Myanmar Reptile & Amphibian Society

Myanmar Reptile & Amphibian Society A non-profit group dedicated to reptiles & amphibians in Myanmar. We are advocates for the practice o

World’s longest snake is not Anaconda, but monstrous pythons!Thanks to Hollywood movies, anacondas are known to be the l...
02/04/2023

World’s longest snake is not Anaconda, but monstrous pythons!

Thanks to Hollywood movies, anacondas are known to be the longest and biggest snakes in the world. With a weight of about 250 kilograms, anacondas are easily considered to be a monstrous reptile. But you will be quite surprised, or literally shocked to know, that anacondas are not the longest snake in the world!

The longest snakes in the world are reticulated pythons. This species is found in South and Southeast Asia. A video clip of a reticulated python slithering in a house has gone viral and people are aghast at how big the creature is! The video was shared on Twitter by a user called Science Girl with the caption, “The reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world’s longest snake.”

https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1639581989635276800?s=20

“The reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia, It is the world's longest snake ”

Wildlife Conservation Society releases baby Siamese crocs in Lao wetlandThe Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Laos ...
31/03/2023

Wildlife Conservation Society releases baby Siamese crocs in Lao wetland

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Laos recently released 31 critically endangered baby Siamese crocodiles into a wetland in Savannakhet province.

Deputy Director of WCS Laos, Manoly Sisavanh, reported on the release of the crocodiles during a media workshop on wildlife crime prevention, held in Borikhamxay province.

The release was part of the Ecosystem Conservation through Integrated Landscape Management Project.

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, together with Lao government partners and members of the Natay Village Conservation Team, conducted field biodiversity monitoring and collected eggs from the nest of a Siamese crocodile in the Greater Xechamphon Wetlands in Savannakhet province.

Siamese crocodiles are critically endangered, with less than 1,000 individuals in the wild. In natural populations, far less than 5 percent of eggs laid will be able to survive to adulthood.

By collecting eggs from a few nests each year and then raising hatchlings for two years until they are nearly 1 metre in length, the Xechamphon crocodile population can have a much better and faster chance of recovery.

The programme is fully supported by local communities who have long prohibited any hunting of the crocodiles due to traditional beliefs, and have never reported any issues with the shy species.

The mother crocodile was raised in captivity and released eight years ago. She built a nest and laid eggs, making this the first documented case of a “head-started” Siamese crocodile nesting in the wild in Laos and only the second time globally.

The Xechamphon Wetlands are home to Laos’ last remaining breeding populations of Siamese crocodiles.

WCS is working to secure protection against the destruction of critical habitats while also working to provide local communities with improved planning for more sustainable resource use, and alternative livelihoods that support sustainable wetlands management.

An assessment of wildlife trade between Madagascar and Southeast AsiaA new TRAFFIC study reveals Southeast Asia’s signif...
29/03/2023

An assessment of wildlife trade between Madagascar and Southeast Asia

A new TRAFFIC study reveals Southeast Asia’s significant role in the legal and illicit trade of Madagascar’s rare and endemic wildlife and calls for intensified international co-operation to stem biodiversity loss.

An assessment of wildlife trade between Madagascar and Southeast Asia showed that 30% of 121 seizure* incidents involving Madagascar between 2000 and 2021 clearly stated the involvement of any Southeast Asian country.

The Southeast Asian countries were not only implicated because seizures took place there. They also played a role along the trafficking route as transit points, re-exporters or as intended destinations. Thailand was the most implicated Southeast Asian country, primarily as a destination country.

Scrutiny of the 36 seizures involving Madagascar and a Southeast Asian country revealed that half of the confiscations took place in Madagascar before being trafficked to other destinations. Meanwhile, 12 seizures were intercepted in the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, and six others occurred in other Asian, African and European countries and territories along the trade route.

At least 39,277 individual animals and logs were seized in the 36 cases. Major commodities seized were timber from Madagascar’s famed rosewood species, and reptiles and amphibians including over 5000 Malagasy tortoises, all of which are Critically Endangered and prohibited from international trade.

The study also found that a wide range of wildlife – 328 **CITES-listed taxa – were legally exported from Madagascar to Southeast Asia from 1975 to 2019. Much of the exported commodities were declared as being taken from the wild.

Legal wildlife exports from Madagascar to Southeast Asia were dominated by live reptiles, amphibians and flowering plants. Thailand was the largest Southeast Asian importer, accounting for 83% of all transactions. Madagascar also imported wildlife from Southeast Asia, with Indonesia the largest regional source of wildlife to Madagascar.

“This is why only concerted and well-coordinated efforts across borders to regulate legal trade and tackle illegal trade will stem the losses,” said Chng.

Authorities in Madagascar and Southeast Asia must communicate, share intelligence, jointly investigate and disrupt the organised networks driving illegal trade, authors said.

The study also urged all parties to address discrepancies and gaps in the scrutiny, control and reporting of legal trade, warning that failure to do so could give rise to traffickers using legal trade as a cover to mask illegal trade.

