Researchers fight time to save 'secretive' alpine frog-Baw Baw frog (via Herp Digest)

by ifrog boss on February 16, 2012

FIFTEEN tadpoles hatched since Christmas might not sound exciting. But for those who know about the plight of the Baw Baw frog, it is a big deal.

The alpine amphibian is among the state's most endangered species. Researchers fighting to save it admit they know little about the secretive, underground-dwelling frog.

But thanks to a precious egg mass found in the wild just before Christmas, they are learning. The gelatinous mass of 93 eggs now at Melbourne Zoo has produced 15 white tadpoles, which, it is fair to say, are the most documented tadpoles in the country. The data is analysed daily for development trends.

'I go in there five to 10 times a day to check on them, the temperature and the water, and take notes each time," said amphibian keeper Raelene Hobbs.

So precious are the tadpoles that the 15 have been separated into four tanks as a "hedging" method to ensure if something goes wrong, loss is minimised.

Researchers say everything they learn about the Baw Baw frog's development will aid future captive breeding programs and the fate of the critically endangered species.

"This is the first time that a zoo has kept them and there is very little published literature on the Baw Baw frog in captivity . so a lot of it is us starting from scratch, and that's certainly a challenge," Ms Hobbs said.

Among the mysteries is what to feed metamorph frogs. "We need something that fits in their mouths, moves around in cold temperatures and that we can cultivate in captivity in large numbers," she said.

The alpine frog numbers no more than 7000 in the wild and is only found on the Mount Baw Baw plateau, 120 kilometres east of Melbourne.

There has been a 98 per cent decline in Baw Baw frogs since the 1980s due to a combination of factors, including chytrid fungus and a shrinking habitat.

"We are hoping that at least 50 per cent of the tadpoles will make it through to frogs," Ms Hobbs said.

"This is all new and we are learning. But we have to try."

Sea lion test to probe declines

By Pallab GhoshScience correspondent, BBC News, Vancouver

Canadian researchers have trained sea lions to take part in an experiment designed to find out why the species is dying out.

The team strapped cameras and tracking equipment onto endangered Steller sea lions to see how they dived for food.

Early results from the project indicate that overfishing might not be the main factor in their decline as had previously been thought.

Male Steller sea lions measure 3m (10ft) and weigh more than 950kg.

This makes them the biggest of all sea lions.

These marine mammals once thrived on the shores of the North Pacific ocean. Now their numbers have dwindled to around 100,000. But no one knows why they are dying out.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17051429

Three new wildlife sanctuaries - Bangladesh

The government of Bangladesh has created three new wildlife sanctuaries for the endangered Ganges River and Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins, the last two remaining species of freshwater dolphins in Asia.


Working with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to identify key habitat for the dolphins, Bangladesh officials created the sanctuaries in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem. The three sanctuaries will protect the dolphins in 19.4 miles of mangrove channels with a total of 4.1 square miles — a small area that WCS biologists characterized as the start of a wider effort to save the dolphins. No precise numbers exist on the number of remaining Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins, although in 2009 WCS scientists discovered a population of roughly 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins. The two dolphin species have suffered severe population declines because of fatal entanglements in fishing gear and the depletion of their prey as huge amounts of fish and crustaceans are caught as by-catch in fine-mesh “mosquito” nets used to catch fry for shrimp farming. A third Asian species of freshwater dolphin, the Yangtze River dolphin in China, recently went extinct. 


http://e360.yale.edu/digest/endangered_freshwater_dolphins_to_be_protected_by_bangladesh_sanctuaries/3336/

Australia delays decision on koala listing

The Australian government has angered koala conservationists by again delaying a decision on whether to add the national icon to the country's endangered species list.

Last year, a Senate inquiry into the status, health and sustainability of Australia's koala population heard that there could be as few as 43,000 koalas left in the country.

Millions have been killed since the arrival of European settlers in the 18th century. Numbers were slashed again during open hunting seasons in the early 20th century and in recent decades tens of thousands have died as a result of habitat destruction, disease -- including Chlamydia and retrovirus -- and dog attacks.

