Tiger skins and bones seized in Thai customs swoop

Thai customs officials have said they have seized four boxes of smuggled tiger skins and bones worth tens of thousands of dollars in the post, believed to be destined for interior decoration.

The tigers, whose parts were found earlier this week, were thought to have come from Indonesia and eventually be destined for China, according to Somchai Poolsawasdi, director general of Royal Thai Customs.

"There were four boxes, and each box contained one tiger skin, bones and a skull. Each one weighed around five kilograms (11 pounds)," he told AFP.

He said the parcels, thought to be sent be a trafficking gang, were en route to Mae Sai in northern Thailand and came through Bangkok's main post office, where officials received the tip-off.

"The way they processed these tigers, I think they were meant for furniture or decoration," he added.

Anti-trafficking group Freeland said the tiger parts were worth an estimated $60,000, warning that the poaching and trafficking of tiger meat, bones and skin was a key cause of the declining wild Asian tiger populations.

Read more at: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/8996515/Tiger-skins-and-bones-seized-in-Thai-customs-swoop.html

Thai officials save thousands of endangered animals

Officials say they have seized nearly 3000 rare animals in one of the biggest wildlife trafficking busts in Thailand this year.

Among the animals are some protected by international conventions on endangered species.

The illegal wildlife trade is said to be rife in Thailand and generates billions of dollars worldwide.

Karishma Vaswani reports.

video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14921009

Sharks saved from soupy fate set free at sea

Saved from the soup bowl at a Thai restaurant, the baby shark wriggled out of the bag and into the open sea - a rare survivor of a trade that kills millions of the predators each year.

On average an estimated 22,000 tonnes of sharks are caught annually off Thailand for their fins - a delicacy in Chinese cuisine once enjoyed only by the rich, but now increasingly popular with the wealthier middle class.

Thanks to a group of environmental activists calling themselves the Dive Tribe, dozens of sharks were returned to the wild in the Gulf of Thailand recently, bought from animal markets or restaurants.

Among them were several young bamboo and black tip reef sharks which narrowly avoided ending up as shark fin soup - prized in particular by the Chinese who believe it boosts sexual potency.

Gwyn Mills, founder of Dive Tribe, laments the fact that the plight of sharks is largely overlooked compared to animals such as elephants and tigers.

He fears it may be only five or 10 years before the damage is irreversible.

"We are losing too many sharks. We can't afford to take any more out of the ocean," Mills said.

Scientists blame the practice of shark-finning - slicing off the fins of live animals and then throwing them back in the water to die - for a worldwide collapse in populations of the predators, which have been swimming since the time of the dinosaurs.

The maritime conservation group Oceana estimates that up to 73 million sharks are finned each year around the world, depleting many populations by as much as 90 percent.

Although the shark is portrayed as an insatiable man-eater in Steven Spielberg's hit 1975 movie "Jaws", naturalists say most species pose no danger to humans.

"Actually attacks on people are rare," said Jean-Christophe Thomas, a scuba instructor involved in the shark release.

On Saturday, 60 sharks left their temporary home at the "Underwater World" aquarium in the Thai resort city of Pattaya in plastic bags filled with water. Loaded onto a boat, they were released one by one back into the wild.

"I was carrying the plastic bag and did not even notice when he left," said Wayne Phillips, a lecturer in marine ecology at Mahidol University.

"But I like that. He was not given freedom. He took it. He was living in a tank, then in a plastic bag. He's better here."

While the release was a largely symbolic event designed to raise awareness, the stakes are real.

Environmentalists say that sharks, particularly the apex predators, play a vital role in the marine ecosystem.

"So if we protect the sharks, the rest of the reef will be protected," said Phillips. "We need to make people realise how important sharks are."

Environmentalists argue that sharks are slow to reproduce, making them unsuitable for commercial fishing.

Some types of shark species, including the great white and the hammerhead, are endangered, threatened or vulnerable, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Some countries are taking action.

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau declared the world's first shark sanctuary in 2009, prompting similar moves by the Maldives and Honduras.

Taiwan, one of the world's major shark catchers, is moving to tighten measures against hunting the predator while the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island is also seeking to ban shark fishing.

The members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) also adopted a resolution in 1994 on shark conservation and management.

And in 1999, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation adopted an International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks.

But a report by the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the Pew Environmental Group released in January said not enough was being done to implement that plan.

"International concern about shark stocks continues to grow because of an increasing body of evidence that many shark species are threatened and are continuing to decline as a result of unregulated fishing", it said.

Activists believe the best hope of reversing the situation is to highlight the benefits of sharks to the tourism industry.

