Sask. researcher says discovery will help protect colorful, poison frogs - via Herp Digest

Andrés Posso-Terranova studies poison frogs in the Colombian jungle

Alicia Bridges CBC News · 2/21/20

A Saskatchewan-based researcher who left the ice-cold Prairies for humid Colombian jungles in search of vividly hued harlequin frogs says his latest discovery about the endangered amphibians gives them a better chance at survival. 

In 2018, University of Saskatchewan biologist Andrés Posso-Terranova described three new species of harlequin poison frogs that were previously classified as a single species. One of them, Oophaga andresi, is named after him.

Now Posso-Terranova has discovered that hybrid frogs, which show mixes of colour and pattern from different species, exist due to naturally occurring interbreeding.

Originally it was thought the hybrids might be the result of human interference linked to trafficking of the frogs on the international black market.

Posso-Terranova had heard from people in Colombia that some frogs had been moved from deep in the jungle to areas closer to homes for easy access to sell to traffickers. 

"We performed genomics analysis and then we discovered that these individuals are … not recent hybrids," he said, adding that this finding suggests they hybridized naturally, because it occurred more than 20 years ago. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Molecular Ecology, shows the hybrid frogs are the result of interbreeding between the Oophaga anchicayensis and the critically endangered Oophaga lehmanni. 

Posso-Terranova said the hybrid may eventually be defined as its own species, depending on further genetic analysis.  

For now, he said, the discovery helps illustrate that the hybrids should be protected and allays any concerns that they could pose a genetic threat to existing "pure" species.

He said identifying and naming individual poison frog species is key to their survival long-term. 

Posso-Terranova started researching the genetic diversity of the poison frogs because, having grown up near the Chocó tropical rainforest, he saw how quickly their populations were dwindling. 

One researcher had previously classified the harlequin frogs, known to scientists as Oophaga histrionica, as being one species in research dating back to 1967. 

But there was a huge amount of diversity in the splashes of colour and patterns displayed by the frogs as a warning to predators. 

"If you propose that you have a particular group of frogs that are all over the place and it's only one species you may think, 'Oh, this is very common," he said. 

After discovering the new species in 2018, Posso-Terranova decided to focus his research on the hybrids.

He said these types of discoveries are needed to promote conservation because threats to the endangered harlequin frogs are serious and wide-ranging. 

He said wildlife traffickers exploit impoverished Colombian people by paying them a few Canadian dollars to collect hundreds of poison frogs, which can fetch prices of up to $2,000 on the international black market. 

Posso-Terranova said government conservation policies alone cannot protect the frogs. 

"I completely believe that in order to conserve this species you have to have the participation of the people living there," he said. 

Columbian universities are now providing funding for local people to develop ecotourism as an alternative source of income that discourages illegal trafficking, he added.

There are also efforts to encourage the government to purchase land where there is important frog habitat

As a specialist in genetics, Posso-Terranova brings his knowledge and experience back to Saskatchewan to share with students in Saskatoon. 

He is an instructor and lab co-ordinator at the University of Saskatchewan, where his desk is surrounded by toy frogs and frog paintings drawn by school children he has presented to. 

Posso-Terranova said hiking the Colombian jungles for the vulnerable creatures can be draining — until he finds them. 

"When you find the frogs, when you work for them, when you realize you are doing something good for them, you feel good," he said.

Andrew Crawford: Colombia’s frogs face “massacre” with illegal trafficking – Herp Digest

By Richard Emblin - May 24, 2019

Photo: Richard Emblin, The City Paper Bogota.com

Andrew Crawford is Associate Professor of biology at Universidad de los Andes and member of the Smithsonian Tropical Research institute. His research on amphibian evolutionary genetics covers plenty of terrain in Colombia, from the Pacific coast with its poison dart frogs to the discovery with a team of scientists of a new species in the cloud forests of the high Andes. As a frog expert, Crawford spoke with The City Paper about the many threats facing this species in the country.

The City Paper (TCP): Andrew, what motivated you to come to Colombia and study amphibians?

Andrew Crawford (AC): When I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago there was a programme called the Organization of Tropical Studies that connects students with Costa Rica. That got me to Costa Rica, and those were the coolest two months of my life. That was in 1995, but I still needed a thesis, and as I like frogs, and they are easy to study, I found out about the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in the former Canal Zone of Panama. I applied for a fellowship for a few months, and finished my Ph.D. on the frogs of Costa Rica. I learned a lot about the history of these organisms across Central America, but the more I studied them, the more I needed samples from Panama and Mexico. Then, I started putting the whole story of dirt frogs together. That’s not their scientific name, but an appropriate one, because they look like dirt, live in the dirt, are as common as dirt, and as old as dirt. You won’t see them in any calendars.

