150 Conservation news HEINKE JÄGER1 (
heinke.jaeger@fcdarwin.org.ec),
MIRIAM SAN-JOSÉ1 and CHRISTIAN SEVILLA2 1Charles Darwin Research Station, Charles Darwin
Foundation, Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador. 2Galapagos National Park Directorate, Galapagos, Ecuador
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Rediscovery of Barleriamaclaudii(Acanthaceae) in Guinea after 86 years
Barleria maclaudii Benoist (Family Acanthaceae) grows in savannah and woodland mosaics on lateritic slopes at 150– 700 m altitude. Described by Raymond Benoist in 1911,it was initially discovered in Fouta-Djalon (Guinea) in 1898. Formerly, the most recent observation in Guinea was in 1936, near Dinguiraye. Additionally, it has been recorded in Senegal and Mali, with a total of 4–5 localities across these three countries. The extent of these localities is poorly understood, as they are only known from seven herbarium specimens. For these reasons, and because of known threats at some of these localities, the species is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. However, in October 2021, after 86 years without records,
B. maclaudii was rediscovered in Guinea, around the village of Kokoun Thimbobhé (sub-prefecture of Kollet), within the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Fouta-Djalon. During November 2022–June 2023, the species was recorded in c. 20 more localities in the Park, with half of these in the core protected area and high conservation value zones. The localities cover a total extent of occurrence c. 1,460 km2, and we estimate that the total known area of occupancy is at least 7 km2, with a population size of c. 8,000 individuals. The altitude range of the localities is 417–772 m, slightly exceeding the previously known upper limit.
These new observations facilitated photographic docu-
mentation and seed and herbarium specimen collection. The species’ perennial nature was confirmed: despite annual bushfires, the woody bases persist and appear to be fire-tolerant. Flowering is September–November, and the species grows on skeletal laterite soil in the understory of woodland dominated by Terminalia macroptera Guill. & Perr. This discovery of several localities in Moyen-Bafing
National Park greatly improves our knowledge of this spe- cies in Guinea. However, populations in Senegal and Mali have not been surveyed recently and the species’ known minimal area of occupancy remains less than the 500 km2 threshold for categorization as Endangered. As there is an ongoing threat from slash-and-burn agriculture within the Park, and a population increase has not been documented, categorization as Endangered under criterion B2ab(ii,iii) remains appropriate pending further study.
CAMILLE RIEDER1,2 (
camille.rieder@unil.ch),
CHARLOTTE COUCH3,4,5 and IAIN DARBYSHIRE3 1Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Geosciences and
Environment Faculty, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. 2Wild Chimpanzee Foundation–Guinean Section, Guinea. 3Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond,
UK. 4Herbier National de Guinée, Conakry, Guinea. 5IUCN Species Survival CommissionWest Africa Plant Red List Authority
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
A new-born Arabian leopard cub at the Wild Mammal Breeding Centre in Oman
Barleria maclaudii Benoist in Kokoun Thimbobhé (Moyen- Bafing National Park): (a) habitat and (b) inflorescence with a flower. Photos: Camille Rieder.
The Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr is a Critically Endangered subspecies that roamed in both the northern and the southern mountains of Oman until the 1970s. Today, however, it occurs only in the Dhofar Mountains in the south, where a population of c. 50 remains (Al Hikmani & Spalton, 2023, Oryx, 57, 283–284). In 1985,in an early effort to prevent the Arabian leopard from be- coming extinct in the wild, a captive breeding group was established at the Wild Mammal Breeding Centre in Muscat, Oman. This was the first breeding programme for this species. The programme started with four wild- caught Arabian leopards from Jabal Samhan in southern Oman, and the first captive bred Arabian leopard was born in the Centre on 16 May 1989. Between 1989 and 1997 the programme successfully bred and received 10 cubs. However, with an ageing captive group the last cub to be born in the Centre was on 12 February 1997. The programme was given new impetus in 2015 with the arrival of a wild-caught male from Yemen, joined
Oryx, 2024, 58(2), 145–154 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605323001898
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