Category: Asia

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A haven for the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger – Tambling nature conservation

https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2023/04/04/mission-tiger-sumatra-tambling-1-hnk-spc-intl.cnn

Above is a link to a short but fascinating video which CNN did about an ex hunter who is trying to atone for his former behaviour.

It is under 6 minutes and well worth a watch. It is not brand new, but I hope it is of interest.

This is a reserve of about 480 square km on the southern end of Sumatra

While not vast, this small reserve has the capacity to support above 10% of the current remaining Sumatran tiger population.

I hope to be able to link to this destination in the near future

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New estimates suggest that up to 100 of Asiatic Lions now live by the seaside

The Gir forest was the last refuge of the Asiatic lion. Back in 1893 it was thought that there were only 18 animals remaining. Thankfully that number has rebounded very well (there are scientists who doubt this extremely low number) and the Indian lion population is now thought to number about 600. The problem is, that the reserve is not particularly large at 1410 square km (544 square miles). Even in the Serengeti (which has one of the highest density of lions) there is about 1 lion for every 2 square miles, yet the Gir forest has more than one per square mile. This contributes to a mortality rate that is dangerously high, with 283 lions dying in the last couple of years.

As such it is not surprising that many of the lions live outside the reserve, and is thought that around 1 in 4 live outside the reserve.

This was one of the reasons that efforts were made to move some of these lions to other reserves, but Gujarat has blocked this despite loosing various court cases.

Wild Indian lions photographed on the beach

Now, it is not easy to live alongside lions, and the state government is both endangering the long term survival of the Indian Asiatic lion, as well as many of its human population by its determination to hold onto the whole population within its borders.

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3 of the 20 Cheetah translocated from South Africa to India have died in recent weeks, does this confirm doubters?

The Indian cheetah was lost from India back in 1952. Hosting Tigers, Lions, Leopards, and Snow Leopards within its borders, it was a mark of pride when the cheetah reintroduction was announced. It is certainly true that cheetah once roamed India, and as the only cat to be lost in theory I would agree that it should be returned. However, there are many other issues, not least the fate of surviving Indian wild cat species: Indian lions came close to extinction, and Tiger population fell to about 1% of historical numbers – now up to about 4%, Indian snow leopards are also only thought to number around 4-500.

Will Indian cheetahs roam in large numbers once again? I do not think so in the next few decades

In other words, there is much concern that any significant amount of conservation money, which might otherwise be used to protect the remaining Indian Lions Tigers and Snow Leopards (as well as Leopards and other smaller cats) will be redirected to reintroduce the Cheetah, and therefore one of these other species will be lost in the process.

What is of bigger concern, while these are not the 3 to have died, only 3 of the 20 cheetah have been fully released into the wild

Continue reading “3 of the 20 Cheetah translocated from South Africa to India have died in recent weeks, does this confirm doubters?”
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Will the 8th great ape- the Tapanuli orangutan – survive the first 2 decades after being described?

It is just 5 years since the Tapanuli orangutan was described. Despite this Orangutan being restricted to an area of Northern Sumatra, it is more closely related to the Bornean Orangutan than the Sumatran one. This might be the clearest indication of how long this species has been separate from its cousins.

Tapanuli Orangutan, only described in 2017 is still threatened by various projects in the area

The Tapanuli Orangutan split from its Bornean cousins around 670,000 years ago, while chimpanzee and Bonobo were split 1.5-2.2 million years ago. Baffling, the Sumatran Orangutan split from both the Borneon and Tapanuli Orangutan 3.38 million years ago. For context, Humans split from our chimpanzee ancestors 4-6 million years ago (so not much longer) and gorillas split from their chimpanzee ancestors 7-9 million years ago.

All this is to say, that while the Tapanuli Orangutan is relatively closely related to the Bornean Orangutan, it cannot interact with it as it is on another island; and the Sumatran Orangutan is too far removed to be able to interbreed.