TCP: So, your Central America experience was key to your Colombia connection.

AC: When I would catch one frog on one side of Costa Rica, I would ask myself, where could the closest relative be? Nicaragua maybe, Honduras, Mexico? My research started expanding out. Back in Panama with my post-doctoral research at STRI and National Science Foundation, the perspective started getting bigger. I asked myself that if I really wanted to solve the larger problem of the relationships between specific species, what place could be next? Colombia. Also, at the Smithsonian in Panama, there were lots of Colombian students with very good reputations. I kept thinking to myself: “Wow, these Colombian students are sharp.” Befriending one affiliated with Los Andes University, in 2005, I was invited to Bogotá and by chance, met another “gringo” associated with Fulbright. We were mere postdocs who didn’t have real jobs. But, it was easier to get a fellowship then, than now. Thirteen years ago, researchers in the United States were not “hot” on Colombia: drugs, kidnapping, all that. In 2006, I applied to be a Visiting Professor at Los Andes, and was given a desk.

TCP: Did the security risk affect your first outings to the jungle to study frogs?

AC: I am not an extreme adventure guy by any means. I want to do what’s safe. If someone said to me then, “don’t go there,” I didn’t. I wasn’t keen on pushing the envelope. I did manage to go to Quibdó and Arací on the Pacific coast. That was highly adventurous for me because the Lonely Planet didn’t cover the Chocó. When I finally got there, I said: “Wow, I’m actually beyond the Lonely Planet!”

TCP: What did you find among the frog population of the Chocó back then?

AC: When I was living in the former Canal Zone, I would hear the red-eye tree frog every wet season from behind my house. In Arací, I heard the same calling. When I finally caught one, it had a very different color pattern. This was a cool discovery that nobody reported, and knew that I could use some of my Panama research to help guide me to what was new in the Chocó. Colombia became part of a bio-geographic strategy with its mix of organisms from the north and others from the south. If I had gone directly from Costa Rica to the Amazon, everything would have been new. If you know your Central American frogs, it won’t help you in the Amazon. Frogs are kind of stay at home guys.

TCP: Had you imagined, once in Colombia, the level of frog biodiversity?

AC: Colombia has 800 amphibians and most of them are frogs. The country is number two in the world in terms of its frog diversity; and, also wins for having the world’s most poisonous frog: the all-yellow dart frog. The Dendrobates leucomelas has been very well documented along the Pacific and gets all the attention, but there are many more because anything that has poison and is colorful is also a dart frog. If you see a bright colorful frog in the daytime stay away from it.

TCP: When biologists refer to a “dangerous” frog, what can happen if you come across one during a hike in the rainforest?

AC: It will kill anyone who tries to eat it or if the toxin gets under your skin. It won’t attack you like a scorpion. The dart frog is pure defense. There were several cases recently at Bogotá’s International Airport of people smuggling these frogs in suitcases. There’s a huge market out there for these “pets.” Sadly, 90% of them die before they reach their destination. It’s a massacre, but collectors are willing to pay a lot of money for a new color pattern, species and the most poisonous.

TCP: After your first trip to Colombia in 2005, you set your sights on permanent tenure at Los Andes University. How did this happen?

AC: The Fulbright visiting professor deal was for just one semester, but as they paid so well, I stayed for the year. But when I got to back to Panama, I realized Los Andes was nice, Colombia was a great country and I found the regionalism tremendous. I started applying to come back, and got an offer in 2006. My aim was – and still is – to use frogs to study the origins of biodiversity. That’s a great question for Colombia and a classic question in biology. Why are there so many species?

TCP: How old is the frog community?

AC: Through genetics, we can understand the origin of all species, and as frogs are sisters to the rest of the tetrapods, reptiles, birds and mammals, this makes them very old. In fact, they haven’t changed a lot in 150 million years. When you see a frog fossil, it is very clearly a frog.

TCP: Biodiversity is a term that’s used a lot in this country, but are we taking our biodiversity for granted?

AC: If we give up on conservation and don’t save our frogs, there’s one possible outcome: they’re gone! The situation is bad because trafficking is getting worse. In a post-conflict, it’s much easier to get to these frogs, and as deforestation accelerates, we are losing entire populations. The disease has also claimed many species. All these factors without thinking about how bad herbicides and pesticides are.

TCP: There’s an anecdote regarding your role with the sticker album Jet, very popular among children in this country. Can you explain?