The animals are a major attraction for snorkelers and scuba divers, but it is increasingly rare to see the creatures in the seas off Thailand.

Mills argued that one reef shark is worth many times more to the tourist industry than it would fetch in a restaurant. He thinks fishermen should be compensated for releasing the sharks that get entangled in their nets.

While swimming with sharks is a joy for many scuba divers and naturalists, for some the shark remains a creature to be feared - an image unlikely to be helped by the upcoming release of the Hollywood movie "Shark Night 3D".

The film tells the fictional story of a group of carefree teenagers killed off one by one by hungry sharks in a salt lake in Louisiana.

According to the International Shark Attack File, compiled at the University of Florida, 79 unprovoked shark attacks occurred around the world in 2010, six of which were fatal. This was the highest number in a decade and an increase of 25 percent on 2009.

For Dive Tribe and other shark lovers, the battle is only just beginning.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sharks-saved-from-soupy-fate-set-free-at-sea-2353043.html

Orangutan rides bicycle to preach cycling safety

Meet Bam the road safety primate who's on a mission to make sure children in Thailand wear their helmet whilst cycling.
The eight-year-old Orangutan loves to cycle around when he gets the chance and was enlisted by the Thailand government to help spread a campaign message about accident prevention.

Launched on Friday at the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Bam dressed in a bright yellow t-shirt rode his favourite blue bike (courtesy of some training wheels) through the crowd of thrilled onlookers.
He was also joined by two freewheelin' friends, but it seems one forgot to wear her helmet, which is a big no-no for Bam who always wears his smiling panda hat whenever he hits the road.

Road welfare is a serious issue in Thailand with a staggering number of daily cases being recorded. In 2010, daily road accidents in Thailand averaged 559 cases a day with 616 persons injured and 52 killed.


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/872203-orangutan-rides-bike-to-preach-cycle-safety#ixzz1V86EBBbi


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/872203-orangutan-rides-bike-to-preach-cycle-safety#ixzz1V86BhYUD

Thailand’s booming illegal exotic pet trade is trashing Madagascar's wildlife

Paperwork just doesn't add up

June 2011: Thailand's pet dealers are supplying large numbers of Madagascar's most threatened reptiles and amphibians to local and international markets, despite unanswered questions over the legality of the imports, a new TRAFFIC report has found.

A 15-day survey of 32 vendors in Bangkok and eight Thai provinces by TRAFFIC investigators found 591 specimens of Malagasy reptiles and amphibians available for sale.


‘Of particular concern was the large scale trade in endemic Malagasy chameleons,' states the report.

The investigators found 233 chameleons representing 16 species for sale in markets, shops and internet traders' homes, including the Antsingy Leaf Chameleon, a species whose international commercial trade is prohibited under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

While some chameleon species from Madagascar can be legally traded with permits, up to 78 per cent - some 3,738 individuals - imported to Thailand between 2004 and 2005, had been declared as ‘captive-bred' in Kazakhstan or re-exported from Lebanon, notes the report.

However, analysis of official trade data showed that Kazakhstan had reported no imports of chameleons from Madagascar, nor had any country reported exports of Malagasy chameleons to Kazakhstan. Clearly imports of Malagasy chameleons are a pre-requisite to establishing captive breeding populations and many of the exports went to Lebanon, from where they were re-exported to Thailand.

If there is a large-scale breeding operation - where did they source their breeding stock?

‘If large-scale captive-breeding operations of Malagasy chameleons are indeed taking place in Kazakhstan, where did they source their breeding stock and why are many of the exports going via Lebanon, a country that is not a party to CITES?' asks Chris Shepherd, deputy director of TRAFFIC South-East Asia.

Official trade data show Lebanon legally imported 32 Madagascan chameleons in 2005 from CITES Parties.

‘Even at the highest theoretical hatching and survival rates, it is impossible for 32 chameleons to produce the thousands of offspring Thailand declared as imported from Lebanon in subsequent years, so how is the shortfall accounted for?' asks Shepherd.

Critically endangered tortoises also on sale
Other species discovered during TRAFFIC's investigations in Thailand included more than 100 radiated tortoises, dozens of spider tortoises, and three ploughshare tortoises-three of the world's rarest tortoise species. All are classified by IUCN as Critically Endangered and international commercial trade in all is banned under CITES. The radiated tortoise population is believed to have shrunk to 30 per cent or less of its former range in south-west Madagascar since 2009.

According to Richard Hughes, WWF's representative in Madagascar: ‘We know there is a significant ongoing illegal trade in protected species from Madagascar, mainly destined for Asia, which has been exacerbated by the current political situation in the country leading to weaker enforcement of existing laws and safeguarding of protected areas.'

