Mediterranean loggerhead turtles dying in waters off the Middle East, North Africa – via Herp Digest

Thousands of loggerhead turtles are killed annually in areas of Syria, Libya and Egypt and Tunisia where they travel to find food

Date: April 6, 2016

Source: University of Exeter

Thousands of loggerhead turtles are killed annually in areas of Syria, Libya and Egypt and Tunisia where they travel to find food, a new study led by researchers at the University of Exeter has highlighted.

Robin Snape, a postgraduate research student with the Marine Turtle Research Group at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Penryn Campus and a team of fellow conservation biologists found that many adult loggerhead turtles are migrating to areas of the Mediterranean where they are dying, trapped in fishing nets used by small scale fishing operations in Cyprus, the Middle East and North Africa.

The researchers tracked female turtles by satellite from Cyprus and provided new evidence that the turtles, rather than returning to the place of their birth to lay their eggs, will sometimes nest in a number of countries. Following breeding, females travel to foraging sites over an area covering the continental shelf of Cyprus, the Levant and North Africa sometimes up to 2,100km from their nesting sites.

Three of the 27 adult female loggerhead turtles that were tracked by using satellite devices over a ten year period from north Cyprus nesting beaches died within a year of being followed. The study, published in the journal Diversity and Distributions, shows researchers believe the turtles died as bycatch, a result of being caught accidentally in fishing nets.

This suggests an 11 per cent mortality rate per year, which is a higher rate than expected in a species that is thought to be very long lived. Turtles need to live longer so that they can produce enough offspring to keep the species going.

Robin Snape, who is based in northern Cyprus, said: "The mortality rate and level of bycatch in these countries is very concerning. There is poor understanding of the need for conservation and of the impacts that fishing practices can cause. This is particularly difficult to manage when local people are dependent on fish for their food and livelihood. Wider studies are needed into fishing practices, the exact methods being used and into how we can mitigate bycatch. Although this is difficult at the moment when countries are at war or politically unstable, Cyprus as an EU member state is well situated to address its significant sea turtle bycatch."

Project leader, Professor Brendan Godley added: "Whilst the Mediterranean loggerhead turtle population is dependent on the continuation of decades of intense conservation work at core nesting sites in Greece, Cyprus and in Turkey, we now need to move into the water to secure the future of the species mitigating threats from fisheries and oil and gas related seismic activity. Encouragingly, we have been involved in some recent work elsewhere that has shown that the simple and inexpensive measure of putting LED lights on nets can reduce turtle bycatch significantly. Our knowledge of the impacts of seismic activity is embryonic."

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

Robin T. E. Snape, Annette C. Broderick, Burak A. Çiçek, Wayne J. Fuller, Fiona Glen, Kimberley Stokes, Brendan J. Godley. Shelf life: neritic habitat use of a turtle population highly threatened by fisheries. Diversity and Distributions, 2016; DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12440

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University of Exeter. "Mediterranean loggerhead turtles dying in waters off the Middle East, North Africa: Thousands of loggerhead turtles are killed annually in areas of Syria, Libya and Egypt and Tunisia where they travel to find food." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 April 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160406123946.htm>.

Concept of hibernation challenged: Bat species is first mammal found hibernating at constant warm temperatures

Date:

March 10, 2015

Source:

American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Summary:

The Middle East, with temperate winters, was until recently considered an unlikely host for hibernating mammals. Now new research is set to change the very concept of hibernation. Researchers discovered two species of the mouse-tailed bat that hibernate at the unusually warm and constant temperature of about 68°F in caves in Israel's Great Rift Valley.

Continued ...

Cheetah smuggling driving wild population to extinction, report says

Rising demand for luxury pets in the Gulf states taking gruesome toll as two-thirds of snatched cubs are dying en route

Damian Carrington

The Guardian, Tuesday 15 July 2014 18.39 BST

The rising trade in cheetahs for luxury pets in the Middle East is helping to drive critical populations of the wild cats to extinction, according to new research. The report also reveals the gruesome toll of the trade, with up to two-thirds of the cheetah cubs being smuggled across the war-torn Horn of Africa dying en route. However, the nations at both ends of the trade have now agreed that urgent action is needed.

Cheetahs, famous as the world’s fastest land animal, have lost about 90% of their population over the last century as their huge ranges in Africa and Asia have been taken over by farmland. Fewer than 10,000 remain and numbers are falling. There is an ancient tradition of using trained cheetahs as royal hunting animals in Africa but, more recently, a growing demand for status-symbol pets in the Gulf states has further reduced populations.

Continued

Stone Age people may have battled against a zombie apocalypse

The zombie apocalypse may be much more than a plot device exploited by modern horror movies. In fact, fears about the walking dead may go back all the way to the Stone Age. 

Archaeologists working in Europe and the Middle East have recently unearthed evidence of a mysterious Stone Age "skull-smashing" culture, according to New Scientist. Human skulls buried underneath an ancient settlement in Syria were found detached from their bodies with their faces smashed in. Eerily, it appears that the skulls were exhumed and detached from their bodies several years after originally being buried. It was then that they were smashed in and reburied separate from their bodies.

According to Juan José Ibañez of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona, the finding could suggest that these Stone Age "skull-smashers" believed the living were under some kind of threat from the dead. Perhaps they believed that the only way of protecting themselves was to smash in the corpses' faces, detach their heads and rebury them apart from their bodies.

But here's the creepy thing: many of the 10,000-year-old skulls appear to have been separated from their spines long after their bodies had already begun to decompose. Why would this skull-smashing ritual be performed so long after individuals had died? Did they only pose a threat to the living long after their original burial and death?

