HO CHI MINH CITY — Camera traps placed in a remote nature reserve in central Vietnam recently captured images of rare muntjac deer, in addition to a number of other endangered species, raising hopes for the state of biodiversity there. The sightings took place in Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Thua Thien-Hue province, a rugged […]
Tag: rainforests
Deforestation of orangutan habitat feeds global palm oil demand, report shows
JAKARTA — A major palm oil company supplying to global brands like Nestlé and PepsiCo continues to source the raw commodity from plantations responsible for deforesting prime orangutan habitat in Sumatra, according to a recent investigation. U.S.-based environmental advocacy group Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has found Singapore-based conglomerate Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) allegedly buying palm […]
For Africa’s great apes, a post-pandemic future looks beyond tourism
On Jan. 11 this year, something happened that primatologists had both feared and expected: two western lowland gorillas at San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Right from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts had assumed great apes would be susceptible to the virus. IUCN great ape specialists sent out a document […]
Lean times leave orangutans wasting away. Habitat loss makes things worse
JAKARTA — Orangutans in Borneo have been found to physically waste away when fruit is scarce — a finding with dire implications as human-driven climate change and the destruction of their habitat put their food supply under even greater threat. In a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers collected and analyzed urine […]
In Sri Lanka, here be dragonflies and damselflies like nowhere else (Commentary)
A tropical continental island located close to the Indian subcontinent, endemic fauna and flora form an integral part of Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity. The island’s biodiversity is globally recognized for both its diversity and endemism of fauna and flora, and this is true of its dragonflies and damselflies, or odonates in general. With 130 known […]
To keep tabs on ecosystem health in Borneo, follow these birds: Study
JAKARTA — To improve ecosystem management in Borneo, look at the population trends of key bird species on the island, researchers say. The scientists from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and Indonesia’s Tanjungpura University have found that six Bornean bird species are strong indicators of intact forests — mixed dipterocarp and heath — […]
Africa’s forest elephant has been largely overlooked. Now we need to fight for it
Science and conservation politics have finally agreed that Africa is home to two elephant species: the savanna and forest elephant. The debate lasted about two decades, with the politics of elephant conservation and the ivory trade delaying the decision, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has finally concluded its evaluation. Africa’s most […]
Slash-and-burn farming eats away at a Madagascar haven for endangered lemurs, frogs
Deforestation is so rampant throughout Madagascar, an island far larger than California, that it’s easy to forget the impact of tree clearance in any one specific area of the country — the lemurs that lose their habitats, the orchids that no longer bloom, the people whose land becomes barren. But recent activity in the Ankeniheny-Zahamena […]