According to government officials the two incidents are unrelated. The dolphins had died because of a virus and the sea birds are dying because of short supply of their food – anchovies.

But even after three months of testing the dolphins, an official government report has not been submitted and some think that the reason for the mass death might be due to off shore oil exploration or use of biotoxins and pesticides that are entering the food chain.

The Environment ministry says that the government started taking tab of the deaths since February at least 877 dolphins and 1500 sea birds were reported dead. The birds included brown pelicans and boobies.

The dolphins were found in the Piura and Lambayeque regions, not far from the border with Ecuador. The seabirds were found from Lambayeque to Lima.

“Never in my 40 years as a fisherman have I seen anything like this,” said Francisco Ñiquen Rentería, the president of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen in Puerto Eten, in the Lambayeque region. “Sometimes in the past, you’d randomly see a dead dolphin or a pelican, but this, what’s happening now, is really alarming.”

“It is odd indeed,” Gabriel Quijandría, the deputy environment minister, “But they are not related.”

The federal ocean institute believes that most probable reason for the dolphin deaths is the morbillivirus which causes mass deaths in marine animals. But recently officers have been less certain with this reasoning. For the seabirds the National Agricultural Health Service has suggested cause of death to be lack of anchoveta (Engraulis ringens), a Peruvian anchovy, as a result of the sudden heating of coastal waters.

The Environment ministry has denied links of the deaths with fishing, bio toxins, red tides, pesticides or bacteria and heavy metals. It said it had also ruled out any connection to offshore seismic testing by companies to locate oil and gas deposits under the seabed.

But fishermen and environmentalist think otherwise.

Meanwhile the health ministry has alerted people to avoid the shores around Lima to the north to avoid the dead animals until the cause of the deaths is known for sure.

The advisory also asked people not to consume raw seafood, an ingredient of the national favorite ceviche, and recommended that people disposing of dead marine animals wear gloves and masks. This has further raised doubts as seabirds falling out of starvation could not possibly be dangerous.

The Peruvian coast, nourished by the cold Humboldt Current is one of the most healthy marine habitats of the world. Planktons are in abundance here and thus the area is one of the largest fishery points focused on the anchoveta. It is food for dolphins, seabirds, and other sea animals.

Data from the South American institute for the study of the effect of El Niño according to the ministry show that the sea surface waters have been warmer in recent months and anchoveta prefer cold waters. They are thus diving below a depth of six or seven feets and therefore the pelicans cannot reach them.

Juan Sernaque Juárez, 34, a fisherman from the northern town of Tumbes says the deaths are due to seismic testing for oil. He added that he and fellow fishermen had gone on strike a few months back against the testing by the oil and gas companies but it harped no result. He says that now with the mass deaths it is the fishermen who are suffering the most.

In offshore seismic testing ships tow air guns that create air pressure under water producing sound waves that can help locate oil and gas depositories beneath the sea. Mr. Quijandría, the deputy environment minister says that dolphins have not shown any discomfort and damage to internal organs or ear structure with the tests.

One of the exploration companies, BPZ Energy also says that the tests have been far north from where the dolphins were found dead. They also claim that the deaths began before they started their recent survey.

Mr. Ñiquen Rentería, 57, from Puerto Eten, who fishes for small sharks and flatfish believes there have been at least 3000 dead dolphins and government estimates are very low. He also added that they were still dying although not in large numbers.

Peruvian media believes that pesticides could be poisoning the sea animals.

“It’s unbearable to walk around those areas,” Mr. Pedro Alva, president of the Regional Development Institute of the Lambayeque region said of the rapidly growing towns along the coast. “They dump both their industrial and residential wastes into the ocean without control, without consideration.”

Sophie Bertrand, a marine ecologist at the Research Institute for Development in France who is leading a research project on seabirds and sea lions in Peru believes the common factor could be the anchoveta eaten by all sea animals. Biotoxins too cannot be excluded.