800 protected reptiles seized at Bangkok airport
TRAFFIC's investigations found that trade in Malagasy reptiles and amphibians, once concentrated in Bangkok's Chatuchak market, has now spread to provincial towns and is rife on the internet, with evidence to suggest a network of dealers who supply both national and international clients.

‘Traders who sell illegally acquired reptiles and amphibians show total contempt for the law and undermine Thailand's enforcement efforts,' said Shepherd.

For example, earlier this month more than 800 protected reptiles were interdicted by Thai authorities at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

‘Seizures of Malagasy chameleons by airport authorities are testament to the continuing illegal trade, but as the current report amply demonstrates, only through making regular visits to markets stalls and other vendors can we hope to unearth the true scale of the illicit trade and its potential impact on wild chameleon populations,' said Dr Richard Jenkins, chair of the IUCN/SSC Chameleon Specialist Group.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/illegal-wildlife-thailand.html#cr

Thailand jungles mask surprise rise in tiger numbers

Experts film previously unknown group on hidden cameras – but loss of habitat and threat from poachers cloud new-found hope


Deep in the jungle, armed forest rangers trek through the palms on a mission to confirm some rare good news: the discovery of a wild tiger population in an area of Thap Lan national park previously written off by wildlife experts.


Working with foreign conservationists, the rangers have been gathering evidence from camera traps over the past two years that suggests this single national park in Thailand may have more tigers than China.

Thap Lan, with its spectacular forests of saw-bladed plan palms, is an oasis of biodiversity amid expanding human development. Elephants, clouded leopards, spotted linsang, boar and deer thrive below the canopy, which is filled with the song of myna, lapwings, laughing thrushes and other exotic birds.

Locals have long insisted that tigers also prowl in this area. Camera traps, triggered by heat and movement, have been left strapped to trees for a month. Some have been destroyed by wild elephants or infested by nesting ants, but the memory cards inside have yielded a treasure trove of images of bears, leopards, itinerant monks, as well as tigers and – worryingly – armed poachers.

More than half the park has still to be checked, but rangers have already confirmed eight tigers. This is not yet enough to be classified as a sustainable population, but park managers are optimistic more animals will be found. "I'm very happy as this is beyond expectations," said Thap Lan's superintendent, Taywin Meesap. "There are areas deeper inside where we haven't placed camera traps yet. Given the results so far, there could be 20 to 50 tigers here."

The conservation group that provided much of the training and equipment for the operation said the results showed a gap in understanding and the need to invest more in research and protection.

Tim Redford of Freeland, a Bangkok-based group that helps rangers in south-east Asia, said: "This place was supposed to be devoid of tigers. But we did a course here and were surprised to find signs of tigers. The more we looked, the more we found. That led me to believe the forest must have tigers throughout and there is a big gap in our knowledge of where they live."

He called for further studies across countries where other small populations may have been missed.

The difficulty of measuring tiger numbers was evident when India increased its estimate by 10% compared with a survey in 2008.

The discovery comes amid a fresh global push to reverse a precipitous decline in the numbers of wild tigers, down 97% compared with a century ago. At the St Petersburg tiger summit last year, participants, including the World Bank, NGOs and range states, pledged $329m (£200m) to help double the predators' numbers in the wild from the current level of about 3,200.

But the new hope in Thap Lan is mixed with old fears. Thailand is thought to be home to between 250 and 300 wild tigers, but they are vulnerable. The biggest threat is a loss of habitat. Although nominally protected, Thailand's national parks are being encroached upon by human development, particularly monoculture plantations, roads and second homes for Bangkok's rich.

Many locals also subsidise their incomes by poaching and illegally logging aloe and tropical hardwood. Park managers and police are worried that poachers and illegal traders would target the tigers once news gets out about their numbers in the area.

Rangers mount night patrols and public education campaigns to halt these activities. It can be dangerous work. A Thap Lan ranger was killed in a gun battle with poachers three years ago. In Cambodia, forest protectors have been murdered in hand grenade attacks.

The stakes are high. According to conservationists and police, poachers are paid 7,000 to 15,000 baht – £150 to £300 – per kg for a tiger carcass.

Middlemen then sell the animals on for about 10 times that amount, mostly to customers in China and Vietnam, where the animal's bones and penis are used in tonics and aphrodisiacs. Yet penalties for wildlife offences remain absurdly low, with fines ranging from 500 to 40,000 baht.

Thailand has much to protect. The country is home to some of the most biodiverse tropical forests in south-east Asia. Just two hours from Bangkok, the Guardian's car almost ran over a King Cobra, which expressed its indignation by rearing up angrily and flickering its tongue.