On average, four koalas are admitted every week to Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, the country's largest wildlife hospital, after being hit by cars. The animals are also vulnerable to bushfires and drought.

However, environment minister Tony Burke says he needs 10 more weeks to consider new information from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) on where the marsupial is under the greatest threat. It's the second time he's delayed the decision, which was initially due in October.

Continued:  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/16/world/asia/koala-australia-endangered/

1,500 live turtles found crammed into suitcases

Seized at Indonesia's Mopah Airport

February 2012: Close to 1,500 live pig-nosed turtles have been seized at an airport in Indonesia.

The 1,495 turtles were concealed inside two suitcases and discovered at Mopah Airport en route to Jakarta, the nation's capital and a major hub for illicit wildlife trade.

Valued as pets, and possibly consumed as meat in some countries, pig-nosed turtles are smuggled out of Indonesia by the thousands.

Kept as pets, eaten, or used in traditional medicineSources allege that shipments such as this one are common, with dealers in Jakarta buying the turtles from hunters and agents in Papua, then selling them on to dealers and retailers abroad. Many are destined for the pet markets of East Asia, to places such as Hong Kong, where demand for this species is rising. The turtles are often concealed in shipments of tropical aquarium fish.

There are also indications that many of the turtles are bound for the kitchen table, or to be used in traditional medicines.

Although pig-nosed turtles are totally protected in Indonesia, making collection for export illegal, the trade large scale persists.

Illegal reptile trade is rife in IndonesiaClose to 3,500 pig-nosed turtles were seized in February 2010 in Jakarta, while in October last year, more than 600 seized in Hong Kong were returned to Indonesia for reintroduction to the wild. Most, however, once removed from their native habitat, never make it back.

‘The authorities involved in intercepting this shipment are to be congratulated,' said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

‘However, the fact that dealers continue to smuggle shipments of this size indicates a serious problem in Indonesia, where illegal reptile trade is rife.'

The Pig-nosed turtle is threatened by habitat degradation and by illegal and unsustainable harvest for local consumption and international trade. It is listed as Vulnerable to extinction in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Many protected animals are openly for saleObservations by TRAFFIC in December 2011 of three wildlife markets and a reptile expo in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, found a host of protected and endangered turtles and tortoises openly for sale, plus other protected species of reptiles, mammals and birds.

Among them were 19 green turtles and eight Malaysian giant turtles, both listed as Endangered by IUCN and Totally Protected in Indonesia.

A host of non-native species were also seen, including a single ploughshare tortoise and ten radiated tortoises, both critically endangered species endemic to Madagascar.

‘Illegal and unsustainable trade in turtles and other reptiles in Indonesia is a serious threat to the conservation of many species. Indonesia's enforcement agencies must take firm action against traders in Indonesia flouting the law,' said Shepherd.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/turtle-trade2012.html

India’s wolves struggle for survival

Although outlawed, hunting remains rampant

February 2012: In Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, Mowgli was adopted and raised by a pack of wolves. They helped him survive in the jungles of India and protected him from harm. Now in the same jungles, the wolf struggles for survival.

Indian subcontinent is known to be one of the major centres of canid genetic diversity.

‘There are two sub-species of grey wolves found in the Indian sub-continent. They are represented by geographically isolated broadly non-overlapping or allopatric populations,' says Dr Bilal Habib from the Wildlife Institute of India.

Remaining populations are small‘One of these wolf populations is found in the trans Himalayan terrains of India across the states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim and the surviving population is estimated to be fewer than 350 individuals. The second is found in the arid and semi-arid peninsular plains of central India with a population estimate of 2,000 - 3,000 wolves surviving in India.'

Hunting is a major threat
Despite the highest level of protection accorded to the wolves in India, hunting remains rampant and is a major cause of concern. Conflict with humans for livestock depredation, exaggerated public fear regarding their danger, and fragmented habitats that are too small for populations with long-term viability are now threatening their survival.

The situation in West Bengal exemplifies the problem, where the once omnipresent wolf population has become confined to the south-west of the state. Habitat fragmentation there has further pushed the species to the brink by forcing them into direct contact with people resulting in conflicts and retaliatory killings. Moreover, hunting of wolves as well as their prey such as hare, fowl, partridge and mongoose among others for bush-meat has taken a toll.

