South China Tiger spotted in wild
Permalink: South China Tiger spotted in wild
It’s not often we see good news about endangered species being spotted, but it does happen - as recently demonstrated by sightings of what appears to be the South China Tiger:
Rare China tiger seen in the wild
A rare South China tiger has been seen in the wild for the first time in decades, according to reports from China’s official Xinhua news agency.
The sighting, which came after a farmer handed in some pictures, surprised researchers who feared the tiger was extinct.
Experts have now confirmed that the photographs do show a young, wild South China tiger.
The tiger is critically endangered and was last sighted in the wild in 1964.
The farmer, who took the pictures at the beginning of this month, lives in Shaanxi province.
Experts have said that no more than 20 to 30 of the tigers were believed to remain in the wild, but none have been spotted in decades, with many fearing that a small number of captive-born tigers were all that remained.
Bones recovered from gorilla slaughter
Permalink: Bones recovered from gorilla slaughter
Bones belonging to a mother gorilla, missing after a family of mountain gorillas slaughtered in July have been recovered.
Her infant has not been found, but wildlife officials are not optimistic of the young gorilla surviving.
The mother and infant were part of a 12 strong family of mountain gorillas, living in the north west of the Congo, which were attacked by gunmen in July with at least 4 confirmed shot dead at the time.
Sickeningly, it has been suggested that they were shot for the sake of it, as poachers would normally be expected to recover parts of the bodies for sale - something that did not happen here.
It is estimated that there are less than 400 mountain gorillas alive in the wild - and the death toll from human encroachment this year al already 9.
The plight of the mountain gorillas illustrates both the worst and the best about human beings - the worst in the wanton killing of an intelligent and endangered species, but the best in the heroic efforts of park rangers to put up with a difficult job in order to protect them, for all humanity.
Yangtze river dolphin could be extinct
Permalink: Yangtze river dolphin could be extinct
A study aiming to find out more about the Baiji - a rare freshwater dolphin in the Yangtze river - has failed to locate any sign of the species.
Last spotted in 2004, a six week acoustic survey at the end of 2006 was unable to find any trace of the animal, and have since reported in Society Biology Letters journals that the species is “likely to be extinct”.
The species (Lipotes vexillifer) was the only remaining member of the Lipotidae, an ancient mammal family that is understood to have separated from other marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, about 40-20 million years ago.
“The Yangtze river dolphin was a remarkable mammal that separated from all other species over 20 million years ago,” Dr Turvey explained.
“This extinction represents the disappearance of a complete branch of the evolutionary tree of life and emphasises that we have yet to take full responsibility in our role as guardians of the planet.”
If confirmed, it would be the first extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years.
Shock Bonobo extinction threat?
Permalink: Shock Bonobo extinction threat?
The Bonobo - a species of Chimpanzee made famous for the fact that their societies are founded on sexual relations - have been found shockingly absent from their major reserve, the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Where once they had been easily found and encountered, researchers found nothing but a few physical remains, and a single bonobo call in the trees. No live animals were found in the national park.
In a country racked by civil war and armed conflicts with neighbouring African States, Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation, which runs the national parks in the Congo Basin, has been completely unable to cope. The dense jungle has become a hiding ground for armed milita groups, and rampant poverty in areas of conflict has made the Bonobos easy prey for the bushmeat trade.
Estimates of the Bonobo population are now being made at around 10,000 to 50,000 individuals, but with numbers