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The recent incident at Indonesia’s Kawe Marine Protected Area has angered conservationists as well as locals. In 2005 the residents of several part of the sea side area called the Bird’s Head seascape which has a number of marine protected areas, had agreed to cut back fishing to rebuild the depleted fish stocks. Kawe has no fishing in 97 percent of the reserve and ranks as Southeast Asia’s largest no-take reserve. But without adequate enforcement the move is backfiring.

Ketut Sarjana Putra, executive director of the advocacy groupConservation International in Indonesia said,

“The villagers are capable of managing their local resources,” “They don’t have enough capacity to do very good enforcement and patrol.”

The poached sharks, manta rays and sea cucumbers were worth $160,000. There is a big asian market for these sea creatures. In China shark fin soup is a delicacy and in Japan sea cucumbers are eaten with relish. Indonesia has still one of the largest shark fishing industries though shark fishing is banned in all of the protected areas.

“The government should impose heavy penalties to the shark finners,” said Hengky Gaman, leader of indigenous people of the territory of Raja Ampat. “They have stolen from an area we protect.”

Conservation International provides $200,000 to fund patrolling in this region. Last week’s patrol team had six community members, two Indonesian naval officers and a local police officer. They confiscated illegal long-line fishing gear and air compressors. But they could not take over the poacher’s boats and when the team asked the boat men to follow them to the shore, they fled.

After the incident the Indonesian navy plans to boost its patrolling.

As per the experts Bird’s Head Seascape boasts of at least 1,350 fish species, 700 mollusks and 540 species of hard coral. In comparison the entire Caribbean, has one-tenth as many coral species. Now as the fish population is rebounding it is attracting fishing vessels from outside the region.

“The site is remote, and from the fishermen’s perspective, this is the only fish stock in the eastern part of Indonesia that’s still healthy,” Kave said. “The only problem we see here is the outsiders.”

The problem is not just in Indonesia. Julia Baum, an assistant professor at British Columbia’s University of Victoria studied that in recent decades reef sharks in the Pacific have declined to almost 90 percent. During her research she routinely observed fishing vessel in U.S. waters near Kiritimati atoll in the northern Line Islands. They employed locals to cut shark fins.

“The reserves are not good if they’re not well enforced,” said National Geographic explorer-in-residence Enric Sala, who has also worked in the Line Islands. “permanent presence is not practical” and authorities have to rely on remote-sensing satellites.

On the other hand, in areas where locals have a strong enforcement, poaching has been stopped. Sala and his team conducted a ten year long research at Cabo Pulmo National Park in Mexico’s Baja California, and found that the region showed 460 percent increase in the total amount of fish in its reserve between 1999 and 2009.

“Those guys are out there every day — by being there, it’s a deterrent,” Sala said. “So peer pressure and local enforcement without help from government agencies is also possible.”

It is certain that protection is not possible unless it is accompanied with constant vigilance.

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The first-ever survey conducted in the area showed that the leopard was also expanding its territory with traces of the wild cat found in a much larger area than before. The leopard has been found in and outside of northeast China’s Hunchun and Wangqing Nature Reserves, covering about 4100km², an area similar in size to French Polynesia according to WWF.

“The Amur leopard is critically endangered, and this research into population monitoring, habitat restoration and population migration characteristics is urgent for the survival of the species,” said the head of WWF-China’s Northeast Programme Office, Dr Zhu Jiang.

Less than 50 Amur leopards are known to exist in the world with their habitat spread over Northeast China and Russian Far East. These cats are even more endangered than the Amur Tigers.

In 1998-99 when population survey of the tigers was done, the Amur leopard population was also observed. The experts have thus found by comparing the two surveys that the leopard’s habitat had increased 3-4 times and its population too had increased 1.8 times. The distribution area in China expanded further to the northwest of Jilin province and towards the Sino-Russian border in the east.

According to Dr. Zhu Jiang, “The results of this new survey show even more clearly that the Hunchun-Wangqing habitat is an important one for the Amur leopard, and that the nearby Changbai Mountain leopard population is essential to support the continued survival of the Russian Far East population group.  The two areas are indispensible to the recovery of the global Amur leopard population, and are the greatest hope for expanding both the population and the habitat of the species.”