AC: I helped with the genetic analysis of the Pristimantis dorado, a small golden frog native to the forests of Colombia. Before it appeared in the Chocolates Jet album, Mauricio Rivera-Correa of the University of Antioquia named it after mythical El Dorado, because it seemed a nice way of saying that with the post-conflict, the new riches of Colombia is the “Green economy” – our biodiversity.

TCP: We have spoken about threats to the frog population at home, but what is happening globally?

AC: In the world, we just hit 8,000 frogs officially. What is most interesting, however, is that to find a new mammal is something that doesn’t happen every day, and as the numbers of new species is going down every year, amphibians are bucking the trend. The number of new frogs we are finding has not slowed at all – it just goes up and up. It would be irresponsible to try and guess when this might stop – but, so far – one could easily imagine 9,000 or 16,000 frog species in the world. And in Colombia, our 800 frogs could easily double.

TCP: Yet, it seems that frogs are suffering from so many external factors.

AC: Yes, frogs are getting hit in many different ways. It really is a disaster. Many of our micro-endemic species haven’t been seen again in the high-altitude páramos. In the mountains, we have lost forests to cattle ranching and crop clearing. Another cause for declining populations is the chytrid fungal disease that wipes out half the frogs that get infected. If it’s not the fungus, another threat can be fish farming. Our frogs face one insult after another.

TCP: As a leading expert on amphibians, what are your more recent discoveries?

AC: I have been doing a lot of research on how sensitive frogs are to the environment along Colombia’s Caribbean coast. They live in extreme environments with harsh summers and very little water. Some of the questions we are asking ourselves are: How do they survive? Where do they come from? Did they move down from Central America, or did they live in the Amazon and crossed over the Andes? What I can tell you from the radiation of the frog population is that the vast majority on the planet come from southern South America. We are finding an unexpected connection between Colombia’s coastal frogs with those in Chile and Argentina.

TCP: Have you seen at Los Andes an increase among biology students who want to study frogs?

AC: Reporting on frogs gets people excited, and for some reason, in my field of research – Herpetology – there are more students studying frogs than other creepy crawlies. Frogs tend to attract the press due to the many threats they face.

TCP: Your name was recently mentioned with two large seizures at El Dorado airport involving animal traffickers. Why did the National Police call on you?

AC: The National Police wanted to check the frogs which survived fungal disease before putting them back in the wild. My laboratory did the checking. As the yellow dart frog only exists in one tiny patch in Colombia, it can be collected out of existence, and the police know where they exist. It seemed that someone close to the traffickers snitched as they were leaving the forest with suitcases.

The weird thing is with these frogs is that they have distinctive patterns depending on which forest they inhabit. So, the authorities can know where animal traffickers are operating depending on the frogs they have caught.

TCP: Do you think there is a concerted effort by the Ministry of Environment and National Police to protect frogs against traffickers?

AC: Awareness of the problem is definitely on the increase, and I am involved with developing the Amphibian Action Plan of the Ministry of the Environment. A key element to the Plan de Acción de Anfibios is to combat illegal trade. We have to assume that with these busts, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

TCP: Do communities try and stop traffickers from taking their frogs?

AC: It’s very imperative to tell a community that they have “special frogs,” in order to give them a sense of pride. Secondly, there are pilot projects to protect certain species through sustainable harvesting, and this can bring in money for vulnerable communities.

TCP: So you are not very optimistic about the future of Colombia’s “kermits”?

AC: When I came to Colombia 13 years ago, I would say: “Wow, look at all this biodiversity.” Then, someone who had been here 30 years would respond: “Andrew, this is nothing compared to what was once here.” It comes down to shifting baselines with each generation. I would like to be able to say something optimistic, but as far as conservation of our frogs is concerned, I think things will get worse before they get better.

Colombian breeds rare frogs to undermine animal traffickers - via Herp Digest

By Manuel Rueda and Cesar Garcia, AP 5/24/19

CUNDINAMARCA, COLOMBIA

In a small farmhouse surrounded by cloud forest, Iván Lozano inspects dozens of glass containers that hold some of the world's most coveted frogs.

The conservationist has been fighting the illegal trade in rare tropical frogs for years, risking his life and his checkbook to save the brightly colored, poisonous amphibians whose population in the wild is dwindling

.

But Lozano doesn't hunt down poachers and smugglers. He's trying to undermine them by breeding exotic frogs legally and selling them at lower prices than specimens plucked by traffickers from Colombia's jungles. His frog-breeding center Tesoros de Colombia, which translates to Treasures of Colombia, is among a handful of conservation programs around the world that are trying to curtail the trafficking of wild animals by providing enthusiasts with a more eco-friendly alternative: specimens bred in captivity.

