Countries fail to protect endangered species from illegal trade

on Sunday, July 22, 2012

WILDLIFE CRIME SCORECARD 2012 © WWF / Martin Harvey


Geneva – Poor performances by key countries are threatening the survival of wild rhinos, tigers and elephants, a new WWF report has found. The analysis, released as governments gather in Geneva this week to discuss a range of issues related to wildlife trade, rates 23 of the top African and Asian nations facing high levels of poaching and trafficking in ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts.

The report, entitled Wildlife Crime Scorecard: Assessing Compliance with and Enforcement of CITES Commitments for Tigers, Rhinos and Elephants, examines of the many countries considered as range, transit or consumer countries for these species. It gives countries scores of green, yellow or red for each animal, as applicable, as an indicator of recent progress. WWF has found that illegal trade persists in virtually all 23 countries reviewed, but the scorecard seeks to differentiate between countries where it is actively being countered from those where current efforts are entirely inadequate.

Worst scored countries 

Among the worst performers is Viet Nam that received two red scores, for rhinos and tigers. Viet Nam is identified in the report as the top destination country for rhino horn, which has fuelled a poaching crisis in South Africa. A record 448 South African rhinos were killed for their horns in 2011 and the country, which itself receives a yellow for rhinos, has lost an additional 262 already this year. According to the report, many Vietnamese have been arrested or implicated in South Africa for acquiring rhino horns illegally, including Vietnamese diplomats.

“It is time for Viet Nam to face the fact that its illegal consumption of rhino horn is driving the widespread poaching of endangered rhinos in Africa, and that it must crack down on the illegal rhino horn trade. Viet Nam should review its penalties and immediately curtail retail markets, including Internet advertising for horn,” said Elisabeth McLellan, Global Species Programme manager at WWF.

Inadequate enforcement of domestic ivory markets in China is also highlighted in the report. China receives a yellow score for elephants indicating a failure by the country to effectively police its legal ivory markets. “The ongoing flow of large volumes of illegal ivory to China suggests that such ivory may be moving into legal ivory trade channels,” the report says. Read more : panda.org

Bodies of 14 rare Sumatran tigers seized in Indonesia

on Thursday, July 19, 2012

JAKARTA: Indonesian police seized 14 preserved bodies of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers in a raid on a house near Jakarta, a spokesman said Thursday.
Indonesian police seized 14 preserved bodies of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers in a raid on a house near Jakarta.
A man identified as F.R. was arrested Tuesday in a suburban area of Depok suspected of his involvement in the illegal wildlife trade, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told AFP. "We confiscated whole preserved bodies of 14 tigers, a lion, three leopards, a clouded leopard, three bears and a tapir and a tiger head," he said, adding that investigations were ongoing. "We believe he is connected to a network of rare animal traders. But we have not established yet if the animals are for the domestic or international market," he said.
The suspect could face up to five years' jail and fines of 100 million rupiah ($11,000) for violating natural resources conservation laws. Poachers often sell tiger body parts to the lucrative traditional Chinese medicine market. There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. Several die each year as a result of traps, poaching or other human actions.

Source: AFP

12 pangolin saved from wildlife trafficking syndicate

NONG KHAI, July 19 -- Thailand's Mekong Riverine Operation Unit rescued 12 endangered pangolins – commonly known as ant eaters – and arrested one wildlife smuggler, Thai authorities said Thursday.

Capt Samart Srimuang, chief of the Operations and Intelligence Division of the Nong Khai-based Mekong Riverine Operation Unit, said the detainee was identified as Pongsak Thongbot, 28. He was arrested while driving his pickup truck carrying the endangered species in Rattanawapi district.

The suspect confessed that he was hired to transport 12 scaly ant-eaters from the southern province of Chumphon to Nong Khai. He said that he was to deliver the endangered species to an unidentified party near the Mekong River who would smuggle them across the border, according to the officer.

Pangolin scales and pangolin flesh are in high demand in Vietnam and China as medicine although their international trade is banned.

The smuggling and sale of pangolins is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. 

Source: mcot.net

The Big Business of Animal Trafficking

on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The animal trafficking trade is worth US$10 billion (S$14 billion) to US$20 billion a year, just behind illegal arms and drugs but marked by the same kind of global gang networks, official corruption and cross-border money transfers. And South-east Asia is a major player because of its rich biodiversity.

THE flapping of wings and unusually high floor mats gave the game away, but inquisitive Customs officers were still taken aback when they searched the Singapore-registered car at Woodlands Checkpoint in December last year and found 60 jambuls and magpies making an almighty racket. Same story last August when officers unearthed 50 oriental white-eye song birds – or mata puteh in Malay – hidden beneath trays of otak otak by an Indonesian man arriving at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

These birds are so popular as pets, they can fetch up to $150 each. The discovery of these two amateurish, low-level traffickers threw a tiny beam of light on what has become a vast criminal enterprise linking the jungles of South-east Asia and Africa to the private zoos of billionaires, clinics peddling traditional medicine and restaurants with wildlife on the menu. The trade rarely makes headlines yet it is worth around US$10 billion (S$14 billion) to US$20 billion a year, just behind illegal arms and drugs and marked by the same kind of global gang networks, official corruption and cross-border money transfers.
black bear
Globalisation is partly to blame. Increasing affluence and ease of communication and travel have helped make the illicit trade in rare creatures more rampant than ever, say experts. Those luckless smugglers caught at Singapore checkpoints also point to another feature of the trade – the importance of South-east Asia. The region, particularly China, is one of the traffickers’ global hot spots thanks to its rich biodiversity, a penchant for wildlife in food and traditional medicine, and a desire among increasingly wealthy people for exotic pets.
Mr Chris Shepherd, senior programme officer at Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network linked to the World Wide Fund for Nature, says: “It’s getting worse. I have never seen it this bad and I have been doing this job for 18 years.

Pangolin“As species get rarer, the price goes up and they are more sought after.” The Canadian based at Traffic’s head office near Kuala Lumpur adds: “There is a growing demand in South-east Asia for pet reptiles and birds. This didn’t use to be an issue but it’s becoming more and more fashionable, as is eating wild meat such as owls and snakes.” Traffickers are in a constant battle of wits with the authorities across the world who have passed a welter of laws protecting wildlife. But despite the good intentions, the sheer size of the black market and the demand it is meeting are hard to counter.

long tailed macaqueThe traffickers’ wish list is long and varied, and driven in large part by the rarity value. Bears, pangolins, long-tail macaques and turtles are among the top traded animals in the region, but a simple list does not hint at the cruelty the trade can involve. Malayan Sun bears and Asian Black bears are wanted for their bile. A needle is stuck into a bear’s gall bladder and bile siphoned off to be used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat ailments from fevers to heart disease – even though many TCM doctors say a plant can be used instead.

