816 Conservation news


encounter live pangolins for sale on the streets.Wepresume that pangolin is a preferred meat and therefore consumed nearer source localities. Our survey suggests that pangolins are under significant pressure domestically despite efforts by the Forestry Development Authority to curb the trade.


DICKARMIEN DEEMIE Society for Nature Conservation in Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia


RICHARD A. NISBETT ( orcid.org/0000-0002-2560-6311) University of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia E-mail ranisbett@gmail.com


REGINALD A. HOYT Delaware Valley University, Doylestown, USA


This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.


Resumption of natural reproduction of the Adriatic sturgeon in the River Po


The Critically Endangered cobice or Adriatic sturgeon Acipenser naccarii, endemic to the Adriatic basin, declined drastically in the latter half of the 20th century, and with no natural reproduction was on the brink of extinction by 1990. Recovery activities, mainly in the Po basin, have been imple- mented almost annually for 40 years, with the release of hundreds of thousands of individuals, mostly juveniles. All are descendants from a single stock held by a farmer, Giacinto Giovannini, who saved the species from extinction. The life cycle of the Adriatic sturgeon can exceed 50


years, and the effects of conservation measures are therefore only expected after several decades. In recent years there have been increased sightings of large individuals, many of which have been genetically verified as released individ- uals, but no evidence of reproduction. Fingerlings of a size that suggest they are not reintroduced individuals have been reported in the River Ticino (a tributary of the River Po) and the River Livenza (which flows into the North Adriatic) but never in the River Po mainstream. However, on 26 June a young Adriatic sturgeon, c. 4 cm


long, was accidentally caught, and photographed and re- leased, by a fisher (MG), in a stretch of the River Po suf- ficiently far from the River Ticino to indicate that re- production must have occurred in the mainstream of the Po. The most recent reintroduction there was in 2020 and the size of the individual caught indicated it could not be one of the reintroduced individuals. The length indicates the individual was c. 2 months old, which suggests repro- duction earlier than in captivity, where the species repro- duces in late May or June. This finding provides the first evidence that the River Po remains suitable for the reproduction of the Adriatic


sturgeon and that the long-term conservation efforts for this species may be successful. The potential success of this reintroduction demonstrates the need for continuous and long-term support for the conservation of individual species.


LEONARDO CONGIU ( orcid.org/0000-0002-9293-9837) Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy, and Sturgeon Specialist Group, IUCN Species Survival Commission. E-mail leonardo.congiu@unipd.it


ELISA BOSCARI ( orcid.org/0000-0001-8881-9907) Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy


SAMUELE PAGANI International Marine Centre, Oristano, Italy MARCO GAZZOLA Private collaborator, Italy


PAOLO BRONZI ( orcid.org/0000-0001-7662-6673)World Sturgeon Conservation Society, Oggebbio, Italy, and Sturgeon Specialist Group, IUCN Species Survival Commission


This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.


New Global Center for Species Survival launches programme of work


In August 2021, the Global Center for Species Survival in- itiated its work plan in support of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) network. The Global Center is a new partnership between the Indianapolis Zoo and SSC, with the aim of accelerating the global conservation work of the SSC network. This network consists of more than 10,500 volunteer experts in 173 countries and is organized into more than 160 Specialist Groups, Conservation Committees, Red List Authorities and Task Forces. Global Center staff include seven Conservation Coordinators (Amphibians & Reptiles, Birds, Invertebrates, Mammals, Plants & Fungi, Freshwater, and Marine) as well as a Public Relations Specialist. In 2022, a Behaviour Change Coordinator will be added to the team to focus on the human dimensions of conservation. After launching in early 2021, the Global Center met with


SSC groups to assess the priorities and needs of the network. Working with the SSC Chair’s office, the Global Center has developed a workplan that involves activities to support each step of the SSC Species Conservation Cycle: Assess, Plan, Act, Network and Communicate. The Global Center activities will include accelerating the ability of the SSC net- work to assess species and develop and implement conser- vation plans, assisting the network with responses to urgent threats, expanding communication of conservation progress and efforts, increasing communication across the network,


Oryx, 2021, 55(6), 809–817 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605321001216


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