegal under international law because it is globally endangered. Now that the snow leopard is protected under Afghan law, it is also illegal for Afghan nationals or internationals to hunt or trade the species within Afghanistan."
Greater Flamingo Photo by Mark Anderson
NEPA will be responsible for managing Afghanistan's protected species, including writing recovery plans for species designated as threatened.
Species will be re-evaluated every five years to determine whether populations have recovered to the extent where they may be removed from the protected list.
Eurasian Lynx photo by George Schaller
Last month Afghanistan announced the creation of its first national park: Band-e-Amir, six deep-blue lakes separated by natural dams made of travertine, a mineral deposit.
WCS, the only organization conducting ongoing scientific conservation studies in Afghanistan in the past 30 years, is working with the Afghan government to establish a network of parks and protected areas.
Markhor Photo by Graham Jones
Asiatic Cheetah (photographed in Iran) by Iran DOE/WCS/CACP/UNDP
Persian Leopard (photographed in Iran) by Iran DOE/WCS/CACP/UNDP
Urial Photo by George Schaller
Saker Falcon Photo by Mark Thomas
Posted on May 16, 2009 | 0 Comments
Photo courtesy Mekong Waterfront Guard & Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NRECD) Thailand.
The Thai Navy seized two tiger carcasses and 45 pangolins, and arrested eight traffickers who had planned to smuggle the animals across the Mekong River into Laos, TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, said today.
"Navy officers followed two cars carrying the traffickers in Ponpang village in the Rattana Wapi district of Nongkai Province on April 26, and made the arrests as they were attempting to transfer the slaughtered tigers and live pangolins to a boat," TRAFFIC said in a statement accompanying photos released to the media.
Eight people were arrested including a Vietnamese woman and her Thai husband. Several others in the boat fled upon sighting the navy officers.
Tigers Chopped in Half
The two tiger carcasses, chopped in half, and the 45 pangolins, two of which were dead, were found inside the two cars, the statement added.
The Navy and Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division have sent the tiger carcasses to Thailand's Department of National Parks for DNA testing.
"TRAFFIC lauds the Thai authorities for carrying out these DNA tests. Determining the origin of these tigers is crucial if authorities hope to end this tragic trade," said TRAFFIC Southeast Asia's Acting Director Chris R. Shepherd.
Photo courtesy Mekong Waterfront Guard & Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NRECD) Thailand.
This seizure is not the first case involving tigers being smuggled across this border, TRAFFIC added.
"In January 2008 the Thai Navy thwarted an attempt to smuggle six slaughtered tigers, five leopards and 275 live pangolins across the Thai-Laos border.
"In that incident, the tigers had also been found sliced in half, while the leopards had their organs removed."
This January, Thai police seized four tiger carcasses in the resort town of Hua Hin, TRAFFIC said.
"The dead tigers, weighing about 250 kilograms [550 pounds] had been decapitated and were found in a truck passing through Hua Hin in the Prachuap Kiri Khan province."
Police said the dead tigers were believed to have come from Malaysia and were being transported to China.
The following month, Thai authorities discovered the butchered carcasses of two tigers and a panther when they stopped a truck in the southern province of Pattani, TRAFFIC said.
TRAFFIC, a joint program of WWF and IUCN, has encouraged governments throughout Southeast Asia to work together to tackle the wildlife trade problem.
Trail of Butchered Tigers
"The trail of butchered tigers winds through many countries in Southeast Asia," Shepherd said. "Tracking down those who illegally kill and trade these tigers and putting them behind bars is a task countries cannot accomplish their own."
National Geographic News exposed the illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar in a grisly video report and photo gallery in February last year. The footage and photos were taken by wildlife photographer Karl Ammann, who has visited the region four times in the past 15 years, posing as a buyer.
In the town Möng La, on the border between Myanmar and China, which he visited in 2007, Ammann said, "There were cages stacked on top of each other with captured animals: bears, macaques, small primates, pangolins, rare birds, all kinds of reptiles, and tables filled with butchered animals with bullet holes through their heads and their throats cut. It's one of the worst scenes I've ever seen."
Watch Karl Ammann's video investigation, first webcast by National Geographic News in February last year:
Warning: Graphic Imagery
National Geographic video
Posted on April 23, 2009 | 0 Comments
Moxie, the African lion cub in this picture, made her public debut at the Bronx Zoo in New York yesterday.