This is the first time such an effort has been taken by China to exclusively carry out a census for the Amur Leopards. The Jilin province forest department is now set to cover a larger area using infrared camera traps and DNA monitoring technology.

Says Senior Engineer and Tiger-Leopard Programme Officer Jiang Jinsong,

“Based on the results of this survey, the first trial areas will be the Hunchun and Wangqing reserves, where constant collection of information on individuals as well as monitoring of activity patterns among the general population will serve to build up a core of information on the settled Amur leopard and Siberian tiger populations.”

WWF will continue to work with the Jilin Forestry Department, Hunchun Nature Reserve and Wangqing Forestry Bureau to assess habitat quality, analyse the number of the leopards and work on increasing prey species. The organization will also help with anti-paoching measures and technological support to ensure that the increasing numbers of the rare leopard are maintained.

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Tigers, unlike other wild cats enjoy spending time in water. They are also very good swimmers.

Mukul Soman / Barcroft Media

Tony, the resident tiger of the San Francisco zoo was in the 30 feet deep pool for a mere 40 seconds, but its stunning underwater images were captured by photographer Mukul Soman, who lives in Seattle.

“I saw the raw power, agility, and ferociousness of one of the most most beautiful animals on the planet,” said Mukul. “These pictures give us an ‘in the face’ representation of the tiger.

“People seemed shell shocked, as many of them couldn’t associate tigers with water, when in fact tigers are excellent swimmers.”

The photographs show the tiger in a ferocious avatar but it on closer inspection it is revealed that it is actually the underwater scenario that has put the kid of expressions on the tiger’s face.

 “Tigers are a critically endangered in every part of the world where they exist,” said Mukul. “I hope my pictures give us a chance to appreciate this mighty beast and understand the importance of conserving these incredible predators.”

There was a time when tigers roamed as far west as Turkey and as far east as the island of Bali but now there are only 32,000 tigers left in the wild with half of the population in India.

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International Animal Rescue (IAR), and international organization working towards the welfare of animals recently rescued an orangutan from the wild whose right hand had been trapped in a snare kept by hunters in the forest in the Ketapang region of Indonesia.

The poor ape was left struggling all alone while he tried to remove his hand from the snare. It not only had to bear the excruciating pain, but was also stuck without food.

“The great ape is thought to have suffered a week and a half of unimaginable torture in the trap with no food. He survived on rainwater alone before rescuers found him,” reported The Metro.

When the team from International Animal Rescue reached the spot, Pelangsi was sedated and given IV fluids while they tried to free him. He was taken to IAR’s clinic in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia where he was placed in intensive care.

“Rescuers think he is going to survive, but he has to get strong enough before they can amputate his destroyed hand,” said Chris Skone-Roberts, a photographer who works with IAR.

The ape’s hand has to be amputated now as the wound left by the snare is severe. Also in his struggle to free himself, Pelangsi tried to gnaw his own hand off.

Palm oil industry has been ravaging the forests of Indonesia for years now. It is routine for them to lay traps and snares in the forest so that the endangered orangutans are caught and the forest can be cleared for the plantation.

“Pelangsi’s story is a graphic illustration of the fate of countless orangutans that are left homeless and hungry when the forest is cut down,” IAR’s Karmele Llano Sanchez said.

Palm oil is used in several industries like cosmetic and processed food but the plantations are not just destroying the rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, they are virtually wiping out homes of the gentle orangutans whose population in the wild is estimated to be less than 9000.

Pelangsi was named after the area it was found trapped. Hopefully the tragedy will bring the focus back to conservation and the region can be saved just like the orphaned ape.

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Chernobyl nuclear disaster VIA Wikipedia

In April 1986 when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in Russia, wildlife activist were most concerned about the negative impact of the disaster on the wildlife in the vicinity especially birds. But a new research suggests that such nuclear tragedies do not affect wildlife in the long run and have no affect on their health and sustenance.

