To protect threatened beetle, entomologists hope new colony takes hold

JULY 7, 2020

by Rodger Gwiazdowski, University of Massachusetts Amherst

As thousands of hopeful coronavirus shut-ins look forward to heading to Atlantic beaches for the July 4 holiday, University of Massachusetts Amherst entomologist Rodger Gwiazdowski and colleagues are also heading to the beach—but they'll visit the last quiet natural one protected by the National Park Service at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

There, Gwiazdowski and a team of biologists will visit part of the Gateway National Recreation Area to survey the beach above the tide line for what they hope is the beginning of a new population of the federally threatened Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle. In early May they had released almost 200 grub-like larvae at Sandy Hook, which is about 15 miles south of Staten Island with a clear view of Coney Island. On their early July re-visit, the researchers hope to find the larvae emerged as adult beetles.

In collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies, Gwiazdowski and colleagues including Joe Elkinton at UMass Amherst plan three years of relocating larvae that are in the last growth stage before they pupate into adults. "We'll do two pre-surveys in early July," Gwiazdowski says. "If we find some, we'll go back later to see if we can determine a peak number."

He points out, "These insects used to be found on seaward beaches all up and down the East coast but their numbers crashed after 1945. In the 1990s, some were left on Martha's Vineyard and, a few of those were moved to nearby Monomoy Island off Cape Cod. "Now, the Monomoy population has exploded and we're seeing what a pre-discovery population looked like before Henry Hudson and other Europeans arrived."

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As Grauer’s gorillas cling to survival, new population found

by Sharon Guynup on 26 October 2017

Since 1994, civil war has left over 5 million people dead and wildlife decimated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Today, heavily armed militia and illegal miners prospect for “conflict minerals” needed for modern electronic devices made and sold in the U.S. and around the globe.

Hunters have targeted Grauer’s gorillas to feed miners and militias: in just two decades, these great apes have declined by 77 percent. A 2016 survey found only 3,800 Grauer’s gorillas, the world’s largest primates, still hanging on in the most rugged parts of eastern DRC.

The good news: a bold group of scientists, under the protection of armed rangers, has found 50 previously uncounted Grauer’s gorillas in DRC’s Maiko National Park. And more may exist within the 4,000 square-mile park.

The bad news: the US House of Representatives voted last month to defund the “Conflict Mineral Rule,” which required US companies to report where conflict minerals, such as coltan used in cell phones and computers, were sourced. The Senate has yet to take action on the legislation.

A mere 15 Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) were believed to live inside Africa’s Maiko National Park. But biologist Damien Caillaud suspected otherwise. He felt sure the preserve’s nearly-impassable jungle could shelter more of the Critically Endangered great apes — hidden in deep gorges in the shadow of precipitous peaks.

Continued  

Secret Population of Orangutans Found

A population of 200 of the world's rarest orangutans was found tucked away in the forests of the island of Borneo, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

All subspecies of Bornean orangutans are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But scientists estimate just 3,000 to 4,500 individuals are left in the subspecies known as Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, making them the most severely threatened.

Two-thousand of those live in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, researchers say. The previously unknown population was found by conservationists near the Batang park, in an area covering about 54 square miles (140 square kilometers).

Local communities apparently had been aware of the apes, but no major research projects had been undertaken in the area until February, when conservations with WCS and other groups surveyed the region. They found a total of 995 orangutan nests, including fresh nests that indicated the rare population was recently using the area.

Previously, researchers studying fresh nests left by wild orangutans in Indonesia found they are incredibly complex, made in the crooks of large branches. The orangutans bend and interweave living branches about an inch (3 centimeters) wide to form the nest.

"They are just bent. They can actually stay living and later on you can go back to them and see they are like an archeological artifact of all these strangely bent items," said Roland Ennos of the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, when the study was published last year in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "It's very similar to weaving a basket, they have to break the branches, weave them together and form a nice, strong, rigid structure."

The Sarawak state government is now mulling new protections (including new national parks) for the area where the hidden orangutans were documented.

http://news.yahoo.com/secret-population-orangutans-found-121844744.html

Gharial discovery update – Second study finds more

December 2010. After Wildlife Extra published an item about the discovery of a new population of Gharials in India, we were contacted by Tanmoy Ghosh of Irebel Asia, who organised the expedition to search for the gharials, with details of a second expedition that he had recently completed.

