WILDLIFE CATALOUGE

antioxidant

2010-08-03T04:26:00.000-07:00

Grow old with excellent body condition and still look attractive is every man's dream. Conditions that might not be achieved just like that, without action and effort early on. Unfortunately, the aging process just realized after the body experiences physical changes. As a result, various efforts seemed fruitless.
Being old is not inevitable, but slows the emergence of aging may be commercialized to start now. Free radicals are one of the main causes of aging. Unfortunately, the spread of free radicals in the environment where we live, such as air pollution by motor vehicle fumes, cigarette smoke, polluted water, ultraviolet radiation from sunlight and foods containing unsaturated fat.
Free radicals are atoms or molecules are very unstable and very reactive, and damage to the network. These free radical compounds can be formed due to chemical processes that occur in tuubuh body, such oxidation processes, cell metabolism, exercise and excessive inflammation.
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Giraffes

2010-08-03T04:20:00.000-07:00

Description and Characteristics:
The Giraffe is the tallest of all mammals, on average they are 6ft tall at birth. They are well known for their long necks, long legs, and spotted patterns; each giraffe has it's own unique pattern. Giraffes have small "horns" or knobs on top of their heads that grow to be about five inches long. These knobs are used to protect the head in fights.

Feeding/drinking Habits:
Their long necks help giraffes eat leaves from tall trees, typically acacia trees. The tongue of a giraffe can be as long as 45 cm.

If they need to, giraffes can go for several days without water. Instead of drinking, giraffes rely on remaining hydrated from the moisture content in the leaves they feed on.

Habitat:
Giraffes live in the savannahs of Africa, where they roam freely among the tall acacia trees, arid land, dense forests and open plains. Large populations of giraffe are found in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia.

Size & Lifespan
Males weigh between 2,400 and 4,000 pounds and are up to 18 feet tall. Female giraffes are smaller and lighter than males, and weight between 1,600 and 2,600 pounds and grow to be about 16 feet tall. A giraffe calf can be up to 6 ft tall at birth

Giraffes live for about 25 years in the wild

Reproduction:
The gestation period for giraffes is between 14-15 months. Generally there 16-month period between calving since this is such a long gestation period. Breeding can occur at any time of the year, with the conception peak generally happening the rainy season

Predators and Threats:
There is not direct threat to adult Giraffes from predators as they are too large. However, their calves are vulnerable and cannot defend themselves from usually lion and the spotted hyena.

Giraffes are hunted for their meat, coat and tails. The tail is prized for good luck bracelets, fly whisks and string for sewing beads. The coat is used for shield coverings. Habitat destruction and fragmentation are threats to giraffe populations.
http://www.africaguide.com

Antioxidants

2010-08-03T04:17:00.000-07:00

Antioxidants are defined as compounds that can delay, slow down, and prevent lipid oxidation process. In a special meaning, antioxidants are substances that can delay or prevent the occurrence of antioksidasi reactions of free radicals in lipid oxidation (Kochhar and Rossell, 1990).

Sources of antioxidants can be classified into two groups, namely synthetic antioxidants (antioxidants obtained from the synthesis of chemical reactions) and natural antioxidants (antioxidant extraction yield natural ingredients).

Some examples of synthetic antioxidants permitted for food use and their use has been often used, namely anisol butyl hydroxy (BHA), butyl hydroxy toluene (BHT), propyl gallate, tert-butyl hidoksi quinon (TBHQ) and tocopherols. Antioxidant-these antioxidants are natural antioxidants that have been produced synthetically for commercial purposes.

Natural antioxidants in food can be derived from (a) the existing antioxidant compounds from one or two of food components, (b) antioxidant compounds formed from reactions during processing, (c) antioxidant compounds isolated from natural sources and added to food as a food additive (Pratt, 1992).

Antioxidant compounds isolated from natural sources is derived from plants. Plant Kingdom, Angiosperm has approximately 250 000 to 300 000 species and of these approximately 400 species have been known to be a human food ingredient. Isolation of a natural antioxidant has been made from plants that can be eaten, but not always from the part that can be eaten. Natural antioxidant in several parts of plants, such as in wood, bark, roots, leaves, fruits, flowers, seeds and pollen (Pratt, 1992).

Natural antioxidant plant compounds are usually phenolic or polyphenolic compounds that can form groups of flavonoids, cinnamic acid derivatives, coumarins, tocopherols and polyfunctional organic acids. Flavonoid having antioxidant activity include flavones, flavonols, isoflavones, kateksin, flavonol and kalkon. Meanwhile, cinnamic acid derivatives including kafeat acids, ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, and others.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is used as a seasoning or traditional medicine. Pungent components of ginger such as gingerol and 6-6 shogaol known to have antioxidant activity that was enough. Of ginger extract that has been removed by steam distillation volatilnya components, then the fraction of non volatilnya after purification, it was found that there were four derivatives and four kinds diarilheptanoid gingerol which has strong antioxidant activity (Nakatani, 1992).
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Why Are Amphibian Populations Declining

2010-08-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

Clearly, the most important factor leading to amphibian population declines is habitat destruction. When forests are cleared it is no surprise that species that once lived there disappear. What is alarming is that there are many cases where the habitat is protected and amphibians are still disappearing. The causes for recent amphibian declines are many, but an emerging disease called chytridiomycosis and global climate change are thought the be the biggest threats to amphibians. Chytridiomycosis is a disease caused by the fungal chytrid pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This pathogen is associated with the global loss of hundreds of species of amphibians and represents a spectacular loss of biodiversity, some say the worst in recorded history.

In the table below we break down all of the hypothesized factors and the links provide more detailed information for each one. Some factors are obviously shared with other types of endangered species on our planet and are part of to the worldwide biodiversity crisis such as habitat destruction, alteration and fragmentation (Fisher and Shaffer 1996, Davidson et al. 2001, Marsh and Trenham 2001), introduced species (Vredenburg 2004, Kats and Ferrer 2003) and over-exploitation (Jennings and Hayes 1985, Lannoo et al. 1994). For these threats, we have a pretty good understanding of the ecological mechanisms underlying declines (Collins and Storfer 2003). However, amphibians have also declined in relatively ‘pristine’ and protected environments (Wake 1991, Crump et al. 1992, Lips 2000). These more complex and elusive mechanisms include climate change (Pounds et al. 1999, Kiesecker et al. 2001, Carey and Alexander 2003), increased UV-B radiation, chemical contaminants (Hayes et al. 2002, Blaustein et al. 2003), emerging infectious diseases (Daszak et al. 2003; see AmphibiaWeb's global distribution map of chytrid) and deformities (or malformations). The underlying mechanisms behind these factors are complex and they may be working synergistically with more straight forward factors, such as habitat destruction and introduced species, to exacerbate declines (Kiesecker et al. 2001, Blaustein and Kiesecker 2002). Researchers are finding that there is not a single overarching cause for global declines, instead all of these factors are threatening amphibian populations and the threat tends to vary depending on the location. If we are going to prevent further extinctions, research must move forward quickly and be used effectively in management by governments and non-governmental organizations around the world.

Antioxidants and resources

2010-06-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Tapeworm

2010-03-30T06:14:00.001-07:00

Latin name: Taenia solium
Phylum: Flatworm
Sub Phylum: --
Order: Cyclophyllidea
Family: --
Genus: --
Species: Taenia solium
Class: Cestoda
Area Name: ribbon worm

Breathing:

No description.

Habitat:

All the endoparasitic tapeworms and almost all adult worms live in the digestive tract of vertebrates and the larvae live on the network vertebratata and invertebrates.

Digestion:

Cestoda do not have the gut and absorb nutriment through the general surface of the body.

Reproduction:

Tapeworms are hermaphrodit. Reproductive organs varies in different groups. Proglottid each consisting of one complete set of female and male organs. Apparently formed in a single egg fertilized by spermatozoa proglottid from proglottid the same, despite the merger between proglottid known at the same worm and the worm is different.

Role:

Tapeworm, Taenia solium, normally parasitic, the adults live in the human digestive tract

Clonorchis sinensis

2010-03-30T06:08:00.001-07:00

atin name: Opisthorchis sinensis (Clonorchis sinensis)
Phylum: Flatworm
Sub Phylum: --
Order: Digenea
Family: Opisthorchidae
Genus: --
Species: Opisthorchis sinensis (Clonorchis sinensis)
Class: Trematoda
Area Name: Wormwood flat / tapeworm

Breathing:

There were no respiratory system.