According to University of Portsmouth researchers the nuclear disasters such as the one occurring in Chernobyl and more recently in Fukushima, Japan do not threaten birds and other wildlife as much as previously thought.

Lead research Jim Smith said,

“I wasn’t really surprised by these findings — there have been many high profile findings on the radiation damage to wildlife at Chernobyl but it’s very difficult to see significant damage and we are not convinced by some of the claims,” Smith said.

He also added that while some effects could not be neglected, with time the animals and birds recover and in some cases even live better.

“We can’t rule out some effect on wildlife of the radiation, but wildlife populations in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl have recovered and are actually doing well and even better than before because the human population has been removed.”

Previous studies have suggested that nuclear disasters like Chernobyl could damage the antioxidant defence mechanism of birds. But the present team found that the antioxidant mechanism of the birds was not disrupted by the level of radiation seen at both Fukushima and Chernobyl.

“We would expect other wildlife to be similarly resistant to oxidative stress from radiation at these levels,” Smith said.

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The three-month-old lar gibbon (hylobates lar, also known as white-handed gibbon) named ‘Knuppy’ is being hand-reared after his mother rejected him, a common occurrence with primates born in captivity.

Doesn’t he look cute in his sweater vest?

{ZUMA}

The biggest jaguar population is found in the Campeche municipalities of Champoton, Sabancuy and Palizada, towns surrounded by the Terminos Lagoon that flows into the Caribbean Sea across from the island of Cuidad del Carmen in Mexico.

Researchers were trying to find out if local inhabitants in the states of Tabasco and Campeche had in their possession any fangs or skins from jaguars that had been killed in recent years. What came as a surprise was instead of finding dead animal parts, the researcher discovered traces of live Jaguars living in the region around Terminos Lagoon in southeastern Mexico.

The studies goal has now changed significantly and the researchers are currently on the lookout of Jagaurs and their population in the bordering regions of the two states.

The research was conducted by the international Wildlife Conservation Society, the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, or Conanp, and the Autonomous Juarez University of Tabasco, or UJAT.

Thanks to their constant efforts photographs have been clicked not only of Jaguars but also ocelots and deer in rural communities of Palizada in Campeche.

UJAT researcher Mircea Gabriel Hidalgo and a number of students have discovered that the jaguar population continues to reproduce despite being an endangered species.

“At first we looked for dead animals or those that people here might have killed in the last 10 years. We wanted them to show us skins and skulls of the felines, but what we found were live jaguars,” Hidalgo said.

The researcher also adds that the shift in focus from trying to find dead animal remains to searching for live animals is significant.

“What we’re discovering at Terminos Lagoon, one of the country’s biggest wetlands, is of vital importance for those of us studying the ecosystem,” said Hidalgo, who is also a Doctor of Ecology and Natural Resources at the Ecology Institute of Xalapa, capital of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

The discoveries were made with the help of live infrared cameras. Most of the images were from Palizada, but jaguars are now known to exist in areas of Tabasco like Jonuta and the Pantanos de Centla Biosphere Reserve too.

“Palizada is a fairly unexplored municipality, a well preserved area. Jaguars sometimes hunt around Jonuta in Tabasco state to prey on the region’s livestock. The jaguars occupy a very large area and we didn’t expect to find so many,” Hidalgo said.

In recent years infrared cameras have proved to be a boon for all wildlife workers trying to find out the presence of species in different regions.

For researching on the present Jaguar population the team used 60 cameras costing 1,200 pesos ($93.40) each. They were installed on trees around the area which is known to be a Jaguars habitat.

The cameras help detect other species activity too.

“We found a peccary. We thought they only lived in Calakmul and in the Lacandona forest, but now we know there are some in Palizada,” Hidalgo said.

The researcher said that Jaguars preferred this location as the human settlements here were small and isolated. The wild cats could survive here without being tracked by hunters.

The team is now keen on fidning the number of Jaguars in the region. They have currently identified six.

“We recognize them by the pattern of their spots, but there has to be a bigger population of jaguars out there,” he said.

