Snow leopard in Afghanistan.

Using camera traps, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has captured the elusive and rare snow leopard on film in Afghanistan for a second time. The feline was caught on film in the Sast Valley in Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor.

The snow leopard is currently listed as Endangered by the IUCN. The cat is also listed as protected under Afghanistan's new endangered species list, which outlaws hunting it. The IUCN estimates that only 100-200 snow leopards still survive in Afghanistan.

Researchers with WCS are conducting wildlife surveys in the remote region of the Wakhan Corridor with the goal to establish a new protected area. The region also contains the Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul and the Altai weasel Mustela altaica, both are classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

Other notable mammals include the Marco Polo sheep Ovis ammon polii, Siberian ibex Capra ibex sibirica, brown bear Ursus arctos, wolf Canis lupus, red fox Vulpes vulpes, Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx,) , stone marten or beech marten Martes foina, stoat Mustela erminea, long-tailed marmot Marmota caudate, and the Tolai hare Lepus tolai.

Afghanistan announced its first national park, Band-e-Amir, on Earth Day (April 22nd) of this year.

Brilliant pink moth discovered in Arizona.

A new species of moth with brilliantly-colored pink wings has been discovered at 7,700 feet in the Chiricahua Mountains of southern Arizona.

"This large moth flew in and we didn't think much of it because there is a silk moth very much like it, a Doris silk moth that feeds on pines that has dark wings with pink on the hind wings. It's fairly common there," said University of Arizona biologist, Bruce Walsh, who discovered the species.

On closer inspection of the moth, however, Walsh determined that it was an entirely different species from a different family: Noctuidae. The Chiricahuas is known for its biological richness and new species, however a moth of this color is a rare find.

The moth has been named lithophane leeae, after Walsh’s wife, Lee.

"We can now add L. leeae to this group of large, but quite elusive, species," Walsh noted.

Taken from
Mongabay.com

Conservation groups condemn 'open and organized plundering' of Madagascar's natural resources

Eleven conservation organizations—including WWF, CI, and WCS—have banded together to condemn logging in Madagascar's world renowned parks during a time of political crisis.

Taking advantage of the turmoil after interim president Andry Rajoelina took control of the country in a bloodless coup from former president Marc Ravalomanana on March 17th, pristine forests have been plundered for valuable wood, wildlife trafficking has increased, and illegal mining operations have begun say the conservation organizations.
As reported last week by Mongabay.com, the forces involved in the logging are not just impoverished locals, but according to a local source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, 'foreign traders' and 'big businessmen'.

“[They] have arrived in local towns seeking to take advantage of the political crisis that has weakened park protection and enforcement," the source said. "This is the worst, by far, that has happened to [Marojejy] park in recent years. The situation is worse than desperate."

The lawlessness of the situation is confirmed by the conservation organizations who write that the logging is done with “open and organized plundering, sometimes using firearms, of precious wood from several natural forests, including national parks such as Marojejy and Masoala.”

The chaos has put a halt to Madagascar's tourism industry—one of the impoverished nations most important growth industries. Valued at $400-million-dollars-a-year the industry could be hurt for years to come, especially if its natural treasures are devastated.



Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
March 30, 2009