tagged w/ Critically Endangered Species
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Red-crested Tree Rat Rediscovered in Sierra Nevadas After 113 Years
Red-Crested Tree Rat
A unique guinea-pig sized rodent, not seen since 1898, has been rediscovered. The Red-crested Tree Rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) showed up at the front door of the ProAves' El Dorado Nature Reserve Eco-lodge in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. NPR says the rodent was presumed to be extinct.
The animal was rediscovered by Lizzie Noble and Simon McKeown - two volunteers with ProAves monitoring endangered amphibians. The tree rat stayed for about two hours and posed for pictures before heading back into the forest.
Lizzie Noble says, "He just shuffled up the handrail near where we were sitting and seemed totally unperturbed by all the excitement he was causing. We are absolutely delighted to have rediscovered such a wonderful creature after just a month of volunteering with ProAves. Clearly the El Dorado Reserve has many more exciting discoveries waiting."
ProAves says the The Red-crested Tree Rat will now likely be designated as Critically Endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species criteria.
Red-Crested Tree Rat
Photos: Lizzie Noble / proaves.orgRed-crested Tree Rat Rediscovered in Sierra Nevadas After 113 Years
Red-Crested... more
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ScienceDaily (May 12, 2010) — To most people in the southwestern U.S., the April 4 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake felt like a rocking of the ground. But on a group of inch-long fish that exist nowhere else on Earth outside of "Devils Hole," a crack in the ground in Nevada's Mojave Desert, it unleashed a veritable tsunami.
University of Arizona researchers were able to catch the event on cameras installed above and below the water's surface to monitor the fish's spawning behavior. It is the first time in decades of research at Devils Hole that an earthquake was captured on video.
The event provided the researchers with a rare opportunity to study how a critically endangered species copes when its confined habitat is shaken up in a dramatic way.
The Devils Hole pupfish spend their lives in what likely is the "smallest habitat of a vertebrate species," according to UA professor Scott Bonar, who runs a pupfish population recovery program at UA's School of Natural Resources and the Environment.
The story is intensive, click the link for all the details.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100511173827.htm
Here's the original video link at USGS. It's very dramatic, to say the least.
http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/229ScienceDaily (May 12, 2010) — To most people in the southwestern U.S., the April... more
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Kurta
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added this
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3 years ago
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Despite an emergency response from veterinary surgeons, a silverback gorilla from a tiny population in the Virunga National Park in DR Congo has died after falling down a ravine.
Gorilla Organization staff in DR Congo are shocked and devastated by news of the death of Kanindo, a silverback gorilla thought to be in his late twenties or older. He is the seventh gorilla to die in the region in just over two years. There are now just 16 gorillas in the isolated population in the north of the Virunga National Park.
It appears that Kanindo fell down a gully at the edge of the park, about a three hour walk from the nearest patrol post. It’s thought he spent four days paralysed without food or water before he was discovered. Vets and trackers stayed with him for three days fighting unsuccessfully to save him.
Gorilla Organization trackers noted Kanindo’s disappearance, and later spotted that his usual companion, a juvenile gorilla named Mukokya was alone. Mukokya’s father Nzanzu died of old age in February, and the youngster had been accompanied by Kanindo for the last few months. Trackers found Kanindo in a ravine. He was unable to move, and he could not be lifted out.
Vets from Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) stayed with him, administering painkillers and antibiotics, but were unable to save his life. Kanindo died just before 18:00 on Saturday 11 July. A veterinary assessment found fractures and signs of a heavy fall.
Kanindo had been in excellent health when he was last seen. It’s thought he was the father of a baby born in February, which sadly died at less than a week old. The Executive Director of The Gorilla Organization, Jillian Miller, says “Kanindo was a silverback in the prime of his life. We don’t know if he fathered any other babies, or if this sad loss is the end of his genetic line. The death of every individual is important, but losing a silverback is a massive blow to this tiny population already on the edge of extinction.”
The gorillas at Mount Tshiaberimu are classified as eastern lowland gorillas, but it has been suggested that these gorillas may in fact be a unique and rare subspecies. The Gorilla Organization has been working in this area, in collaboration with the Congolese wildlife authority (ICCN), for over 13 years. When the project began there were 16 gorillas, and at its height the population grew to 22. Now the figure is back to where it started at 16.
The governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku Kahongya, expressed his regret to see this precious animal disappearing at a time when the province has just opened up again to tourists. The Chief Warden at Mount Tshiaberimu, Norbert Mushenzi, called for urgent action to prevent the total loss of the gorillas.
Kanindo was buried at a livestock farm at the edge of the park where he was well-known to the farmer, who said he was very fond of the gorilla.
*If you would like to help these gentle giants, please contact me directly (or visit by Blogger page http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/ ) for a varied list of links, contacts and a numerous number of ways you can help.Despite an emergency response from veterinary surgeons, a silverback gorilla from a... more
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Galapagos's giant tortoises are under threat from diseases such as avian malaria because local mosquitoes have developed a taste for reptile blood, it was claimed today.
