tagged w/ Mekong River
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CNN...
Dolphins in Asia's Mekong River on brink of extinction, group says
A World Wildlife Fund survey found only 85 Irrawaddy dolphins left in Southeast Asia’s Mekong River.
August 16th, 2011
01:48 PM ET
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A group of dolphins is on the brink of extinction in part because their calves are not surviving, the World Wildlife Fund reported.
There are 85 Irrawaddy dolphins left in Southeast Asia’s Mekong River, according to the conservation organization.
“Evidence is strong that very few young animals survive to adulthood, as older dolphins die off and are not replaced,” Dr. Li Lifeng, director of the World Wildlife Fund's freshwater program, said in a statement.
Irrawaddy dolphins are found in the Mekong River, the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar and the Mahakam River in Indonesia. While a survey of the dolphins was done only in the Mekong, the World Wildlife Fund reported that in all areas the species is critically endangered.
“These dolphins are at high risk of extinction by their small population size alone,” said Barney Long, the group’s Asian species expert. “With the added threats of gill net entanglement and high calf mortality, we are seriously concerned about their future.”
The danger of the species' extinction extends beyond the animal itself, the group said.
The dolphins are viewed as sacred by the Khmer and Lao people, the World Wildlife Fund noted.
Dolphin-watching ecotourism also is an "important source of income and jobs for communities" in these areas, the group said.
.CNN...
Dolphins in Asia's Mekong River on brink of extinction, group says... more
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Cambodia has declared Thursday a national day of mourning after at least 378 people were killed in a stampede in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Hundreds more were injured when people were crushed on a small island on the final day of the Water Festival.
The stampede took place on a bridge, which eyewitnesses said had become overcrowded.
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered an investigation into the cause of the disaster.
*Note above update added by Current.com staff
180 die in stampede at Cambodia festival http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/22/more-than-100-killed-in-cambodia-festival-stampede/?hpt=T1&iref=BN1 November 22nd, 2010 02:23 PM ET Cambodian prime minister: 339 dead in stampede A stampede occurred during a water festival in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. [Updated at 2:26 p.m.] Ambulances appeared to be making runs back and forth between the scene of the stampede and the hospital - dropping off the injured and then speeding away again, video on state-run Bayon Television showed. Doctors stood outside a hospital, trying to direct traffic, between ambulances and vehicles of regular citizens bringing in the injured. Friends and family clutched some the injured already in the hospital while others raced from the streets clutching the injured in the arms. [Updated at 2:23 p.m.] Video from state-run Bayon Television in Cambodia showed panic in the streets and outside local hospitals. Dozens of injured people appeared to be laying on what appeared to be the waiting room floor of a hospital with IV lines hooked up to them that were strung across benches. [Updated at 2:04 p.m.] Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday on state-run Bayon Television that 180 people have died in the water festival stampede. More than 4 million people were attending the Water Festival when the stampede occurred, said Visalsok Nou, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington. [Posted at 1:55 p.m.] More than 100 people were killed Monday in a stampede that occurred during a festival near Cambodia's royal palace in Phnom Penh, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington said. This story is developing. We'll bring you the latest information as soon as we get it. _____________________________ NEW PHOTOS JUST IN FROM BBC NEWS: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11814045 _____________________________ (CNN) -- A stampede that occurred during a festival in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh has killed 339 people, officials said Monday. Another 329 people were injured in the crush, said Philip Bader, a news editor with the Phnom Penh Post, citing information given by Prime Minister Hun Sen in a televised address. Visalsok Nou, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington, said more than 4 million people were attending the Water Festival when the stampede occurred. But other reports put the number at 2 million., said Steve Finch, a journalist with the Phnom Penh Post. The municipal police chief said that the stampede, which began around 10 p.m. (10 a.m. ET), likely occurred because a suspension bridge packed with people began to sway, creating panic, said Bader, who cited reports of people jumping from the bridge into the river below. Finch said police began firing water cannon onto a bridge to an island in the center of a river in an effort to get them to continue moving across the bridge. "That just caused complete and utter panic," he told CNN in a telephone interview. He said a number of people lost consciousness and fell into the water; some may have been electrocuted, he said. Finch cited witnesses as saying that the bridge was festooned with electric lights, which may have played a role in the electrocutions. The government denied anyone was electrocuted. But a doctor who declined to be identified publicly said the main cause of death was suffocation and electrocution. Police were among the dead, Finch said. Officers with the prime minister's security unit stood outside a hospital trying to help those arriving with injured people and to control the scene of chaos. In one case at a hospital, relatives of a woman who had been confirmed dead discovered she still had a pulse and she was taken into the emergency room. It was not clear whether she survived, Finch said. Video of the scene showed hundreds of shoes, clothing and other personal items littering the streets, the bridge and the underlying water near where the festival took place. Ambulances dropped off the injured at area hospitals and then sped away, video on Bayon Television showed. Outside one hospital, doctors stood trying to direct traffic so that ambulances and vehicles carrying injured were able to get through. Dozens of people could be seen laying on what appeared to be the waiting-room floor of a hospital. They were attached to intravenous lines connected to bags strung along wires suspended in the air. The prime minister ordered an inquiry into the cause of the day's events and declared Wednesday a day of mourning. The three-day festival, which began Saturday, is held each November near the palace to honor a victory by Cambodian naval forces during the 12th century reign of King Jayvarman VII, according to the country's tourism website. During the festival, which includes boat races, participants pray for a good rice harvest, enough rain and to celebrate the full moon, the site says.