It is thought that the Tapanuli Orangutan has faced population decline of 83% in the last few decades (three generations). Further threats are numerous. One of its biggest threats is a hydroelectric dam, which would remove much of the remaining habitat, but a gold mine, loss of habitat and an expansion of croplands are other threats.

Unfortunately little to nothing has improved in the last 6 years, they are probably closer to extinction now than ever. If you have followed this blog over the last 5 years, you will have seen that I have written on this new orangutan species a few times. We will continue to follow this animal on this blog – we must work to raise its profile and not merely chronicle its slide towards extinction.

This is a wonderful 8 minute documentary on the Tapanuli Orangutan, the 8th great ape
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The Indonesian rhinos that once roamed across much of Asia

The wildlife of Indonesia now often looks like relatively unique to those islands. This is not the natural state of affairs. 60,000 years ago, a cousin of the orangutan lived on the mainland. Unfortunately, what appears clear, is that humans were responsible for the extinction of these animals as with so many more.

There are 2 species of Indonesian Rhino, the Javan rhino and the Sumatran rhino. Now it should be noted that these names are not an indication of a small range (or if it is, it is wrong) in reality, both rhino species were far more widely spread. Indeed mainland specimens lived within the 21st century.

Continue reading “The Indonesian rhinos that once roamed across much of Asia”
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India now home to over 3000 tigers (though this does not equate to 75% as some have claimed)

The tiger population of India continues to grow. It has recently passed 3000 animals which is a fantastic success, as the tiger population of India fell as low as 2000 back in the 1970s and was as low as 1500 just 17 years ago.. To put this number in context, going back 200 years estimates vary from over 100,000 to 58,000.

Image credit: Sascha Kohlmann
Continue reading “India now home to over 3000 tigers (though this does not equate to 75% as some have claimed)”
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Red Panda population has halved in the last 20 years, what is the future for the giant pandas little cousin?

Have you ever seen a red panda in the zoo? While the wild population has halved from 5000 to 2500. Yet at the same time the number in zoos has increased.

Although far smaller, the red panda can be fascinating to watch. Recent analysis shows it is not just looks, these animals are surprisingly similar

Europe now has about 407 individual red pandas and while figures are harder to find elsewhere, there are probably more red pandas now in zoos which in comparison to the giant panda population in zoos is around 500 world wide. Why is this?

Continue reading “Red Panda population has halved in the last 20 years, what is the future for the giant pandas little cousin?”
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Orangutans are roaming into villages in Sumatra – bad news

At first glance, you could look at this headline as good news – in most instances, wild animals do not start looking outside their habitat for places to live, unless there are too many and they are being forced out. However, they also start looking elsewhere when they struggle to find food where they are, or as a result of encroachment.

Tapanuli Orangutan mother with young – Image by Aditya Sumitra/Mighty Earth.

In this instance it is thought to be as a result of construction of a hydroelectric dam. Perhaps more alarming, these are the Tapanuli Orangutans, which only number 800 and which if this dam is completed, will lose most of their range.

As the 8th great ape, it may also be the first great ape pushed to extinction and in their case as a direct choice of the local authorities.

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Last of the Iranian Asiatic cheetah cubs in captivity has died

3 Asiatic cheetah cubs were born in captivity recently. This was exciting, because this species is on the brink of extinction – there is only thought to be about 12 remaining in the wild, down from about 100 in 2010, a survey in 2017 stated fewer than 50 mature individuals.

Is this the last gasp for this species? Will the sight of a young cub like this never occur again?

Continue reading “Last of the Iranian Asiatic cheetah cubs in captivity has died”
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Bringing back the Amur tiger to the western part of its range! (The Caspian tiger)

Across the world many species have huge ranges – look at the leopard, found across Africa and much of Asia. It is not a surprise that these animals have a great deal of genetic variability.

The Caspian tiger went extinct in 1970, many pictures are far older

However, until recently, far to much of the decisions about subspecies status went on the look of the animal.

Continue reading “Bringing back the Amur tiger to the western part of its range! (The Caspian tiger)”
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