Plants and Animals

On Tuesday the Zoological Society of London launched a new conservation called Edge. It’s an acronym for ‘ecologically distinct and globally endangered’ and was described in The Guardian newspaper as an ambitious project by British scientists to save the planet’s rarest and most unusual animals.

There is a real need for an established, knowledgeable and committed group of scientists to focus in on the planet’s rarest animal species many of which are currently receiving very little conservation attention. Indeed, too many environmental groups focus on species which are charismatic rather than threatened. For example, Greenpeace sends ships to the Antarctic each year to save Minke whales — whales which have been referred to as the rabbits of the sea.

But I’m not convinced that Edge is really going to make a difference.

A spokesman for the program, Dr Jonathan Baillie, told The Guardian: “The almost-blind Yanghtze river dolphin is at the top of the list. It’s extremely threatened, a team was recently out there looking for it and could not find one – they truly are on the verge of extinction.”

In fact despite two extensive surveys in the last two years, not a single Yangtze River Dolphin, Lipotes vexillifera, has been seen since September 2004 and the species was declared functionally extinct late last year.

Dr Randall Reeves, Chair of the Cetacean Specialist Group at the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) has said that the loss of the dolphin, also known as the Baiji, would be equivalent to the ‘snapping off a complete branch from the tree of mammalian radiation’.

Illegal fishing practices are thought to have contributed to the species decline. Illegal fishing is an ongoing issue in China where set net, poisoning, dynamite, rolling hook (lines of iron hooks set across the flow of the river) and electro-fishing are officially banned along the entire length of the Yangtze River, but reportedly still widely practiced.

So what does the Royal Society propose to save this probably already extinct species of freshwater dolphin?

According to their website: interview Chinese fisherman including to promote awareness amongst local people along the river about the importance of conserving the fragile Yangtze ecosystem and its many threatened species.

But why should subsistence Chinese fishermen, probably struggling to feed their own families, care about “threatened species” and is it the job of a British-based Zoological society to “educate them”?

The Swiss-based Baiji.org Foundation has a perhaps more realistic approach including employing guards to enforcing fishing legislation where there is a viable population of the Yangtze Finless Porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides. Indeed the Baiji.org Foundation, recognising the Yangtze River Dolphin is now extinct, is refocusing its efforts on practical measures for the conservation of another freshwater mammal.

There are perhaps 2,000 finless porpoises in the Yangtze and a breeding population of 26 porpoises has been successfully established in the Tian-e-Zhou reserve.

As well as working towards the establishment of populations in this freshwater reserve, the Baiji.org Foundation has supported a captive breeding program and in 2005 the Baiji Conservation Aquarium at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan witnessed the birth of the first-ever freshwater cetacean in captivity, a healthy Yangtze Finless Porpoise.

In conclusion, it is encouraging that the Zoological Society of London, a well respected and well resourced environment group, has just committed to the conservation of ecologically distinct and globally endangered species.

But avoiding the extinction of more ecologically distinct and globally endangered species such as the Yangtze River Dolphin will require much more than “promoting awareness amongst local people” and asking for donations at a website. Yet this appears to be the extent of the strategy for the animal species at the top of the list for Edge, furthermore, it’s a species already considered by the world’s cetacean experts to be extinct!

The ever-changeable stalwart, La Pantera Rosa asked if I was game to open a new thread on ‘if, how or why biodiversity matters’?

Certainly, the challenge has been begging in many threads across a variety of subject categories. Quite recently I posted that a two-week old cassowary chick was savaged to death by marauding pig-dogs. At the same time, future prospects of the polar bear were under discussion. The former is a federally listed endangered keystone species with fewer individuals in its remaining population than there are Giant Panda in the wild; the latter, has purportedly 20,000 to 25,000 animals remaining.

Quite apart from the context of the two issues, not one comment was received concerning the cassowary, whereas the PB is still enjoying lively debate. Why is one species of greater interest than another in its conservation importance and what are the implications of these predilections for preferential concern?

Agenda 21 – Chapter 15.2: Our planet’s essential goods and services depend on the variety and variability of genes, species, populations and ecosystems. Biological resources feed and clothe us and provide housing, medicines and spiritual nourishment. The natural ecosystems of forests, savannahs, pastures and rangelands, deserts, tundras, rivers, lakes and seas contain most of the Earth’s biodiversity. Farmers’ fields and gardens are also of great importance as repositories, while gene banks, botanical gardens, zoos and other germplasm repositories make a small but significant contribution. The current decline in biodiversity is largely the result of human activity and represents a serious threat to human development.

15.3. Despite mounting efforts over the past 20 years, the loss of the world’s biological diversity, mainly from habitat destruction, over-harvesting, pollution and the inappropriate introduction of foreign plants and animals, has continued. Biological resources constitute a capital asset with great potential for yielding sustainable benefits. Urgent and decisive action is needed to conserve and maintain genes, species and ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable management and use of biological resources. Capacities for the assessment, study and systematic observation and evaluation of biodiversity need to be reinforced at national and international levels. Effective national action and international cooperation is required for the in situ protection of ecosystems, for the ex situ conservation of biological and genetic resources and for the enhancement of ecosystem functions. The participation and support of local communities are elements essential to the success of such an approach. Recent advances in biotechnology have pointed up the likely potential for agriculture, health and welfare and for the environmental purposes of the genetic material contained in plants, animals and micro-organisms. At the same time, it is particularly important in this context to stress that States have the sovereign right to exploit their own biological resources pursuant to their environmental policies, as well as the responsibility to conserve their biodiversity and use their biological resources sustainably, and to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the biological diversity of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

Australia ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity on 18 June 1993. The National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity aims to bridge the gap between current activities and the effective identification, conservation and management of Australia’s biological diversity.