'We want volunteers to protect dens'Acknowledging the emergency, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) sanctioned a Rapid Action Project (RAP) proposed by the Pugmarks Society for Conservation of Natural Heritage (PSCNH) to work towards the recovery and conservation of the Indian wolf in the state.

‘There are two aspects to this RAP. One is scientific surveys to map distribution and generate baseline information that will help in developing conservation strategies, and the other to spread awareness among locals to prevent poaching and mitigate conflicts,' said Radhika Bhagat, officer-in-charge, RAP.

‘The immediate activity will be to involve interested volunteers in protection of the dens,' said Dr Urmila Ganguli, who is heading up the project. ‘The more difficult part will be to change attitude of people about the wolves - currently perceived as threats to livestock. We will be carrying out campaigns to spread awareness on the protected status of the wolves and legal implications of hunting them, but there will also have to be a system of providing relief to the affected people, possibilities of which are also being explored.'

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/wolves-india.html

Endangered monkey helped in China

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- China says its population of white-headed langurs, one of the world's rarest monkeys, has grown in the last decade with conservation efforts.

Government efforts to conserve the critically endangered species in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have resulted in the number of the white-headed monkeys living in the region growing from 598 in 2003 to 937 today, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The majority of the langurs live in a 30-square-mile nature reserve set up by the regional government in 2005 to protect the species, conservationists said.

The preserve was recently upgraded to a state-level reserve meaning more efforts will be devoted to conserving the species, officials said.

White-headed langurs ranks as one of the world's 12 most endangered species due to a sharp population decrease over the past half-century caused by poaching and increased human activity damaging their habitats, wildlife experts said.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/02/01/Endangered-monkey-helped-in-China/UPI-69401328132921/#ixzz1lDonfzNC

Georgia allows hunting of endangered species

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia allows hunting of rare animal species, which could lead to their extinction, environmentalists claim.

The legislative changes will also allow hunting in protected areas.

Hunting and protection of species is regulated by a kind of laws used under the Soviet Union called normative acts and decrees. The law doesn’t directly says one can kill an animal which is on the Red List, but new normative acts now say that authorities may decide what number of animals can be allowed to be killed.

“The decision about allowed amount of harvesting endangered wild animals is made by the Environment Minister based on an individual administrative-legal act,” the law says.

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources issued a decree which now allows obtaining animals of certain species, including animals that are on the Red List, a list compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, showing the extinction risk of species.

The ministry defines the allowed amount of harvesting certain animals, including ones that are about extinction. Specifically, the following: coypu – 194 animals, rabbits – 615 animals, badger – 168 animals, forest marten – 157 animals, the stone marten – 157 animals, the wolf – 120 animals, jackal – 1453 animals, foxes – 162 animals, wild cat – 77 animals, wild pigs – 189 animals, roe – 417 animals, raccoon – 96 animals, pheasant – 416 animals, partridge – 713 animals, francolin – 50 animals.

Lasha Chkhartishvili, member of the Conservative Party and founder of Greenpeace Supporters Group says that it’s completely unclear why the Energy Ministry should issue such a normative act at all, it should be the competence of the environment ministry.

Georgia’s Ministry of Environment Protection was split up and nearly dissolved one year ago. Responsibility for natural resources was transferred to the Energy Ministry, while the task of overseeing protected areas was handed to the Ministry of Economic and Sustainable Development. The Environmental Protection Inspectorate was dissolved, and the only remaining responsibility for the Environment Ministry was to monitor air pollution. It was also physically moved and now shares offices with the Energy Ministry in Tbilisi’s Ortachala district.

The hunting season is getting closer and the adopted changes create serious danger to the animals if countermeasures are not taken soon. Greenpeace Supporters Group held a rally on Thursday in front of the parliament building to protest the changes in the legislation that they say will legalize hunting in protected territories and of animal species on the Red List.

Continued:  http://dfwatch.net/georgia-allows-hunting-of-endangered-species-57870

Snow Leopard Discovery In Tajikistan Shows Need For Conservation

A recent biodiversity survey in a remote corner of Tajikistan has yielded surprising results.