These bears often die from their injuries or develop enormous tumours that eventually kill them. Luckier bears make it to rescue centres across the region, including three-legged ones that have been caught in snares or had their feet hacked off to make bear-paw soup. Pangolins are in such high demand as a delicacy and for their scales, which are used to treat liver ailments in TCM, that they are trafficked from Africa as South-east Asia’s population is depleted.
 illegal traded animals
Pangolins are now being shipped from Madagascar, Sumatra, Borneo and Palawan to mainland Asia and up to China. A variety of tortoises and freshwater turtles are smuggled around the region for pets or food while the sea turtle eggs are eaten as aphrodisiacs. Long-tailed macaques, unlike other targeted animals, do not come under the protection of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) and so have no added protection. They are the No. 1 primate used in medical research and many are trafficked with false papers to the United States and China while others are eaten locally.

wildlife smugglingCites is at the forefront of efforts to curb the illegal trade in animals. Singapore, like other Asean countries, is party to Cites, which acts to control trade in 25,000 plant and 5,000 animal species through a licensing system. It has devised a scale of at-risk animals. Appendix I species are those threatened with extinction and trading is allowed only in exceptional circumstances. Trade of Appendix II animals must be controlled in order to maintain their survival, while Appendix III refers to species protected in one country which has asked Cites to help control their trade. Trading of these species must be done with permits.

Each country appoints its own authority to enforce Cites, so it is only as effective as the country’s will and power to act. Although many South-east Asian nations have strong laws on the books, enforcement can be rare or weak. Cites also has a loophole. With the right paperwork, the rarest of animals can be traded with impunity as long as they were bred in captivity. This has led to wide-scale “laundering” of animals, according to Mr Shepherd. “What’s happening is wild caught animals are exported as captive-bred with forged paperwork. In many cases, getting something from the wild is much cheaper than following all the regulations and the risk of getting caught is low,” he says.

“For example, spiny turtles captive bred in Indonesia don’t reach maturity until they are 10. Then they lay two eggs and the international market value is not high, only US$25 to US$30. “Who’s going to look at that and think it’s a good idea as a business prospect? But to catch from the wild costs just a few dollars; that’s where the profit comes in.” A more local approach to tackling the issue comes in the form of the Asean-Wildlife Enforcement Network (WEN) launched in December 2005 and headquartered in Bangkok. It involves police, Customs and environment agencies from the 10 Asean countries trying to stop cross-border trade.

Senior officer Manop Lauprasert says the network hopes all the Asean nations will develop a task force such as those seen in Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. The network also hopes for bilateral border agreements between China and Vietnam to stop trafficking. “We work with China, which is doing some good things, and, although they are not in Asean, we would like to include them in future meetings,” he says, adding that Singapore’s role could be to help fund Asean-WEN which is currently supported by the US Agency for International Development.

Between January and March this year, it reported 19 law enforcement actions involving more than 5,659 live and 61,500 dead animals, animal parts and derivatives. It has recovered 2.7 tonnes of wildlife with a minimum estimated value of US$4.5 million on the black market. This work has resulted in 17 related arrests across five countries. Last year, there were 129 law enforcement actions by South-east Asian authorities, resulting in 156 arrests and 45 convictions across seven countries. More than 18,540 animals were recovered alive. In total, over 267 tonnes of wildlife and derivative products were confiscated, with a minimum estimated black market value of US$40 million.

 Sumtran tiger
It has also run awareness projects in Laos and Bangkok and now in Vietnam, where an English-language billboard has been placed on the road to Hanoi’s international airport to remind people that wildlife trafficking is illegal. Singapore is a key player in the enforcement process. It is known to have strict  laws, but that can put it at a disadvantage in the fight against animal trafficking. A stamp from Singapore’s checkpoints authority is seen as a validation of whatever is transported, so the shipment is less likely to hit trouble further along the journey. Fake papers about captive breeding, imports that exceed the exporting countries’ quotas for particular species and undetected illegal wildlife can all slip through in this way.

box turtleSingapore is also a growing market for smugglers. Data from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), which oversees 25 checkpoints, shows that incidents have tripled. “In 2009, smuggling of items controlled by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority saw a three-fold increase compared to 2008, registering the highest jump in these detections. From 1,800 cases in 2008, the number ballooned to 5,900 last year,” says an ICA spokesman, who adds that smugglers are getting more innovative. “Our officers face the challenge to look out for the slightest signs of tampering on vehicles, and suspicious behaviour of travellers.” While smugglers are caught, a stroll along Serangoon North Pet Walk shows that hundreds of birds, rare and endangered, from all over the world are on sale.

“It is likely that some of these birds were imported as captive-bred, but were in fact taken from the wild in the exporting countries,” says Mr Shepherd. They must be bred in captivity and have the correct paperwork to be sold in this way, but Mr Shepherd doubts all the birds meet the criteria. “Some of the birds in the shop exhibit behaviour of wild-caught birds in captivity such as pulling out feathers and cowering at the back of the cage,” he says. When contacted, the shop declines to comment. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) data shows that 1,763 birds were smuggled into Singapore last year, making them the main illegally traded category used as pets.

This is a huge increase from the 2008 figure of 81 but well below the 6,962 found in 2005. The AVA says the 2009 spike was due to the number of birds found in each incident. Fish like humphead wrasse and Asian arowana are also popular – 50 were detected last year, followed by reptiles such as lizards and turtles and mammals like sugar gliders. So far this year there have been 65 wildlife enforcement cases, with one prosecution resulting in a $6,000 fine. Also, 34 individuals have had fines compounded between $100 and $2,500, and 23 warning letters were issued. All animals rescued by the AVA are handed to the Singapore Zoo, Jurong BirdPark or Underwater World.

AVA officers conduct regular workshops for ICA and Police Coast Guard officers on species identification and other factors to look for. Despite the rise in smuggling, only 19 people were convicted of smuggling live wildlife between 2005 and last year. Penalties ranged from fines of up to $159,000 and up to eight weeks in jail. In June, a vendor at the Singapore Food Expo was caught selling bear gall bladders at $700 each following a tip-off to Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres). He was fined $2,500 for possession of an illegally imported “bear” gall bladder which was found to be fake in laboratory tests. In March, the AVA seized 320 items being sold as tiger parts from 30 antique and jewellery shops, also following work by Acres.