"We can't control the fact that in some countries it is legal to own these animals," Lozano said. "But we want to make sure that collectors buy animals that are raised in captivity and are legally exported."

Lozano's efforts to replace illegally captured poison dart frogs have made him well known among collectors in the United States, who are increasingly seeking legally traded specimens.

"Before there was no way you could get a histrionica legally," said Julio Rodríguez, an experienced New York City collector, referring to the Harlequin Poison Frog by its scientific name. "If you saw one in a collection, it most likely came from the black market.”

Rodríguez said that since Tesoros de Colombia began exporting frogs to the United States six years ago prices for some coveted species have dropped significantly. The price tag on the Harlequin Frog dropped by 50 percent, he said. 

The Golden Dart Frog, another much-sought species, went from around $150 a few years ago to $30.

"We want prices to go down so much that it's no longer profitable for traffickers to sell these frogs," Lozano explained.

He said his company also helps collectors breed their own frogs, so they can flood the market with legally raised specimens, taking pressure off those living in the wild. The frogs raised in captivity by Lozano are no longer poisonous, because they have a different diet than wild specimens. But collectors still seek them for their brilliant color patterns.

"We make ourselves sustainable by moving on to new species," said Lozano, who already has permits to export seven species, including the Red Lehmanni, a frog so rare collectors refer to it as "the Holy Grail." Lozano is currently seeking permission from Colombia's government to export another 13 species that are under pressure from animal traffickers.

But while some breeding efforts have helped to tackle the illegal trade, others have had unintended consequences.

Indonesia allows the export of 3 million captive-bred Tokay Geckos to global pet markets each year. But weak regulation has given corrupt companies the opportunity to sell off wild Geckos as Geckos bred in captivity, said Chris Shepherd a conservationist who worked in South East Asia for two decades with TRAFFIC, an environmental group.

Laura Tensen, a zoologist at the University of Johannesburg, said in South Africa, private game reserves that breed lions for hunting have created a new market for lion bones. South Africa now exports lion skeletons to Asia, where they are used for traditional medicine, and this has given poachers in remote regions an additional incentive to go after wild lions.

"For some species captive breeding might help" to reduce trafficking, Tensen said. "But one market does not always replace the other.”

In a 2016 study, Tensen concluded that captive breeding programs are more likely to work when animals bred in captivity are just as desirable to customers as those taken from the wild. These programs are also more successful with species that are relatively cheap to breed and in countries where authorities are arresting traffickers.

"In countries where the risks of being caught are low, the prices for wild caught animals are always less than those of captive bred animals," Shepherd said.

Lozano assigns ID numbers to his frogs, to make it harder for traffickers to sell wild frogs as frogs bred in captivity. But he has struggled to keep prices low because of the costs associated with securing export permits from the Colombian government.

It took Lozano three years to secure his first export permit, exasperating two business partners, who eventually gave up on the venture. Lozano continued on his own and acquired a debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the breeding center afloat.

He has also battled online critics who have tried to undermine his business by spreading rumors on social media that he is illegally exporting frogs. Lozano believes the criticism comes from animal traffickers.

"For our own safety, we try not to disclose details of our location," he said.

Lozano now wants to start a program to repopulate some forests with frogs bred in his lab.

Colombia is home to 734 frog species, more than any other country except Brazil. The Humboldt Institute, an environmental research group, says at least 160 amphibian species in Colombia are critically endangered.

"This is an urgent situation," Lozano said. "If we don't persist some frogs could become extinct.”

Love in the Time of Tarantulas? Newfound Spider Named for Márquez

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | July 6, 2016 03:30pm ET

A fearsome tarantula covered in bizarre "attack" hairs has been discovered in a mountain range in Colombia. As an homage to the country where the new species was found, scientists named it Kankuamo marquezi, after Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian Nobel Prize-winning author of the classic novels "100 Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera."

The researchers realized they had a new genus and species of spider as soon as they examined it. The spider's "attack" hairs, or urticating hairs, look different from all other known tarantula hairs, the researchers found. Most tarantulas "kick" their urticating hairs at enemies, but the newfound spider is the first known species in its subfamily to use its hairs in direct contact attacks, they said.

"This new finding is a great contribution to the knowledge of the arachnids in Colombia, and a sign of how much remains to be discovered," the researchers said in a statement.

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New golden frog species discovered in Colombia

Named for legendary city of gold

Date:March 17, 2016

Source:Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

A team of scientists including a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) research associate announced the discovery of a new species of pale-gold colored frog from the cloud forests of the high Andes in Colombia. Its name,Pristimantis dorado, commemorates both its color (dorado means 'golden' in Spanish) and El Dorado, a mythical city of gold eagerly sought for centuries by Spanish conquistadores in South America.