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) recently teamed up with local and international scientists to conduct a survey of life in the Zorkul nature reserve, near the Afghan border. FFI's team planted camera traps which captured images of five different snow leopardsin one valley, according to a press release.

Wired UK reports that the FFI team, with the help of Panthera, planted 11 cameras around a 5.8 square mile (15 square kilometer) area in August 2011.

The survey's results have prompted a quick response. FFI's Dr. Alex Diment told Wired UK that FFI is training local rangers in the nature reserve "on how to work in the harsh field conditions, and how to combat illegal poaching and other threats."

Their actions are undoubtedly warranted. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species currently lists snow leopards (Panthera uncia) as endangered.

FFI reports that habitat loss and poaching have caused at least a 20 percent decline in snow leopard populations in the past 16 years.

Scientific American writes that scientists in Australia have created "embryonic stem-like cells from the tissue of an endangered adult snow leopard." The scientists' (theoretical) goal is to help save endangered big cat species by reproducing them in labs.

Earlier this month, a team from the Wildlife Conservation Society photographed mother and cub snow leopards together in Afghanistan.

Below, check out images of the snow leopards in Tajikistan and photos of several other species identified by FFI's biodiversity survey.

photos: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/snow-leopard-tajikistan-photo_n_1224993.html?ref=weird-animals

Endangered Lesser Antillean Iguana breed at Durrel

After eleven years of waiting rare Iguanas breed again at Durrell
January 2012. For the first time in eleven years Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's rare Lesser Antillean iguanas have successfully bred, producing two young hatchlings.

Increasingly endangered in its wild habitat, the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, and held by only a handful of zoological institutions worldwide, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust remains the only one to successfully breed this species.

Commenting on this exciting news, Mark Brayshaw, Head of Durrell's animal collection at the charity's headquarters in Jersey, said, "We are delighted by the arrival of these new hatchlings. They are feeding and growing well, and we are continuing to monitor them carefully at our herpetology department. We will continue our efforts to breed the iguanas and are encouraged by this recent success."

Bred in 1997 & 2000
Durrell's first successful breeding of this species was a single offspring in 1997, followed by eight juveniles in 2000. Between 2000 and 2011, despite efforts to get the most recent offspring to produce viable eggs, the annual clutches laid were all unfertilised eggs. Finally, in September 2011, one of the females, who had been paired with an unrelated male who arrived at Durrell's Jersey-based wildlife park in 2003, produced these latest two fertile eggs which subsequently hatched after an incubation period of 75 days.

The juveniles, vibrant green throughout, are quite different in appearance to adults. In a couple of years the young iguanas will lose their green colour and become grey with cream heads, like their parents.

Threats
The Lesser Antillean iguana (Iguana delicatissima) is an increasingly endangered cousin of the better known common green iguana, and its decline in numbers has been caused by a combination of problems, including habitat loss, interbreeding with the introduced non-native green iguana, and the introduction of predators.

So little is known about the iguana's behaviour in the wild that Durrell's previous breeding successes have led to a better understanding of the environment and conditions they need in order to reproduce. Some of the original 9 Jersey-bred iguanas have since been moved to other institutions as part of a wider conservation breeding effort. Durrell hopes to continue to gain enough experience to help other institutions breed Lesser Antillean iguanas, which will help establish a sustainable ‘safety net' breeding population.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/antilles-iguana.html

New West Sussex home for 'endangered' water voles

Water voles on the West Sussex coast are to be encouraged to move to a new habitat created by flood defence work.

Work began in November on the £15m Selsey sea defences to protect 300 homes at risk of flooding.

A new wetland habitat on Manhood Peninsula, west of Selsey, will be created as part of the project.

A 30-strong team of volunteers will monitor the condition of ditches, streams and ponds leading to the area from the voles' existing habitat.

The Manhood Wildlife and Heritage Group project has been given a grant of £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the work.

Defences breached

Dr Jill Sutcliffe from the group said: "We need to ensure that the ditches that lead to those new habitats are in good condition.