Soon, he said, a jaguar conservation program will be established.

“The second part (of the project) is associated with the conservation of the species, which is why an expansion of the protected area around Terminos Lagoon is being promoted,” he said.

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Experts fear the Vietnam’s rising demand for the rhinoceros horn may wipe out the species within a few years. Already most of the rhinoceros population of the world is struggling to survive. The species recovered from the brink of extinction in 1970s when conservation efforts were elevated.

But once again illegal wildlife trade has threatened the rhino with illegal killings in Africa hitting the highest record in 2011. From 122 in 2009 to 333 in 2010 and a record 448 in 2011, the country reported last week that 150 rhinos had already been poached this year, nearly 60 per cent taken from Kruger National Park.

Currently there are only 28,000 rhinos in the wild with most in Africa.

“It’s a very dire situation,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said. “We have very little cushion for these populations in the wild.”

This week South Africa called for renewed co-operation with Vietnam after a “shocking number” of rhinos have already been reported dead this year.

But people really do not realize the true worth of the horns in their possession.

Says 24 year old Nguyen Huong Giang who received a 10cm rhino horn as a gift from her father,

“I don’t know how much it costs; I only know it’s expensive.”

In China the rhino horn has always been associated with having medicinal properties that cure a number of illnesses. The therapeutic affects have not been proven and US officials and experts believe that the rise in demand in Vietnam is partially due to these claims. It is believed that the horn cures cancer.

In Vietnam, according to conservationists it is the nouveau riche that are buying the horns as a luxury item like Gucci bags and expensive Maybach cars.

Between 2006 and 2008, three diplomats at the Vietnamese Embassy in Pretoria were linked to rhino trafficking scandals. One was found trafficking, while one was filmed trading the horns. Another was found in the possession of 18 kg of horns.

US officials also busted an interstate horn trafficking in February with high profile people in both Vietnam and America involved. Felix Kha, one of the accused in the US supposedly travelled to China 12 times between 2004 and 2011 and went to Vietnam five times last year.

“There are still horns going into China but Vietnam is driving the increase in poaching for horns,” said Chris R. Shepherd, deputy regional director for Southeast Asia at the wildlife advocacy group TRAFFIC. “Vietnamese authorities really need to step up their efforts to find out who is behind horn trafficking … and put them out of business.”

Rhino horns are being sold at a higher price than other illegal animal products such as tiger bones or bear biles. American officials say the crushed powder fetches up to $55,000 USD per kilogram in Asia price as steep as gold or the street value of cocaine in US.

The lure is so great that rhino horns are now even being stolen from European museums and taxidermy shops. Thieves are also not restraining from smashing the horns with sledgehammers before stealing them. According to Europol, the European law enforcement agency, 72 rhino horns were stolen from 15 European countries in 2011, the first year such data was recorded.

Poachers in South Africa are using much more cruel tactics to get the horn from live animals. Using chainsaws they are ripping the horn from the animal while it still alive, leaving a bloody cavity and a deeply injured animal to die.

Ironically, if carefully cut the rhino horns can grow back in two years. Some rhinos are simply being killed before their horns are taken.

Although officials and some organisations in South Africa are taking preventive measures by cutting the horns of rhinos, poachers are still after the nubs and killing the animals.

Vietnam lost its last Javan rhino in 2010. The last surviving rhino was found dead shot in the leg without its horn.

Tran Dang Trung, who manages a zoo outside Hanoi that imported four white rhinos from South Africa says, “If thieves wanted to kill the animals and steal their valuable parts, they could.”

Vietnam government has done little to stop the crime. Despite promises there are no real punishment for the traffickers and little effort to crack down the trafficking.

Officially only 60 horns may be legally brought to the country as trophies from South African game farms but unofficially the estimate is more than 100.

Last week the South African government announced that it was working closely with Vietnam in stopping the abuse of hunting permits. An inspection has also been ordered to check that the rhino trophies brought to the country, are still with the hunters and not sold illegally.