"An adult male named M'wasi and young adult female, Sukari, were introduced to each other in 2008 as part of a cooperative zoo breeding effort," said a news statement by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the conservation charity that manages the zoo. "After the courtship, Moxie was born on November 6, 2008, weighing about 3 pounds at birth. Moxie could grow to be 350 pounds as an adult."
WCS photo by Julie Larsen Maher
"We have waited a long time for this birth," said Jim Breheny, WCS Director of the Bronx Zoo, in the statement. "She is definitely a scene-stealer with a spunky and playful personality. We are pleased to debut her on Earth Day. We are certain that Bronx Zoo-goers who are coming out for our WCS Run for the Wild this Saturday and the last weekend of our Earth Month celebration will enjoy seeing our new cub."
Lions live in grasslands and open woodlands across much of sub-Sahara Africa. Their Lion Island home at the Bronx Zoo's African Plains depicts this habitat. "This popular exhibit opened in 1941 to record crowds and is still an emblematic home for this icon species," WCS said. The exhibit showcases African wildlife in a predator-prey setting with a moat separating them.
WCS photo by Julie Larsen Maher
Across Africa, lions and other great predators are disappearing, according to WCS. "Until recently scientists believed there were 100,000-200,000 lions living in Africa, but a recent survey has found that the number has dropped dramatically to approximately 29,000 (IUCN 2006,) and most of these are living in protected national parks and reserves.
"Outside of these protected areas lions are being slaughtered at an alarming rate by people who kill them to protect their livestock," WCS added. "Ever-expanding human populations push people and livestock into the remaining lion range, causing habitat destruction and bushmeat poaching, which decimates wild prey and forces lions to depend on livestock for food. Unless urgent action is taken, lions may be completely wiped out from these unprotected areas."
Posted on April 23, 2009 | 0 Comments
NGS photo of Amur tigers by Michael Nichols
Loggers in Russia's Far East increasingly are cutting down Korean cedar pine, raising concerns that the endangered Siberian (or Amur) tiger could lose critical habitat and its prey could lose a major food source, the conservation charity WWF said today.
"Under pressure from the ongoing economic crisis, loggers are turning to the more lucrative Korean cedar pine (Pinus korajensis) as commodity prices for other types of wood fall, which in turn has led to large-scale illegal logging operations in the Ussuriiskaya taiga in Primorye," according to a statement released by WWF-Russia.
Posted on March 24, 2009 | 0 Comments
Smithsonian's National Zoo photo by Lisa Ware
An endangered clouded leopard at the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Conservation & Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia, gave birth to a genetically valuable litter of two cubs today. They are the first such births at the special breeding facility in 16 years.
"Staff has been on pregnancy watch of the two-and-a-half year-old clouded leopard 'Jao Chu' (JOW-chew) for five days. She gave birth to the litter early Tuesday morning," said a zoo news release.
This is Jao Chu's first litter. She and the cubs' father, two-and-a-half year-old "Hannibal," were born in Thailand in a collaborative research program with the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand. The pairing of Jao Chu and Hannibal and the resultant offspring infuses precious genes into the captive population of clouded leopards.
The cubs' sex will not be known until the first veterinary exam, the zoo said. They are being hand raised by zoo staff to increase their chances of survival.
"Due to deforestation and hunting, clouded leopards are vulnerable to extinction. National Zoo scientist Dr. JoGayle Howard and colleagues are aggressively working toward saving this species from decline," the statement added.
Smithsonian's National Zoo photo by Lisa Ware
The Zoo has been working with clouded leopards at the Conservation & Research Center since 1978, with the goal of creating a genetically diverse population. In the past 30 years, more than 70 clouded leopards have been born at the Zoo's research facility in Virginia, with the last litter born in 1993.
Breeding clouded leopards in captivity has been a challenge, primarily due to male aggression, decreased breeding activity between paired animals, and high cub mortality, the zoo said.
In 2002, the National Zoo in collaboration with the Nashville Zoo and the Clouded Leopard Species Survival Plan created the Thailand Clouded Leopard Consortium -- the largest population of confiscated clouded leopards in Southeast Asia.
The species survival plan oversees clouded leopard populations in zoos worldwide, and makes breeding recommendations for potential pairs based on the genetics of each cat.
(Watch a National Geographic video about this breeding progam below.)
Smithsonian's National Zoo photo by Lisa Ware
To date, the Thailand Clouded Leopard Consortium has produced 32 surviving cubs. The National Zoo's program at the Front Royal facility is the only one of its kind combining breeding with scientific research.