Six of the shops were found to be selling real tiger parts. Twenty-six of the shops paid composition fines of between $500 and $3,000, while the remaining four were served with warning letters. An AVA spokesman says there is no difference in punishment if the items are fake if they are being sold as genuine. The Acres Wildlife Rescue Centre, a first in Singapore, began operating last August. It can take in reptiles and amphibians rescued from the illegal wildlife trade as well as injured native reptiles and amphibians. It has rescued 577 wild animals – 36 from illegal trading, including sugar gliders, pygmy hedgehogs, star tortoises, pig-nosed turtles, green iguanas, soft-shell turtles and a common snapping turtle. It has also saved 541 injured native species.

Acres executive director Louis Ng says although there is a constant illegal wildlife trade in Singapore, it is not an endemic problem. “The Government has improved wildlife protection legislation significantly. Penalties for smuggling and possession of endangered species were increased from $5,000 per species to $50,000 – sending out a strong deterrent message that wildlife crime will not be tolerated in Singapore.” He adds that the recent tiger trade busts were successful thanks to Acres’ liaison with the AVA. Yet despite Singapore’s strict penalties, the bear gall incident at the food expo shows the appetite for contraband is high.

Instances like the use of a tiger pelt on the front cover of 8 Days magazine in February, the market in tiger parts and the rush to buy bear gall bladder in June show there is demand for endangered animals locally which in turn fuels this illegal trade. “As you go up the scale, prices and business become more lucrative. In places like the Middle East and China, people are prepared to pay a lot of money for an orang utan or turtle,” says Dr Karmele Llano Sanchez, a vet at the International Animal Rescue Centre’s Jakarta office. “It is a never-ending cycle. If you are not punished for doing something illegal, you just do it again – much like the drugs or weapons trade.”

Where the markets are

THAILAND
Tiger parts sold for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) fetch the highest sums; a tiger can fetch up to a million baht (S$42,000). Reptiles like turtles and tortoises, chameleons and snakes as well as pangolins and marine species such as coral, fish and seahorses are trafficked in volume. Ivory from Africa is also carved by Thai craftsmen and exported to China and Japan. This is illegal. Ivory from Thai elephants can only be sold in Thailand and it cannot be taken out of the country, although most tourists do not know this. Thailand is a member of Asean-WEN, but law enforcement often lacks manpower and resources. Tourists are often reminded that it is illegal to buy endangered species, but Bangkok’s Chatuchak market has many endangered animals for sale.

CAMBODIA
The most targeted animals are long-tail macaques, pangolins, bears and turtles, which are all used for medical research, food and TCM. There is a grey area as macaques and crocodiles can be farmed but correct papers are needed to move them. Often they are caught in the wild and shipped with false papers. Trafficked animals usually head to Vietnam and on to China. Although it used to be commonplace to see wildlife for sale at markets or restaurants, enforcement efforts have made this rarer. Laws were strengthened in 2002 with more species added to the outlawed list.

VIETNAM
Pangolins, turtles, snakes and long-tailed macaques are traded illegally but the most valuable trafficked animals are tigers, rhinos and bears, all used mainly for medicine. A countrywide ban on new bears in farms was imposed in 2005 but if a farmer already owned bears, he could keep them for the animals’ lifespan but extraction or selling bile is not allowed. Bears must also be microchipped. Bears live up to 30 years in the wild but only five to seven years on farms due to much poorer nutrition and conditions. If an owner is caught with unchipped bears, he is fined 30 million Vietnamese dong (S$2,100) for each animal but can keep them. There are no documented prosecutions for selling bear bile.

A Vietnamese group, Education for Nature Vietnam, set up a hotline in 2005. It fielded fewer than 10 calls a month in the early days but now handles 20 to 30 calls a day, with more than 90 per cent of calls from the Vietnamese. 

MALAYSIA
The country is considered a major illegal animal trade hub with species flowing from Indonesia and Africa towards China. However, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks or Perhilitan and NGOs alike believe that an update to the 1972 Wildlife Act, passed on Monday, as well as earlier changes made to the Cites Act make the law much stronger and should act as a deterrent to would-be traffickers. Malaysia still has large blocks of forest so it is ideally suited for sustaining tigers in the wild. Five years ago there were 5,000 tigers but now there are only 3,000.

INDONESIA
It has one of the world’s largest treasure troves of biodiversity. The World Conservation Union lists as many as 147 mammals, 114 birds and 91 fish among the world’s most endangered species. The abundance of wildlife has also proved a curse, with the vast archipelago an epicentre of illegal wildlife trade. Jakarta is home to three of the world’s largest bird markets, where many endangered and protected species of birds, reptiles and fish are traded freely.

The non-profit organisation Profauna says around 115,000 parrots, including the highly endangered palm cockatoo, are caught every year in the wilds of Papua and Maluku and sold in such markets. There are laws forbidding illegal trading in Indonesia, yet there is a lack of proper enforcement. For example, a slow loris, an animal protected under Indonesian law, can be caught in the wild for about 25,000 rupiah (S$4) and sold in a market for between 250,000 rupiah and a million rupiah. Wealthy Indonesians believe owning a rare bird species is a symbol of good luck and social prestige.

Source: The Straits Times

158 elephant tusks in 6 crates seized at Thai airport

Thai customs officials show 158 pieces of seized ivory in six crates during a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Thai customs officials show 158 pieces of seized ivory in six crates during a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Apichart Weerawong/Associated Press)
Thai customs officials show the seized ivory during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, July 17, 2012. 158 pieces of African ivory were seized last week while an attempt to smuggle into th
Photo By Apichart Weerawong
Thai customs officials have seized 456 kilograms of African ivory — 158 elephant tusks in six crates — at Bangkok’s international airport.

The tusks were discovered Friday hidden in crates aboard a flight from Kenya. Customs officials displayed the haul Tuesday. The officials said they acted on a tip-off to seize the ivory, which was in crates labelled as handicrafts. No arrests have been made. The seized ivory probably will be destroyed. Ivory shipped to Thailand typically is used to make Buddhist carvings or jewelry. Thailand is also a transit point for other markets, including China.

