Musk deer leaving habitat

MYAGDI: Rising temperature and human activities are forcing the musk deer in the Himalayan region of Myagdi to leave their habitat.

The jungles in Mudi, Lulang, Gurja, Kuimemangale, Dana and Muna VDCs, located on the lap of Mount Dhaulagiri were the traditional home lands of the musk deer.

Global warming as an effect of climate change in the Himalayan region and lack of favourable environment and food are leading the musk deer to leave their habitat, says Ranger at the District Forest Office, Chandra Mani Sapkota.

Regarded as extinct animal, musk deer are reportedly moving towards the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve and in the jungles of Dolpa, Rukum and Mustang districts.

Just two years ago, the musk deer could be seen near the human settlements but now, one needs to travel up to the Himalayan region to get a glimpse of them, according to Ranger Sapkota.

Source

Giant anteaters kill two hunters in Brazil

26th July 2014

9 hours ago by Kerry Sheridan

Giant anteaters in Brazil have killed two hunters in separate incidents, raising concerns about the animals' loss of habitat and the growing risk of dangerous encounters with people, researchers said.

The long-nosed, hairy mammals are not typically aggressive toward people and are considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), largely due to deforestation and human settlements that encroach on their territory.

However, they have poor vision and if frightened, they may defend themselves with front claws that are as long as pocketknives.

The case studies of two fatal attacks by giant anteaters were described in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, which released the paper online this month, ahead of its publication in the December print issue.

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World’s 25 most endangered primates

Primates in peril - conservationists reveal the world's 25 most endangered primates

October 2012. The world's 25 most endangered primates have been revealed in a new report released at the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity COP11. Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates, 2012-2014 has been compiled by the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN's Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the International Primatological Society (IPS), in collaboration with Conservation International (CI) and the Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation (BCSF).

Mankind's closest living relatives - the world's apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates - are on the brink of extinction and in need of urgent conservation measures. The report, announced by some of the world's leading primate experts every two years, reveals those species most in danger of becoming extinct from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bush meat hunting.

Madagascar, Vietnam & Indonesia
The list features nine primate species from Asia, six from Madagascar, five from Africa and five from the Neotropics. In terms of individual countries, Madagascar tops the list with six of the 25 most endangered species. Vietnam has five, Indonesia three, Brazil two, and China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Venezuela each have one. 

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/endangered-primates-2012.html

Japan declares its river otter extinct

Japan's Ministry of the Environment today declared the Japanese river otter (Lutra lutra whiteleyi) extinct. Last seen in 1979 in the city of Susaki on the island of Shikoku, the unique subspecies was killed-off by overhunting and loss of habitat due to development.

The extinction of the Japanese river otter represents another loss in Japan's endemic mammal. Already the nation has seen the extinction two wolves, two bats, and a sea lion: the Honshu wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax) and the Hokkaidō wolf (Canis lupus hattai); Sturdee's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus sturdeei) and the Okinawa flying fox (Pteropus loochoensis); and the Japanese sea lion (Zalophus californianus japonicus).

Up until the Twentieth Century, the Japanese river otter was common in rivers across the country, feeding on fish and shrimp. Several expeditions to discover the mammal were undertaken in the 1990s. Yoshihiko Machida, a researcher at Kochi University, told The Japan Daily Press that he believes the animal may still survive based on scat found in 1999.


Read more: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0828-hance-japanese-river-otter.html#ixzz257N9sh00

What is killing off our farmland birds – loss of habitat or a rise in predators?

Even the wildest areas of the British Isles are managed by man. We intervene in nature at so many levels, from directly controlling some wild species, through culling or special protection, to introducing domestic stock and taming wild areas for food production. And we have done so for thousands of years. There are often unintended consequences from such intensive management, creating ideal circumstances for some species to thrive and squeezing others out. That means intervening again, to adjust the numbers that have been artificially boosted by our behaviour or give a helping hand to those we have inadvertently caused to decline.

Numerous scientific studies have sought to show why farmland birds – much loved by millions of people – have suffered such serious declines in the past half-century. For some of the most vulnerable species, numbers are down by 80 per cent or more.

The traditional view, promoted by a range of wildlife charities, is that intensive farming, which grubbed up hedgerows and sprayed insect and weed-killing chemicals around through the late-1960s and 1970s, was the culprit.

Yet we have now had several decades of reversing those habitat losses – planting new hedgerows and restoring those that remained; planting woodland and incorporating wild flower field margins with all-important seed-producing plants into arable land. Many millions in grant aid, from the European Union and the British Government, all paid for by UK taxpayers, has been invested in various projects.

Yet, as surveys repeatedly tell us, the declines for the most part continue. It is not a uniformly gloomy picture, by any means, but it is fair to say that, in spite of the best efforts of farmers and environmentalists, the medicine is not working as many would like.

Some studies suggest the changes made to farming practices have not yet taken effect or are not radical enough. Ian Newton, writing in Ibis, the international journal of avian science, concluded in an exhaustive report in 2004 that more time would be needed for the positive effects to be felt.

He wrote: "Although it is too early to assess properly the effects of recently introduced agri-environment schemes, earlier schemes were most successful when targeted to the needs of particular species, such as cirl bunting, lapwing, stone curlew and corncrake, and of some seed-eaters through winter seed provision."

Read on:  http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/killing-farmland-birds-ndash-loss-habitat-rise/story-16321467-detail/story.html

Twelve per cent of marine species in tropical eastern Pacific threatened

Overfishing and habitat loss to blame
February 2012: Twelve per cent of marine species surveyed in the Gulf of California, the coasts of Panama and Costa Rica and the five offshore oceanic islands and archipelagos in the tropical eastern Pacific are threatened with extinction, according to a study by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Main threats to the region's marine flora and fauna include overfishing, habitat loss and increasing impacts from the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

Released this week, the study is the first IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessment available for all known species of marine shore-fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, sea birds, corals, mangroves and seagrasses in a major marine biogeographic region.

Drastic declines for many speciesThe analysis identifies specific geographic zones where conservation efforts are needed most, including around the mouth of the Gulf of California and the coastlines of Panama and Costa Rica , while also identifying the nature and location of the greatest dangers to marine life. 

‘Understanding species vulnerability to major threats is paramount for determining how species and marine environments are likely to respond to one or more simultaneous threats,' says Beth Polidoro, lead author of the study.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/marine-extinctions.html