Cambodia has declared Thursday a national day of mourning after at least 378 people... more
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New Monkey Discovered in Burma Sneezes When it Rains
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado on 10.27.10
Myanmar snub-nosed monkey.jpeg
Image: Reconstructed photo of the monkey by Dr. Thomas Geissmann
Conservationists have found a new species of monkey in northern Burma that has such a uniquely shaped nose, its upturned nostrils fill with water when it rains, causing it to sneeze. On rainy days, the monkeys are known to sit with their heads tucked between their knees.
Known in the local dialect as mey nwoah, or "monkey with an upturned face," the snub-nosed monkey is thought to be critically endangered, with an estimated population of 300 or less, according to Fauna and Flora International.
Local populations told the Primate Conservation Programme the monkeys were easy to find on rainy days, because people can hear the sneezing.
The monkey, which is mostly black with white fur and protruding lips, has been named Rhinopithecus strykeri by conservationists, according to the BBC.
All snub-nosed monkeys are endangered, and while other species are known to exist in China and Vietnam, this is the first to be found (by scientists) in Burma. Since no photos are available yet of the monkey alive, the photo above is a Photoshop reconstruction by Dr. Thomas Geissmann "based on a Yunnan snub-nosed monkey and the carcass of the newly discovered species."
AFP reports that the monkey is geographically isolated from other species because its habitat, an area in Kachin State, is separated by the Mekong and Salween rivers. Like most primates and other endangered species, its habitat is threatened by deforestation due to logging, both local and by Chinese companies operating illegally. Local hunting is also a problem, and better enforcement is needed to combat the illegal international wildlife trade.New Monkey Discovered in Burma Sneezes When it Rains
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder,... more
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The Mekong giant catfish is the world's third-largest freshwater fish species, the WWF says.
Dams proposed for the Mekong River in Southeast Asia would drive the world’s third-largest freshwater fish species to virtual extinction, according to a World Wildlife Fund report.
Any of the 11 hydropower dams planned for the river’s mainstream south of China would prevent the Mekong giant catfish from migrating to its spawning grounds, the WWF said Tuesday in a news release.
The catfish, with a maximum length and weight of nearly 10 feet and about 770 pounds, are too big to swim across such dams, said Dekila Chungyalpa, director of WWF’s Greater Mekong Program.
If the dams prevent the car-sized fish from reaching their spawning grounds, their population will plummet, the WWF said. The portion of the river in question currently is free-flowing, according to the WWF.
“Building [the dams] will lead to the collapse of the wild population of this iconic species,” Chungyalpa said. The catfish already are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List as "critically endangered."
The dams are proposed for spots where the river travels through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The WWF says one in particular, planned in northern Laos, has entered a critical stage of assessment before members of the Mekong River Commission - made of representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - make a recommendation on whether to allow its construction.
On its website, the WWF says at least 49 other migratory species, including three other giant freshwater fish species, also are vulnerable to the development of dams on the river’s mainstream.
The WWF says that to meet energy demands, hydropower projects could be built on certain Mekong River tributaries, as opposed to the mainstream.