The international trade in ivory was banned by an international convention known as CITES in 1989 as a measure to prevent the poaching of elephants, which has taken a huge toll on their numbers globally in recent decades

Probe cries fowl on Solomons smuggling

SOLOMONS-MALAYSIA-SINGAPORE-WILDLIFE-SMUGGLING
This 2011 picture shows parrots at what wildlife group TRAFFIC calls a breeding facility in the Solomon Islands. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
MORE than 54,000 wild birds, including critically endangered species, were laundered through the Solomon islands into the global wildlife trade between 2000 and 2010. 
 
The birds, classified as "captive-bred" to skirt wildlife trafficking laws and in the main not native to the islands, were exported mostly to Singapore and Malaysia from where they were sold to other parts of the world, wildlife group TRAFFIC said in a report. "Between 2000 and 2010, more than 54,000 birds, mainly parrots and cockatoos, were imported from the Solomon Islands and declared as captive-bred," said the report, launched in Singapore.

"Yet local authorities confirmed to TRAFFIC that the Solomon Islands is not known to have substantial bird breeding facilities," it added. TRAFFIC said Singapore and Malaysia accounted for 93 per cent of all birds imported from Solomon Islands between 2000 and 2010. Malaysia however has suspended its bird imports and TRAFFIC is urging Singapore to do the same. "Singapore should follow Malaysia's lead in suspending bird imports, not only from the Solomon Islands but anywhere else if there is a lack of clarity as to their legal origin," said TRAFFIC's Southeast Asia deputy director Chris Shepherd.

The birds included vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species such as the Yellow-crested Cockatoo, which cannot be traded under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, or CITES. In addition, a majority of the birds were not native to the Solomon Islands but are found in Indonesia or Papua New Guinea. The absence of records showing the Solomon Islands had imported the birds indicated that they had been caught in the wild, TRAFFIC said.

Shepherd said the smugglers were deceiving authorities to gain access to the global pet trade. "Declaring exported birds as being captive-bred has all the hallmarks of a scam to get around international trade regulations," he said in the report.

Source:  news.com.au

Pythons, lorises and a monkey siezed at Bangkok airport

on Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Full Image
Authorities displaying the suitcase in which a dozen lorises, 11 pythons and a marmoset were found © TRAFFIC

Bangkok, Thailand, 11th July 2012—Lorises appear to be the preferred target of wildlife traffickers, turning up in markets around the South-East Asian region and in seizures—including the dozen found in a traveller’s suitcase at Suvarnabhumi International Airport this morning.

Authorities at Thailand’s largest and busiest airport found the lorises stuffed in cloth bags inside the suitcase of a Kuwait bound traveller, who was also carrying 11 pythons and one marmoset in her luggage. Alert officers at the luggage-scanning counter of the airport noticed something odd about the x-ray images of the woman’s bag and found the animals when they opened it for examination.

As a downside of their cute, wide-eyed appeal, slow lorises are in high demand as pets not only in Southeast Asia but globally.  The trade is ongoing in spite of a worldwide ban on international commercial trade that has been in place since 2007. Read more at traffic.org

Exotic animal smuggling hits Johor coastline

on Friday, July 6, 2012

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Exotic animals like the pangolin are being smuggled across the country by local syndicates in luxury cars to avoid detection. Pic by Mohd Jamah Nasri

JOHOR BAHARU (July 6, 2012): Syndicates are now using Johor's lengthy coastline as entry points to bring in exotic animals from Indonesia, for supply to other countries including China. 

According to a source involved in the illegal trade investigations, the Johor coastline's proximity to Indonesia makes it a main gateway for the smuggling of these animals from the republic. "Johor is now the main transit for syndicates smuggling exotic animals from Indonesia," said the source who declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the information provided to Bernama today. 

The source said, anteaters were among the highly sought after animals, commanding RM300 per kilogramme for its meat. Due to the high demand, the syndicates were currently doubling their efforts to smuggle them in from Indonesia, said the source. Local syndicates who have links in Indonesia use several secluded beaches in Muar and Batu Pahat, Johor to land their exotic cargo, said the source. "As soon as the boats come ashore, the local syndicates would unload the animals into their luxury cars for the next leg of their journey to the northern boarder," the source said.

They have become smarter and no longer use lorries to minimise the risk of their entire precious cargo from being confiscated, but transport them in luxury cars instead to fool the enforcement authorities, said the source. "Although lorry transport is cheaper, the risk of detection and its entire load being seized is also higher compared to using a few cars." "If the authorities detain one car, they hope for the other five or six vehicles to escape and continue north to the border," said the source.

The source explained that other syndicates take over at the border and continue overland to China. Questioned as to why the authorities found it difficult to eradicate the syndicates, the source responded that the groups spied on the local enforcement agencies' every move. "They (syndicates) also place informants at the beaches to warn the boats about the presence of enforcement personnel and seem to be always one step ahead from being detected," said the source.

Source:  Bernama

Top 10 New Species - 2012

on Wednesday, July 4, 2012


On May 23, 2012, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and a committee of scientists from around the world announced their picks for the top 10 new species described in 2011. On this year’s top 10 new species list are a sneezing monkey, a beautiful but venomous jellyfish, an underworld worm and a fungus named for a popular TV cartoon character. The top 10 new species also include a night-blooming orchid, an ancient walking cactus creature and a tiny wasp. Rounding out this year’s list are a vibrant poppy, a giant millipede and a blue tarantula.

1.
Name: Rhinopithecus strykeri  
Common Name: Sneezing Monkey
Family: Cercopithecidae
Etymology: strykeri is named in “honor of Jon Stryker, President, and Founder of the Arcus Foundation.”
Locality: Maw River area, northeastern Kachin state, northeastern Myanmar



Rhinopithecus strykeri is the first snub-nosed monkey to be reported from Myanmar and is believed to be Critically Endangered. It is distinctive for its mostly black fur and white beard and for sneezing when it rains – although it tries to avoid dripping rainwater in its turned up nose by sitting with its head between its legs.

2.

Name: Tamoya ohboya
Common Name: Bonaire Banded Box Jelly
Family: Tamoyidae.
Etymology: ohboya is named “Oh Boy!!!” after the reaction that someone could have when first encountering this species.
Locality: Divi Flamingo, Bonaire, Netherlands (Dutch Caribbean)
This strikingly beautiful but venomous box jelly has had so many sightings since 2001 that it had a common name before being officially described in 2011 after the capture of a specimen in 2008.The sightings of this new species remind us of the opportunities for citizen scientists to participate in species exploration. More than 300 entries were submitted in an online competition to name this new species and hundreds of votes were cast to select ohboya as the winner, a name suggested by high school biology teacher Lisa Peck. Ms. Peck presumed people must exclaim “Oh Boy!” when they first encounter this amazing jelly – including swimmers, scuba divers, scientists, and even doctors who have treated victims of its serious stings.
3.