When I learnt that previous owners of our Daintree rainforest property had lost a baby to an Amethystine Python, I was indelibly impressed.

From the night of arrival of each of my three children and for the first two weeks of each of their lives, a six-metre python menaced at the periphery of our dwelling.

In the Daintree, visitor expectations prioritise the observation of unique wildlife in natural habitat. The Amethystine Python has a more profound impact on nightwalkers than almost any other species. Sustainable management of freehold World Heritage estate relies on visitor-willingness to distinguish themselves from the popularity of subsidised public-access facilities.

My paternalistic concern for my newborn children was judiciously moderated by my presentation enthusiasms of such predictable and awe-inspiring sightings. At the same time, our newborn children were never left alone for a moment.

A couple of months ago, a neighbouring twelve-year-old was attacked in his bed by a four-metre python. His screams awoke his household and the snake was hurled out into the night. Undeterred, it attacked the boy again the following night and was summarily executed.

It appears that departing members of the local community had given their cat to the boy, which he shared his bed with. In all probability, the python was attracted to the cat and the boy rolled onto the snake, two nights in succession.

I don’t imagine that there would be many who would begrudge the father for killing the python to protect his son, but it is almost inevitable that some would argue that the family had put themselves at risk by residing in python habitat.

I have spent that last thirteen years, on an almost nightly basis, scouring the nocturnal landscape of the Daintree rainforest for pythons, amongst a multitude of other species. They are unpredictable and over the course of the year I might see one per fortnight.

Quite recently, a three-and-a-half metre female has been behaving in an unexpected and innovative manner. It discretely positions itself amongst the branches of an exotic custard-apple called soursop. Patiently it awaits to ambush the spectacled flying-fox, which finds the fruit irresistible. If the strike is unsuccessful and the fruit falls to the ground, the python repositions in readiness to ambush one of two species of bandicoot, which are similarly attracted to the fruit.

During an animated discussion about the perceived improbability of a python-sighting, a night-walk client promised to send me a copy of a book he’d recently read that would reinforce, in his opinion, my stated belief that pheromones were largely at play. Jacobson’s Organ is one of the most enjoyable and thought-provoking books I’ve read over the past few years.

Not a picture of immediate beauty, but consider its design a little more closely. The spider has laid down a foundation of very white silk, resembling the character of a bird-dropping and has positioned itself centrally, with glossy-white carapace and strategically-darkened fore-legs, creating a marvellous depiction of that which both repels predators and attracts prey.

As with so many lessons that can be learnt from nature, this evolutionary model of competitive success can be seen in human behaviours, where offensive conduct repels and quite possibly by intent. yinyleon hd.

The weblog rules explain that properly monitoring comments would be a full time job. Given the growing readership and concern from some readers, comments that are spam, abusive, defamatory, off-topic or repetitive may be deleted. We are advised that it won’t always be fair and asked that if we want to make more than five posts in any given 24 hour period, it would be great if we really had something new, important and informative to say that sixth, seventh and eighth time.

As a gathering place for a great many people with a common interest in politics and the environment, we might strive for tolerance and respect … even when a comment is akin to bird-droppings.

I am no expert on polar bears. In fact I have never been to the Arctic. But I do have an interest in animal conservation, that scientific findings are reported honestly and accurately, and that the general public is not mislead on environmental issues.

Over the Christmas holidays Australians were repeatedly told through news broadcasts that polar bears are already a species in serious decline, in particular that they are seriously threated by global warming.

Earlier in 2006 I spent some time reading technical reports about the relationship between the decline in the extent of sea ice in the Arctic and polar bear ecology. I was surprised to discover as part of this research that polar bear numbers have actually increased over the last 30 years.

The more I read the more it became apparent that polar bear researchers were down playing this good news and promoting any finding that could be interpreted as a “decline” in any population of polar bears. It was also clear that global warming campaigners were keen to sieze on this information, extrapolate and exaggerate a bit more, and then parade it as evidence for a claimed overall decline in polar bear numbers.

Just last week I posted a piece at this blog stating that despite claims in the popular press and scientific literature to the contrary, polar bear numbers are actually increasing. I wrote that numbers have increased from about 5,000 to 25,000 over the last 30 years.

The piece has generated much discussion at this blog, and I have received many ‘hate emails’. I have been accused of all sorts of things, including showing a complete disregard for the hard work of experts in the field. But interestingly no-one has disputed my principle claim: that polar bear numbers have more than doubled over the last 30 years.

A key criticism appears to be that I have not acknowledged that polar bear numbers have been predicted by experts to decline dramatically in the future.

The reasoning from the most shrill of the self-proclaimed experts has been that because there is a likelihood the situation might deteriorate into the future, we can’t acknowledge the good news now.

I completely reject the notion that any scientist, researcher, campaigner, or self-proclaimed expert has a right to withhold good news on an environmental issue of intense public interest because of what may or may not happen in the future.

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In the next installment/next blog post on this subject (Part 2) I will explain why I am skeptical of the claims that polar bear numbers will decline dramatically over the next 50-100 years.

I am happy to publish guest posts that put an alternative perspective, for example, that provide information supporting the contension that polar bears are a truly threatened species, email to jennifermarohasy@jennifermarohasy.com .