The online pet trade has emerged as a pressing threat to otters in Southeast Asia with a new TRAFFIC-IUCN Otter Specialist Group (OSG) study revealing hundreds of the animals for sale on Facebook and other websites over a four-month period. The Illegal Otter Trade in Southeast Asia, released today, revealed a high demand for juvenile […]
Tag: southeast asia
Indochinese leopard has disappeared from 94% of its historical range
The Indochinese leopard is struggling to survive. Once widespread across southeast Asia, the leopard subspecies has been wiped out from much of its habitat, and now occurs only in six percent of its historical range, a new study published in Biological Conservation has found. “Nobody was expecting this,” co-author Jan F. Kamler, Southeast Asia Leopard Program […]
POLL: Should Southeast Asian newts be protected under CITES?
A little-known group of amphibians — the Southeast Asian newts — are in high demand as pets, a new study has found. Large numbers of these semi-aquatic salamanders are being collected from the wild and sold in the United States and the European Union, researchers say. To understand the scale of trade in these animals, […]
POLL: Can ‘Bear-moving’ be a better way to reduce conflict in the Himalayas?
In the Indian Himalayas, threatened Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) are frequently drawn to energy-rich human food sources such as apple orchards and other crops. This resource-driven movement frequently brings bears and humans into close contact, increasing potential risks for either side that can end in retaliatory killings of bears by local people. Because of […]
Marooned in shrinking forests, Bornean orangutans hang on as disaster looms (Part I)
The great apes are among some of the most endangered species on Earth, the targets of poachers and the victims of deforestation. However, from time-to-time there comes news of hope. A study published recently in Oryx describes the dire situation faced by Bornean orangutans, as well as an ambitious project to help save them. The […]
New tree shrew discovered in Vietnam forest
Researchers have described a previously unknown species of tree shrew in the forests of Vietnam. The study was published July 2 in the open access journal ZooKeys. The species, named Crocidura sapaensis after Sa Pa District, where it was collected, was discovered after genetic analysis revealed that it was distinct from three closely-related species also […]
Beaten and captured orangutan dies in Indonesia’s Aceh Province
An orangutan in Indonesia’s Aceh province died last Thursday after being beaten by residents of a local village attempting to capture the animal. The case casts a tragic spotlight on what is becoming an increasingly serious problem in the region, as habitat decline and weak law enforcement leave wild orangutans at risk of being killed […]
Sumatran tiger density lower than previously thought
The critically endangered Sumatran tiger may be even rarer than previously thought, reports a study published in the journal Oryx. Researchers from Virginia Tech and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) used camera traps to estimate population density in previously unsurveyed areas, including peatlands. They found that tiger density may be only half what was estimated […]