"The Spaniards assumed Colombia's wealth was its gold, but today we understand that the real riches of the country lie in its biodiversity," said Andrew Crawford, a STRI research associate and faculty member at the Universidad de Los Andes.

The extraordinarily diverse group to which the new species belongs, Pristimantis, includes 465 recognized species, 205 of them from Colombia. The mountainous terrain of the Andes probably led to the evolution of so many different ground-dwelling frogs, in which the eggs develop directly into tiny baby frogs without going through a tadpole phase. At seven-tenths of an inch long, the species is among the smaller species in the group. The largest species grow to be 2 inches in length.

Read on ...

Conservationists Release Critically Endangered Crocodiles in Colombia – Herp Digest

 ·        20 Orinoco crocodiles reintroduced to El Tuparro Natural National Park

·        Scientists will monitor crocodiles via radio transmitters

IMAGES: Orinoco crocodiles. Credits for all images: Mauricio “Pato” Salcedo.

WCS Newsroom

New York (February 12, 2016)—The Critically Endangered Orinoco crocodile recently received a helping hand from conservationists working in Colombia, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Twenty Orinoco crocodiles (Crocodylus intermedius) were reintroduced into their natural environment on Tuesday, February 2nd in El Tuparro Natural National Park, a site where an additional 21 crocodiles were released back in May 2015.

The recently released group of crocodiles included twelve females and eight males, ranging between 33 and 43 inches long. Just as the previous group, these reptiles will be carrying radio transmitters to track their movements and monitor their adaptation to their natural environment.

The name given to the selected area was “Crocodile Lagoon.” Located on the right bank of the Tomo River, this location has the essential socio-environmental and logistical properties for the survival of this species.

A biological survey previously conducted in the area confirmed the presence of large predators and abundant wildlife, both of which are indicators of a healthy environment. Some of the species detected included jaguars, pumas, river otters, tapirs and curassows, among others. Additionally, the site has a generous offering of fish, the main food of the Orinoco crocodile.

Another advantage of the “Crocodile Lagoon” is its proximity to Marandúa, an Air Force base located on the opposite bank of the Tomo River, which will not only guarantee the safety of the area, but will also be essential in providing the researchers access to the area for the continued monitoring of the reintroduced crocodiles.

In the case of the Orinoco crocodile, the Fundación Palmarito is one of the ten partner organizations of the PVS, and it has been working to save this reptile since 2011 in partnership with the Casanare Government, Corporinoquia, Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia and Grupo GHL.

This initiative stems from the National Program for the Conservation of the Orinoco Crocodile, created in 1998 by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, along with other organizations.

The intense commercial hunting to which the Orinoco Crocodile was subjected during the second quarter of the previous century—primarily for the sale of its skin—, brought it to its current critically endangered status.

Growing up to 17 feet in length, the Orinoco crocodile is one of the largest crocodilian species in the world. It lives exclusively in the lowlands of the Orinoco basin that straddles both Colombia and Venezuela, and reproduces once a year. Conservationists say that the crocodile’s conservation will ensure the protection of other species, promote the health of rivers and estuaries, and provide a greater opportunity to attract ecotourism.

This reintroduction is part of the Proyecto Vida Silvestre, a program launched in 2014 to protect 10 wildlife species in the Llanos Orientales and Magdalena Medio regions. Proyecto Vida Silvestre is led by WCS Colombia and supported by Ecopetrol and the Fundación Mario Santo Domingo. The project works with ten organizations, one for each species.

Pablo Escobar: Hungry hippos on the loose add to Colombian drug lord's legacy of fear

Escobar, whose cocaine empire stretched across South American and the US before he was shot dead in 1993, kept giraffes, antelope and ostriches at this estate

Robert Cottingham

Tuesday 1 December 2015

The legacy of Pablo Escobar, the cocaine kingpin who brought terror to Colombia, lives on. Residents in the town near Medellin that Escobar once ruled face a new threat – hungry hippos, descended from those the drug lord once kept in his personal zoo.

Two hippos have been seen wandering near Puerto Triunfo in Antioquia province, in search of food after a drought forced them from lakes and rivers. Children have been warned to keep away. 

The hippo population at the former Escobar ranch, Hacienda Napoles, has increased and some have escaped. At the ranch, Escobar, whose cocaine empire stretched across South American and the US before he was shot dead in 1993, kept giraffes, antelope and ostriches. In 2008 his confiscated former estate was transformed into the largest theme park in South America.