Despite this ecological wealth, wildlife crime was a low priority for law enforcement authorities for many years. But there are signs that attitudes may be changing. Thai customs officials have made several high-profile arrests in the past two years, including that of a woman who attempted to smuggle a live baby tiger cub through Bangkok airport in a case full of stuffed animal toys.

A sting operation last week apprehended a United Arab Emirates citizen whose belongings concealed two leopards, two panthers, an Asiatic black bear and two macaque monkeys.

More impressive still was an undercover operation by the Thai police this year that exposed a large tiger-trading syndicate. Its ringleader, a woman known as "J", remains at large, partly because her husband is a police officer, but investigators said they were closing in.

"I believe she may have been selling 100 tigers per year for 10 years," said Colonel Kittipong Khawsamang, deputy head of the wildlife crime division as he leafed through police photographs of tiger carcasses kept on ice.

"We know she is a big trader and have been collecting evidence, but we don't yet have enough for a prosecution."

Khawsamang said recent raids have shown Thailand has become a hub of the tiger trade, due to its location between other range nations in south-east Asia and China, the main market.

The business is also supplied by Thailand's many tiger farms, some of which claim to operate as zoos while covertly breeding animals for sale. The most notorious is the Sri Racha zoo near Pattaya, which police have raided on several occasions, confiscating hundreds of animals.

Tourists still flock to watch the farm-bred tigers jump through flaming hoops, suckle at pigs and walk around on their hind legs to the music of the Can-Can and laughter from the audience.

Police and conservationists believe "zoos" encourage poaching both as a source of breeding stock and by sustaining the market for tiger products.

General Misakawan Buara, commander of Thailand's natural resources and environmental crime division, said: "The problem is, we can only check permits and the inventory, but we can't check which tigers and going in and out because we are police, not animal experts. We need more DNA checks, implanted chips or a tagging system so we can verify the origins of tigers."That – like training and equipping rangers – is not cheap. But little of the money pledged at St Petersberg summit is evident yet at the grass roots, where the budgets for rangers and wildlife police are unchanged "Tiger conservation at the top and the bottom are two different worlds.

The people who are high paid researchers and biologists jet-set around the world," said Freeland's Redford.

"The rangers are paid almost nothing. They get $50 to $200 a month to go out and face armed poachers. We need to give them every support we can if we expect to keep tigers into the future.

"There is not a shortage of money, we just have to get it focused in the right places."

Tiger number
There are believed to be about 3,200 tigers left in the wild and more than 13,000 in captivity – half of which are in China.

Assessing populations in the wild is notoriously difficult, given the remoteness of the habitat and the animals' tendency to avoid human contact. It is believed numbers have fallen by 97% over the past century and the trend remains downwards, but several revisions have taken place in recent years.

• In March, India unveiled a new census that put the total number of wild tigers in the country close to 1,550 – 10% up on 2008.

• In Indonesia, camera traps have recently caught images of 12 Sumatran tigers, including a mother playing with cubs. The WWF estimates there are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. A recent study conducted by Wildlife Conservation Sociey said the population could be much larger than previously believed.

• About 350 adult Siberian or Amur tigers – physically, the largest subspecies – are left in the wild, with 95% inhabiting the far east of Russia.

• Thailand is thought to be home to 250 to 300 wild tigers, though camera traps have revealed that Thaplan National Park has more of the animals than previously believed.

• Bangladesh has between 400-450 wild tigers, mostly in the Sunderbans mangrove forests which overlap with India. Last year, they killed 44 people.

Jonathan Watts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/17/thailand-jungles-rising-hopes-tiger

Live pangolins and dried snake skins seized in Thailand (Via Herp Digest)

Live pangolins and dried snake skins seized in Thailand

Traffic -Bangkok, Thailand, 20th April 2011-A van packed to the brim with 173 live pangolins and 130 kilogrammes of dried snake skins was confiscated by Thai Customs officers in the wee hours of this morning in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Officers stopped the white truck and its driver at 3 a.m in the town of Pranburi.

The Thai national who was arrested is believed to have transported the cargo from the Southern Thai town of Had Yai to Songkla and was headed to Bangkok.

Prachuap Khiri Khan, where the items were seized, is a bottleneck for transportation and an ideal location for authorities to focus their enforcement attention.

It is a transit point through which all traffic from Indonesia and Malaysia must pass to access central and northern Thailand, as well as the rest of Indochina.

Thai Press reports say the truck driver was held for violations under Thailand's Customs regulations and for flouting laws that govern international trade in wildlife under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna.