Name: Halicephalobus mephisto
Common Name: Devil’s Worm
Family: Panagrolaimidae
Etymology: mephisto in reference to the Faust legend of the Devil “because the new species is found at a depth of 1.3 km in the Earth’s crust.”
Locality: “collected from shaft 3, level 26, corridor 28 of Beatrix gold mine, South Africa, approximately 1 km north of shaft 3 (28 ͦ 149 24.0699 S, 26 ͦ 479 45.2599 E).”

Measuring about 0.5 mm in length, these tiny nematodes are the deepest-living terrestrial multicellular organisms on earth. Discovered at a depth of 1.3 km (8/10 mile) in a South African gold mine, this species is remarkable for surviving immense underground pressure as well as high temperatures (37o C / 98.6 o F). According to the authors, carbon dating indicated that the borehole water where this species lives had not been in contact with the earth’s atmosphere for the last 4,000 to 6,000 years. The discovery of H. mephisto in Earth’s deep subsurface is also significant because it may have important implications for the discovery of life at similar subterranean depths on other planets.

4.

Name: Bulbophyllum nocturnum
Common Name: Night-blooming Orchid Family: Orchidaceae
Etymology: nocturnum from the Latin word meaning “at night” to reflect the orchid’s night-time blooming.
Locality: New Britain, Papua New Guinea
  
A slender night stalker is one way to describe this rare orchid from Papua New Guinea whose flowers open around 10 at night and close early the next morning. It was described by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Leiden University, who named it Bulbophyllum nocturnum from the Latin word meaning “at night.” It is believed to be the first night-blooming orchid recorded among the more than 25,000 known species of orchids.

5.
Name: Kollasmosoma sentum
Family: Braconidae
Etymology: sentum is from the Latin word, sentus, meaning “thorny” or “spiny” to reflect the “thorn-like spine of the fifth sternite of the female.”
Locality: Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology, Madrid, Spain.


Ants beware! This new species of parasitic wasp cruises at just one centimeter (less than half an inch) above the ground in Madrid, Spain, in search of its target: ants. With a target in sight, the teensy wasp attacks from the air like a tiny dive bomber, depositing an egg in less than 1/20 of a second. A video of the wasp, named Kollasmosoma sentum, dropping an egg on its target.

6.

Name: Spongiforma squarepantsii
Common Name: Spongebob Squarepants Mushroom 
Family: Boletaceae
Locality: Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, island of Borneo, Malaysia
Named Spongiforma squarepantsii, after the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, this new fungi species looks more like a sponge than a typical mushroom. One of its characteristics is that its fruiting body can be squeezed like a sponge and bounce back to its normal size and shape. This fungus, which smells fruity, was discovered in forests on the island of Borneo in Malaysia.

7.

Name: Meconopsis autumnalis
Common Name: Nepalese Autumn Poppy
Family: Papaveraceae
Etymology: autumnalis to reflect the autumn season when the plant flowers.
Locality: Ganesh Himal (Rasuwa District), central Nepal

 
This vibrant, tall, yellow poppy found in Nepal may have gone undescribed because of its high mountain habitat (10,827 to 13,780 feet). Named Meconopsis autumnalis for the autumn season when the plant flowers, there is evidence that this species was collected before but not recognized as new until intrepid botanists collecting plants miles from human habitation in heavy monsoon rains made the “rediscovery.”

8.
Name: Crurifarcimen vagans
Common Name: Wandering Leg Sausage
Family: Pachybolidae
Etymology:  genus name Crurifarcimen from the  Latin words “crus” for leg  and “farcimen” meaning sausage; species epithet vagans from the Latin word “vagans” meaning  wandering or itinerant; thus, the full species name means the “wandering leg sausage.”
Locality:  Tanga Region of Tanzania

 

A giant millipede about the length of a sausage bears the common name “wandering leg sausage,” which also is at the root of its Latin name: Crurifarcimen vagans. The species holds a new record as the largest millipede (16 centimeters or about 6.3 inches) found in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains. The new species is about 1.5 centimeter (0.6 inch) in diameter with 56 more or less podous rings, or body segments bearing ambulatory limbs, each with two pairs of legs.

9.

Name: Diania cactiformis
Common Name: Walking Cactus Family: belongs to the extinct class Xenusia
Etymology: Diania is named for Dian, a Chinese linguistic abbreviation of Yunnan where the species was found; cactiformis refers to the animal’s cactus-like form.
Locality: Yunnan, southwestern China

Although this new species looks more like a “walking cactus” than an animal at first glance, Diania cactiformis belongs to an extinct group called the armoured Lobopodia, which had wormlike bodies and multiple pairs of legs. The fossil was discovered in Cambrian deposits about 520 million years old from southwestern China and is remarkable in its segmented legs that may indicate a common ancestry with arthropods, including insects and spiders.


10.

Name: Pterinopelma sazimai
Common Name: Sazima’s Tarantula 
Family: Theraphosidae
Etymology: sazimai is named in honor of Dr. Ivan Sazima “an important Brazilian zoologist who was the first researcher to collect exemplars of this species in the decades of 1970 and 1980. These specimens remained as the sole exemplars of the species known for a long time.”
Locality: Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil

Breathtakingly beautiful, this iridescent hairy blue tarantula is the first new animal species from Brazil to be named on the top 10 list. Pterinopelma sazimai is not the first or only blue tarantula but truly spectacular and from “island” ecosystems on flattop mountains.

Source: species.asu.edu

Kenya: Illegal Trade Is a Threat to Wildlife

 Khalil Senosi / Associated Press
If we were to go by the recent wildlife-related news headlines, we might easily conclude that Kenya's fabled wildlife resource is being rapidly depleted. And from this it would be tempting to extrapolate that very soon we will read of the death of the last rhino or the last elephant living in the wild. As it happens, nothing could be further from the truth. Kenya's wildlife populations may have suffered a catastrophic decline over the past 30 years or so: but that was more or less inevitable, given the steep rise in our human population, leading to a widespread human-wildlife conflict, which the wild animals were bound to lose. We are now pretty close to stablising these wildlife populations.