"For example, scientists still do not know why male clouded leopards attack their possible mates," the zoo said. "but several graduate students at the National Zoo are studying the males' behavior -- one student plans to test anti-anxiety drugs used in humans and domestic cats in an attempt to suppress male aggression."
Clouded leopard breeding video by National Geographic
Howard and colleagues have learned how to reduce the risk of fatal attacks by hand-rearing cubs for socialization and also introducing males to their mates when they are six months old, allowing the pair to grow up together. "Hannibal and Jao Chu, the only compatible pair of clouded leopards at CRC, are proof that these techniques work," the zoo said in its statement.
Little is known about clouded leopards. They are cats native to Southeast Asia and parts of China in a habitat that ranges from dense tropical evergreen forests to drier forests if there is suitable prey.
They are the smallest of the big cats, weighing 30 to 50 pounds and measuring about five feet long. Their short legs, large paws, and long tail (accounts for half their length) help them balance on small branches, and their flexible ankles allow them to run down trees headfirst.
Posted on March 3, 2009 | 0 Comments
Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department
The first wild jaguar to be captured and fitted with a radio-collar in the United States -- and the only wild jaguar known to be living in the U.S. -- was euthanized in Phoenix, Arizona last night, Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity said today. (Read the National Geographic News story.)
"The jaguar, 'Macho B,' was accidentally captured in an Arizona Game and Fish Department trap on February 18 and was recaptured and euthanized Monday after he was found to be suffering from kidney failure," Suckling said in an email message.
"This is a terrible setback for the fragile population of northern jaguars that once ranged from the Bay Area of California to the Appalachian Mountains and now are so rare that only four have been photographed in the U.S. since 1996," he added.
National Geographic News reported last week that Macho B was the first jaguar in more than a century to have been caught and collared in the U.S.
"The Arizona Game and Fish Department spotted the 118-pound (54-kilogram) male during a research study of mountain lion and black bear habitat," Christine Dell'Amore reported. "It was later confirmed to be Macho B, an animal that has been photographed since 1996 and could be between 14 to 16 years old--making it the oldest jaguar ever collared."
It is unclear whether the stress from the repeated captures and sedation caused the weak kidney to fail, Suckling said in his email today. The Center for Biological Diversity is keeping a close eye on the post-mortem investigation to determine what caused the jaguar's death, he added.
Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department
Michael Robinson, the conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the death of Macho B was a major setback for the jaguar, particularly given that the new border wall between Mexico and the U.S. was making it much harder for jaguars to reoccupy their ancestral homes in the southern United States.
"Macho's legacy should be action to develop a science-based recovery plan and protection of the areas they call home to ensure their survival," Robinson said in a statement on the Center's Web site.
The Tucson, Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity will be in federal district court in Tucson on March 23 in its lawsuit against a Bush-era U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refusal to develop a recovery plan and designate critical habitat for the jaguar.
A recovery plan would lay out the information needed for jaguar recovery, the least intrusive means of getting that data, and the means by which the population of jaguars would be increased and secured.
"We support research to understand the jaguar's ecology, including capturing animals when necessary," Robinson said. "But it does entail risk, and with the Bush administration's refusal to develop a recovery plan and protect critical habitat for the jaguar, it is unclear how the information will be used to benefit the jaguar."
"An overarching recovery plan would serve as a roadmap for a time when jaguars are far more resilient to the loss of a single animal than they are today."
Related: Jaguar Seen in Central Mexico for First Time in 100 Years
Posted on February 24, 2009 | 0 Comments
© Farid Belbachir/ZSL/OPNA
The first camera-trap photographs of the critically endangered Saharan cheetah in Algeria were released today.
The Northwest African cheetah is found over the Sahara desert and savannas of North and West Africa, respectively, including Algeria, Niger, Mali, Benin, Burkina-Faso and Togo, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a news statement. "The populations are very fragmented and small, with the biggest thought to be found in Algeria. The ongoing surveys in the region will also work with the local Tuareg pastoralist community to find out more about the ecology of the cheetah and identify threats to it," the statement said.
The survey was conducted by researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar (OPNA), and the Université de Béjaïa in Algeria, with support from WCS and Panthera.
The photographs were taken as part of the first systematic camera trap survey across the central Sahara, covering an area of 1,081 square miles 2,800 (square kilometers).