The endangered Pangolin commonly turns up in seizures around the region and is trafficked in large volumes for the illegal meat and medicine markets.

The suspect and the wildlife seized have been handed over to the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department for further investigation and action.

This recent seizure follows close on the heels of the Customs Department's recent find of 1,800 monitor lizards which smugglers were attempting to traffic across the border from Malaysia in several pickup trucks.

"Thailand's Customs authorities should be congratulated for catching this shipment," said TRAFFIC Regional Director Dr. William Schaedla. 

"Pangolin trafficking up the Malay Peninsula and along this roadway are regular tragic occurrences.

TRAFFIC is hopeful that interdictions like this will become a deterrent that breaks the trade chain that is robbing Southeast Asia of its wildlife," he said.

In early April, a team of Malaysian wildlife officers in the northern state of Kelantan seized 40 pangolins, weighing a total of 200 kilograms, from a car believed to be heading for China via Thailand.

1,800 monitor lizards seized by Thailand customs (Via HerpDigest)

1,800 monitor lizards seized by Thailand customs

4/8/11, BBC News

Customs officials in Thailand have seized 1,800 protected lizards said to be destined to be sold as food. The Bengal monitor lizards, stuffed into blue mesh bags and hidden behind fruit, were found in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border.

Lizard meat is valuable and seen as a delicacy in parts of Asia.

Global trade in the monitor lizards is banned and they are protected by law in Thailand and Malaysia. The Bengal monitors are related to other members of the monitor family, including the world's largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, which can grow to 3m (10ft) long.

One Thai customs official said this batch of monitor lizards was a record haul and suggested they were destined for Chinese kitchens. "They are from Malaysia and transported through southern Thailand and north-eastern Laos to China for eating," Seree Thaijongrak told the AFP news agency. "We knew there was a monitor lizard racket... this time it's the largest seizure ever," he said.

Trade in the lizards is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

For photo demonstrating how large the shipment was go to original website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13010751

Australia urged to help halt Mekong dam

Ron Corben
March 10, 2011

Environmental groups want Australia's help to halt a $3.5 billion hydro-electricity power project on the Mekong River which has pitted our South-East Asian neighbours against each other.

Thailand and Laos want to press ahead with the Xayaburi Dam project, but Australia - through the Mekong River Commission (MRC) - has backed concerns by Vietnam and Cambodia over project.

The Xayaburi Dam in Laos is the first of 11 proposed hydropower developments on the lower Mekong River.

Concerns have been raised about the dam's impact on the biodiversity of the river and the 40 million people who depend on it for their livelihoods.

The United States has already called for development to be deferred for 10 years to allow further environmental impact studies to be carried out.

Environmental groups in Australia have also pressed Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to back calls for a stay on hydro-power development along the river.

Ame Trandem, a representative for environmental group International Rivers, says Australia needs to step up pressure on the commission given fears of the wider impact hydropower dams will have on the Mekong River.

"Australia should be applying more pressure on the Mekong River Commission to make sure that the four countries take a precautionary approach to the dams and that they are fully informed and aware of the impact the dams will cause," Ms Trandem said.

A decision on the project by the commission could come as early as March 22.

The Laos-based MRC is internationally donor sponsored, with Australia a key contributor.

The MRC advises the four countries - Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam - over the direction of development on the Mekong River.

Laos, in official statements, says it sees no reason for delaying the Xayaburi Dam, having met all legal, environmental and social measures.

In 2007, Laos signed a memorandum of understanding to sell 95 per cent of the electricity produced by the Xayaburi project to Thailand.

Financing and construction for the $3.5 billion development is also set to come from Thai banks and construction companies.

University of New South Wales political analyst, Carl Thayer, says Australia faces difficult diplomatic times given Thailand and Laos' ambition to press on with the Xayaburi hydro-power development.

"Vietnam's got Australia's ears," Mr Thayer said.

"Laos needs the money from selling electricity. All northeast Thailand and Vietnam are importers of electricity from Laos - it cuts the other way," he said.

"By Australia and environmentalists raising it, it is because the scientific evidence isn't clear enough. And be careful what you wish for because it could do irrevocable damage for downstream states," he told AAP.

"There's no win-win situation for Australia because each country (has its) own national interest in getting... the water and using its flow."

The 4900-kilometre Mekong River starts in the Tibetan Plateau, running through southern China, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia and onto the Vietnam's delta region to the South China Sea.

China has gone ahead with programs to dam the upper Mekong, while the Xayaburi Dam is the first planned construction on the lower Mekong's mainstream.