Habitat:

Despite the orient, but not in the Western Hemisphere.

Digestion:

Simple digestive system. The mouth opens into a short esophagus, which connects to another short tract, esophagus. The intestine consists of two branches, one extending from the anterior to the posterior end of each side of his body.

Reproduction:

Trematoda reproductive organs and the complex life cycle usually involving several different hosts, which resulted in the addition of the power of reproduction. Reproduction of most of the descendants of animals required for the parasite because they occasion some individuals will reach a new host rather lightly. Most of trematoda hermaphrodit. Eggs from a worm may be fertilized by sperm from the same worm, with cross-fertilization can occur. Larvae that hatched from the egg is trematoda ectoparasitic form cilia and swim about until they attach themselves to a new host. Trematoda usually passes through the endoparasitic life cycles such as the worm terkomplikasi liver.

Role:

Opisthorchis sinensis (Clonorchis sinensis) is a worm in the human heart, and also occurs in cats and dogs, as the host of functions such as warehouse. This was chosen as an example for the type of structure trematoda less special because of the Fasciola hepatica, the liver flatworm cows. O. sinensis adults living in the vessels of bile in humans and cause infections that can cause death.

Sea spider

2010-03-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

Latin name : Anoplodactylus lentus
Phylum : Arthropoda
Sub Phylum : Chelicerata
Order : --
Family : Phoxichilidiidae
Genus : --
Species : Anoplodactylus lentus
Class : Pycnogonida
Area Name : Unknown.

Breathing:

Not have respiratory organs.

Habitat:

Pycnogonid, or sea spiders (sea spiders), the shape of small, benthic, marine arthropod, with a size like real spiders, which they may be only distantly related.

Digestion:

Digestion is intracellular.

Reproduction:

Dioecious reproduction, fertilization is external, and for sexual are inclined thin dimorphisma. Protonymphon larvae with three pairs of extra and hidden intestine.

Sponges

2010-03-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

Latin name: Scypha
Phylum: Porifera
Sub Phylum: --
Order: Heterocoela
Family: Sycettidae
Genus: --
Species: Scypha
Class: Calcarea
Area Name: --

Breathing:

No special respiratory Organs can be designated, but it is obvious that the stream of water moving through the body provides excellent conditions for respiratory exchange. A large surface is exposed, and a new supply of water is constantly provided. The percentage of oxygen removed from the water entering the Organism is known as oxygen withdrawal. Hazelhoff found that oxygen withdrawal varies considerably with the species. Considering the quantity of water they process, this seems Relatively unimportant. Where water flows rapidly over an extensive surface, low ratea withdrawal may provide adequate oxygen. Sponges are generally aerobic and sensitive to low oxygen availability. Closure of the osculum for a time results in an above-normal oxygen uptake during recovery. Evidently some kind of oxygen debt system operates in sponges. When metabolism is carried out under conditions of oxygen shortage, complex organic end products are formed. If these accumulate in the body, they and oxidized when oxygen becomes available, and oxygen use rises. Closure of the oscula prevents the washing out of these compounds by water flowing through the sponge, and it is not Surprising that they consume more oxygen afterwards.

Habitat:

Sponges can be found in almost all aquatic habitats. Most sponges, though, can be found in the marine environment. Most sponges are filled with toxic substances, probably to scare away Predators. Because of this, many other organisms sponges to attach themselves for protection. Some of the chemicals have been found to be beneficial in making medicine for humans. Some marine plants, algae, and bacteria have been found to have a symbiotic relationship with sponges in the marine environment (a symbiotic relationship is a relationship that benefits both organisms). In this relationship, the sponge provides support and protection and the other Organism provides food for the sponge.

Digestion:

Digestion occurs in food vacuoles and food is absorbed across the vacuolar membrane, as in protozoa. However, in most sponges the cells that ingest foods do not digest it. The small Demospongia choanocytes take food in but pass it on immediately to amoebocytes for Digestion. The ability to pass food from cell to cell is not unique in sponges, but is unusually important in their physiology.

Reproduction:

Sponges can reproduce either sexually or asexual. Asexual reproduction is by means of buds. Sexual reproduction is carried out as follows. Male gametes are released by a sponge into the water. The gametes are then taken into another sponge by its pore system, just like food. Spermatozoa are captured by the collar cells, which then turn into amoeba-like cells and carry the spermatozoa to the eggs. The fertilized egg then develops into a larvae and is released into the water. This process differs among different sponges. Usually, the larva then settles into the ground and forms a new adult sponge. Sometimes, though, the larvae will stay floating in the water for a time.

Invertebrata Euglena

2010-03-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

Latin name: Euglena
Phylum: Protozoa
Sub Phylum: Sarcomastigophora
Order: Euglenida
Family: --
Genus: Euglena
Species: Euglena
Class: Phytomastigophorea
Area Name: --

Breathing:

Food, whether collected or produced himself from the surrounding environment, is used for the collection of compounds needed for growth and repair. The collection of compounds protoplasmic organisms and physical activity requires energy. Most of Protozoa, the release of energy is aerobic, requiring the use of oxygen as the final acceptance of hydrogen. Some, however, released energy, does not depend on the environment, can occur. In Protozoa have no special organs for respiration. Mempelajasri respiration is a widespread problem in the exchange of respiratory, inhalation of oxygen and release carbon dioxide, and the picture of the biochemistry of the complex mechanisms of aerobic and anaerobic energy release.

Habitat:
Euglenophytes can be found in freshwater habitats and abundant in this area, such as farm ponds or drainage ditch, which consume animal dung.

Digestion:
To get food, Protozoa using a variety of ways. The most popular is to make your own, stealing, eating here and there, hunting and capture by traps. Protozoa small part to act as miners, and some are paid as a special technicians.

Reproduction:

Reproduction in Euglena done with longitudinal splitting pairs. The core uses the core of the membrane. Chromatin, in the form of strand-strand pairs chromomeras vegetative level, the forms chromomeras couples each split lengthwise into two. Endosome to shrink in two, the average in the same section. Intranuclear bodies are also divided into two. Body began to fall at the anterior end. Flagellum still hold a half long, in which the new flagellum is reinforced by the flagellum which lain.Tiap time when the division took place this animal in the condition encyst. Euglenae sometimes found almost has the shape of the ball and is surrounded by a gelatinous cover thick enough where they have been issued. Like an animal can be said to be encyst. In this condition the dry season period had passed; animal becomes active when the water re-encountered. Usually taken in the laboratory breeding were found cysts on the sides. Before encystment escape flagellum, a new one is produced when the activity starts again. One cyst usually produces two euglena, although this can mempagi while still in the old cyst walls to create four-all. Specific research has merekord of 32 flagellated euglena who escape from a cyst. Cleavage occurs only during the hours of darkness in exceptional circumstances; however, the combination of constituents of protoplasm occurs only during the hours of lighting the limitations of DNA replication to the contents at that hour.

Anaerobic Digestion

2010-03-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

Biogas is a process of bio gas production from organic materials with the help of bacteria. The process of degradation of organic materials without involving oxygen is called anaerobic Digestion gases produced largely (over 50%) of methane. organic material accumulated in the digester (reactor) going diuraiakan into two stages with the help of two types of bacteria. The first phase will orgranik material degraded to acid weak acid with the aid of acid-forming bacteria. These bacteria will describe the level of waste and asidifikasi hydrolysis. Hydrolysis of complex compounds decomposition or long chain compounds such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates into simple compounds. While the formation of acid asifdifikasi of simple compounds.

After the organic material into acid acid, then the second stage of Anaerobic Digestion is the process of formation of methane gas with the aid of methane-forming bacteria such as methanococus, methanosarcina, methano bacterium.

Development of Anaerobic Digestion process has been successful in many applications. This process has the ability to process the garbage / waste overflow exists and is not useful to more valuable products. Anaerobic Digestion application has been successful in processing industrial waste, agricultural waste and livestock waste municipal solid waste.