"The key aim is to create a long term sustainable future for the endangered water vole."

The existing shingle defences at Selsey Bill were breached in 2008 and a beachfront campsite, with more than 2,000 static caravans, had to be evacuated.

The new four-mile long sea defences will be built further inland and will also create a new wetland habitat for wildlife.

Water voles have become endangered after the destruction of their habitats and the introduction of the American mink which preys on them.

In 2005, 171 water voles were reintroduced to the Arundel Wetland Centre by the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust.

These have now bred and successfully established themselves in their new habitat.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-16635298

Wild dogs didn't go extinct in east Africa after all

In 1991, conservationists announced with dismay that endangered African wild dogs had gone extinct from the Serengeti-Mara region of east Africa. Now the latest genetic study reveals that this proclamation may have been premature – it turns out they almost certainly didn't go extinct at all.

A team of UK and US researchers genetically analysed a rare bounty of samples taken both from the dogs before their apparent extinction, and from new packs that naturally re-established in the area ten years later in 2001.

To their surprise, they found that almost all of the new dogs are genetically related to the original Serengeti-Mara population, meaning that some dogs must have persisted undetected in the region after 1991.

'The data suggest that there wasn't complete extinction in the region, which is encouraging,' says Dr Barbara Mable from the University of Glasgow, who led the study.

Mable and colleagues from the universities of Glasgow and California also discovered that the disappearance of the dogs in the early 90s had almost no effect on the genetic diversity of the population.

'The diversity maintained in the recolonising populations suggests that they could make a good recovery,' adds Mable. 'Their numbers have increased rapidly after 2001.'

Despite this welcome news, scientists are still puzzled about why the dogs disappeared in the first place, and then why they turned up again ten years later.

'Our findings still can't explain the puzzling cause of the disappearance of so many packs of dogs from the monitoring area. One possibility is that animals remained or moved to areas outside of the Serengeti national park that weren't monitored regularly,' says Mable.

'The terrain in this region is pretty inaccessible, and is marked by a density of trees, bushes and grasses, so it isn't easy to keep track of wild dogs, which tend to be on the move a lot.'

When the Serengeti-Mara packs first disappeared, there was much heated debate about the likely cause. Critics claimed that handling by veterinarians and conserationists may have accelerated their decline by somehow helping to spread rabies and distemper from domestic dogs to wild dogs. 'But this is highly implausible and there was no concrete scientific evidence to support these claims,' says Mable.

Indeed, the shock of the dogs' assumed extinction led the authorities to ban anyone - include veterinarians - from handling them. While this might have seemed like the best approach, the flipside of this stance meant that rabies and distemper vaccination programs designed to help safeguard this endangered species were held up.

So when it emerged that scientists had collected samples from the Serengeti-Mara wild dogs before 1991 and after their return in 2001, Mable and her colleagues were keen to investigate. They wanted to see if they could get to the bottom of the dogs' 1991 disappearance.

African wild dogs have huge home ranges, travelling as far as 250 kilometres to establish new packs. This led the researchers to come up with three possible suggestions for the ancestry of the new dogs.

Either the original population went extinct in 1991, and the re-established pack came from a completely different population; the original population didn't go extinct at all; or the new population is a mixture of dogs from the original packs and new migrants.

Mable and her colleagues discovered that most of the new dogs are related to the original pack, but they also found that dogs from completely different populations had made it into this new population.

'The dogs didn't return to the Serengeti itself, which may be because they're avoiding the growing lion population there,' says Mable.

'Our results highlight the importance of long-term field projects like this one to keep track of the genetic ancestry of endangered animals,' she adds.

African wild dogs have been classed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for 22 years. Ongoing conflict with people, limits in the availability of their favourite prey - such as Impala, Greater Kudu, and Thomson's Gazelle - and habitat fragmentation, seems to responsible for their continued decline.

The study is published in Conservation Genetics.

Clare D. Marsden, Robert K. Wayne and Barbara K. Mable, Inferring the ancestry of African wild dogs that returned to the Serengeti-Mara,Conservation Genetics, published online 25 December 2011, DOI 10.1007/s10592-011-0304-z

http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1140

Pneumonia Outbreak Killed 20% of Rare Goat Population

A pneumonia outbreak has wiped out as many as 20 percent of the rare wild goats in Tajikistan, Central Asia, researchers say.