Climatologist Anond Snidvongs from Chulalongkorn University says dams will impact the region's agriculture.

"Dams are definitely going to affect the biodiversity, that's one thing. It's very clear and very well proven," he said.

Of key concern is the impact on fisheries on Cambodia's Ton Le Sap Lake and Vietnam's delta, both vital sources of food and income for millions of people on the Lower Mekong.

"Fish in the Mekong, they are both food and also economics. About one third of the economy of Cambodia at the moment relies on the exporting of fish (from the lake) to other countries, especially Thailand," Mr Anond said.

In Vietnam, a deputy minister of natural resources and environment warned the Xayaburi Dam would greatly affect Vietnam's agricultural production and aquaculture.

Reduced fresh water flows into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam would lead to greater saltwater intrusion into agricultural soils damaging rice output from the delta - the rice bowl of the country.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/australia-urged-to-help-halt-mekong-dam-20110310-1bp03.html

Push to Build Dams Sparks New Warnings Over Mekong River's Future

March 04, 2011
Ron Corben | Bangkok

Governments along the Mekong River are nearing a decision on plans to build a hydropower dam in Laos. Environmentalists fear that a planned series of dams will damage the environment, and the livelihoods of the people living along the Mekong.

In northern Laos, the government plans to build the Xayaburi hydropower dam, capable of generating 1,260 megawatts of electricity – on the main stream of the lower Mekong River.

It is the first of 12 dams planned for the Mekong. The Southeast Asian governments involved say the dams will be a clean source of energy for a rapidly developing region and will help cut poverty.

The $3.5 billion Xayaburi project is being built in cooperation with Thailand, which will buy almost all of the electricity it generates.

It is the first project requiring approval by the four governments along the lower Mekong – Laos, Thailand Cambodia and Vietnam – under a consultative process overseen by the Mekong River Commission.

The governments could present their decision later this month.

Under a 1995 agreement the four countries are to cooperate to ensure sustainable development along the 4,900-kilometer Mekong system.

Environmentalists say the consultations have not been transparent and that plans for the dams have not had adequate local debate or study.

Ame Trandem is with the environmental group International Rivers. She says the governments have not reached a point where they can make informed decisions.

"This is why it recommended deferring the decisions for the next 10 years,” Trandem said. “And we feel the Xayaburi consultation process right now should be halted in order to allow that 10 year deferment so people can understand the Mekong River better."

The Mekong River Commission, which is funded by countries that include Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and the United States, recommends that the Xayaburi project be deferred. The commission says more work is needed to assess the effect of having 12 hydropower dams.

But the Lao government says it sees no reason for delay, and that the government has met all legal, environmental and social requirements.

Climatologist Anond Snidvongs at Thailand’s Chulalongorn University says while dams regulate water flows, they can harm biodiversity and the economy.

"It’s very clear and very well proven. Fish in the Mekong, they are both food and also economics,” Trandem said. “About one-third of the economy of Cambodia at the moment relies on the exporting those fish to other countries, especially Thailand."

Environmentalists such as International River’s Trandem say millions of people will be affected.

"When we look into the future if these dams are built the future is going to be very grim,” Trandem added. “People will be poor because they have lost their main source of income - fisheries - people will also not have enough food to eat. This is a huge worry."

Environmentalists are pressing the four Mekong governments to stall the Xayaburi program to further assess the long-term implications for both the Mekong River and its people.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Push-to-build-dams-sparks-new-warnings-over-Mekong-Rivers-Future-117396313.html

Fishing nets claim third sea creature

Published: 19/01/2011 at 12:00 AM

Another dolphin has washed up dead on the Gulf of Thailand coast.

It is the third marine creature believed to have drowned in fishing nets in the past two days, officials said.

The body of the young Irrawaddy dolphin was found on a beach in front of a resort in Sam Roi Yot district of Prachuap Khiri Khan yesterday morning. The 1.2-metre-long mammal's body bore deep cuts believed to have been caused by a fishing net.

Local fishery official Chaiya Daotoon said the dolphin had probably died on Monday.

He said the bodies of two other rare sea creatures had come ashore in nearby Chumphon in the past two days.

A 2.3-metre-long hump-backed dolphin was found dead on Monday on Thung Wua Laen beach in Pathiu district of Chumphon and a dead green sea turtle with a 58-centimetre-wide shell was found on Sai Ree beach in Muang district of the same province.

Nipawan Busarawit, director of the Chumphon-based Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre for the central Gulf of Thailand, said it was common for dead marine animals to come ashore in Chumphon and nearby provinces at this time of year. Six dead dolphins and four dead green sea turtles have washed ashore since November.