2010-02-04T05:11:00.001-08:00

A fine collection of billingsgates in a glass fronted display box

Wild Elephant

2009-05-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

ULUBELU ( Lampost): Thousands of farmer in a number of pekon ( countryside) in District Of Ulu, Belu, Sub-Province Tanggamus, return grasped fear of tore- apparition a elephant sumatera ( Elephas maximus sumatranus) which mengubrak-abrik paddy crop ready harvesting and coconut property of public in this area.

Pemkab Tanggamus over a barrel face conflict between men and this trunks animals. Relocation effort which suggested a number of the side of collided at limitation of funds.

" Budget which we raise for this wild elephant relocation scored out, Mas. Don't know who did scoring out. Though, this have concerning safety of throng soul," said Junaidi Kepala Satuan Polisi Kehutanan Dinas Kehutanan and Plantation Of Tanggamus in in between visit of The Minister of Agriculture [job/activity] Anton Apriyantono in sentra plantation of mangosteen in Pekon, Terdana, Kotaagung Minggu ( 22-2).

According to citizen, have an month;moon is more the elephantly reside in this area. " While striving expulsion traditionally which done by is public fail to so that paddy being turning yellow and ready harvesting, destroyed by the wild elephant," said Rusli ( 40), farmer in Pekon Karang, Rejo, District Of Ulu, Belu, Tuesday ( 24-2).

According to citizen, the male wild elephant anticipated one of member of folk of wild elephant Davit Chang which hardly legendaris in this region. The animal anticipated by tercecer from the officer relocation folk BKSDA Tanjungkarang WHICH HAVE to Boat citadel, Float West, some times then.

This wild elephant downwards [so/till] come near setlement of resident during two months. " Not merely just banana and coconut which destroyed by is this wild elephant, but also banana crop, pulses," said Darwis, citizen Pekon Penantian.

Even, elephant that dare to come near setlement of resident compact and menyatroni house for looking for the hobby food. A number of farmers shacks in farms also destroyed and shell of rices furnishs in pot is cleans shacks eaten by this wilds elephant.

The elephant every day make a move out of one kampong to other kampong in region District Of Ulu Belu start Karang, Rejo, Waiting, Ulu, Semong, Natural Fence, etcetera. Usually, in the day time elephant that passing the time him(it with sleep in coppice or even in farm property of citizen.

Meanwhile, nearing dusk [so/till] at dawn, the animal menyatroni a number of residents farms. Since apparition of this corpulent body animal, citizen in Ulu Belu which majority drape living by to farm, automatically cannot till their garden.

They fear attacked by elephant, like the one have befalled a number of citizens in District Of Ulu Belu since year 2007 until 2008. Citizen having house in forest periphery or in garden periphery, more opting evacuate to tampat their family in countrified. UTI/N-1

Hydrozoa

2009-05-05T19:43:00.001-07:00

Hydrozoa there is the life soliter ( apart) and there is of colony ( team). Hydrozoa which soliter have form of adenoid, while which colony with form of dominant adenoid and some types form medusa. Example Of Hydra and Obellia.

1. Hydra

Form of body Hydra like adenoid, live in freshwater. Body measure Hydra between 10 mm – 30 mm. The food in the form of small plant and Crustacea is low. Part of body side under lockup form foot/feet, the usage for sticking at object and make a move. At the end of which at the oposite there are mouth encircled by hypostome and in around his(its there are 6 – 10 fruit of tentacle. Tentacle function as a means of catch food. Hereinafter food is ingested in cavity gastrovaskuler.

Growth Of Hydra happened asexually and sexual. Propagation asexually happened through forming of tunas/budding, about at part of middle side of body wall Hydra. Bydm soriyt have owned epidermis, mesoglea and cavity gastrovaskuler. The bydm soriyt continue is big and finally secede from the mains body is to be individual is new.

Propagation sexually happened through egg fusion cell ( from ovary) with sperm ( from testis). Result of forge of forming zygote which will grow until gastrula stadium. Then this embryo will grow to form cyst with wall from horn matter. This cyst can swim Free and in place appropriate will stick at object in water territory base. Then if(when situation of good environment, core of emergence embryo and split up cyst become Hydra is new.

Protozoa uniseluler heterotrop

2009-05-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Protista is group of organism having micro body measure. Kingdom protist consist of group of mortal having switchover characteristic between plants and animals, the example is amoeba.

Protista is group of organism which memikili micro body measure, so that to observe the body morphology structure have to apply microscope. Although protist cum organism uniseluler, they have good role in human lives.

Monarchic of protist consist of group of mortal having switchover characteristic between animals and plants. Kingdom protist sometimes lapped over to mortal uniseluler having core ( nucleus) and organella is clear.

Protista consisted:

1. Species uniseluler forming Protozoa

2. Alga uniseluler ( except blue algae alga)

3. Some fungi cells of one.

But, there is the subdividing protist fluctuate because is forming to change over between and algas Protozoa and also between Protozoa and fungi. This reason is main reason why differentiated difficult protist clearly.

Alga, is organism available for yielding oksugen through process fotosintesa and containing chlorophyll. Some there is the anggita multi seluler and there is uniseluler. Member which this uniseluler in form of yarn, colony, or siositik. While structured protist multiseluler, in form of yarn branch so-called mycelium. Protista is structured multiseluler is other is mushroom sinositik.

Protozoa have core of other cell organelle and cell, like nucleus, reticulum endiplasma, mitochondria, body golgi, DNA joining forces with protein, and centriole. Protozoa also have cilia and flagella as a means of make a move. Protozoa can make Proleg capable to doing bisection of mitosis and meiosis.

Protozoa uniseluler heterotrop, divided to become 4 group, that is:

1. Mastigophora, have one flagella and between his(its are Trypanosoma brusei.

2. Sarcodina, what looking like amoeba.

3. Ciliophora, have stuktur cilia cum between his(its Paramecium and stentor.

4. Phylum, Myxophyta, what is bereproduksi by propagating spore.

This problem of classification become complicated when Euglena having synthesis chioroplast but also digest food in darkness, and Astasia is same with Euglena but less having chioroplast. Biologist tell them are Protozoa and partly tell them are alga.

Carnivora

2009-05-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Animal eating other animal called as carnivore. Animal

carnivorous living in about doggish us and cat. Dog

eat bone and flesh. In cat house prey mouse, eat

chicken flesh and fish.

Wolf and tiger is carnivorous animal living in

wilderness. They hunt to get the food.

How tooth form and claw tiger? This animal have eye-tooth

what is good for tearing flesh

the prey animal. The foot/feet

have claw which good for sacramenting

the prey. Distinguish animal which

carnivorous inclusion have indra

Spengler, kisser, and hearer which

good. Carnivore animal can have

poisoned ( can) and strong fang

like snake.

herbivore

2009-05-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

Just herbivore animal or called as herbivore. Herbivore

can eat part of plant in the form of leaf, bar, seed as well as

corms. Example of herbivores of eater of grasses and the daunan.example :

ox, goat and horse. Hare hardly like corms type

like carrot.

There is bird type pertained into herbivore. Bird

eater of bulk like pigeon, cuckoo and church bird. There is cupula

bird of eater of fruits like parrot and jalak. Usually

the bird have form of bill which typically as according to type

the food.

BUAYA

2008-09-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

Crocodiles

Caught in the Trade

Wanted more dead than alive – crocodiles' safety will remain precarious until laws to protect them are better enforced. In the wild, the predatory reptile can be a menace to villagers for attacking people and valuable livestock. In a store, a crocodile leather handbag on display invokes love at first sight for most fashionistas.

Growing global demand for croc-patterned luxuries has turned commercial crocodile farming into a profitable industry – with more than $200 million in annual international sales of skins alone. The high-end leather goods produced from crocodiles earn ten times that amount in retail sales, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Crocodile Specialist Group.

Illegal Hunting Fueled by Legal Farming, Poor Regulation

As a business, crocodile farming doesn't break any laws. Farms are legally allowed to operate, as well as to sell skins and meat from their stocks. Crocodile poaching, on the other hand, is the illegal hunting and collection of crocodiles from the wild, often to sell to farms for rearing.

This illegal activity is rampant in some places due to poor regulation of the farming industry. It is so widespread in Cambodia, in fact, that experts claim it is the greatest factor preventing the recovery of wild Siamese crocodiles (CR, Crocodylus siamensis).