"This is an incredibly rare and elusive subspecies of cheetah and current population estimates, which stand at less than 250 mature individuals, are based on guesswork," said Farid Belbachir, who is implementing the field survey. "This study is helping us to turn a corner in our understanding, providing us with information about population numbers, movement and ecology,"
Overall, the survey identified four different Saharan cheetahs -- a subspecies of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) -- using spot patterns unique to each individual.
"The Saharan cheetah is critically endangered, yet virtually nothing is known about the population, so this new evidence, and the ongoing research work, is hugely significant," said Sarah Durant, Zoological Society of London Senior Research Fellow.
"This first camera-trap confirmation of cheetahs in Algeria is a landmark success toward our efforts to save these big cats," said James Deutsch, director of WCS-Africa. "Findings like these help us refine our conservation strategies for the cheetah across its entire range."
© Farid Belbachir/ZSL/OPNA
Posted on February 13, 2009 | 0 Comments
In keeping with the spirit of Valentine's Day, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates New York's Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium, sent these pictures today:
Photos by Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Paprika, a male red bird of paradise, presented a challenge for senior wild animal keeper, Patti Cooper.
Upon his return from a zoo in Florida, Paprika came back with increased human-imprinted behaviors, WCS said. Cooper and others in Paprika's World of Birds habitat even heard him saying words. "While entertaining to some, this really was not a great attribute and could be a total turn-off in attracting a female of his species," Cooper said.
Not wanting to give up on him, Cooper enlisted the aid of Carolyn Fuchs in WCS's exhibit shop. "Together Patti and Carolyn came up with the idea to create a female red bird of paradise puppet to broaden Paprika's horizons and give him another chance at love," WCS said. "It took hardly any time for Paprika to redirect his attention and to become interested in 'Spice Girl,' the well-designed wire mesh and epoxy puppet. Paprika is now exhibiting the proper courtship behaviors."
The Bronx Zoo is searching for a real female breeding partner for Paprika. Watch a video of Paprika and the puppet, narrated by Patti Cooper, on the Bronx Zoo's Web site.
Red birds of paradise are endemic to the rain forests of New Guinea's western islands. The male has an elaborate courtship display. He performs what is known as the "butterfly dance," by which he spreads and vibrates his wings like a giant butterfly.
Because of habitat loss and poaching, the red bird of paradise is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
"You say tomato, I say tomaaato, let's fall in love!" Tomato frogs are a favorite among visitors to New York's Bronx Zoo as they venture through the new permanent Madagascar! exhibit. The frogs enjoy a diet of ants and in nature are terrestrial and often make their home in waterlogged ditches, the Wildlife Conservation Society said.
Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Bronx Zoo's lions, male M'wasi and female Sukari, have recently been introduced on the Zoo's Africa Plains exhibit. A typical lion greeting last less than a minute, and includes touching heads, WCS said.
"Outside of Africa's largest national parks, lions are disappearing rapidly. They are losing habitat to human encroachment. Field scientists Luke Hunter and Laurence Frank of the Wildlife Conservation Society, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo, are working to maintain African predators in unprotected areas, by helping people and livestock to live with lions," WCS said.
Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Aquarium's twenty-month-old baby Pacific walrus, Akituusaq, shows his love to Keeper Paul Moylett for Valentine's Day. "The winter months are the best time to visit the Aquarium when the walruses enjoy the cold weather," WCS said.
Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Residents of the Bronx Zoo Monkey House, these squirrel monkeys' native range includes Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru in South America.
Related NatGeo News Watch posts:
U.S. Zoos Feel Pain of Budget Cuts
Posted on February 11, 2009 | 0 Comments
The lack of published records about the jaguar in the State of Mexico and concerns about whether this animal may have become extinct in the forests of the 260-square-mile (674-square-kilometer) Sierra Nanchititla Natural Reserve led to researchers from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) and the University of Alicante, Spain, successfully seeking out and monitoring the feline, according to a news release about the project.
The jaguar has become in danger of extinction in recent decades, due to the fragmentation and deterioration of its habitat, as well as hunting and illegal animal smuggling, the release said. "As a result of this vulnerability, no individuals have been seen in the centre of Mexico since the start of the 20th Century."
The Mexican-Spanish research project, published recently in the journal The Southwestern Naturalist, includes the first documented recording of the species Panthera onca in the center of Mexico, in the Río Balsas river basin.
"The photographs provide information about new recording sites, and allow us to deduce that the area where the animal was observed may be a corridor connecting jaguar populations," said Octavio Monroy-Vilchis, lead author and a researcher at UAEM.