And although it is quite common to see the nation's wildlife written about in grandiose poetic terms ("our priceless heritage" etc.) if you want to understand what is happening to Kenya's wildlife populations, you have to abandon poetry and consider the issues in a cold, dry light. Game parks have to be seen as an "alternative land use" to small scale farming or ranching; the wild animals must be seen as a "natural resource"; and the whole setup of wild animals and panoramic landscapes have to be considered as "environmental assets".

Without such a perspective, it is impossible to have a serious discussion on the science and the economics underlying the existence of Kenya's wildlife and game parks. Now in Kenya, the continued survival of our wildlife is threatened by three factors, none of which yield to easy solutions: First is the rapid human population increase. It is true that our current average is about four children for every adult woman (down from seven children per woman just two decades). But, for a country in which most people are still reliant on small-scale agriculture for their income, we are still too many people living on too little land.

The second threat is the general poverty of the rural population. And given that it is these rural places that the game parks and wildlife conservancies are to be found, it is actually quite amazing that the levels of poaching are not higher than they presently are. Why would a poor man, whose family has a pretty good chance of going hungry on any given night, restrain himself from killing an antelope which would be, effectively, a week's supply of free meat? And why would not a group of villagers, if approached by a middle-man, not seek to bring down an elephant if they knew that this animal's tusks would fetch them more money than their small farms can make them in a year? Read more: allafrica.com

Mozambique: Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Ivory Trafficking

on Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Source: 
Maputo — The Mozambican police have arrested two Chinese nationals found in possession of 25 kilos of ivory at the Maputo International Airport.

According to the electronic newssheet "Mediafax", the suspects, Lethi Hana (23) and Nguyon Xuan (42), spread their illegal cargo in small packages inside their luggage as an attempt to avoid detection at the checkpoints. The police was unable to reveal the origin of the ivory, but it is believed that it is not from elephants killed in Mozambican national parks, since it was found just after the suspects landed at the Maputo International Airport from a Kenya Airways plane coming from Nairobi.

Apparently, the suspects intended to use the Mozambique as a transit point and continue their journey to other destinations. This is the last case of a string of trafficking incidents at the Maputo Airport. Last week, the customs officers arrested a Vietnamese national, Doan Minh, in possession of seven rhino horns. Doan Minh was arrested in the departure lounge as he prepared to board a Kenya Airways flight. At the time, he claimed that the illegal cargo belonged to his general manager.

According to the police, Doan Minh remains in custody. Currently, there is underway an investigation to find out "who are the members of the group, the suppliers, where the animals where killed, among other issues," said a police source.
Source:  allafrica.com

Lion Bone Trade Fuels Breeding Business in Africa

on Monday, July 2, 2012

Every year, hundreds of tourists pay about $20,000 to be able to shoot lions in an enclosure. This is called canned hunting. With tigers on the brink of extinction, dead lion bones are increasingly used as a substitute in Asian markets as some believe they can cure illnesses. Some are now afraid lions are being bred just for their bones and that the appetite for lion bones will lead to them being poached in the wild, the same way endangered rhinos have been hunted. There is no scientific proof tiger and lion bones have any medicinal benefits.

Al Jazeera's Tania Page reports from South Africa.




Publisher: Al Jazeera
Publication Date:11 June 2012

Source:allafrica.com

Experts report highest elephant poaching and ivory smuggling rates in a decade


Elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989, according to a report published today by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The findings, largely based on information submitted by governments, will be presented and discussed at the 62nd meeting of the CITES Standing Committee to be held in Geneva from 23 to 27 July 2012.
Ivory. Photo: CITESThe report analyses data from the CITES programme on Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), IUCN’s data on the status of elephant populations, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) managed by TRAFFIC, and the CITES trade database managed by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). These authoritative sources of information have shown a very close correspondence between trends in elephant poaching and trends in large-scale ivory seizures, detecting essentially the same patterns at different points in the illegal ivory trade chain.

“We need to enhance our collective efforts across range, transit and consumer states to reverse the current disturbing trends in elephant poaching and ivory smuggling," says Mr John E. Scanlon, 
CITES Secretary-General, commenting on the report. "While being essential, enforcement efforts to stop wildlife crime must not just result in seizures – they must result in prosecutions, convictions and strong penalties to stop the flow of contraband. The whole ‘enforcement chain’ must work together.”
According to ETIS data, three of the five years in which the greatest volumes of ivory were seized globally occurred in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2011 alone, there were 14 large-scale ivory seizures—a double-digit figure for the first time in 23 years, when ETIS records were first compiled. They totalled an estimated 24.3 tonnes of ivory; more than in any previous year. Large-scale ivory seizures (those involving >800 kg of ivory in a single transaction), typically indicate the participation of organised crime.

China and Thailand are the two primary destinations for illegal ivory consignments exported from Africa according to the seizure data. Seizures of large ivory consignments in Malaysia, the Philippines and Viet Nam since 2009, were believed to be in transit to China and Thailand. Some African and Asian countries have made significant efforts to enhance enforcement. For example, China conducted earlier this year a major operation which resulted in the seizure of 1,366.3 kg of ivory and the arrest of 13 suspects. Most of the ivory smuggling containers leave the African continent through Indian Ocean seaports in East African countries, primarily Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania.

“Evidence is steadily mounting which shows that African elephants are facing their most serious crisis since international commercial trade in ivory was generally prohibited under CITES in 1989,” said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC’s Elephant and Rhino Programme Leader and the Director of ETIS.

These findings are matched by data on poaching levels in Africa from the CITES MIKE programme. MIKE has documented a steady increase in levels of elephant poaching across the continent since 2005, with the levels in 2011 being the highest since monitoring began in 2002. Poaching levels are increasing in all countries where African elephants occur, and may be leading to dramatic declines in some populations, but particularly in Central African countries, where poaching levels are highest. This was brought to international attention earlier this year by the killing of hundreds of elephants in Bouba Ndjida National Park in Cameroon.

“The MIKE analysis shows poaching to be highest where human livelihoods are most insecure and where governance and law enforcement are weakest,"  said Julian Blanc, who coordinates the MIKE programme"It also suggests that poaching is driven by demand for ivory in East Asia. The number of African elephants poached in 2011 alone could well run into the tens of thousands.”

Information collected by IUCN corroborates the MIKE findings that poaching is an immediate danger to elephant populations across the continent. There are disturbing indications that the illegal killing of elephants has increased in recent years in Asia too, although data are hard to obtain.

“There is a pressing need for governments and other stakeholders involved with wildlife conservation to properly assess the amount of Asian elephant ivory that is entering trade,” said Simon Hedges, Co-chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Asian Elephant Specialist Group.