Further harm to crocodiles results from ignorance about wildlife laws in general. Local fishermen view wild crocodiles as a danger to their economic livelihood and kill them with impunity. Herein lies the weakest link in law enforcement. Despite passage of wildlife protection laws at the national level, communities are mostly unaware that crocodiles are officially protected. In turn the laws have become, for all practical purposes, null and void.

The Status of Crocodiles

But they are in place for good reason. Roughly a quarter of the world’s 23 crocodilian species is either threatened or virtually extinct in the wild. Wild Siamese crocodiles, now almost entirely confined to Cambodia, are thought to number as low as 250. Before new populations of Philippine crocodiles (CR, Crocodylus mindorensis) were discovered on the island of Luzon in 1999, none had been spotted in the wild for years. Under these dire circumstances, every crocodile still has some degree of international and domestic protection in places where they survive.

Crocodile Conservation

Fortunately, conservation efforts have been successful in both restoring healthy crocodile populations, such as the Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), and saving the threatened.

In Cambodia’s Central Cardamom Protected Forest, Conservation International (CI) forged an agreement with villagers to secure key Siamese crocodile habitat and stop using fishing gear that could result in the accidental drowning of crocodiles. In return, the villagers received water buffalo and funding to convert old rice paddies and support a teacher’s salary.

CI and partners, such as Fauna & Flora International, also are working with the Cambodian government to ensure that farming regulations are appropriate and properly implemented.

In the Sierra Madre Mountains in the Philippines, a combination of education, awareness, and economic incentives has tamed long-standing community fears of the Philippine crocodile. Supported in part by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), the Mabuwaya Foundation designed a reward program where contributions into a community fund were made in exchange for each crocodile nest and hatchling protected. With the money, one village district bought a water pump, and many others adopted safer fishing regulations. Moreover, the first Philippine crocodile bred in captivity from a saved hatchling was released into the wild last fall.

“It’s vital to work with local communities to develop regulations from the ground up,” says Mabuwaya Project Manager Jan van der Ploeg.

BY http://www.conservation.org/

West African dwarf crocodile

2008-09-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

Scientific name: Osteolaemus tetraspis

Country: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierre Leone, Togo

Continent: Africa

Diet: Fish- piscivore, frogs- ranivore, crustaceans- crustacivore. In the Zoo, they are given fish, rats or mice which are already dead, and live locusts. All food items are swallowed whole.

Food & feeding: Carnivore

Habitats: Freshwater, tropical rainforest, tropical grassland

Conservation status: Vulnerable

Relatives: Nile crocodile, caiman

Description: The dwarf crocodile is the world's smallest crocodile, growing up to 190 cm in length (by contrast, the Nile crocodile can reach 5 m in length). It is found alone or in pairs in burrows near the water's edge. As with all crocodiles, their impressive jaws are designed to close on prey with maximum force, but they cannot chew or bite pieces off their prey.

Lifestyle: They remain in their burrows during the day, coming out at night to hunt in the water, along the banks of the river or pool and into the forest. During the dry season (for those living in savanna areas) they may spend longer period within the burrow.

Family & friends: Perhaps surprisingly, crocodiles are good mothers, building and guarding nests and escorting the hatchlings.

Keeping in touch: Baby crocodiles near hatching call to their mother from within the nest with a curious twanging note.

Growing up: When the female is ready to lay eggs, a nest of rotting vegetation is built by dragging leaves into a pile, which breaks down like a compost heap, keeping the eggs warm. The female breeds once a year, laying up to 20 ( more usually about 10) eggs. The incubation period lasts 85-105 days. The female guards the nest and escorts the newly hatched young in the water. Some of the young may stay with the mother for a few weeks. The young are attractively marked: a black background with red-yellow cross bands and yellow spots on the body.

West African dwarf crocodile

In the wild, many species of crocodiles are hunted for their skins which are then made into shoes, handbags and wallets. The dwarf crocodile does not have a valuable skin and fortunately has not been hunted for this reason.

Conservation news: They are vulnerable to habitat change and hunting. They are often killed for food. They are designated as a vulnerable species in the wild. They may be locally abundant in some countries such as Cameroon, but not in others such as Gambia, but information is very limited. In the Zoo, they are now part of a conservation breeding programme.

by http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk

Crocodile conservation

2008-09-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

THE BEGINNING
Crocodilians were threatened in India due to indiscriminate killing for commercial purpose and severe habitat loss until enactment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.1972. All three species of crocodiles (Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus; Mugger crocodile, Crocodylus palustris and Saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus in the river systems of Orissa were on the verge of extinction by the seventies. Crocodiles were very few because of ever increasing human activity in the rivers and their other traditional habitats, and consequent reduction in the extent of habitable stretches. Also, the survival rate of the crocodile hatchlings in nature is low because of predation. Piecemeal efforts were being made from the sixties onwards to save the crocodile. FAO Expert, Dr. H.R.Bustard engaged by UNDP/FAO and Government of India studied the prospects of crocodile rehabilitation,

THE BEGINNING

MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES

PROJECT SITES IN ORISSA

'BAULA' PROJECT: DANGAMAL

MUGGER PROJECT: RAMATIRTHA (more file)

GHARIAL PROJECT: TIKARPADA

CAPTIVE BREEDING OF CROCODILES AT NANDANKANAN

RESEARCH AND TRAINING

CONTRIBUTIONS

Interpreting visual signs

and based on his report and guidance a Crocodile Conservation Project was launched in 1975 in different States. The Gharial and Saltwater crocodile conservation programme was first implemented in Orissa in early 1975 and subsequently the Mugger conservation programme was initiated, since Orissa is having distinction for existence of all the three species of Indian crocodilians. The funds and technical support for the project came from UNDP/ FAO through the Government of India.

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MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES.
The broad strategy adopted for rehabilitation of crocodiles was to protect them in their natural habitats, to rebuild the population quickly through captive breeding (rear and release), and to build up trained personnel for the job. The broad objectives of activities under crocodile project were the following.

(a) To protect the remaining population of crocodilians in their natural habitat by creating sanctuaries.

(b) To rebuild natural population quickly through 'grow and release' or 'rear and release' technique involving the following phases of operation.

· Collection of eggs from natural nests as soon as these were laid,
· Incubation of these eggs under ideal temperature and humidity maintained in artificial hatcheries,
· Hatching and rearing the young crocodilians in ideal captive-husbandry conditions,
· Marking and releasing young crocodiles in protected areas, and
· Assessing the result of release along with protection of the released crocodiles.

(d) To take-up research to improve management. Some of the major research activities have been in the following directions.
· Interpretation of the various types of data collected during survey and census.
· Determination of parameters for maximum success in egg collection, egg incubation, hatching, rearing and release, including husbandry aspects on feeding, food conversion and growth.
· Study of habitat features and population structure.
· Study of behavioural biology including reproduction, thermo-regulation, feeding, water-orientation, locomotion etc.

(e) To build up a level of trained personnel for better continuity of the project through trainings imparted at the project-sites and through the erstwhile Central Crocodile Breeding and Management Training Institute, Hyderabad.

(f) To involve the local people intimately through the following:
· The development of a strong level of acceptance of the project by the people, by locating the projects in rural areas where people could both see and participate in the entire programme.
· Protect the immediate and long-term interests of fishermen who reside within the sanctuaries, and whose livelihood depends on fishing, by, if necessary, providing an alternative source of income that was not detrimental to the conservation aims.
· Extend the conservation programme to village-level, commercial crocodile farming, so that people could earn an income from conserving crocodiles and their habitats.

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PROJECT SITES IN ORISSA
During 1976, survey of (i) salt-water crocodiles and (ii) Gharial crocodiles was conducted in the river system of Bhitarkanika area and in the Mahanadi, respectively. The number of salt-water crocodiles in Bhitarkanika area was estimated to be 95, including 34 adults. The number of Gharials in Mahanadi was estimated to be 8, including 4 adults. No detailed survey was, however, conducted for Mugger crocodiles at that time, although the species occurred at several places in the State. The one breeding population of Mugger known at that time was in the Balimela Dam in Koraput district.