The researchers carried out 86 interviews with inhabitants of villages near the study area between October 2002 and December 2004. They also collected feline dropping samples and installed automatic photographic detection systems.
"Even though not one of the interviews mentioned sightings of jaguars, we obtained three photographs of a male, and ten of the 132 excrement samples found have been attributed to the jaguar," Monroy-Vilchis said.
The fact that the animal was captured on camera at 1,845 meters [6,000 feet] "supports the theory that jaguars travel along the sides of mountains because their habitat has been fragmented by hunting and other human activities," the scientist said.
"According to members of the local Wildlife Conservation Society," the news release added, "the general area of the Río Balsas river basin is a priority area for verifying the presence of jaguars, since this could act as a corridor for them to move around."
Fifteen other areas in Mexico have been identified as potentially crucial for the long-term survival of jaguars, the news release said. It is not known whether the felines exist in these regions or, if they do, whether or not their populations are stable and their habitat is adequate to support them.
Related NatGeo News Watch entry:
Elusive Jaguars Are Surveyed Remotely in Ecuador's Wilderness
Posted on January 28, 2009 | 0 Comments
Woodland Park Zoo
This ocelot kitten is one of a pair of females born at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo 18 weeks ago, the first birth of the endangered nocturnal cat at the zoo in 15 years.
"Ocelots are still in high demand for the fur industries in Europe and Asia, which leads to abuse of the already existing laws protecting ocelots and other small cats," the zoo says on its blog. "Ocelot numbers are also decreasing rapidly as a result of habitat destruction and the black market pet trade."
Threatened throughout their entire range from Argentina to the United States, ocelots are also becoming exceedingly rare in several areas. In the U.S., the zoo notes, ocelots once ranged throughout the southwest from Arizona to Louisiana, "yet now less than 100 ocelots are estimated to be left in the U.S."
The kittens born at Woodland Park Zoo, named Novia and Corisandra, are the first offspring for mother Bella, 7 years old, and father Brazil, 12 years old.
The zoo hopes to have the kittens on public exhibit in the next couple of weeks.
"The mother and kittens have remained off public exhibit to allow for continued nursing and bonding in a quiet environment," the zoo said in a statement yesterday. "Over the past couple of months, the kittens have increasingly spent more time outside of the birthing den. In preparation for the kittens' move to the public exhibit, zookeepers have helped promote the necessary motor and exploratory skills for proper growth and development through off-exhibit climbing structures and a variety of enrichment activities."
Video: Woodland Park Zoo ocelot kittens:
Woodland Park Zoo participates in the Ocelot Species Survival Plan, a cooperative breeding program that works to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos and aquariums.
Posted on January 28, 2009 | 0 Comments
Camera trap photo by C Santiago Espinosa/WCS
This is one of 75 pictures of jaguars taken by camera traps in the first large-scale census of the elusive big cat in the Amazon region of Ecuador.
The ongoing census, which began in 2007, is working to establish baseline population numbers as oil exploration and subsequent development puts growing pressure on wildlife in Ecuador's Yasuni National Park and adjacent Waorani Ethnic Reserve, the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said in a release accompanying this and other photos yesterday.
Camera traps photograph animals remotely when they trip a sensor that detects body heat. Jaguars photographed this way are identified individually through their unique pattern of spots.
"Preliminary data show far fewer jaguars in more hunted areas compared to remote study sites," WCS said in its statement. In the first survey at a heavily hunted site within Yasuni National Park, only three individual jaguars were identified. At a study site in a rarely hunted and remote area, 14 different jaguars were distinguished.
Other images made by the camera traps show jaguar prey species, such as white-lipped peccaries, and other rarely seen species, including two pictures of a short-eared dog, a relative of foxes and wolves, seen in the image alongside.
Camera trap photo by C Santiago Espinosa/WCS
"The main threats to jaguars in Ecuador are habitat degradation and loss due to various human activities," said WCS research fellow Santiago Espinosa, leader of the study team.
"Bushmeat hunting by local communities has increased due to road development that provides access to otherwise isolated areas. Additionally, people hunt bushmeat to sell commercially in local markets, rather than simply for their own consumption. There is competition for food as people hunt the same prey species as the jaguar. If the prey species disappear, the jaguar will be gone."
Espinosa and WCS plan to extend the jaguar camera trap surveys to other areas of Ecuador, working with local communities in both the Amazon region and along the coast where most of the forests are gone but still may provide refuge to jaguars.
Related National Geographic News story:
Posted on December 5, 2008 | 0 Comments