An additional pressure on Asian elephants, also apparently increasing, is the illegal international commercial trade in live wild elephants for the circus trade in China and the tourist trade in Thailand.
The critical situation in Africa demonstrates the urgent need to implement the African Elephant Action Plan, which was created by all African elephant range States under the auspices of CITES in 2010. The plan envisages investing USD 100 million over three years into elephant conservation efforts, and an African Elephant Fund was launched in August 2011 at the 61st meeting of the CITES Standing Committee.

“Having sustainable elephant populations in Africa will require a shared vision and a highly strategic and collaborative investment of time and resources along the entire ivory supply chain," said Holly Dublin, Chair of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group, at a recent African elephant range States meeting. "Without this we will all lose what we cherish the most – the icons of Africa – our elephants.” 

At the international level, creative and innovative responses to this crisis are required. The use of modern traceability systems, including DNA forensics in cases of wildlife trafficking has already proven to be very effective. DNA evidence has been used successfully in a number of rhinoceros-related cases in South Africa and it is routinely forming a part of numerous criminal investigations. In any case, enforcement efforts to stop wildlife crime must be coordinated. This is why the work of the recently-established International Consortium to Combat Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) is essential to support and coordinate enforcement actions across international borders.

Source: iucnredlist.org

Outrage of animal welfare groups over Japanese pet shop that insists on selling exotic animals

on Thursday, June 28, 2012


Animal charities have condemned a pet shop in Japan which continues to sell exotic animals - and keep them in tiny cages. Shoppers can easily pick up a penguin, a meerkat and an alligator at NOAH: The Inner City Zoo, in the port of Yokohama. The shop is also seen selling otters, megabats, sloths, fennec foxes, capuchin monkeys and a crane - alongside several other foreign animals.
Behind bars: A capuchin monkey was seen in the shop in the port of Yokohama, Japan, with otters, megabats, sloths and fennec foxes - alongside several other foreign animals
Behind bars: A capuchin monkey was seen in the shop in the port of Yokohama, Japan, with otters, megabats, sloths and fennec foxes - alongside several other foreign animals
Two alligators are among the animals that all live in one squashed room, on the second floor of an office building
Two alligators are among the animals that all live in one squashed room, on the second floor of an office building
Pick up a penguin: Two penguins are among the exotic animals for sale at Noah in the Inner City Zoo in Yokohama, Japan
Pick up a penguin: Two penguins are among the exotic animals for sale at Noah in the Inner City Zoo in Yokohama, Japan
Many are endangered species and live in cramped cages - all in one squashed room - on the second floor of an office building. Some of the animals cost thousands of pounds to buy. Josey Sharrad, head of campaigns and communications at IFAW, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said: 'IFAW absolutely condemn the treatment of these animals.
 More...
'This shop will never be confused with the natural habitat of a penguin, meerkat, sloth, alligator or other exotic pet. 'Animals have needs in terms of diet, space, exercise and sociability. The idea that these are being met in cramped conditions, in an urban environment, and in close proximity to other animals is ridiculous. 'These conditions cause severe stress for the animals. This can weaken immune systems and lead to risk of disease.
An owl for sale at Noah in the Inner City Zoo in Yokohama, Japan
For sale: A meerkat at Noah in the Inner City Zoo in Yokohama, Japan
For sale: A meerkat at Noah in the Inner City Zoo in Yokohama, Japan
Inhumane: Animal charities have condemned the pet shop for selling the exotic animals, like this serval
Inhumane: Animal charities have condemned the pet shop for selling the exotic animals, like this serval
Shop owner Kenji Takahashi insists that the shop meets all Japanese laws, and wants to allow people to understand and experience these amazing creatures. This is a penguin
Shop owner Kenji Takahashi insists that the shop meets all Japanese laws, and wants to allow people to understand and experience these amazing creatures. This is a penguin
'These diseases could spread from one species to the other and could also represent a risk to human health. 'It is already a hard task to alert people to the dangers that are faced by some of the world's rarest creatures. 'When these creatures are simultaneously available for purchase, it confuses people as to whether an animal is really at risk of extinction or not.'
Customers have to pay an entry fee of £4 to look around the shop
Customers have to pay an entry fee of £4 to look around the shop
Josey Sharrad, head of campaigns and communications at IFAW, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said: 'IFAW absolutely condemn the treatment of these animals.'
Josey Sharrad, head of campaigns and communications at IFAW, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said: 'IFAW absolutely condemn the treatment of these animals.'

A Patagonian Mara for sale: One onlooker said: 'I was shocked to see so many endangered animals for sale'
A Patagonian Mara for sale: One onlooker said: 'I was shocked to see so many endangered animals for sale'
According to their website, NOAH has just recently taken stock of marmosets, fennecs and squirrels - all as babies. Prices are often on request, and at the time of taking the pictures, a prairie dog - a type of rodent - was priced at £1,500. Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, said: 'We would urge people to stay away from this pet shop and others like it.
Cramped: An inside view of Noah at the Inner City Zoo, in Yokohama, Japan
Cramped: An inside view of Noah at the Inner City Zoo, in Yokohama, Japan
'Exotic animals should live in the wild as nature intended, not in captivity as a source of entertainment and prestige, and to line the pockets of greedy pet shop owners. 'Breeding and selling wild animals as exotic pets is cruel and irresponsible. 'Wild animals of any species lead miserable lives as the pets of people who have little or no knowledge of how to care for them properly.
The IFAW said the conditions cause severe stress for the animals and can weaken immune systems and lead to risk of disease
The IFAW said the conditions cause severe stress for the animals and can weaken immune systems and lead to risk of disease
'Undoubtedly many of them are eventually abandoned when they become ill or grow too large and too strong for their owners to manage. 'It is particularly shocking to be breeding and selling endangered species because this puts a price on the animals' heads - and encourages people to want them as pets. 'As a result, in many cases exotic animals are caught from the wild - endangering the population as a whole.' NOAH, which stands for Nature Orientated Animal House, was established in 1999. Customers have to pay an entry fee of £4 to look around the shop.

One onlooker said: 'I was shocked to see so many endangered animals for sale. Particularly the penguins and crane - who would want those as a pet anyway? 'Most animals were quiet, as if they'd come to terms with their enforced captivity. Many are in tiny cages, and the owls are tightly fixed down so they can't fly. 'On occasion, a monkey would throw a noisy fit in its cage, and run around screaming, trying to escape. The animals looked sad.' 