Scientist fear this, combined with a rise in tourism, could have a devastating effect on the island's wildlife.
Dr Andrew Cunningham, from the Zoological Society of London, said:
"The chance of a disease-carrying mosquito hitching a ride from the mainland on a plane is also increasing … if a new disease arrives via this route, the fear is that Galapagos's own mosquitoes would pick it up and spread it throughout the archipelago."Galapagos's giant tortoises are under threat from diseases such as avian malaria... more
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Pierce Brosnan on Capitol Hill Asking for Your Support
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Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's pre-release breeding dacility in Madagascar.
Thieves have stolen four of the world's rarest tortoises from Durrell Wildlife Conservation. Critically endangered Ploughshare tortoises stolen from breeding facility
June 2009.
Trust's pre-release enclosures inside Baly Bay National Park, Madagascar. The theft took place during the night on the 6th May and comes as a major blow to the conservation of the Ploughshare tortoise, a species that is on the edge of extinction and classified as Critically Endangered.
Conservationists believe the four tortoises are destined for private collections in Europe, USA or Asia unless they are found quickly.
Overseas collectors - Baly Bay is an extremely poor region and traffickers pay local people to find the animals. However, the real problem lies with the buyers and the collectors who encourage the illegal trade in endangered animals with no thought for the conservation of the species. Durrell hopes law enforcement agencies in Madagascar and abroad will do more to clamp down on this global trade.
While attempts have been made by the Madagascan government to try to halt the smuggling, the recent political unrest in the country has enabled international dealers to increase their efforts to profit from Madagascar's natural heritage. A tough stance is needed both within Madagascar and in the countries where illegal animals are sold before another species is sent to extinction by the greed of the illegal trade of biodiversity.Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's pre-release breeding dacility in... more
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Another Wire Snare (Part 1) | GorillaDoctors.wildlifedirect.org / Dr Lucy
"When I first read Benard’s e-mail, I didn’t want to believe it. A blackback in Nkuringo Group had a wire snare around his leg. The gorilla had continued to eat, but he’d begun to fall behind the group. One of us needed to cross the border to Uganda before closing time, stay in Kisoro for the evening, and leave for the forest early the next morning to deal with the snare. The drive would take two hours, followed by another hour’s trekking. I wondered why Bernard hadn’t called until I remembered the poor cellphone reception around the parks in Uganda. He must have gotten the message from the park warden and decided the best way to relay it quickly was via the nearest Internet Café. I wrote back asking him to call me as soon as possible to confirm the bad news. This case sounded a lot like the last three snares in Uganda: no chance that it would resolve on its own.
From the bit of information I had, I suspected that this was not a new snare. It takes a few days for lameness to occur, and that could explain why the gorilla was lagging behind his family. Much depends on how tight the snare is and on whether it is indeed made of wire. I think it’s been years since we had a case of a rope snare in Uganda. What was going on? This would be the fourth wire snare in Uganda in six months, the sixth in the past 13 months
Various questions collided in my mind. The most obvious and important one was: Where are the snares coming from? As I’ve explained before, the snares are set to catch game for food, especially small antelope, or duiker. Are more being set, or are the gorillas moving through snare-laden areas more often? If there are more snares in the parks in Rwanda and Uganda—we have no idea what’s going on in DR Congo—is it because there are more hungry people these days? Whatever the answer, many illegal hunters are still getting into the park. Is this because of the leaky and insecure border with Congo? Maybe the poaching patrols have simply not been doing their jobs, or maybe they lack the equipment to do them effectively.
I’d raised these questions during a recent community conservation meeting held by the chief park warden of the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. I asked them again after little Icyerecyezo’s snare injury. A month earlier, I’d also spoken with the chief park warden in Uganda’s Bwindi and Mgahinga parks and directed Benard to check with the patrols there. Each time the reply has been the same: the wardens have more rangers patrolling more of the parks than ever, and believe they’ve become more proficient at finding snares. That may be so, but given how many snared gorillas we’ve seen recently, there may also be an increased number of snares in the park."
Another Wire Snare (Part 1) | GorillaDoctors.wildlifedirect.org / Dr Lucy... more
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One of the world's rarest reptiles, the critically-endangered Siamese crocodile, is gravely threatened by a proposed dam in an unspoilt region of Cambodia, British conservationists warn.One of the world's rarest reptiles, the critically-endangered Siamese crocodile,... more
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NEW SPECIES OF LIVING MANATEE!
'A New Species, the Dwarf Manatee, Amazon Association for the Preservation of Nature'
Discovered in AAPN Manus-Amazonas, Brazil.
Shallow clear-water adapted dwarf manatee is already on the edge of extinction due to rainforest deforestation, hunting...
THERE ARE NO LAWS TO PROTECT THIS CRITICALLY ENDANGERED DWARF MANATEE.
http://www.care2.com/news/member/785844898/889616
http://www.marcvanroosmalen.org/dwarfmanatee.htm
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED!
NEW SPECIES OF LIVING MANATEE!
'A New Species, the Dwarf Manatee, Amazon... more
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