Nearly 20 dolphins and green sea turtles were found dead last year. Some were killed by fish nets and intestinal infections. Others bore no trace of damage and officials have not established the cause of their death.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/217056/fishing-nets-claim-third-sea-creature

Fishing nets claim third sea creature

Published: 19/01/2011 at 12:00 AM

Another dolphin has washed up dead on the Gulf of Thailand coast.

It is the third marine creature believed to have drowned in fishing nets in the past two days, officials said.

The body of the young Irrawaddy dolphin was found on a beach in front of a resort in Sam Roi Yot district of Prachuap Khiri Khan yesterday morning. The 1.2-metre-long mammal's body bore deep cuts believed to have been caused by a fishing net.

Local fishery official Chaiya Daotoon said the dolphin had probably died on Monday.

He said the bodies of two other rare sea creatures had come ashore in nearby Chumphon in the past two days.

A 2.3-metre-long hump-backed dolphin was found dead on Monday on Thung Wua Laen beach in Pathiu district of Chumphon and a dead green sea turtle with a 58-centimetre-wide shell was found on Sai Ree beach in Muang district of the same province.

Nipawan Busarawit, director of the Chumphon-based Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre for the central Gulf of Thailand, said it was common for dead marine animals to come ashore in Chumphon and nearby provinces at this time of year. Six dead dolphins and four dead green sea turtles have washed ashore since November.

Nearly 20 dolphins and green sea turtles were found dead last year. Some were killed by fish nets and intestinal infections. Others bore no trace of damage and officials have not established the cause of their death.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/217056/fishing-nets-claim-third-sea-creature

100-million-year-old crocodile species discovered

A new species of crocodile that lived 100 million years ago has been identified from a fossil found in Thailand, researchers said Thursday.

Komsorn Lauprasert, a scientist at Mahasarakham University, said the species had longer legs than modern-day crocodiles and probably fed on fish, based on the characteristics of its teeth.

"They were living on land and could run very fast," said Komsorn, who noticed the skull fossil in a museum in the summer of 2006. The 6-inch-long (15-centimeter-long) fossil was originally retrieved from an excavation site in Nakhon Rathchasima province, also known as Korat, but had not been identified as belonging to a distinct species.

The species has been named "Khoratosuchus jintasakuli," after Korat province, where the fossil was found, and the last name of the director of the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Pratueng Jintasakul.

The finding has been published a peer-reviewed publication of The Geological Society of London.

Northeastern Thailand has become an important site for paleontologists in recent decades. Numerous prehistoric fossils have been found in Thailand's so-called dinosaur belt, where fossil-rich Mesozoic-era sedimentary rock has been thrust to the surface.

Thai and French scientists began conducting joint research in the area in 1980 after a geologist seeking uranium found a dinosaur thigh bone in the late 1970s.

100-million-year-old crocodile species discovered

A new species of crocodile that lived 100 million years ago has been identified from a fossil found in Thailand, researchers said Thursday.

Komsorn Lauprasert, a scientist at Mahasarakham University, said the species had longer legs than modern-day crocodiles and probably fed on fish, based on the characteristics of its teeth.

"They were living on land and could run very fast," said Komsorn, who noticed the skull fossil in a museum in the summer of 2006. The 6-inch-long (15-centimeter-long) fossil was originally retrieved from an excavation site in Nakhon Rathchasima province, also known as Korat, but had not been identified as belonging to a distinct species.

The species has been named "Khoratosuchus jintasakuli," after Korat province, where the fossil was found, and the last name of the director of the Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Pratueng Jintasakul.

The finding has been published a peer-reviewed publication of The Geological Society of London.

Northeastern Thailand has become an important site for paleontologists in recent decades. Numerous prehistoric fossils have been found in Thailand's so-called dinosaur belt, where fossil-rich Mesozoic-era sedimentary rock has been thrust to the surface.

Thai and French scientists began conducting joint research in the area in 1980 after a geologist seeking uranium found a dinosaur thigh bone in the late 1970s.

Tiger cub found among stuffed toys in Bangkok luggage

26 August 10 21:41

A two-month-old tiger cub has been found sedated and hidden among stuffed toy tigers in a woman's luggage at Bangkok's airport, the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic has said.

The Thai national was trying to board a flight to Iran but had difficulty with a large bag at check-in.

X-rays aroused suspicions among airport staff who believed they had seen an image resembling a real animal.

Wildlife officers were then called in and discovered the tranquilised cub.

The tiger was found last Sunday and is now being cared for at the rescue centre of the department of national parks, wildlife and plant conservation.

Authorities are trying to determine if the cat is wild or captive-bred.

