Victoria's Otway koalas: 'If we don’t intervene, they will die a painful death'

Koalas around Cape Otway, south-west of Melbourne, are facing a struggle for survival that will persist unless a long-term solution can be agreed on

Koalas in Cape Otway, Victoria, are captured and tracked (and, controversially, in some cases euthanised) in a bid to control population. Link to video

Oliver Milman

Monday 28 September 2015 02.23 

If you’re keen on spotting a wild koala, you can improve your chances by gazing at the eucalypts that host the largest of the marsupial species, in the Otways of Victoria.

The koalas around Cape Otway, a good three-hour drive south-west of Melbourne, off the famed Great Ocean Road, can weigh in at 14kg – roughly double the size of koalas found in Queensland.

But something is terribly amiss in this koala population. Many of the animals are starving, prompting the largest intervention yet by the state government, with a fortnight of health checks ending this week.

More controversially, this intervention also involves the sterilisation of all captured female koalas and the euthanisation of those deemed too frail to survive much longer in the wild.

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Ivory Coast primates being wiped out because of world demand for chocolate

Cocoa plantations do not provide suitable habitat for primates

Researchers from Ohio State University have discovered that much of the protected land in the country's national parks and forest reserves in the Ivory Coast have been turned into illegal cocoa farms.

Between 2010 and 2013 the researchers surveyed 23 protected areas, they say in a recently published report, and found that about three-quarters of the land had been turned over to cocoa production.

The Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa beans, the main ingredient in chocolate, which represents more than one-third of the available supply.

There is a growing worldwide demand for chocolate and Ivory Coast produced a record 1.7 million metric tons of cocoa last year.

Many of the older, legal cocoa plantations in the country have been blighted by disease or are not producing at earlier levels as previously, which has led some growers moving on to create new farms. Migrants from outside the country have moved into Ivory Coast and have turned to farming to survive.

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Increasingly acidic oceans threaten world's mussel populations

Mussel shells could become more brittle as climate change causes acidity of world’s oceans to rise, scientists have warned

Press Association

Wednesday 24 December 2014 06.00 GMT

The world’s mussel population could be under threat as climate change causes the oceans to become more acidic, scientists have warned.

Mussel shells become more brittle when they are formed in more acidic water, Glasgow University has reported in the Royal Society journal Interface.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the oceans to become more acidic and reduces the concentration of the minerals mussels need to generate their shells, according to scientists.

However, they also found that mussels may have an in-built biological defence mechanism which boosts shell development when water temperatures rise by 2C.

Dr Fitzer said: “What we’ve found in the lab is that increased levels of acidification in their habitats have a negative impact on mussels’ ability to create their shells.

“We worked with colleagues in our School of Engineering to examine the toughness of the shells of the mussels in the more acidic water against those in control conditions.

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California's pumas threatened by urbanisation

Mountain lions in southern California are facing an uncertain future as urbanisation forces them to live in isolated groups, and suffer a severe loss of genetic diversity.

Scientists from the University of California’s Davis School of Veterinary Medicine carried out genetic sampling of 354 mountain lions, or pumas, across California, including 97 from the southern part of the state.

They found pumas in the Santa Ana Mountains lived in what is an essentially isolated area and displayed lower genetic diversity than those from nearly every other region in the state.

This is because say the scientists their range is surrounded by urbanisation and a growing population of about 20 million people. The range is linked with the Peninsular Range via a small wildlife corridor, but pumas avoid it as it is bisects a busy 10-lane highway and is associated human development – hardly incentives to venture there.

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Kazakhstan’s saiga threatened by new border fence and railway

Critically-endangered saiga antelope to face new barriers

September 2013. A new report by the UN's Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), called Saiga Crossing Options, has been published. The report describes and maps new threats for the charismatic saiga antelope.

Critically-endangered saiga antelope in Kazakhstan

The recovery of the critically-endangered saiga antelope in Kazakhstan faces serious challenges from new railways and boarder fences currently planned and constructed across Central Asia. The report not only identifies risks, but also proposes mitigation measures. FZS and partners in Kazakhstan are in close negotiation with the relevant ministries to discuss changes and technical modifications to avoid severe negative impacts to a species which only just recovered from their major decline in the 20th century.

The Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) together with partners in Kazakhstan has been engaged in the conservation of steppes and the recovery of the endangered saiga antelope since 2005 and is strongly concerned about current infrastructure plans in the region which cut through important saiga habitat.

The report was co-produced and co-funded by FZS as well as Fauna & Flora International (FFU)

Border fence and railway

While measures to reduce poaching have been an urgent priority, new threats from the effects of fencing and transport corridors are emerging. As a result of Kazakhstan's entry into a customs union with Russia and Belarus the nation has been strengthening its borders by constructing a fence. The purpose is border demarcation and to slow smuggling of narcotics. This fenced border will be an obstacle for saiga in their attempts to access habitat critical for their survival during the region's harsh winters. To add to the increasing difficulties facing saiga, a new railroad corridor is under construction (Shalkar - Beyneu and Zhezkazgan - Saksaulskiy) through the Ustyurt and Betpak-Dala saiga populations.

The report was co-produced and co-funded by FZS as well as Fauna & Flora International (FFI).

Read the full report here

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Novel Method to Identify Suitable New Homes for Animals Under Threat from Climate Change

Sep. 5, 2013 — Scientists at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have devised a novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change.

Conservation scientists used their knowledge on species ecology to create habitat suitability maps and correctly identify sites that will remain viable in the future regardless of changing climate. However, the key for success is to understand, and account for, the link between variation in species population size, climate and how the climate may change.

Almost half of all bird and amphibian species are believed to be highly vulnerable to extinction from climate change. Species in extreme or rare habitats such as the emperor penguin in the Antarctic and American pika in the USA have already experienced drastic declines in populations due to the impact of climate change on their home.

As climate changes, many species will need to move to a different location in order to survive. For species that aren't able to do this naturally, the only chance of survival is a helping hand through the use of translocations.

The research is published today (6 September) in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

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