Category Archives: Conservation

Protecting the Giant Sable Antelope

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This blog post continues the series on protecting endangered species by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

In July 2012, AllAfrica.com reported that the Angolan Ministry of Environment and its partners began protecting the Giant Sable Antelope in Cangandala Park and Loando Natural Reserve from extinction. This year, the Ministry’s goal is to improve the management of the Loando Reserve, which holds about one hundred of these antelope. Other measures to protect these animals include the fencing of a sensitive area of Cangandala Park

and making water holes more readily available to the 20 antelopes that were moved from the Loando Reserve.

Giant Sable AntelopeThe Giant Sable Antelope is currently found in the wild only in these two parks in Angola. The Giant Sable is actually a little smaller than its cousin, the Sable Antelope, but has horns up to 5 feet long, thus the term “giant.” It is protected under Angolan law and is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service (1976) and Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (1975). In 1970, the population of Giant Sable was estimated at 2,000-3,000; however, today only the 120 antelopes at the two reserves are known to exist outside of zoos. The 2004 publication of “A Certain Curve of Horn” by John Frederick Walker tells the story of his search for the Giant Sable Antelope after only a few sightings had been reported in its former range. For more information, click here.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Tiger Conservation Partnership

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This is the third installment in a three-part guest blog series by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. This post is by the Smart Patrol. Check out the other two posts about two endangered species, the kiwi bird and Panamanian Golden Frog.

Protecting the tigers living in national parks and other protected areas across the 13 tiger-range countries is a big job – and it requires coordination between responsible government agencies international development and enforcement bodies, and nongovernmental conservation groups. As part of the Global Tiger Initiative, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (SCBI) Tiger Conservation Partnership works with all of those entities to protect tigers from poaching, habitat loss and other threats. The largest effort that SCBI has led with its partners over the past two years has focused on training.

Several training courses were developed by SCBI and its partners, at the request of tiger-range countries, to help patrol teams monitor their protected areas as effectively as possible. The courses specifically introduced protected area management teams (the teams included managers and rangers) from different countries to smart patrolling. Smart patrolling, also known as law enforcement monitoring, is a method of monitoring activity within a national park, reserve or any other protected area using global positioning system devices in the field, and then uploading data recorded in the field to a software called Management Information System (MIST). Each course included an introduction to enforcement best practices and technology in a classroom setting, and a practical portion, which allowed all the participants to practice using the technology in the field.

During the courses they practiced recording signs of poaching, encroachment, legal human activity, tigers and tiger prey in the field using GPS devices while on patrol. When the teams returned to their protected areas and started collecting data using GPS devices, their

data would then be given to their patrol headquarters. Patrol headquarters in each country would then take the information and convert it into maps using MIST. The maps help managers identify hotspots of illegal activity, as well as safer areas, where they can increase or decrease the intensity of their enforcement interventions.

Regional Smart Patrol Training Course hosted in Nepal in February 2012

Regional Smart Patrol Training Course hosted in Nepal in February 2012

The most recent courses were held in Thailand and Nepal. The January 2011 course in Thailand was held in Bangkok and the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary with Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the World Bank Institute and others. Teams from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam traveled to Thailand for the training. The February 2012 training course was held in Kathmandu and Chitwan National Park. SCBI’s Tiger Conservation Partnership worked with Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, the National Trust for Nature Conservation, the World Wildlife Fund, the World Bank Institute and other partners. Teams from Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Russia attended the course in Nepal.

The training courses were designed to help much more than just the teams that came to the training. When the teams finished their training they were experts in smart patrolling. They returned to their protected areas and shared what they had learned with the rest of their colleagues. So the information from the courses reached many more people than just the teams that attended them. In addition, through a competitive process, SCBI provided follow up grants to teams from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Bangladesh, Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation, and WCS in Laos and Thailand, working with the responsible government agency in each country, to adapt the training to national conditions and translate it into local languages. The teams are now working on implementing smart patrolling in their protected areas, which will help reduce incidents of poaching and support other initiatives dedicated to cracking down on wildlife trafficking. SCBI’s Tiger Conservation Partnership keeps in touch with the teams that attended the training courses through a listserv, and encourages rangers or managers to ask questions that they have through it. The training courses and listserv have helped foster a sense of community between SCBI and its many partners around the world, and are helping to protect tigers.