Tanmoy writes:

After completing the first phase of our gharial search expedition in a 220-km stretch of the Hooghly, we received many reports of the presence of gharials in that stretch and also other locations in the river. Most importantly, we suspected that they are breeding in the Hooghly, so a more comprehensive and thorough search was needed to get a complete picture of the status of gharials throughout the river stretch from Farakka in the north to Tribeni in the south.

Mass awareness campaign - Avoid fishing net entanglement & collect data
As information about gharial sightings was coming from all over the stretch we were monitoring, we were confident of their presence, so for the second effort we focused on mass awareness campaigning, especially in fishing villages near the riverbanks. Because almost all recorded gharial deaths are due to accidental entanglement in fishing nets, we wanted to target and try to minimize this factor, as well address general ignorance about the gharial, as top priorities. Collecting gharial sighting data, locating new habitat areas, and creating a new base of local people who could give us field reports on gharials were our secondary priorities.

173 anecdotal reports of Gharial & 2 sightings
During our month-long second expedition in a 500km stretch of the Hooghly, and concurrent monitoring through our informer base, we collected 173 anecdotal reports of the presence of gharials and made two direct sightings. We campaigned at every ferry ghat and in almost every fishing village along the riverbanks, distributing leaflets, information brochures and posters. As a result, we are assured that local people have great interest in these animals and no intent to harm them. Our work shows that implementing new, gharial-safe fishing practices, as well as keeping up mass awareness efforts, are the key to ensuring that local people have the tools and knowledge to support the gharial's survival in the Hooghly.

Main threats

In our previous study, we noted that most of the gharials are dying in this range due to accidental entanglement in fishing nets and to general ignorance. So our first priority for this second study phase was to educate those living or working near the gharial habitat areas and most likely to be encountering or involved in the conflicts, especially members of the fishing communities. Our second priority was to locate new gharial habitats along the 500km stretch of the Hooghly.

We stopped at literally every ferry ghat, fishing community, and village along the 500-km stretch to spread the gharial conservation message. We targeted gathering places, such as fish markets, to maximize the number of people we reached. Overwhelmingly, everyone we spoke with was curious about the gharials and our study work and was eager to provide whatever information he had. A few individuals, especially those fishermen who had had direct encounters with gharials, were initially wary of involving themselves in our effort due to fear of possible enforcement actions by the Forest Department. Once we'd gained their confidence, they related stories of gharials swimming

Wildlife rich islandsWithin the study area we located several important habitat areas, including inaccessible islands, that are supporting thousands of migratory and resident birds; mammals, including smooth-coated otters, jackals, Bengal foxes, jungle cats, fishing cats, and dolphins; and reptiles such as terrapins and tortoises. We even received reports of a python on one island. These islands also appeared to be suitable gharial nesting sites.

Throughout the study area we gathered a total 173 reports of gharial sightings over the last 25 years. Reports from earlier in the period are less numerous, perhaps because there truly were fewer gharials or perhaps because witnesses had died, moved away, or were otherwise unavailable to us

Among the 173 gharials reported, 25 had died due to a number of causes - from entanglement in fishing nets to gunshot. A few of the deaths have no attributed cause. In several cases of reported fishing net entanglement, the fishermen disposed of the bodies in the river to avoid the threat of harassment from police.

Recommendations
Most of the time gharial deaths are due to fishing practices (including accidental entrapment in various fishing devices), so research and development of gharial- friendly fishing tools and practices is vitally important to save the species from extinction.

Vigorous mass awareness campaigning throughout the 500km stretch is urgently needed.

Fishing net compensation or insurance scheme should be developed as quickly as possible to save the gharial from intentional killing (fishermen often kill ensnared gharials in order to save their nets).

More detailed research is needed to identify gharials' breeding and places so they can be protected from human disturbances and appropriately managed long-term.

Alternative income sources for fishermen, such as controlled and responsible wildlife tourism should be developed for fishermen in the gharial-inhabited zone.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/gharial-india.html