The Crocodile Project started with the objective of building the population to a stage when incidence of sighting could be 5 to 6 crocodiles per KM length of water. The Project sought to make up the natural losses by death and predation through rear and release operation. This involved collection of eggs from the nests as soon as these were laid, incubation and hatching of these eggs in hatcheries under regulated conditions of temperature and humidity, rearing the young juveniles, marking and release of the young crocodiles into Nature in protected areas, and assessment of the degree of success in restocking any protected area with crocodiles released from the hatcheries. To accomplish these tasks, 3 separate research units were established at Tikarpara, Dangmal and Ramatirtha for the Gharial, Salt Water Crocodile and the Mugger, respectively. At the Nandankanan Biological Park, captive breeding plans for all three species were pursued.

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'BAULA' PROJECT AT DANGAMAL
‘Baula’ is the Oriya term for Saltwater Crocodile. At Dangmal in Bhitarkanika sanctuary, salt-water crocodile eggs have been collected locally; and young crocodiles have been released in the creeks and the estuaries; and more than 2200 crocodiles have been released in phases since 1977.

This operation has been reasonably successful and the crocodile population in the Bhitarkanika river system has gradually been built up. Above 50 released female Saltwater Crocodiles have bread successfully and are laying eggs in the wild.

The annual census conducted in the river systems of Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary in Jan.2004 indicated that there were 1308 Saltwater crocodiles and the crocodile population is on increasing trend. The details about the census results are as under:

Size class and number of crocodiles
Hatch-lings	Year-lings	Juvenile	Sub-adult	Adult	Total
525	303	210	100	220	1358
38.60%	22.30%	15.50%	7.40%	16.20%

Comparison of census results (2000-2004)

Census year and no. of crocodiles
2004	2003	2002	2001	2000
1358	1308	1330	1098	914

Range wise crocodile number (2004)

Forest ranges and no. of crocodiles
Kanika	Rajnagar	Mahakalapada	Chandbali	Total
1149 (84.6%)	172 (12.67%)	19 (1.40%)	18 (1.33%)	1358

Results indicate the followings:

There are 220 full grown adults among 1358 crocodiles counted;

There is an increase of 3.8% over 2003-04 results;
Six adults are above 18’ length.
Kanika range holds 84% of the entire present population.
The areas having higher concentration of crocodiles have:
(I) Good mangrove cover / fringing mangrove vegetation,
(ii) Less human disturbances (little or no illegal fishing activities), and
(iii) A network of the river, creeks and creek lets.

Thus, above 70% of the entire crocodile population are restricted into only approximately 30% areas /habitat i.e. Khola-Brahmani river confluence to Bhitarkanika-Pathasala river confluence of the Bhitarkanika National Park.

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MUGGER PROJECT AT RAMATIRTHA
The Ramatirtha center, meant for Mugger crocodiles, initially started with eggs and juveniles of Mugger procured from Tamilnadu. Since 1984 breeding of Muggers and the release of young ones into the nature in Similipal have been carried out, and so far more than 600 crocodiles have been released in Similipal.

Census was conducted to ascertain the population status of Mugger crocodiles in the prominent rivers/waterbodies inside the Similipal. The river wise census results have been indicated below.

The census results indicate the followings:

In West Deo river, two stretches namely UBK-Patbil and Kandadhenu- Lower Barhakamuda hold 27 out of 42 (64.28%) of total muggers in about 15 km of the river.
In river Khairi, the stretches between Jenabil and Ransa, about 15 km long,hold 13 (65%) out of 20 Muggers.
This is the situation / trend continuing since late 1980s during which regular monitoring of the crocodiles has been carried out.

River and size / length wise distribution of Crocodiles-2004.

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GHARIAL PROJECT AT TIKARPADA
At Tikarpara, Gharial eggs were obtained at different points of time from Narayani and Kali rivers in Nepal and Chambal sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The eggs collected from Mahanadi were infertile. Some hatchlings of Gharial were obtained from eggs incubated in Royal Chitwan National Park of Nepal and Katarniyaghat sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh. All Gharials reared at Tikarpara and those produced from captive breeding at Nandankanan zoo, numbering more than 700, were released in the river Mahanadi between Boudh and Katrang.

One of the assessments of the rear and release operation in respect of Gharials was made during December, 1987 - January, 1988, when only 25 Gharials were found to be surviving in the entire stretch of the river Mahanadi and down stream of Hirakud Reservoir over a length of 400 Kms. In January, 2003 census, one male and two female Gharials were sighted / counted in and outside of the sanctuary, respectively. A study was carried out to assess the reasons for poor survival of the Gharial in Mahanadi. For increasing the Gharial population to more viable levels it is absolutely essential to minimize fishing and navigation at least on certain stretches of the river. It has been under consideration to rehabilitate Gharials in Mahanadi up-stream of Hirakud reservoir, and some stretches of the river Brahmani.

The census conducted in winter-2004 in the river system of Mahanadi within the limits of Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary indicated survival only one male Gharial (3-3.5m length). This Gharial was located between Binikei and Majhipada of the river Mahanadi / SatkosiaGorge.

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MANAGEMENT IN THE WILD
Since the prime objective of crocodile project is to rebuild their population in the wild, restocking the sanctuaries with captive reared crocodiles is an ongoing programme. The resident and released populations of crocodiles are periodically monitored and the trend of nesting is also assessed.

Protection of crocodiles is a round-the-year activity. Measure threats are from intruding fishermen using nylon set nets.

Because of occasional reappearance of crocodiles in their former habitat that is now shared by increasing human population, there are occasional instances of nuisance crocodile. Such crocodiles are generally captured and shifted to some other river/creek or are brought back to captivity after careful consideration of the case histories and field conditions.

CAPTIVE BREEDING OF CROCODILES AT NANDANKANAN
Captive breeding units on all the three crocodilian species have been established at Nandankanan Zoo. Muggers bred at Nandankanan Zoo have also been released in Satkosia Gorge. Although Gharials have failed in establishing in Satkosia Gorge, Muggers have settled down well in this stretch of Mahanadi River. As per survey carried in January to March 2004 there are 64 Muggers in Mahanadi system and 83 Muggers in the rivers in Similipal.

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RESEARCH AND TRAINING
In-house research has been conducted to standardise 'the rear and release' technique. Studies have been carried out to determine the appropriate method of population assessment, egg collection, egg incubation, hatching, and husbandry of the young crocodiles and various aspects of behavioural biology of the three species of crocodiles and their habitat features. The baseline data on Indian crocodilians and their management has been possible because of over 300 publications produced from these conservation projects.

Training has been imparted to all field staff employed in the project to help them to discharge their duties efficiently. Local people have been trained on how to bring live food for the hatchling in the pools. The Research Officers of this organisation have availed of overseas training and have also conducted courses through the UNDP/FAO Programme. Based on their performance and contribution they have been in the steering committee and membership of the IUCN/ SSC Crocodile Specialist Group.

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CONTRIBUTIONS
All the three species of crocodiles have been saved from the brink of extinction, and many of their habitats have been brought under the protected area network of the State. The crocodile project that has since long come to a slow-pace in the State has contributed handsomely to develop the know-how and spreading of awareness. Future of the crocodiles can be secured with adequate protection of their habitats.

Apart from producing a large number of crocodiles in a short span, the Crocodile Project has contributed in various ways to the entire approach of wildlife conservation, research and training.

Local people have been intimately involved in the management of crocodiles.

Full time research personnel have been inducted into the wildlife wing to carry out research on crocodiles and other associated wildlife.

Some important wetland sanctuaries have been created with crocodiles as the flagship-species.

www.wildlifeorissa.in

TURTLE LIVE

2008-08-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

On a sunny morning at Bali’s Nusa Dua beach, 240 sea turtle hatchlings got a little help from friends to begin a journey traveled by their ancestors for millions of years.

Local officials of Badung Regency and members of the Kuta Turtle Conservation Group, the Serangan Turtle Conservation Group, and Conservation International (CI) were joined by curious onlookers in releasing the tiny olive ridley and green sea turtles into the ocean as a side event at U.N. climate change talks on the Indonesian island.

The baby turtles, smaller than your hand, scampered on their flippers across the sand and into the water, watched and in some cases prodded by throngs of onlookers and a large international media contingent.

"These species have no passport, so they migrate all over the world," event co-organizer Ketut Sarjana Putra, marine director for CI’s Indonesia program, told the crowd by loudspeaker.