During the rest of 2012 and early 2013, SCBI’s Tiger Conservation Partnership will be working on a comprehensive curriculum for protected area management, the Core Learning Program, covering not only Smart Patrolling but also an integrated series of other topics essential for protected areas with tigers. As part of this effort, SCBI is joining a consortium of non-governmental organizations which are developing an enhanced law enforcement monitoring system called SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Resource Tool) which is designed to replace MIST with a more powerful, yet easy to implement system. In addition, two tiger-range countries, Bangladesh and Malaysia, have been selected for intensive additional work to develop a Pilot National Program designed to address all of the countries’ capacity building needs identified in their respective National Tiger Recovery Priorities. Field testing of the new Core Learning courses will also be part of these pilot programs. SCBI is also providing financial assistance to the new South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network – complementing startup funding provided by

the State Department and other donors – to enhance cross-border wildlife enforcement.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Racing Against Time to Save Frogs

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This is the second installment in a three-part guest blog series by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.  Read the first post about the endangered kiwi bird here.

The critically endangered Panamanian Golden Frog (Atelopus zeteki)

The critically endangered Panamanian Golden Frog (Atelopus zeteki)

Poised delicately upon a leaf at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, it’s easy to see just what a gem the vividly colored Panamanian golden frog is. Once abundant in Panama’s rainforests, this celebrated frog is one of hundreds of amphibian species that has been nearly wiped out by a microscopic predator called chytrid fungus.

This voracious disease has contributed to the dramatic decline and even extinction of a wide variety of frog species found in the United States, Australia, and Central and South America. In mountainous parts of Central America, chytrid has wiped out half of the species in the area and has reduced the abundance of surviving species to about 20 percent of what they were previously. Chytrid is continuing to spread quickly, sweeping southwards through Central America and throughout the Northern Andes of South America.

So, what’s being done to save the world’s frogs? The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is taking a stand against the eradication of these charismatic amphibians both in Panama and around the world. Led by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, in partnership with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Zoo New England, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Houston Zoo, El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center and Defenders of Wildlife, project participants are working tirelessly in harsh climates to collect the few remaining healthy individuals from up to 20 priority species and breed them in a captive environment.

“If we want to save these species, we will have to ramp up capacity a lot faster than anticipated,” said Brian Gratwicke of SCBI. “We thought we had some breathing space, but in fact, we may already be too late for some species.”

The individual frogs brought into captivity in Panama as part of the rescue project are tested and treated for chytrid before becoming part of the collection. The frogs are kept in tanks in shipping containers that

have been transformed into biosecure rescue pods. Researchers then have to learn about what it takes to breed each individual species, as the conditions that each requires differs, sometimes dramatically. The rescue project in this way effectively functions as an ark—a safe haven for the animals as the wave of chytrid spreads through their homeland.

In the meantime, SCBI is collaborating with scientists at other organizations and universities to look for a cure to treat the disease in amphibians in the wild. One project is looking at whether researchers can protect one species by using the probiotics from the skin of another species that can survive chytrid. Another is looking at the genetics of chytrid and whether researchers can breed for chytrid resistance. These efforts may ensure that the rescue project’s captive frogs may one day be returned to the wild to continue the survival of their species.

One of the challenges for the researchers involved with the rescue project is the discovery of new species. While looking for individuals that belong to the priority species that the project has identified, scientists have discovered what they believe are three new species—two Pristimantis and one Craugastor. These species may go extinct at the hands of chytrid before they are even scientifically described, so rescue project researchers are trying to decide what resources to devote to saving species that are new to science.

For more information about the Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project please visit http://amphibianrescue.org/.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

 

Birds of a feather flock to New Zealand

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This is the first installment of a three-part series of guest blogs by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on endangered species.

Feathers are quite the fashion asset, especially if you are an endangered bird like the kiwi. On October 12, 2012 Smithsonian’s National Zoo Director Dennis Kelly repatriated the Zoo’s kiwi feathers to the New Zealand Embassy in a Maori ceremony. Watch the ceremony here.