Continued ...

How small is the smallest? New record of the tiniest free-living insect provides precision

Date:October 8, 2015

Source:Pensoft Publishers

The long-lasting search and debate around the size and identity of the World's smallest free-living insect seems to have now been ended with the precise measurement and second record of the featherwing beetle species.

Described back in 1999 based on only several specimens found in Nicaragua, as many as 85 individuals of the minute beetle species have recently been retrieved from Colombia and thoroughly examined. The smallest of them measured the astounding 0.325 mm. The finding made by Dr. Alexey Polilov, Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow, is available in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The World's smallest beetle and tiniest non-parasitoid insect, called Scydosella musawasensis, is morphologically characterised by its elongated oval body, yellowish-brown colouration and antennae split into 10 segments. It is also the only representative of this featherwing beetle genus.

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World's Oldest Sea Turtle Fossil Discovered

by Lindsay Dodgson, Live Science Contributor | September 18, 2015 12:31pm ET

The world's oldest sea turtle fossil shows the ancient animal swam the oceans at least 120 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, according to a recent analysis.

The now-extinct Desmatochelys padillai turtle skeleton was found in Villa de Leyva, Colombia, and is 25 million years older than the Santanachelys gaffneyi turtle from Brazil that previously held the record for the world's oldest sea turtle fossil.

The D. padillai specimen was dug up by hobby paleontologist Mary Luz Parra and her two brothers in 2007. However, it wasn't until Edwin Cadena, a researcher at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Germany, and James Parham, an assistant professor of geological sciences at California State University, Fullerton, inspected it that the fossil was determined to be the oldest sea turtle specimen in the world, dating back to the Cretaceous period, between 145.5 million and 65.5 million years ago. 

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Scientists make one of the biggest animal discoveries of the century: a new tapir - via Richard Freeman

In what will likely be considered one of the biggest (literally) zoological discoveries of the Twenty-First Century, scientists today announced they have discovered a new species of tapir in Brazil and Colombia. The new mammal, hidden from science but known to local indigenous tribes, is actually one of the biggest animals on the continent, although it's still the smallest living tapir. Described in the Journal of Mammology, the scientists have named the new tapir Tapirus kabomani after the name for "tapir" in the local Paumari language: "Arabo kabomani." 

Tapirus kabomani, or the Kobomani tapir, is the fifth tapir found in the world and the first to be discovered since 1865. It is also the first mammal in the order Perissodactyla (which includes tapirs, rhinos, and horses) found in over a hundred years. Moreover, this is the largest land mammal to be uncovered in decades: in 1992 scientists discovered the saola in Vietnam and Cambodia, a rainforest bovine that is about the same size as the new tapir. 

Read more and see photos at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1216-hance-new-tapir-kabomani.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#1irWWaOlv8Y7q2Gd.99

Orinoco crocodiles to be tracked by satellite

Four of these reptiles will be released and monitored with satellite transmitters 

August 2013. Two of the world's twelve species of crocodiles live in Colombia, the spectacled caiman (Severely threatened locally) and the Critically Endangered Orinoco crocodile.

The Orinoco crocodile can reach seven feet long and is the only crocodile species whose distribution is contained in a single watershed. Although they originally lived throughout the entire area of the Orinoco, it has been endangered by indiscriminate hunting, especially 1930-1950.

"Today there are only two relic populations of these animals in the wild, in Arauca region (At the confluence of the Ele, Lipa and Cravo Rivers) and the Meta region (In the Guayabero, Duda and Losada Rivers)," says the environmental scientist Willington Martinez, of the UN's Roberto Franco Tropical Biology Station.

The Franco station has been working on plans to protect the species by developing a project to reintroduce Orinoco crocodiles into the wild; the project is being run with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS). The project plans to release and monitor four Orinoco crocodiles, which have been fitted with satellite transmitters in the department of Meta.

Read on

Colombia: Two Killed And 17 Hurt In Bullfight

The dangers of bullfighting are highlighted again after two men are killed during a festival in Colombia. 

Two men have been killed and at least 15 people injured during a bullfight in northern Colombia. 

They died on the second day of a popular festival on the South American country's Caribbean coast on Sunday. 

Doctors said one of the victims, 46-year-old Daniel Cardona, was killed when the bull's horn gored through to his heart. 

"Unfortunately the animal caught him by surprise and gored him," said a spectator, Orlando Ramos. 

"According to the report from the doctors who were there, it was a very deep stab to the heart." 

Another man later died in hospital of injuries sustained while trying to subdue the raging bull. 