He cited the threats they face wherever they go: ill-planned coastal development that destroys nesting beaches; natural predators on land and sea, including humans who eat the turtles and their eggs; and garbage and other pollution.

Now climate change poses a potentially more devastating threat, he said. Rising ocean levels mean the loss of more nesting beaches, while warmer temperatures affect the reproduction process by causing more females than males to hatch. Eventually, such an imbalance will doom affected species, Putra said. He suggested a mitigation strategy: plant more coastal trees to provide shade for the turtle nests, keeping them cooler.

The olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is listed as Vulnerable and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) as Endangered, meaning threatened with extinction, by the IUCN. They are most vulnerable as eggs incubating in nests on the beach, and then when they hatch and scramble to their ocean home. The hatchlings released on Bali were from eggs kept in protected nests, then allowed to reach the ocean free of preying birds and other threats.

"They have a less than 1 percent chance of surviving to adulthood," Putra noted. "We’re just trying to give them a little help here at the start."

The turtle release was one of several events by host Indonesia to emphasize the nation’s remarkable biological diversity during the U.N. talks on a blueprint for confronting climate change. In previous days, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a new Orangutan Action Plan, and more than two dozen captive-bred Bali starlings (Leucopsar rothschildi) were released in a national park to more than double the population in the wild of the Critically Endangered species.

Related by http://www.conservation.org

Sumatran Tiger Conservation

2008-08-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

HIGHLIGHTS

Bukit Barisan Selatan Highlights

Total Area of Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park
· 3568 km²
· 1178 mi²

Habitat Types
A rich mix of:
· tropical lowland rainforest
· montane forest
· cloud forest

Wildlife Present
Birds: hornbills, Argus pheasants, jungle fowl
Mammals: tapirs, elephants, tigers, lesser apes, leaf monkeys, sunbears

WCS Involvement
· Since 1998

Contacts
Noviar Andayani
Indonesia Program Director
Jl. Pangrano No. 8
Bogor, West Java, Indonesia
nandayani@wcs.org

For more information, see www.wcs.org/indonesia

For a printable version of this page, click here

Sumatran tiger conservation
Tigers were once distributed widely across forests and grasslands from Turkey to Siberia in the northeast to the Indonesian island of Java in the southeast. This vast historical range has been greatly reduced in the last 200 years through habitat loss, depletion of tiger prey by growing human populations, and tiger eradication campaigns. In Indonesia, the Javan and Bali tigers were driven to extinction in the last 60 years. Only the Sumatran tiger remains, with viable populations restricted to just a few protected areas on the island. A failure to carry out vigorous conservation campaigns to protect remaining tigers will mean the loss of one of the world’s most ecologically important top predators, and one of our most charismatic flagship species for biodiversity protection at large. WCS Indonesia has been working to protect Sumatran tigers in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) since 1998.

The Human Aspect
BBSNP, which stretches 150 km along the Barisan Mountain Range in southern Sumatra, is ringed by human settlements. In fact, Lampung Province, in which most of the park lies, is the most densely populated province on Sumatra. As such, local people and tigers interact indirectly—and sometimes directly—in and around the park on a daily level. In effect, tigers and people in the BBSNP area compete for resources, such as lowland rainforest and game.

Threats
Habitat loss, prey loss, and poaching are major threats to tigers in BBSNP. The first is of great concern, as it affects not only tigers, but all of the park’s lowland-dwelling species. One-fifth of the park’s total forest cover has been lost to human encroachment, and the destruction continues at an average rate of 4.85 km2 per month. The second threat, the decline in sambar deer and wild pig populations, is the result of heavy hunting in and around the park. Shrinking prey populations have been cited as a major cause of tiger declines in many Asian countries. The third, poaching of tigers, is driven by a local and international demand for traditional Chinese medicines, and also includes trophy hunting as well as retaliatory acts in response to killing of livestock or humans by tigers. BBSNP’s tiger population is only about 40-43 animals; every tiger that is killed or dies of starvation counts.

WCS Activities
Our current approach to tiger conservation in and around BBSNP has four components, as follows.

Ecological research and monitoring: Since 1998, we have monitored tigers and their prey via camera trap. Our work has been the first to demonstrate that camera trap data is a good measure of the relative abundance of these populations, and has helped us to gauge their health.
Habitat protection: WCS is coordinating a multi-year project called CANOPI that brings together park authorities, local governments and NGOs, and community groups to protect tigers and other key wildlife and their habitats in the broader Bukit Barisan Selatan landscape. A major focus of the program is to develop and promote sustainable livelihoods that will alleviate deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices in the area. In addition, our landscape ecology project uses a combination of remote sensing and ground surveys to monitor deforestation, identify its major components, and provide detailed reports to the national park authority to help fight encroachment.
Conflict awareness and education: Our tiger team is working with communities around the park to collect information on human-tiger conflict. The team is working side by side with local people to develop solutions to the problem, including innovative “tiger-safe” approaches to maintaining livestock.
Collaborative law enforcement: WCS operates a Wildlife Crimes Unit in southern Sumatra to monitor and investigate trade in Sumatran tigers and other protected species in the area, provide legal support in the prosecution of wildlife law offenders, and promote awareness of prohibitions against tiger trade.

Important Next Steps

Build a national Wildlife Crimes network: This will include (1) mounting a national lobby and media campaign to raise awareness of wildlife laws and to increase the harshness of sentences against offenders, (2) increasing coordination to fight wildlife crimes at the national and regional level through building capacity in the Department of Forestry, and (3) reducing national demand for illegal wildlife.
Promote partners in Sumatran tiger conservation, including the Indonesian Department of tiger conservation through partnership: We plan to bring together Forestry and other local and international organizations working on Sumatra. By pooling knowledge and resources, this partnership network will strengthen existing infrastructure to conserve Sumatran tigers and will expand efforts to monitor tigers and decrease human-tiger conflict throughout southern Sumatra.

By http://www.wcs.org/

Conservation & Elephant Hunting

2008-08-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

The African elephant is a natural resource that lends itself to assignable ownership and that ownership, couples with benefits produced from hunting, provides an incentive for conservation. There are other uses of the African elephant, both legal and illegal, but the purpose of this article is conservation and elephant hunting.

Regulation has often been utilized as the final solution to conservation problems. In fact, conservation rarely directly results from unqualified regulation, because regulation restricts or removes ownership. Appropriate regulation limits use, but sets the boundaries for the implementation of management practices at the appropriate levels. That is why the victory for the elephant at the 1997 CITES Meeting in Harare was so significant; it did not preclude applied management; it made it a requirement.

Hunting of the African elephant by foreign tourists has a long-standing tradition and is one of the uses of choice by many African nations today. Africans were hunting elephants before Eastern peoples or Europeans arrived in Africa. Elephant hunting by foreigners generates both finances for management and with the emphasis on local people in management, it has increasingly begun to provide incentives to the people living with the wildlife.

We conserve only what we have incentives to conserve. Wildlife has three economic values. Legal value is the value assigned with regulated use. Illegal value would be the use outside of laws or regulation (for instance, poaching). No value means that the resource will effectively be ignored. Sadly, most evaluations of use focus on the negative impact of the use (the faulty precautionary principle), ignoring the impact of not using the resource. Any real evaluation must include those costs to the resource of not using it. Conservation practices require funding, and that funding must come from somewhere, to turn from a use providing benefits must be factored into any evaluation as a very real cost.

Elephant management requires determining the appropriate level of sustainable off take, and that management requires funding. With increased value of any resource, comes a responsibility, and more likely an imperative need for increased level of management. But conservation cannot (more appropriately put, will not) be perpetually performed in a financial vacuum. In a world beset by many demands for land, if a species is to survive, a use which can be sustained both economically and ecologically, provides independence that will favor survival in the most tumultuous of times.

Hunting of elephants by tourists is cost effective, profitable and easily monitored. The foreign hunter pays for all participation in the hunt, including government fees, and for taking the natural resource. A government representative is usually present. Animals are taken under a quota. The stakeholders in such an arrangement include the hunter, the professional hunter (guide), the regulatory agency (National Parks or Wildlife) and the people who live with the elephants (the community).