Chris Shepherd, South-East Asia deputy regional director for Traffic, said: "We applaud all the agencies that came together to uncover this brazen smuggling attempt."

But he also called for regular monitoring and harsher penalties.

"If people are trying to smuggle live tigers in their check-in luggage, they obviously think wildlife smuggling is something easy to get away with and do not fear reprimand," he said.

"Only sustained pressure on wildlife traffickers and serious penalties can change that."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-asia-pacific-11104948
(Submitted by Janet Lawrence)

Bangkok to fine people for elephant feeding

Thailand has cracked down on the problem of unauthorised elephant feeding - anyone caught feeding elephants in Bangkok now faces a £210 fine.

Tourists had typically paid handlers about 50p to hand a bunch of fruit to the elephant, a sight more common since the decline in industries, such as logging, in which the beasts were put to work.

But city authorities say the practice is dangerous, citing cases of elephants hurting people or falling into drains.

‘This is to prevent untidiness and danger toward properties and the lives of Bangkok residents,’ said one official.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/835064-bangkok-to-fine-people-for-elephant-feeding

Thai Police Force Takes Monkey On The Beat

10:13am UK, Friday April 02, 2010

Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online

A Thai police force has begun taking a monkey dressed in officer's uniform on patrol each day to help improve relations with Muslim separatists.

The five-year-old pig-tailed macaque was adopted after policemen in Yaha province in southern Thailand found him injured with a broken arm.

Trainers taught Santisuk, which means peace in Thai, to pick up coconuts and he now lends a hand collecting the fruit with residents.

The monkey also helps supervise a police checkpoint and his boss says he has made it a much happier place.

Motorists now stop to play with Santisuk, rather than getting angry at the hold-up.

Other forces are now considering introducing monkeys to better their image in the troubled province.

Separatists are blamed for most of the attacks in Thailand's predominantly Muslim deep south.

Buddhists and Muslims associated with the Thai state - such as police, soldiers, government officials and teachers - are often targeted.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Monkey-Police-Macaque-On-Patrol-With-Thai-Force-To-Help-Improve-Relations-With-Muslim-Separatists/Article/201004115591175?f=rss

Flat-headed cat of southeast Asia is now endangered

RIGHT: A flat-headed cat caught by a camera trap in Tangkulap Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia in March 2009

Friday, 19 March 2010
By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

One of the smallest and most enigmatic species of cat is now threatened with extinction.

According to a new study, habitat loss and deforestation are endangering the survival of Asia's flat-headed cat, a diminutive and little studied species.

Over 70% of the cat's habitat has been converted to plantations, and just 16% of its range is now protected.

The cat, which has webbed feet to help hunt crabs and fish, lives among wetland habitats in southeast Asia.

Details on the decline of the cat's range are published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The flat-headed cat is among the least known of all wild cat species, having never been intensively studied in its natural habitat.

Weighing just 1.5 to 2kg, the cat is thought to be nocturnal, adapted to hunting small prey in shallow water and along muddy shores.

Now restricted to a handful of tropical rainforests within Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, nothing is known about the size of each cat's home range or the density of the remaining population.

So in an attempt to estimate how the species is faring, a team of scientists gathered together all known information about where the cat is thought to live, including sightings, pictures taken by camera traps and dead specimens.

The team, led by Mr Andreas Wilting of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany gathered 107 records overall, which they then used to create a computer model that predicts the cat's historical and current distribution.

That confirmed that flat-headed cats like to live near large bodies of water such as rivers and lakes.

They also prefer coastal and lowland areas.

Crucially for the species's survival though, the researchers found that just 16% of its historical range is fully protected according to criteria laid down by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Other areas are also protected, but these are large national parks, which in southeast Asia tend to be located at higher elevations where the flat-headed cat is not thought to roam.

Around 70% of its former range may already have been converted to plantations to grow crops such as palm oil.

Also, two-thirds of all the locations the cat has been recorded in are now surrounded by areas in which high densities of people live.

The cat's scarcity is underlined by the fact that it has been photographed just 17 times by camera traps.

In comparison, other felids in the region, such as tigers, leopard cats, marbled cats and Asian golden cats are regularly photographed this way.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8574000/8574155.stm

Thai Elephant Day

Click to enlarge

http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2010/03/15/ - p9.

Khram Island, Thailand, June 17, 2009--A Thai Navy sailor holds a baby albino green sea turtle at a nursery for the reptiles, which are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.About 15,000 green turtles and hawksbill turtles are hatched and housed at the navy's conservation center annually until the animals are old enough to be released into the sea.

—Photograph by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/week-in-news-pictures-136/index.html