Working together, researchers from Central Asia, France and the Wildlife Conservation Society determined that apneumonia outbreak that occurred in Tajikistan during September and October 2010 may have killed at least 65 markhors (Capra falconeri).

That may not seem like all that many goats, but fewer than 2,500 of the endangered goats currently exist worldwide, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Markhor goats are known for their distinctive corkscrew horns, which can grow to lengths of nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters). Despite the goats' large size, their amazing climbing ability enables them to scale cliffs and even climb trees while searching for plants to feed on. 

Read more at: http://www.livescience.com/17784-pneumonia-outbreak-endangered-goats.html

Northern quoll threatened by cane toads

There has been an alarming drop in numbers of the northern quoll with the arrival of the cane toad in its habitat.


VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT HERE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-03/northern-quoll-threatened-by-cane-toads/3757428


Sarah Everingham

Elephant population in Tanzania sanctuaries drops

(Reuters) - The number of elephants in two wildlife sanctuaries in Tanzania has fallen by nearly 42 percent in just three years, a census showed on Tuesday, as poachers increasingly killed the animals for their tusks.

The census at the Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park revealed elephant numbers had plunged to 43,552 in 2009 from 74,900 in 2006.

It was carried out by the east African country's wildlife authority, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, as part of a government plan to conserve wildlife.

The rapid fall prompted President Jakaya Kikwete to order an investigation, his office said Tuesday.

Conservationists estimate Tanzania has a total elephant population of between 110,000 and 140,000, making it one of the largest sanctuaries in Africa.

But in recent years, Tanzania and neighboring Kenya have suffered a steep rise in poaching as criminals killed elephants and rhinos for their tusks and horns for sale in Asia.

TRAFFIC, a conservation group that tracks trends in wildlife trading, said in a statement last week that 2011 had been a record year for ivory seizure. It pointed to a surge in elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks for use in jewelry and ornaments.

Elephants, the world's largest land mammals, are also under pressure in many parts of the continent from loss of habitat to humans, pollution and climate change. Their number has fallen to 470,000-685,000 from millions just decades ago, conservationists say.

Kikwete also ordered the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute to investigate the disappearance of the rare Roosevelt's sable antelope from national parks, and to look for ways of re-introducing the animal in at least in one of the parks, the statement said.

The last Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 2007 agreed to a nine-year moratorium on any further trade in ivory, after some 105 tonnes of elephant ivory had been sold from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to China and Japan.

(Reporting by Fumbuka Ngw'anakilala; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Alessandra Rizzo)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/us-tanzania-elephants-idUKTRE8020QD20120103

Rested & Recovered, Globe-Trotting Turtle Returns to Sea

A world-traveling sea turtle found stranded in the Netherlands is back home in the Gulf of Mexico today (Dec. 27) after three long years of rest and rehabilitation.


The animal, an endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, was found frigid and near-dead off the coast of the Netherlands in 2008, thousands of miles from the Gulf waters these turtles call home. It was dubbed Johnny Vasco de Gama by its European rescuers.

Marine biologists suspect Johnny became caught in cold currents and was "cold-stunned," a condition that shuts down internal organs and can kill sea turtles. Staff members of the Rotterdam Zoo stabilized the ailing turtle and sent him to the Oceanário de Lisboa aquarium in Portugal the following summer.

Read more at:
http://www.livescience.com/17645-globe-trotting-turtle-released.html

Bolivia - conservation success for jaguars

Jaguar cubs photo shows conservation success in Bolivia

1,000 jaguars live in the vast bi-national Gran Chaco Jaguar Conservation Unit spanning southern Bolivia and northern Paraguay


December 2011. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has released a dramatic photo of a female jaguar and her two cubs taken near the Isoso Station of the Santa Cruz-Puerto Suarez Gas Pipeline in Kaa Iya National Park in Bolivia. The adult jaguar, nicknamed Kaaiyana, has been seen with her cubs in the area over the last month, and WCS conservationists have confirmed she has been a resident in the vicinity for at least six years.