Imaginative approaches are being implemented in the different hunting countries such as Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE communities collecting data and setting their own harvest quotas. In South Africa, many ranches have their own herds of elephants. Other countries such as Cameroon, Botswana and Tanzania are implementing programs where hunting benefits communities. Tying in the management to those who benefit provides an appropriate monitoring loop in management.

In conservation, as in governmental structure, centralization reduces effectiveness. Since all ecological and economic systems are dynamic, good conservation is the ability of the management to adapt to that change. Local monitoring with the control to adapt to that change decreases response time. This results in a more appropriate level of adaptive management.

The elephant is a natural resource with assignable ownership. Foreign hunters are willing to convert that from an asset to capital in exchange for a cultural experience compatible with the history and use of the elephant. It is the responsibility of the hunter to demand an ethical experience and the professional hunter to provide such an experience. It is the responsibility of those charged with management to maintain the resource. It is the responsibility of the regulatory agencies, while maintaining appropriate boundaries, to minimize their restriction of management options for any dynamic resource.

International hunting of elephants will continue to be a realistic option for sustainable utilization. Under well managed conditions, it provides economic incentive for continued proper management, and this insures the survival of the elephant. And that by definition is conservation - the wise use of natural resources.

by Dr. Bill Morrill http://www.iwmc.org/

Komodo dragon conservation in Indonesia

2008-08-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

Now the ZSL conservation programme has assisted research into the wild population and distribution patterns of this exciting reptile.

Komodo dragons are the world’s largest living lizard and are found predominantly on the islands of Flores, Rinca and of course Komodo in Indonesia. The latter two islands enjoy the protection of lying within the Komodo National Park, but Flores is outside of the park boundaries and as a result the dragons on this island receive only rudimentary protection.

Research in 2004 helped to calculate an estimate of the dragon population on the tiny island of Gili Motang in the south east corner of the National Park. This island has a relatively low density of the dragon’s favourite prey, the Rusa deer, and as a result the dragons are not only reduced in number but appear to be physically smaller in stature than their cousins on Rinca and Komodo.

In August 2005, Dr Claudio Ciofi from Florence University, ZSL Curator of Herpetology Richard Gibson and a senior ranger from the Indonesian Department of Forestry surveyed an area of coastline in north-eastern Flores. Though dragons are known from the west coast and from a small area on the western north coast of this much larger and now heavily populated island, the survey area was beyond the known range of the dragon.

Sadly, two weeks of intensive trapping, searching and talking to the local people confirmed that dragons had indeed inhabited the area in the past, perhaps as recently as five years ago, but no evidence of their continued survival could be found.

© R GibsonIt is therefore highly probable that the dragons of Flores have suffered a local extinction in this part of the island, apparently due to habitat loss, annual fires set by people to help them flush-out and poach the few remaining deer, and general disturbance of the area by a growing human population.

This sad news is an important wake-up call for the protection of dragons elsewhere in Flores. Fortunately a pilot project has been initiated in west Flores to re-establish the Wae Wuul Nature Reserve. This long-term project is co-ordinated by Claudio and Richard on behalf of a consortium of European zoos who keep dragons in captivity. Together these zoos fund the project combining infrastructural development, social awareness and environmental education programmes, warden patrols and legislative enforcement, and annual dragon population census.

With luck this project may prove to be a model for an expanded programme to protect dragons and their habitat along the entire west coast of Flores, a global biodiversity hotspot supporting countless endemic plants, insects and birds as well as the magnificent Komodo drago.

http://www.zsl.org

Orangutan Survival

2008-08-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

We want you to participate in this worldwide event. Help build a “critical mass of concerned voices” each November to focus attention on the species through your efforts and those of other supporters.

We would like people to come to understand that the habitat of the orangutan, the tropical rain forest, is vital to not only orangutans but to other wildlife and to all of us on this planet. Rainforests and related ecosystems provide important services from climate moderation, to water quality and erosion control, to storehouses of genetic, species and ecological biodiversity. Rainforests need to be sustainably managed to maintain these services. We want to inform citizens in our own communities of this connection and continue to enlighten local people in areas near orangutan habitat.

www.ioaw.org

BIRD OF CORNWALL

2008-07-20T23:29:00.001-07:00

More than 250 species of birds are recorded in cornwall every year.This book includes them all,with colour photograps of all the commons ones,most of the uncommon ones and some rarebirds.At glace details of seasons,habitats,status and place to see them. www.wildlifebooks.com

RSPB CHILDREN’S GUIDE TO BIRD WATCHING

2008-07-20T23:28:00.003-07:00

This new RSPB book is a practical,comprehensive and exciting introduction to watching bird for children aged 8-12 years.Illustrated throughtout with colour photographs and illustration,it begins by discussing general birding-where to go and when,what equipment to take and how to take and how to take field notes.The second half of book comprises a field guide to commonest species of Britain and Ireland. www.wildlifebooks.com

THE BREEDING BIRDS OF CUMBRIAN: A TETRAD ATLAS 1997-2001

2008-07-20T23:28:00.001-07:00

Each of the 152 breeding species has an account with historical perspective,range,trends and population estimates,tetrad maps of both distribution and abudance.Highlights include the first breeding of Mediterranean Gull and Common Rosefinch,the discovery of breeding honey Buzzard and retrun of the Osprey after an absence of 170 years. www.wildlifebooks.com

BIRDWATCHING ON SPAIN’S SOUTHERN COAST

2008-07-20T23:27:00.001-07:00

A guide to watching birds at 39 major and 35 subsidary sites on the coast del sol,Costa de Almera,Costa de la luz,Donana and some inland sites.Detailed maps of all sites,best times to visit and a complete list of birds personally identified by author. www.wildlifebooks.com

GARDEN BIRD BEHAVIOUR

2008-07-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

Describe what you will see when observing garden birds and teaches you how to spot different characteristics,helping you build up a comprehensive understanding of bird behaviour. www.wildlifebooks.com

BIRDING 0N THE GREEK ISLAND OF LESVOS

2008-07-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

Everything you need to know about the birdlife of this popular island.History,geography,local customs & when & where to visit.Section on Cinereous Buntig & Kruper’s Nuthatch.Full systematic list. www.wildlifebooks.com

COLLINS BIRDS OF BRITAIN & IRELAND

2008-07-20T23:23:00.001-07:00

Comprehensive guide with a combination of identification artwork,photograps and sketches that illustrate bird behaviour.Divided by bird family,each identification plate is arranged to show similar-looking species together.Illustration show male,female and juvenile,supplemented by maps showing breeding and wintering locations.voice description of songs and call(Couzens,Dominic) www.wildlifebooks.com

THE BIRD OF THE GWENT

2008-07-18T23:30:00.003-07:00

One of the first comparative breeding bird atlases for a country.The use of data from 1977 and 1987 atlases alloes longer term population trends to be analysed and discussed.Details the status,distribution,and past and present fortunes of all birds recorded in gwent,with a breakdown of all rarity records.Line drawing (Baker,Andrew) www.

A HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF SOMERSET

2008-07-18T23:30:00.001-07:00

Writtenin clear engaging language.This book covers the birds of the post 1974 Country from theearliest times up to species,habitats,breeding and migration in revealing historical context.Also includes a section on the prehistoric avifauna of the Mendips and the Lake villages(Balance,David k) www.wildlifebooks.com

THE BIRDS OF EXMOOR AND THE QUANTOCKS

2008-07-18T23:29:00.001-07:00

Covers Exmoor National Park,other parts of west somerset and the quantock Hills at the eastern edge of the area.Draws together all published sources since 1800and offers a complete species list and index,comprehensive bibliography,a review of local ornithology and gazetteer.(Balance,David k) www.wildlifebooks.com

BIRDWATCHING IN THE NORT PENNINES

2008-07-18T23:28:00.002-07:00

The Nort Pennines stretches across parts of county Durham,Cumbrian and Northumberland,desighted an Area of Outstanding Natursl Beauty (AONB)in 1988.Introduces you to the special habitats and birds of this area and suggest some dramatic places where you can see them for yourself(Barret,Rebecca) www.wildlifebooks.com