A member of one of the world’s most endangered species—the brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli)—hatched at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Bird House.

A member of one of the world’s most endangered species—the brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli)—hatched at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Bird House.

Kiwi feathers are a critical component in constructing traditional Maori feather cloaks. The ceremonial cloaks made out of the soft brown kiwi feathers are highly prized. Each cloak is given a name and passed down for generations. As one of the leading kiwi conservation programs, we were eager to donate the molting feathers of our kiwis. Kathy Brader, the Zoo’s lead kiwi keeper, explained the cultural importance of the kiwi, saying “This is a way of immortalizing our birds. It offers a means of involving them directly in conservation and cultural recovery efforts, and it takes very little work on everyone’s part. It’s a classic win-win situation.”

Working closely with the New Zealand Embassy and New Zealand Department of Conservation, we strive to maintain and conserve the well-being of the world’s kiwi population. Along with keeping the world studbook of more than 53 kiwis in 13 institutions worldwide, Brader oversees all kiwi breeding outside of New Zealand. Under her care and instruction, the National Zoo has hatched seven kiwi chicks—four males and three females.

Kiwi Feather Gifting Ceremony at the Auckland Zoo - October 2012

Kiwi Feather Gifting Ceremony at the Auckland Zoo - October 2012

The National Zoo and the Smithsonian

Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) are also pioneering revolutionary methods in kiwi husbandry. In development with the onsite breeding

at the National Zoo, the Smithsonian opened the Kiwi Science Center at SCBI in Front Royal, Virginia. The new state-of-the-art building has specially designed pens and habitats for six pairs of kiwi.

Thanks to Brader’s extensive work, the international kiwi program has grown immensely. Conservation efforts continue with the Zoo and SCBI’s new breeding science program for kiwis. This program will focus on studying the behavior of and boosting the population of kiwis using advances in reproductive technologies.

Our efforts to save these rare birds were recently recognized by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. For her commitment to brown kiwi breeding and management in North America, Brader won the 2012 Plume Award from the Avian Scientific Advisory for Exceptional Individual Achievement in Avian Husbandry. As our studies continue, we hope to become the first to pioneer artificial insemination methods in kiwi and to further increase genetic diversity in human care.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

 

Protecting the Black-eared Mantella

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Today’s story by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is about a critically endangered frog, the Black-eared Mantella.

Black-eared Mantella (Mantella milotympanum)

Black-eared Mantella (Mantella milotympanum)

The Mantella Milotympanum or Black-eared Mantella is a critically endangered frog from Madagascar forests now only known from a few fragmented

sites. Habitat destruction due to timber harvest, expanded agriculture and settlements and fires are the largest threat most endemic flora and fauna of Madagascar face. Additionally, collection of wild frogs and other animals for the pet trade has resulted in significant depletion of many species and has put the Black-eared Mantella on the brink of extinction. This colorful species lives in forest habitats near swamps. The eggs are laid on land, the larvae are washed into the swamp by rain and as adults they live in the forest. The Black-eared Mantella does not reside on any protected area or reserve, so the future is bleak for this jewel of nature. For further information, check out this site.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Saving the Majestic Caracal

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Today’s post by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is about the caracal, an incredible cat. It was provided by a member of the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan.

Photo credit: Malik al Owaji of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

Photo credit: Malik al Owaji of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

The majestic caracal can actually jump fast enough and high enough to catch a bird in flight! The nocturnal cat is very shy and was last seen in 1995. In 2008, Jordan’s competent environmental NGO, The Royal Society for the Conservation

of

Nature (RSCN), installed cameras in Dana Nature Reserve. In the last year, the night cameras have identified five animals. The RSCN and the Rangers (trained by the U.S. Forest Service, Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency) are keeping the cats in the wild by assuring that the cats have prey and do not get poached from the Reserve.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

The Black Capped Petrel

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Today’s story by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is about the Black Capped Petrel.