Despite high risks and protests from animal rights activists, bullfighting remains a popular activity in Colombia. 

http://news.sky.com/story/1069725/colombia-two-killed-and-17-hurt-in-bullfight

What do you do when you find a 15 foot long snake in your pond?

Pick it up and move it of course

February 2013. Marie-France Grenouillet, a wildlife photographer, has sent us a couple of her holiday snaps she took on a recent trip to Colombia.

While staying at the Juan Solito Lodge, some local fisherman spotted this 5 metre anaconda near their regular fishing pool in the Hato La Aurora reserve. The fishermen decided that they would feel safer if the snake was a little further away, so they picked it up, and moved it to a more suitable pool in the middle of the reserve.

The green anaconda is the largest species of anaconda and can grow up to 17 feet long and weigh as much as 100 kilograms. They are mostly aquatic and nocturnal, and will eat a range of prey from deer, tapir and capybara to caiman, birds and fish.

Marie-France GrenouilletGO TO HER WEBSITE TO SEE MORE OF HER WORK.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/solito-anaconda.html

"Our baby's the devil"

'Our baby's the devil', say Colombian parents whose child can 'walk at four weeks and breathes fire'

Four-week-old 'already hides around the house and cackles for hours with intimidating eyes'

Terrified neighbours throw stones at the house - but doctors search for signs of child abuse

Black magic and evil spirits have captured the soul of a new-born baby in Colombia who can apparently already walk by himself and produce fire, his own mother has claimed.

Ana Feria Santos gave birth to her son last month but says her joy quickly turned to fear when she noticed that he had 'several abnormalities' - leading to fears in her community that he is the 'devil in disguise'.

She says the boy can already stand up and walk - quite a feat for a child of just four weeks.

Much like the 1976 horror film The Omen, the mother-of-five says he frequently hides around the house, cackles in an 'adult' way for hours on end and has an 'intimidating' pair of eyes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224725/Our-babys-devil-say-Colombian-parents-child-walk-weeks-breathes-fire.html#ixzz2B4ZUqxpT

Housewife 'was raised by monkeys'

A Yorkshire housewife claims she spent five years of her childhood living with a colony of capuchin monkeys in Colombia.

Marina Chapman, who now lives in Bradford, says she learnt to catch birds and rabbits with her bare hands after being abandoned in the jungle by kidnappers.

Her time with the monkeys ended when she was discovered by hunters but by her ordeal continued when she was sold to a brothel in the city of Cucuta.

She escaped and spent years on the streets, sometimes being arrested and kept in a cell, but was eventually taken in by a Colombian family to work as a maid in her mid-teens.

In her mid-twenties she travelled with a neighbouring family who went to stay in Bradford on business for six months - and stayed after she met John Chapman, then a 29-year-old bacteriologist, at a church meeting. They married in 1977.

She and her family have now decided to tell her story to help highlight the horrors of human trafficking in South America.

Mrs Chapman believes she was born in about 1950 and that she was kidnapped when she was five before being abandoned in the jungle.

"It's assumed that the kidnap went wrong," said Vanessa James, one of Chapman's two daughters. The film and TV composer has helped her mother with her book, The Girl with No Name.

"All she can remember is being chloroformed with a hand over her mouth. And all she can recall of her life before that is having a black doll as a toddler.

"She obviously learnt to fend for herself and only once got very ill when she ate some poisonous berries.

"I got bedtime stories about the jungle, as did my sister. We didn't think it odd - it was just Mum telling her life. So in a way it was nothing special having a mother like that."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Housewife_was_raised_by_monkeys

Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) Launches New Program in Colombia in Partnership with WCS to Target Endangered Chelonians - via Herp Digest

August 29, 2012-Press Release

Recognizing the key role of Colombia for the conservation of South American freshwater turtles and tortoises, and the imminent threat that many of these species face, the TSA launched a new Colombian program in July 2012. This program is possible due to a collaborative agreement between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the TSA, and will expand a model partnership that has already proved effective in Myanmar and China. Colombia is widely recognized as a strategic location for turtle conservation in South America, and with 27 species, is considered one of the world’s turtle diversity hotspots, ranked 6th in species richness with three endemic species. In South America only Brazil has more species with 29. Located at the intersection of Central and South America, Colombia is biogeographically remarkable. It supports the highest number of chelonian families with seven. But Colombia’s diverse chelonian fauna is under threat from a range of human mediated factors including consumption and habitat loss and pollution.