Owner, Kenji Takahashi, 59, insists that he obeys all the rules of Japan. 'I may not agree with all the laws of Japan, but I must obey them,' he said. 'My premises may not be perfect and the space we have for each animal is not as big as we would sometimes like. 'But the same could be said for any zoo across the world. What I am trying to do is increase the love that humans have for exotic animals.

'If you keep tropical fish you are less likely to throw a cigarette in a river because you know how important the water quality is to the creatures that live there. 'I want to allow people to understand and experience these amazing creatures.' 

Our Media: 1 Million to Ban the Lion Trade Sign petition


Hundreds of South African lions are being slaughtered to make bogus sex potions for men. But we can stop this cruel trade by hitting the government where it hurts -- the tourism industry.

A global ban on tiger bone sales has traders hunting a new prize -- the majestic lions. Lions are farmed under appalling conditions in South Africa for "canned hunting", where rich tourists pay thousands to shoot them through fences. Now experts say lion bones from these killing farms are being exported to phony 'medicine' makers in Asia for record profits. Trade is exploding and experts fear that as prices rise, even wild lions -- with only 20,000 left in Africa -- will come under poaching attack.  Read More : secure.avaaz.org

CSI: The Wild - reporting on illegal wildlife trafficking - Environment - Scotsman.com

on Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The endangered Sumatran rhinoceros. Picture: AP
The endangered Sumatran rhinoceros. Picture: AP
THE illegal trafficking of wildlife is driving some species to near extinction. Now a team based at Edinburgh Zoo is using forensics straight out of a top US crime drama to help halt the sickening trade.

At the heart of Edinburgh Zoo, not far from the rhino enclosure, sits a gleaming white lab that could have come straight from one of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation TV shows. Like its fictional counterpart, it contains equipment for DNA profiling and sequencing and its elite scientists are at the heart of the fight against crime. But the victims Dr Rob Ogden and his colleague Dr Ross McEwing are faced with are not human, they are animals, and the $20bn global racket they are trying to halt involves the trafficking not of arms or drugs, but wildlife.

So lucrative is the market for exotic animals, and so low the risk of being caught, that some species are being driven to near extinction. Some animals, predominantly birds and reptiles, are being sold as pets. Others are being slaughtered for meat or body parts, which are used in pills or potions.
The pangolin, a scaly anteater whose meat is used for soup, and whose scales are believed to have medicinal properties, is being shipped out of south-east Asia by the crateload, and has been all but wiped out in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The WildGenes lab, where Ogden and McEwing are based, was built 18 months ago for conservation work at the zoo and beyond. When working for WildGenes, the pair, along with their colleague Dr Helen Senn, are involved in using DNA to monitor and influence breeding programmes, and in larger projects, such as the initiative to reintroduce beavers to Scotland.
Prior to its founding, the scientists were already directors of Trace, a non-governmental organisation which brings together forensic experts and enforcement agencies in an attempt to crack down on the trafficking of wildlife. In particular, they have spearheaded the ASEAN-WEN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Wildlife Enforcement Network) project, which aims to help countries in Southeast Asia tackle the illegal wildlife trade. Read more : scotsman.com

Endangered Sumatran Rhino Gives Birth in Indonesia

on Sunday, June 24, 2012

Jakarta - A critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros was born on Saturday at an Indonesian sanctuary, only the fourth birth in captivity in more than a century, boosting survival hopes for the species, say conservationists. 
This June 14, 2012, photo released by the International Rhino Foundation, shows Ratu, a Sumatran Rhinoceros, at the Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia. Ratu gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday, a rare event that has only happened three times in the last century, experts said on June 22, 2012. (AFP Photo/International Rhino Foundation/Benn Bryant)
"Ratu gave birth to a male baby at 00:45 on Saturday. Both the mother and the baby are all very well," conservationist Widodo Ramono, who works at a sanctuary on the southern tip of Sumatra island, told AFP.
The last three in-captivity births for Sumatran rhinos took place in the United States at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. The father of the newborn, Andalas, was himself the first Sumatran rhino delivered in captivity in 112 years. He was born in September 2001, according to the zoo.

Before Andalas, the latest Sumatran rhino born in captivity was in the Calcutta Zoo in India in 1889, according the Rhino Resource Centre, a British reference website. Andalas was brought to Indonesia to mate with Ratu, a female who grew up in the wild but wandered out of the forest and now lives at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park. Sumatran rhinos have suffered a 50% drop in population numbers over the past 20 years, largely due to poaching and loss of tropical habitat.

There are now believed to be fewer than 200 alive. Most reside in isolated pockets in Southeast Asia.
"Thank God, we are very grateful that all the delivery process went smoothly and naturally. We actually made some emergency preparation in case that Ratu need(ed) a surgery in delivering the baby," Indonesia forestry ministry's spokesperson Masyhud said. "It's really a big present for the Sumatran rhino breeding efforts as we know that this is a very rare species which have some difficulties in their reproduction," the ministry's spokesperson said.

Solitary and aggressive, the rhinos are rarely sighted in the wild and avoid even other members of their species except when females are ready to mate. "This is the first birth of a Sumatran rhino at a sanctuary in Indonesia," he told AFP. "Soon after the delivery, the mother began breastfeeding the baby," he added.
The US-based International Rhino Foundation executive director Susie Ellis said in a press release, published on Friday before the birth, that a veterinary team would immediately harvest placental cells that can be used to generate stem cells.

Stem cells have the potential to be useful for many purposes in the near future, including curing diseases and helping promote reproduction, it said. The head veterinarian Dedi Candra had closely monitored Ratu's pregnancy by weighing her weekly and conducting regular ultrasound exams, the release also said. Ratu and Andalas were paired in 2009 at the sanctuary, two years after Andalas was brought from the Cincinnati zoo for a breeding programme.

The 12-year-old lost her first pregnancy after two months and her second after less than a month. She gave birth after a 16-month pregnancy. Poaching is one of the biggest killers of Sumatran rhinos, whose horns are reputed to have medicinal properties.

But rhinos have also suffered from the destruction of their habitat. According to environmentalists, two million hectares of forests are lost every year in Indonesia. Andalas is the only remaining male Sumatran rhino at the Way Kambas sanctuary since Torgamba, another male, died last year. The sanctuary has three female Sumatran rhinos. Besides the Sumatran rhino, Indonesia is also the last refuge to the critically endangered Javan rhino, which conservationists believe number only 44, located in the Ujung Kulon National Park on the western-most tip of Java.

Source : SAPA

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