Black Capped Petrel

Black Capped Petrel

The Black Capped Petrel is known to nest only in mountain cliff borrows on the border of Haiti and Dominican Republic and possibly Dominica and Cuba. It is listed as endangered and thought to have a population of about 5,000, though exact numbers are not know. It ranges over the ocean off the coasts of the eastern U.S. south through the Caribbean Sea feeding on fish, invertebrate swarms, fauna associated with Sargassum seaweed reefs and squid. Recently a young black capped petrel was rescued off of a third floor ledge of Banque de la République d’Haiti in downtown Port-Au-Prince by an enthusiastic group of conservationists who had only a few days before

heard that such a bird existed. After careful handling and all day feedings, within two days the bird was taken to a rocky beach and received an emotional send off as it flew out to sea.

For more information click here.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent

the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Protecting the Bali Mynah

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In addition to the Cat Ba langur blog post by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, we have

three upcoming posts on endangered species. The first is the Bali Mynah, a starling with seriously low numbers.

Bali Mynah, a starling with seriously low numbers.

Bali Mynah, a starling with seriously low numbers.

The Bali Mynah (starling) is critically endangered because it has a small range in only one area of the island of Bali, Indonesia, and has been intensely pouched for the caged bird trade. It is thought that only 115 birds remain in the wild.  The Bali Mynah is being captive bred in such places as the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute near Front Royal, Virginia, and some captive bred birds have been released and are thriving in West Bali National Park in Indonesia. It is a bird of both savannah and open forest areas, and often nests in palm trees.

Further information may be found here.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

 

Save the Cat Ba Langur!

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Today’s guest blog is by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the United States Department of State. Check out their website, Facebook page, and Twitter page for more information and to connect with the bureau!

The winning mural created by artist Do Ngoc DuyenDid you know there are less than 70 Cat Ba langurs left in the world today and all of them live on Cat Ba Island in Vietnam? The

Cat Ba langur population was thriving in the 1960s, with an estimated 3,000 individuals, but poachers seeking “monkey balm,” a form of traditional medicine, nearly drove this monkey to extinction. When the Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project (CBLCP) began in 2000, there were only 53 Cat Ba langurs remaining. Today, due in large part to the CBLCP’s work, the residents of Cat Ba Island have said “no” to langur poaching.

The Cat Ba langur

The Cat Ba langur

The Cat Ba langur population is beginning to recover, but the work is not done! The U.S.Embassy in Hanoi has partnered with the CBLCP to raise awareness throughout all of Vietnam of the need to protect this critically endangered part of Vietnam’s natural heritage. In August, concerned citizens from far and wide in Vietnam submitted mural designs to the Embassy’s “Cat Ba National Park Mural Contest,” and in September, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear announced Do Ngoc Duyen, from Ho Chi Minh City, the winner of the contest. Mr. Duyen’s mural

will be recreated on the front entrance of Cat Ba National Park, home to the last remaining Cat Ba langurs, where it will welcome the thousands or tourist that visit the park each year.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Maldives National Day

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By Esther Weon, Student Ambassador at the USA Pavilion at the buying viagra

t=”_blank”>Yeosu World Expo.

When first told that the Maldives’ National Day ceremonies would be held today at the Expo Hall, only a few token phrases that I vaguely remembered from middle school geography came to mind—archipelago, tropical, islands. Apart from these buzz words, I was a little ashamed to admit that I wasn’t completely sure where exactly in the world the Maldives were located.

As I found out soon enough during the ceremony at the Expo Hall, the Republic of Maldives is an island nation off the southwestern coast of India. It is a chain of twenty-six atolls, whose pristine beaches, vibrant coral reefs, quaint pier-side bungalows, and sapphire-blue waters make the entire country look like one giant screensaver. The national day ceremonies consisted of a line-up of traditional Maldivian performances, courtesy of half a dozen colorfully dressed dancers twirling with colorful pottery and traditional Maldivian drums.

But despite all the flashy costumes and the lighthearted lilting music, what struck me the most about the national day ceremony were the Maldives Foreign Ambassador’s opening comments about his tiny, but breathtaking, nation. As one of the countries most susceptible to rising sea levels brought on by climate change, the Maldives are facing a slew of environmental challenges. The Ambassador’s discussion of these problems was made all the more poignant by his desperation to protect and preserve his country’s gorgeous landscapes and equally beautiful culture. The longer the world waits to address climate change aggressively, the more likely it is that the Maldives, the country of screensavers, will in fact be visible only in screensavers.

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.