648 Briefly ASIA & OCEANIA
Hundreds of rare antelopes killed by lightning in Kazakhstan In May 2021, villagers in Kazakhstan found the bodies of c. 350 saiga antelopes. The dis- covery came during the calving season for the saiga. The Kazakh Ecological Ministry said in a statement that lightning was the probable cause of the deaths as there were traces of lightning strikes on the carcasses. The IUCN categorizes the saiga as one of five Critically Endangered antelope spe- cies, with a population of c. 124,000 adults. Kazakhstan is home to the majority of the animals, with Russia’s Kalmykia region and Mongolia hosting much smaller popu- lations. In 2015,c. 200,000 of the antelopes —well over half the total global population at the time—were wiped out by what scien- tists later determined was a nasal bacterium that spread in unusually warm and humid conditions. In an aerial survey in 2019, Kazakhstan said its Saiga population was estimated at more than 330,000 individuals. Poaching is a persistent threat, fueled by de- mand for saiga horn in traditional Chinese medicine. Kazakhstan’s leaders pledged to crack down on the crime after two state ran- gers were killed by poachers in 2019. Source:
Phys.org (2021)
phys.org/news/2021- 05-kazakhstan-rare-antelopes-lightning.html
Insect-tracking drones to boost conservation in New Zealand A swarm of insect-tracking drones and tiny radars are being developed to help conserva- tion of rare insects in New Zealand. The new tag-and-track technology is being developed at the University of Canterbury on New Zealand’s South Island. Researchers hope it could lead to a deeper understanding of New Zealand’s threatened insects. The research draws on years of experience in bird conser- vation, where radio tracking methods have helped to protect many threatened species. Experts have said that the technology used for birds may be suitable to study large inver- tebrates such as giant land snails but was too big and heavy for most insects. Researchers have now made c. 20 tiny so-called harmonic radar tags that are fitted to insects. They would then be tracked by a swarm of drones. Trials will start on ground-based insects before the NewZealand team tries to tackle the complex- ities of tracking insects in flight. Field testing could begin in 2023. The study could also have applications in other disciplines, from biosecurity to medical imaging. Source: Voice of America (2021) voanews. com/science-health/insect-tracking-drones- boost-rare-bug-conservation-new-zealand
The race to rescue Australia’s 50 most vulnerable plant species The rare snow daphne Kelleria bogongensis is a tiny, carpeting plant found only in a 0.25 km2 area on Mt Bogong, Australia. Threat- ened plants like the snow daphne have de- clined at such a rate in Australia over recent decades that the Threatened Species Recovery Hub has released a new list of the 50 species at greatest risk of extinction, and the steps needed to halt and reverse their de- clines. To compile the list of the 50 species most at risk of extinction, researchers re- viewed all available published information and interviewed more than 120 botanists and land managers across Australia. The team collected c. 10,000 snow daphne seeds, half of whichwere keptatthe Victorian Conservation Seedbank at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, and the other half were sent to the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place, UK. Seed banks are an in- surance policy, and allowresearchers to exam- ine the biology of seeds, many of which germinate only after idiosyncratic cues. The Victorian seed bank currently holds seeds from .1,400 native species. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald (2021)
smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/the- race-to-rescue-australia-s-50-most-vulnerable-
plant-species-20210511-p57qwf.html
China announces moratoriums for squid fleet China has announced amoratoriumon fish- ing by its flagged fleet in the south-west Atlantic and in the eastern Pacific. Adminis- tered by the Fisheries Regulation Bureau under the Chinese Agriculture Ministry, the fishing ban will impact 70 Chinese distant- water fishing firms and 600 vessels. Themin- istry said the moratorium is independent and self-enforced. The Atlantic fishing ban is operational during 1 July–30 September and the East Pacific moratorium will take place 1 September–30 November. The ministry said the move aims to conserve and rehabili- tate squid stocks, similar to a moratorium on squid fishing implemented by China on its vessels in the south-western Atlantic in
2020.The 2020 moratorium was successful, according to the statement, because this year’s squid catch was larger than last year. The ministry is overseeing the moratorium, and local enforcement will also involve the China Distant-Water Fishing Association, an industry body, and the Shanghai Ocean University, one of the country’stop centres for ocean and fisheries research. Source: Seafood Source (2021) seafoodsource. com/news/environment-sustainability/ china-announces-moratoriums-for-squid- fleet-in-atlantic-pacific
Natural history and conservation importance of the Chinese mountain cat In the largest study undertaken ofChinese fe- lids, genetic analyses highlight the evolution- ary uniqueness and conservation importance of theelusive Chinesemountaincat Felis sil- vestris bieti, found only in the Tibetan plateau of China. The new study compared three dif- ferent felines living in China: the Chinese mountain cat, the Asiatic wildcat Felis sil- vestris ornata,and feral domesticcats Felis sil- vestris catus. Such studies are important for conservation because scientists have to be clear about taxonomy and species’ relation to each other when discussing strategies, and because legal protections have to be specific to the taxa in question. Sources: Science Advances (2021)
doi.org/10. 1126/sciadv.abg0221 & EurekAlert! (2021)
eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/ nsu-shn062421.php
Camera-trap pictures of rare species in Viet Nam raise conservation hopes Camera traps placed in a remote nature re- serve in central Viet Nam recently captured images of raremuntjac deer and other threat- ened 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 part of the Truong SonMountains (known internation- ally as the Annamites) near Viet Nam’s bor- der with Laos. Local media reported that 110 cameras had been placed by the Reserve’s management board and staff from the con- servation NGO Viet Nature in an effort to capture the rare Edwards’s pheasant Lophura
edwardsi.Instead,the cameras tookpictures of twomuntjacs—possibly Roosevelt’smunt- jac Muntiacus rooseveltorum—as well as c. 30 bird andmammal species such as the crested argus Rheinardia ocellata, Annamite striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi and Owston’s palm civet Chrotogale
owstoni.The sightings emphasize the importance of this nature reserve to biodiversity in central Viet Nam and neighboring parts of Laos. Source: Mongabay (2021)
news.mongabay. com/2021/06/camera-trap-pics-of-rare- species-in-vietnam-raise-conservation-hopes
All internet addresses were up to date at the time of writing. The Briefly section in this issue was written and compiled by Emma Muench, Julia Hochbach andMartin Fisher, with additional contributions from Bárbara Goettsch, Berry Mulligan and Annkathrin Sharp. Contributions from authoritative published sources (including websites) are always welcome. Please send contributions by e-mail to
oryx@fauna-flora.org.
Oryx, 2021, 55(5), 643–648 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605321000958
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164