"Kaaiyana's tolerance of observers is a testimony to the absence of hunters in this area, and her success as a mother means there is plenty of food for her and her cubs to eat," said Dr. John Polisar, Coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Jaguar Conservation Program.

Kaa Iya National Park
At more than 13,200 square miles (34,400 square kilometers), Kaa Iya National Park is the largest protected area in Bolivia and safeguards the most expansive and best-conserved dry forest in the world. It is found in a transition zone between Chacoan and Chiquitano dry forest ecosystems and includes unique vegetation and rare wildlife such as giant armadillos, Chacoan titi monkeys, and Chacoan peccaries. The creation of Kaa Iya in 1995 marked the first time in South America that a protected area was established through the initiative of an indigenous group, the Guaraní-Isoceño people.

Gran Chaco Jaguar Conservation Unit
WCS has conducted extensive research in the area and estimates that at least 1,000 jaguars live in the Gran Chaco Jaguar Conservation Unit, a 47,000 square-mile (124,000 square kilometer) area spanning southern Bolivia and northern Paraguay. With support from the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, WCS is promoting conservation action across the Gran Chaco.

The construction of the 1,900-mile (3,100 kilometer) Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline that cuts across Kaa Iya National Park and the Isoso indigenous land required developing institutional alliances to minimize environmental impacts. With the participation of private energy companies, which make up Gas TransBoliviano (GTB), as well as the Isoso indigenous organization, and an independent member, the Kaa Iya Foundation was created in 2003 as a mechanism to deliver a match with WCS funds to conduct wildlife research and environmental education in the park, which is funded and managed by the Bolivian government.

Jaguar surveys
Among the research efforts first supported by the foundation were jaguar surveys. Kaayiana was first detected by WCS researcher Dr. Andrew Noss at the Isoso site in 2005 with male jaguars, and again in 2006 with a cub. The Kaa Iya park guards work with GTB personnel to prevent illegal hunting and settlements along the right-of-way to the gas pipeline and ensure the protection of wildlife, including jaguar prey, in the park.

"The photographic histories of jaguars in the area by WCS and the reproductive success of this female are testimony that conservation efforts have been effective," said Julie Kunen, WCS Director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs.

The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. They do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.

Jaguars
The jaguar is considered near threatened by the IUCN and numbers are declining, mostly due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Despite protection, jaguars are often killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers.

Jaguars traditionally ranged from the southern USA to southern Argentina, but their range has been much reduced, and there are few left in Mexico, and at the most 1-2 in USA.

Steppes Discovery run tours to see jaguars in Brazil and other places.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/jaguar-cubs.html

UK fairy shrimps under threat from recent dry autumn

Fairy shrimps threatened after dry autumn

Britain's endangered fairy shrimps are under threat as a dry autumn has affected the ponds they live in, a charity says.


Fairy shrimps are tiny translucent crustaceans, which usually hatch near Christmas.

But charity Pond Conservation says many of their pools may dry out completely.

Another problem is that some "transient" ponds are beginning to hold water permanently, allowing predatory fish to colonise them.

Pond Conservation's Dr Jeremy Biggs said: "With only a handful of sites across the whole of Britain, the future of these beautiful creatures is balanced on a knife-edge."

It is that hoped fairy shrimps (Chirocephalus diaphanous), which are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, will return to their "strongholds" this Christmas in Hampshire's New Forest, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, on Salisbury Plain, in parts of the Sussex Weald, as well as in Oxfordshire, East Anglia and South Wales.


They complete their life-cycle during the coldest part of the year, hatching as water returns to their shallow ponds, which dry out in summer.

They reach maturity over winter, then lay eggs, which can survive long periods of drought. The adults die when their ponds dry out in spring.

Dr Biggs said: "They are facing a double-whammy from pollution and changing weather patterns.

"We don't know whether they can survive in their existing habitats, so we have also been making special new seasonal clean water ponds for them to try to increase their numbers.

"We're hoping that by providing more habitat, we will increase their chances of surviving in the British countryside."