The program coordinator, German Forero-Medina, will be responsible for the implementation of specific actions identified in the Strategic Plan for the Conservation of Colombian Continental Turtles that was launched recently by Vivian Paez and the Colombian Herpetological Association (ACH). One of his primary responsibilities will be to ensure that chelonians are included in higher level discussions regarding new protected areas and the prioritization of species and research areas for funding consideration. He will also be tasked with expanding the potential for turtle conservation work in Colombia through training workshops, both on field research and captive management techniques. Perhaps the most daunting challenge for the program promises to be the development of a strategy for dealing with the thousands of turtles and tortoises confiscated annually, by strengthening the network of zoos and rescue centers and improving their capacity to deal with the ongoing problem of overcrowded facilities.

On a species-specific level, the program aims to develop long-term monitoring programs for endemic species considered rare (Dunn’s mud turtle, Kinosternon dunni) and endangered (Dahl’s toad-head turtle, Mesoclemmys dahli). A leading priority species is the endemic Magdalena river turtle (Podocnemis lewyana). The WCS/TSA team will encourage coordination of the various research and conservation activities that will hopefully lead to a Recovery Plan for this critically endangered species.

Colombia mega dam will destroy habitat for threatened macaw and newly-discovered wren

Further protection would help safeguard birds

September 2012. Celebrations over the discovery in Colombia of a new species of bird were short lived when it was revealed that much of its habitat - also the habitat for a threatened macaw - is in danger of being flooded by a new hydro-electric dam project.

The discovery of the Antioquia Wren (Thryophilus sernai) in the Central Andes of Colombia came one year into a seven-year construction project for what is to become the largest power station in the country. The nearly $5.5 billion, 738 foot tall Pescadero-Ituango hydroelectric dam will flood 15 square miles of habitat, drowning all six locations where the newly identified bird has been confirmed so far.

Military macaw
Of equal concern is the likely flooding by the dam of habitat for the last colony in the region of the threatened Military Macaw. This spectacular green, red, and turquoise parrot has scattered, sparse populations throughout Central and South America, including one colony 15 miles (25 km) upstream from the dam-well within area targeted for flooding.

"The timing of this discovery of a new species seemingly couldn't have been worse, especially given the dam project has been in the pipeline for decades and just recently has been given a green light. Despite the seriousness of the threat to these birds posed by this massive engineering project, there is still some hope to mitigate impacts to the birds," said Benjamin Skolnik, Conservation Project Specialist for American Bird Conservancy, who oversees the organization's conservation work in Colombia. "This region of Colombia is a world-class birding tourism destination, and the government understands how valuable birds are to the economy. This may help in the survival of the new wren and the macaw.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/colombia-birds-dam.html#cr

Giant, Round Prehistoric Turtle Discovered

A newfound giant turtle that lived 60 million years ago in what is now northwestern South America would have been more than a mouthful for a neighboring predator, the world's largest snake Titanoboa.

The turtle's huge carapace, or shell, was nearly circular, like a tire, the researchers said.

The fossil turtle was discovered in Colombia's La Puente pit in the Cerrejón Coal Mine, made famous for its other treasures, including the extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis, two crocodile species, Cerrejonisuchus improcerus and Acherontisuchus guajiraensis, as well as two turtle species, the small-car-size Carbonemys cofrinii and the thick-shelled Cerrejonemys wayuunaiki. (C. improcerus would have been an easy meal for the 45-foot, or nearly 14 meters, Titanoboa snake, said researchers who discovered the 6- to 7-foot-long crocodile.)

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/21544-giant-round-turtle-fossil-titanoboa.html

New species of bird identified in Colombia

World's most bird bio diverse country increases its lead!

June 2012. With more than 1880 species, Colombia has the highest number of recorded bird species of any country, and this week Colombian ornithologists have unveiled the discovery of a brand new endemic species of bird, the Antioquia Wren.

The new species of Wren (Thryophilus Sernai) was found in the dry Cauca River Canyon, a narrow valley enclosed by forests, in Northwestern Colombia, just 45 minutes outside the city of Medellin. The latest addition to the wren family can be told apart from its counterparts by its unique plumage coloration, the pattern of barring on its wings and tail, its smaller body size, and its distinctive birdsong. The identification of this wren was the result of a two-year project by Colombian ornithologists Andrés Cuervo, Daniel Cadena, Diego Valderrama and Sandra Calderon.

Huge range of habitats
Colombia's huge diversity of birds is largely down to the country's equally diverse range of habitats: three Andean Cordilleras, two inter-Andean valleys, the Amazon, Los Llanos (Orinoco), Santa Marta Mountains, Pacific and Caribbean coasts, deserts and lakes, and the rich Chocó biogeographical region all help to make it one of the most varied landscapes in South America.

For more information visit on Colombia visit: www.colombia.travel

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Antioquia-Wren.html