Conservationist believe that diplomats are involved in the illegal trafficking as international trade has been largely banned since 1976.

But all is not well for even those who do use the rhino horn powder as a medicine. Doctors report that some of their clients take the powder as a supplement to western medicines, believing it cures fever and other common ailments. Others use it as a last-ditch effort against cancer.

Nguyen Huu Truong, a doctor at Hanoi’s Center for Allergy Clinical Immunology, said he often got patients who had rashes after they consumed the powder.

“Many Vietnamese believe that anything expensive is good, but if you’re going to spend a lot of money on rhino horn, you might as well bite your nails,” he said. Rhino horns are composed of keratin, a protein found in human hair and fingernails.

At this rate, the abuse will only stop perhaps after all the rhinos of the world are devoid of their horns and their lives.

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Fishermen turned tourist guides are spending nearly P2,000 a day for krill or “uyap” to be fed to whale sharks that have been spotted in the waters since last September. According to Tan-awan barangay chairman Faustino Hudar they now buy the krills from nearby towns of Moalboal and Alegria, as well as in the cities of Toledo and Danao due to its scarcity in the village’s waters.

Limbert Susada, Tan-awan-Oslob Wardens and Fishermen’s Association (Towfa) president, said the krill is bought at P90 per kilo, sometimes P40 per kilo if bought in nearby towns. On weekdays on an average 18 kilos of the feed is bought but it all depends on the tourist inflow. The fishermen are now also taught to budget the krills being fed. The men also keep a stock of the krill by buying them in advance and stocking in deep freezers.

But environmentalists believe that the fishermen do not really know the amount of krill sufficient for a shark and also that the animals do not feed on dead, rotten krills.

“Dili man gud na mukaon ang tuki (local term for whale sharks) kung naa nay baho ang uyap. (Whale sharks do not feed on rotten krill),” Susada said.

Hudar says that the fisherman observed how the sharks used to trail the boats which fed them on krill and that’s why began feeding them extensively. But hand-feeding is not the best way to feed the wild sharks and may change the feeding pattern of the animals.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Central Visayas Director Andres Bojos said, “I am not in favor of feeding the whale sharks because that will alter their feeding instinct. It would be better for the whale shark to feed for itself in a natural environment.”

But he also adds that the practice has not been stopped as the activity is increasing tourist flow and thereby the towns revenue.

He says the whale sharks now keep trailing the boats knowing they will be fed.

“Pakan-on nimo or dili, naa gyud na sila kay tungod sa uyap. Magsunod-sunod jud sila sa mga fishermen. (You feed them or not, whale sharks will always be after of the krill. They will keep on tailing the boat of the fishermen),” he said.

Hudar and local tourism officer Elizabeth Fernandez-Benologa say that the feeding pattern of the sharks is not changing although they also agree that the feeding schedule is from 6.00 am till 1.00 pm and after that the sharks have to fend for themselves.

The officials are now planning to take the matter of scarcity of krill to the local government so that the government can also aid for the feed.

What is another growing concern apart from the irregular feeding patterns is the implementation of whale shark watching rules and regulations.

As per the rules tourists may not use flash to take pictures of the sharks and touch or ride the sharks. But rules are being broken easily and numerous pictures of tourists riding on or touching the sharks floating online prove that the rules are not being strictly followed.

Before heading for the waters the tourists are briefed about the rules and regulations, like not using the flash, or going too near the sharks but the guidelines are still not followed.

“A lot of people either don’t know or they don’t care. And that’s a problem,” stressed Lory Tan, vice president and CEO of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the Philippines.

He adds, “It’s absolutely wrong. They should be put in jail if they violate the rules. Ignorance is not an excuse.”

Another report says that a whale shark was tied and used as a surfboard on 31st March in Boljoon, Cebu. Further investigation revealed that the shark was actually stranded. The single animal was eventually released but it does increase the concern for the species and local education regarding the care of these beautiful species is a must. Educated tourism will only ensure that the whale sharks continue to inhabit these waters for a longer time.

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