While acknowledging recent efforts to strengthen laws and firm action in both Madagascar and Southeast Asia, authors noted challenges in the conviction of traffickers, communications between agencies and countries concerned, and gaps in information on the legal status of shipments which hampered efforts to tackle the trafficking effectively.

Oldest sea reptile remains from 2 million years ago found on Arctic islandThe remains of the earliest known ‘fish-lizard...
29/03/2023

Oldest sea reptile remains from 2 million years ago found on Arctic island

The remains of the earliest known ‘fish-lizard’ from the Age of Dinosaurs have been found on a remote Arctic island.

Swedish and Norwegian paleontologists found fossils of the earliest known ichthyosaur on Spitsbergen after nearly 190 years of searching.

Chris Oberholtz
March 18, 2023·2 min read
SPITSBERGEN, Norway – The remains of the earliest known ‘fish-lizard’ from the Age of Dinosaurs have been found on a remote Arctic island.

Swedish and Norwegian paleontologists found fossils of the earliest known ichthyosaur on Spitsbergen after nearly 190 years of searching.

'I COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT I WAS LOOKING AT': RECORD-BREAKING DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT UNEARTHED IN ENGLAND

Research conducted with The Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University helped identify the bony fish and ‘crocodile-like’ amphibian bones, together with its 11 articulated tail vertebrae.

According to the university, ichthyosaurs were an extinct group of marine reptiles whose fossils have been recovered worldwide. They were among the first land-living animals to adapt to life in the open sea about 250 million years ago. They later evolved their body shape similar to modern whales.

The remains were found in limestone boulders during a 2014 expedition to Flower’s valley along the southern shore of Ice Fjord in western Spitsbergen. They were later shipped back to the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo for future study.

"Unexpectedly, these vertebrae occurred within rocks that were supposedly too old for ichthyosaurs," the university said in a news release this week. "Also, rather than representing the textbook example of an amphibious ichthyosaur ancestor, the vertebrae are identical to those of geologically much younger larger-bodied ichthyosaurs, and even preserve internal bone microstructure showing adaptive hallmarks of fast growth, elevated metabolism and a fully oceanic lifestyle."

Geochemical testing of the surrounding rock confirmed the age of the fossils at approximately two million years.

"Given the estimated timescale of oceanic reptile evolution, this pushes back the origin and early diversification of ichthyosaurs to before the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs; thereby forcing a revision of the textbook interpretation and revealing that ichthyosaurs probably first radiated into marine environments prior to the extinction event," the university said.

According to paleontologists, fossils of the ichthyosaur's most ancient ancestors are still awaiting discovery in even older rocks on Spitsbergen and elsewhere in the world.

Wildlife trade summit ends with increased protections for South Asian speciesAglobal wildlife summit has concluded with ...
05/01/2023

Wildlife trade summit ends with increased protections for South Asian species

Aglobal wildlife summit has concluded with a suite of new protections for South Asian species, with decisions made to either ban or regulate international trade. Held in Panama City from 14-25 November, the 19th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES CoP19, saw signatory governments convene in Latin America for the first time in 20 years.

Key decisions included a massive expansion of the number of shark species subject to global regulation, meaning the majority of the international trade in shark fins will be regulated for the first time; the first new CITES protections for songbirds in 20 years; and a slew of new controls on trade in reptiles and amphibians which are sold as pets.

New protections for songbirds
At CITES CoP19, the world’s governments agreed to more stringent regulation of international trade in two songbirds from South and Southeast Asia. The white-rumped shama, which is found from Southern India to Indonesia, was added to Appendix II, meaning international trade will be regulated. The straw-headed bulbul, which clings on in scattered populations in Southeast Asia, was moved from Appendix II to Appendix I, banning international commercial trade.

Both species are in demand for the cage bird trade, particularly in Indonesia. This trade has driven the straw-headed bulbul – noted for its pleasing song – to the brink of extinction, and has decimated some populations of the white-rumped shama.

Dr Farrah Shameen Mohamad Ashray, head of the Malaysian delegation to CITES CoP19 who were co-proponents of both proposals, told The Third Pole: “There’s a huge bird trade in the region, and it’s now affecting Malaysia’s birds. Seizures [of smuggled birds] are happening weekly, and that’s only what we see. This listing is a first step to controlling that trade. Data shows that the white-rumped shama has been found in bird markets in Europe. That means the threat of its trade is imminent, and it’s beyond Southeast Asia and its range states.”

Indian reptiles under threat
India submitted three proposals to CITES CoP19 for stricter protections for its native reptiles: the Jeypore Indian gecko, red-crowned roofed turtle and Leith’s softshell turtle. All three species survive nowhere else on Earth. India’s proposals to add the gecko to Appendix II – meaning international trade will require permits – and to move both turtles from Appendix II to Appendix I – banning international trade – were adopted by consensus at CITES CoP19. The Jeypore Indian gecko lives only in a few locations in the Eastern Ghats and is endangered, but has been seen for sale as an exotic pet on social media. Both turtle species are critically endangered, and are illegally traded internationally as pets, food and traditional medicine.