Wild Elephant

2008-07-18T23:28:00.001-07:00

NORFOLK : A BIRDWATCHER’S SITE GUIDE

2008-07-18T23:27:00.001-07:00

Information on more than 60 sites in Nortfolk.Four chapters covering West,Nort,East Nortfolk,the Broards and the Brecks.Each site entry has clear easy to use map and text with detail location,birds,opening times,access and other amenities.Ring bound with clear plastic cover. www.wildlifebooks.com

BIRD OF IBERIA

2008-07-18T23:26:00.002-07:00

Birds are grouped by type,e.g.birds of prey,songbird and so on.Each section contains excellent photograps and there is an annotated list of species not in the main text. www.wildlifebooks.com

BIRD OF THE SANDWELL VALLEY

2008-07-18T23:26:00.001-07:00

The Sandwell valley is in the center of England and such attracts a wide variety of bird.Includes information on the birds breeding in the valley and just passing through. www.wildlifebooks.com

PENGUIN LIFE: SURVIVING WITH STYLE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC

2008-07-18T23:24:00.001-07:00

Penguin lead remarkable and resourcafull life to survive in some of the inhospitable condition on eart.Captured here are surfing,sliding and climbing antics that make penguins so universally appealing,as well as the stark reality of their struggle to survive.Highly acclaimed phoyographer AndyRose also capture the dramatic and poignant beauty of the Antartic landscape,which offers a hars and unforgiving environment for its inhabitants.(Rose,Andy) www.wildliefebooks.com

ANIMAL PORTRAITS

2008-07-18T23:23:00.002-07:00

A fascination and original collection of portraits from one of the world’s top wildlife photographers.In this collection Andy Rose attemps to portray personality rather than animal behaviour or habitats resulting in 280 captivating portraits take in extreme and excotic location around the world(Rose,Andy) www.wildlifebooks.com

IN NATURAL LIGHT

2008-07-18T23:23:00.001-07:00

Many of the picture are of common species seen in the countryside around his home in the Scottish borders,but there are also paintings of some of our more rare and exotic bird.The artist has a fascination with water and recognized as one of the best painters of the subject.Inevitably this book contains many paintings where water in some form or other is the main theme(Rose,Chris) www.wildlifebooks.com

SOUTHERN AFRICA-LIVING LAND SCAPES

2008-07-18T23:21:00.002-07:00

Explores the rolling dunes of Namibia,vistas of Botswana,the majestic power of Victoria Falls,the towering mountains of kwaZulu Natal and the rich tapestry of the Cape’s fynbos.All of wich provide habitats for region with a wide diversity of flora and fauna,in many instances unique.Colour photograps(Roger,David) www.wildlifebooks.com

BUTTERFLY SEASON 1984

2008-07-18T23:21:00.001-07:00

A collection of the artists’s butterfly drawings,watercolours & field notes made during the summer of 84.60 full colour plates are inincluded in tn this limited edition,signed publication & opposite each is the typescript of the hastily scribbled notes which accompamy the drawings.Colour paintings(Measures,David) www.wildlifebooks.com

WHITE NATURE

2008-07-18T23:19:00.002-07:00

Features fleeting glimpses of stunning wildlife and landscapes from the worlds snow bound habitats.From the Far East to the wild west via craggy peaks of the European Alps,encounter cranes,eagles,chamois,foxes and many other animals in the hush of their snowbound habitats colour photographs(Munier,Vincent/Ganousse,Lysiane) www.wildlifebooks.com

ARTIC FLIGHT,ADVENTURES AMONGST NORTHERN BIRD

2008-07-18T23:19:00.001-07:00

A colelection ofsketches,paintings and observations made in Finland,Norway,Siberia and Alaska.The artwork and written accounts were all made outdoors from life.This is a unique visual and written account of travels to experience the wildlife of northern and artic regions in its many moods and atmospheres(McCallum,James) www.wildlifebooks.com

LARKS AND LEVERETS WILD LIFE ON NORTFOLK FARMALAND

2008-07-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

Deals with with the life wildlife commonly found on nortfolk’s farmaland.There the are cheapters on hares,long tailed tits,skylarks,displaying pheasants and winter floks of pink footed geese.Also features other typical farmaland species such as grey and red legged partridges,turtle doves,rabbits,piegeons and doves,lapeing,butterflies and stoats.Notes on behaviour have been made from direct field experience and paintings completed almost exclusively,outdoors at the time of watching (McCallum,James) www.wildlifebooks.com

DIGITAL WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

2008-07-15T05:25:00.001-07:00

Focused on field techniques that will help you get the most from your digital camera.Combines solid pratical advice with case studies,diagrams and range of digital wildlife images from around the world

ORCHARDS THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ARTISTS

2008-07-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

Jonathon traveled the length and breadth of Britain

In bid to document orchads through the seasons.From fruit growing and animal husbandry to the rich diversity of wildlife and tradisional industries,like cider and perry making,that orchads sustain.highlights the beauty and fragility of orchads.

THE BIRDS OF ISLAYA CELEBRATION IN PHOTOGRAPHS

2008-07-15T05:23:00.002-07:00

Photograph of 171 species,covering all the 120 species which either breed regularly or occasionally,as well as the commoner winter visitor and passage migrants.A stunning collection of photographs that will not only appeal to visitors to Islay but also anyone interested in photography and birds

THE ART OF LARS JONSSON

2008-07-15T05:23:00.001-07:00

Lars Jhonsson’s beautiful and inspirational artwork has been appearing in print for over 30 years,and his original paintings are highly sought after.This book is park autobiography and part exploration of technical methods.colour artwork throughout.(Jonsson,Lars)

THE VERY BEST OF AFRICAN WILDLIFE

2008-07-15T05:22:00.002-07:00

Brings together the very best Africa can offer.From the big Fiver lion,leopard,buffalo,rhino and elephant-to their many equally impressive companions in the wild.An extensive overview of the animal,colourful birds and insect that live together on this vast continent.Colour photographs(Hinde,Gerald)

AIF AN OIR/AT THE EDGE

2008-07-15T05:22:00.001-07:00

A celebration of the magical but little known Atlantic oakwoods of the west coast Scotland.Lying not just on the edge of Scotland but at the very edge of Europe,these lush,temperate rainforestare an internationally important habitat for plant and wildlife.Shaped by man cover the centuries they also contain a rich cultural and historical heritage(Burton,Jhon SWLA)

LAND MARKS & SEA WINGS

2008-07-15T05:20:00.002-07:00

Painting and drawings spanning more than half acentury are accompanied by his prespective writings.From the Yorkshire of his youth to his adopted Scotland and on his world wide travels in search of wild life:living landscapes have all inspired his art(Busby,Jhon)

THE NATURE DIARY OF AN ARTIST

2008-07-15T05:20:00.001-07:00

A book at the English country side throughout the year through the sketchbooks of artist Jannie Hale.The pages are filled with watercolour sketches of bird.insects,animals and plant life along with hand written notes about the seasons and what is happening in the field and woods around her(Hal,Jannie)

DRAWING BIRDS

2008-07-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

Jhon Busby has been drawing birds for over 60 years.A founder members of the society of wild life artists,his unique talent and understanding of bird art have inspired many others to do the same.As well as his own drawings and paintings,this book contain pieces from 37 other bird artists.Their work,informade by hard ernad field skills,embraces,making this book not only a tool for learning,but also a display of the best in bird art today(Busby,Jhon)

PRIDE OF PLACE THE ART OF CARL BRENDERS

2008-07-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

A celebration of the remarkable talent of this legendary Belgian wildlife painter.Illustrated in colour throughout,this is must for any lover of wild life art.Carl describes the inspiration for many of paintings,and his philosophy on wild life art.Also provides a rare insight into his work by showing some of his preminary skatches(Brenders,Carl)

A LIFE IN DETAIL

2008-07-15T05:14:00.000-07:00

Examines a colletion of paintings complete during the previsious ten years.each painting is accompanied by descriptive narrative in the artists own word,offering the reader a private view into the working practices and inspiration that led to the completion of the works.(Bond,terance james)

NATURAL VISION

2008-07-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

Illustrated guaide to nature and wild life photography for keen amateur photographers who want to develop amore creative approach.informative text explain the thecnicalities of acheving perfect shots.discusses,camera,lens,film,shutter speed and aperature used in different situation.Covers dawn and dust,plant on location,wilderness wildlife,essential tips on composition and capturing movement(Angel,Heater)