He says that, although Britain has half a million ponds, 80% of those in England and Wales are polluted.

Dr Biggs added: "We'd ask people to look out for them on their Christmas day walk, especially if they are walking past small pools in more natural parts of the countryside - in woods, or on heathland, for example."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16303086

Dozens of beluga whales trapped among Bering Sea ice floes

Russian authorities say 10cm-15cm blocks of ice are preventing the endangered creatures from reaching open waters


Russian agencies are scrambling to save 100 beluga whales – an endangered species – trapped among large chunks of polar ice floating in the frigid Bering Sea. Russia's nature protection watchdog believes the whales might perish. Authorities say the ice is 10cm-15cm thick and is preventing the whales from reaching the open sea where they can swim freely.


Russia's ministry of natural resources and ecology said on Thursday that it has asked the transportation ministry for help and that an inter-departmental group is working on how to save the whales.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the beluga whale as an endangered species in 2008.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/15/dozens-beluga-whales-trapped-ice

Six Black rhinos die of natural causes in Zambia's North Luangwa

All died within weeks of each otherDecember 2011: In a tragic blow, six black rhinos have died in Zambia in a period of just a few weeks.

The animals died from natural causes - but the age, sex and cause of all the deaths, which all happened in North Luangwa National Park, are all seemingly unrelated.

The Frankfurt Zoological Society's North Luangwa Conservation programme (FZS-NLCP) has convened an Emergency Rhino Forum and invited experts from across southern Africa to brainstorm and attempt to resolve why these deaths have all occurred in such a short space of time.

'We had been optimistic we were turning a corner...'A spokesmen for FZS-NLCP said: ‘It is with great sadness that we report these deaths. Until recently we were optimistic we were turning a corner with the new founder population.

‘We had experienced nine births and four deaths - all natural - up to that point and had a population of 30. Three of the females had become first time mothers in 2011. This was very positive news as one female had been in NLNP for five years without successfully breeding.

‘The tragedies began in late October when a female called Mwine Mpanga who had given birth three months earlier was sighted without her calf. No spoor was seen and the calf has not been found since.

It came down to the nutritional crunch‘Although we can't rule out predation or social aggressive interaction for a calf of this age, the most likely assumption is that this female stopped lactating during this difficult time of the year, just prior to the rains when vegetation and water resources are at their worst - a period we refer to as the nutritional crunch. Mwine was unable to sustain herself and the calf nutritionally and, as a consequence, the calf has died.

‘The second and third deaths were similar to the Mwine Mpanga situation in that a female, Buntungwa, had given birth three months earlier to a calf. This was the female who had been translocated to NLNP in 2006 and had not bred successfully in the five years since. We were very excited she'd had a calf and felt it was a positive endorsement from Buntungwa that things were going well. Her carcass was found in early November but the calf has not been found and is presumed dead.

‘It is speculated that Buntungwa simply tried too hard to support herself and the calf and with the nutritional crunch at its height, she was unable to survive.'

Young male was stumblng and injuredJust a few days later, came more bad news, when an 18-month-old male was seen stumbling and appeared to be injured. As he was still with his mother and suckling, it was felt leaving him with her would be the best thing to do. The following morning he was found dead with his mother standing over him. A post mortem examination revealed extensive injury and major trauma to the ribs and shoulders as a result of social aggressive interaction. Dominant rhino bulls are known to fend off sub-adults from females who are in oestrus and this young male died from his injuries.

Just a few days later a report came in regarding a female translocated to NLNP in 2010. She was found to be listless and lethargic and had rapidly deteriorated since a sighting two weeks earlier. She was treated for sleeping sickness and monitored closely over the next 48hrs. She had settled in a small gully and was too weak to stand but continued to eat the lucerne she was offered. An emergency vet was called to assess her condition but she had died by the following morning.

Hoping the disasters were over, conservationists were horrified to learn that a rhino's transmitter had been picked up emitting just 15 pulses per minute, indicating mortality. A ground team investigated and found the body of a 2006 translocated 14-year-old male. It was not possible to carry out an extensive post mortem due to the state of the carcass but evidence suggests he died as a result of fighting injuries.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-zambia.html