Continued:  http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/stone-age-people-may-have-battled-against-a-zombie-apocalypse

Wildlife trade – Smuggling big cats to the Middle East

Wildlife trade –A real threat to Africa’s wildlife October 2011: It is estimated that the illegal trade in wildlife is the second largest illegal market in the world, after drugs. Immense and increasingly sophisticated illegal trade in wildlife parts and live wildlife, coupled with antiquated enforcement methods, are decimating much of the world’s wildlife on a scale never before seen.

Wildlife Conservation Society conservationist Elizabeth Bennett. says that much of the trade is driven by wealthy East Asian markets that have a seemingly insatiable appetite for wildlife parts.

'We are rapidly losing big, spectacular animals'
According to her report, organised crime syndicates using sophisticated smuggling operations have penetrated even previously secure wildlife populations. Some of the elaborate methods include: hidden compartments in shipping containers; rapidly changing of smuggling routes; and the use of e-commerce whose locations are difficult to detect.

Live wildlife trade to the Middle East
Charity Born Free Ethiopia have set up a wildlife rescue centre to care for some of the animals being confiscated from traders and others in Ethiopia.

Stephen Brend, Project Director of Born Free Ethiopia, comments on wildlife trade issues: “The thinking behind establishing Ensessakotteh, our Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Education Centre in Ethiopia, was not just to save animals from being kept, often illegally, in appalling conditions. If we are to be truly successful, in addition to saving those animals, we also need to stop wildlife trafficking full stop. Recent news suggests we have our work more than cut out for us."

Somalia a hub for wildlife trade
UN forces in Somalia recently confiscated two lion cubs that were already on a ship leaving the country. Born Free Foundation was prepared to help with their rescue and relocation, but the UN handled the situation and the lions were moved to South Africa. Unfortunately, Somalia is so lawless we have no real idea how many animals pass through there.

Demand for cheetah cubs
We do know, however, there is a huge demand for cheetah cubs in the Middle East. At least 20 have been smuggled from Ethiopia this year – and these are the ones we are aware of. There is no way the already-small wild population can withstand losses like that, so the situation is critical.

We are continuing to work with the Wildlife Conservation Authority in Ethiopia to try to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement both within the country and at border points. As the rescue of four little cheetahs in January shows, the system can work. We just need it to work more often.

Born Free Ethiopia is currently raising funds to rescue four more large, male lions and bring them to Ensessakotteh – find out more and help here      
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cheetah-for-sale.html

Critically Endangered Northern bald ibis rear two healthy young

Syrian unrest doesn't hamper recovery of Middle East's rarest bird

July 2011. Conservationists have feared that Syria's current political unrest may have affected the fortunes of the northern bald ibis - currently the most threatened bird in the Middle East with just one breeding pair left.

There are just 3 remaining wild Northern Bald ibis in Syria. Credit RSPBimages.com

But counter to the trepidation, for the first time in the last three years the remaining pair has successfully reared two healthy young, which have left the nest and have begun their migration to the highlands of Ethiopia.

Teetering on the verge of extinction
Chris Bowden is the RSPB's international species recovery officer, coordinating the northern bald ibis programme for BirdLife International. He said: "This species has teetered on the brink of extinction in the Middle East for several years, but we're delighted to report that the fledging of two chicks has reignited our hopes for the recovery of this bird." The Syrian Desert Commission has successfully protected the birds. The northern bald ibis - named for its distinctive bald-headed appearance - is distantly related to storks, herons and spoonbills.

Symbol of the Pharaohs
Chris Bowden added: "This species has been an important cultural and religious icon in the Middle East and it had special significance to the Egyptian Pharaohs, but now it has become a symbol of optimism too.

Tracing their migration
"As we trace their migration route across the Middle East, we have colleagues across the region poised to monitor them on their journey. However, difficulties, such as petrol shortages are confounding our efforts. One of our Yemeni colleagues was forced to wait nine-hours for fuel before starting to search for the birds!"

Feared extinct until 2002

The wild population of northern bald ibis was feared extinct in the Middle East, when in 2002 birds were found nesting in the mountains of Syria, near Palmyra - after not being seen in Syria for 70 years. Since then conservationists have sought to give the birds protection by working with local people and by using state-of-the-art technology to track the birds' movements. This research has identified that the Syrian adult birds head to the highlands of Ethiopia to spend the winter, but where the juveniles go still remains a mystery.

Critically Endangered
The Critically Endangered northern bald ibis was once widespread across North Africa and the Middle East. Aside from Syria, the only other nesting population occurs in Morocco, where just over 100 breeding pairs still occur in two coastal locations near Agadir, on the Atlantic coast. The outlying birds in Syria will be an important addition but only if the population can be sustained.

Two of the three adult birds carry tracking devices and their daily progress can be followed by visiting the following website: www.rspb.org.uk/ibistracking and for more background visit www.iagnbi.org

Captive birds released in 2010

Despite apparently breeding well, and rearing plnety of chicks, the colony has dwindled from 7 birds in 2002 to just 3 in 2011. So in 2010 2 birds from the small captive population in Turkey were relased alongside the Syrian birds, but sadly it appears that they didn't survive their first winter migration, though it is possible that they have just got lost - Their transmitters stopped working last autumn. The lone chick reared by the wild birds in 2010 was found dead during the migration - He was very undernourished.

Two birds have fledged from the nest in 2011 and they both seemed healthy when they left on their migration, so it is hoped that they will survive their winter migration.

Their were unconfirmed reports of 3 unringed birds spotted in Ethiopa last winter - It is just possible that they are juveniles that fledged in 2007 in Syria but have not (yet) returned there.