The dam in northern Laos also would reduce sediment flowing downstream to the Mekong River Delta, reducing the delta’s ability to replenish itself and lead to more coastal erosion, a statement on the WWF’s website said.The Mekong giant catfish is the world's third-largest freshwater fish species,... more
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Something is wrong with the mighty Mekong River, which frames the lives of 250 million people in six countries of Southeast Asia through which it flows and on which 60 million people depend directly for their livelihoods.Photograph by: Chor Sokunthea, Reuters, Vancouver SunSomething is wrong with the mighty Mekong River, which frames the lives of 250 million people in six countries of Southeast Asia through which it flows and on which 60 million people depend directly for their livelihoods.
But there are widely differing views on why the Mekong has shrunk to its lowest levels in 20 years, with only half its normal volume in some places, so that vital fish migrations have been disturbed and river shipping had to be halted.
Some blame global warming and shrinking glaciers in Tibet where the Mekong starts its 4,900-kilometre journey through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before spreading out through Vietnam’s “Nine Dragons” delta and easing into the South China Sea.
Others blame the El Niño effect on Southeast Asia’s monsoons and especially the lack of rain in Laos, which in normal times supplies 35 per cent of the water in the main reaches of the Mekong. But a favourite culprit among the peoples of the five countries of the lower Mekong is China and its massive program of hydroelectric dam building on the river as it flows through Yunnan province.
In one demonstration of popular outrage against the supposed sins of China, residents of the northern Thai town of Chiang Rai are planning to demonstrate outside the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok next month.
Sensing the public mood, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva brought up the issue at a meeting with China’s assistant foreign minister Hu Zhengyue last week. The statements after the meeting were all sweetness and light.
Hu said China “would not do anything to damage mutual interest with neighbouring countries in the Mekong.” And Abhisit said he is sure China doesn’t want to see people in the lower Mekong basin having difficulties.
But such a public airing of supposed grievances is unusual in Southeast Asia and a measure of public alarm.
In many ways, China has only itself to blame.
Beijing has been dismissive about requests for information about its dam-building plans, usually implying such inquiries are indefensible intrusions into China’s domestic affairs.
China is not a member of the Mekong River Commission, a joint management and information-gathering body founded by Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in 1995, and avoids any liaison with this body as much as possible.
In the last 30 years China has built three hydroelectric dams — all in operation. Two more large dams are under construction and due for completion in 2012 and 2017.
There are plans for at least two more dams, which could mean that by 2030 the Mekong will negotiate seven dams before it ever leaves China.
China has also financed the blasting of some of the many rapids that clog the Mekong’s bed and have made it a difficult river for navigation for most of its long life. As a result of this engineering work it is now possible to travel from Chiang Saen in northern Thailand to China’s Yunnan province in ships of up to 500 tonnes laden.
Indeed, China envisages this being a significant route for importing oil from the Middle East.
China is also dealing with the governments of Laos and Cambodia — two of the more secretive and intransigent regimes in a region noted for governmental secrecy and intransigence — over the building of two more dams. One would be in southern Laos at Don Sahong in the Khone Falls area, which until relatively recently was the major impediment to using the Mekong for river trade and traffic. The other dam slated to be built with the backing of Chinese state-owned companies is at Sambor in northeastern Cambodia.
There is no doubt that these dams would complete the destruction of the patterns of fish migration that are essential for providing protein harvests for an extraordinary number of people living in the Mekong watershed. Already fishermen in the region are reporting dwindling catches, much smaller fish than in the past, and the disappearance of some species entirely.
cont.Something is wrong with the mighty Mekong River, which frames the lives of 250 million... more
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Witness religious and sacred practices of the disappearing culture of the Tibetan people living on China's Qinghai plateau. The region is also the birthplace for the Mekong River, one of Asia's most important waterways. Radio Free Asia's Mekong River expedition team provides a glimpse into some of the least witnessed customs in one of the world's most remote regions.Witness religious and sacred practices of the disappearing culture of the Tibetan... more
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Incredible footage of the Mekong River's origins and the nomadic people who live close to Asia's major waterway.Incredible footage of the Mekong River's origins and the nomadic people who live... more
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Gorgeous video of the Mekong River's origins and an up-close look at the people who rely on this vital waterway in Asia.Gorgeous video of the Mekong River's origins and an up-close look at the people... more
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Forced modernization threatens the centuries-old life of the nomadic people who live close to the Mekong River's origins. Once they disappear, will the river follow suit?Forced modernization threatens the centuries-old life of the nomadic people who live... more
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This journey starts in China's Qinghai province, where Asia's life-giving Mekong River begins. Environmental threats put the future of the important river into uncertainty. Radio Free Asia's expedition captures some unique images of this remote region.This journey starts in China's Qinghai province, where Asia's life-giving... more
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