“These decisions should help to protect the species from extinction, but CITES is only one of the tools which needs to be use in complement with other measures to address the threats facing these species,” Avinash Basker, environmental lawyer, told The Third Pole. “For example, the central government has proposed enhanced legal protection for the Leith’s softshell turtle and Jeypore Indian gecko in India’s wildlife legislation. Population monitoring for the red-crowned roofed turtle also appears to be underway,” he added.

India’s proposals were among a total of 12 brought to CITES CoP19 for greater protection of freshwater turtles. Calling for support of all turtle proposals during the debate, Sue Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, highlighted that turtles are among the world’s most threatened vertebrate groups. “Targeted unsustainable and illegal exploitation for trade is the single most powerful factor that is driving species and populations towards extinction,” said Lieberman. “Abating such a threat is the very reason that CITES exists.” Ultimately, all 12 turtle proposals were adopted at CoP19.

Decisions to ‘transform’ regulation of shark fin trade
Among the most notable outcomes from CITES CoP19 were the decisions to add three families of sharks and rays to Appendix II, meaning international trade in these species will be regulated for the first time.

Panama, alongside Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and 37 other countries, led a proposal to include all 56 species of requiem sharks (the family Carcharhinidae) on Appendix II. The proposal highlighted that 68% of species in the family – which includes such well-known species as the blue shark and reef sharks – are threatened with extinction, and that requiem sharks represent up to 85.5% of the global shark fin trade. The proposal focused on 12 particularly threatened species, and argued that as shark fins and meat are very difficult to identify, trade in the whole family needs to be regulated for these species to be effectively protected.

Despite opposition from Japan and several other countries, and a suggestion from Peru to exclude the blue shark, the parties gathered in Panama voted to regulate trade in all requiem sharks. Also adopted by vote were proposals to include hammerhead shark family – which are also traded for their fins – and guitarfishes to Appendix II. The majority of species in both these families are considered endangered.

“We are extremely happy because the world has woken up to conservation of sharks, the top predators that maintain equilibrium of the ecosystems which our coastal communities need,” said Shirley Binder, a senior adviser to Panama’s Ministry of Environment and chair of the CoP19 plenary, who introduced the requiem shark proposal at the meeting.

Stan Shea, marine programme director at the Bloom Association Hong Kong, an NGO, told The Third Pole: “This CoP has helped marine conservation move a step forward, not only with listings but with new implementation tools. Now with more species being listed on CITES, we can get species-specific data on how much is being traded, so researchers can understand more about the trade. The next step is thinking how we will implement and enforce [the listing] properly, making sure the trade is legal and sustainable.”

Unsuccessful proposals at CITES CoP19
Not all proposals brought to CITES CoP19 were adopted. India and Nepal proposed to delete the North Indian rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo) from Appendix II, meaning products made from its wood could be traded internationally without permits. The South Asian tree species is not threatened, but was included on Appendix II in 2016 along with the whole Dalbergia genus, when CITES Parties decided that given the difficulty of distinguishing between species of rosewood, trade in all species needed to regulated to ensure effective protection for those that are threatened by overharvesting.

In Panama, India argued that CITES controls for North Indian rosewood are not necessary, citing tools that can be used to distinguish between species, and said the restriction is having a negative impact on people who rely on rosewood handicrafts for their livelihoods. But the EU and Canada, among others, said that these identification techniques are not available to enforcement officials in practice. In the end, CITES Parties determined that the reasons for the restrictions still stand, and voted against adopting India’s proposal.

Another unsuccessful proposal was brought by Thailand, to move its population of Siamese crocodiles from Appendix I to Appendix II. Thailand argued that trade is not a threat to its wild crocodiles, but parties voted against the proposal, after several noted that the wild population remains very small, and so still meets criteria for inclusion on Appendix I.

Call to ban use of pangolin scales
All pangolin species have been listed on CITES Appendix I since 2016, meaning all international commercial trade in the species or their body parts is banned. Pangolins – the world’s only scaled mammals – are killed for both their meat and scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

In China, pangolin scales can still be legally used in production of traditional medicine. Concerned that around 600,000 pangolins may have been illegally traded between 2016 and 2019 alone, and that demand reduction efforts “are not proving effective”, the United Kingdom came to CoP19 with a proposal to add language to the CITES resolution on pangolins, calling on countries to close domestic markets if they contribute to poaching or illegal trade.

China opposed this language, saying that domestic matters are outside the scope of CITES, but the language was eventually adopted by vote.

“CITES Parties have previously agreed to such recommendations concerning domestic trade for ivory, Asian big cats and Tibetan antelopes,” noted Avinash Basker. “I think this indicates special cases where the parties feel merely controlling international trade is not sufficient to achieve the goal of preventing species extinction. Since the recommendation is conditional on the domestic market contributing to poaching or illegal trade, it is linked to the Convention’s mandate,” he argued.

CITES listing criteria: how to decide which species to protect?
Many debates at CITES CoP19 were on issues that affect the Convention overall, rather than specific species. One such debate focused on the criteria used to decide which species should be included in CITES appendices.

One controversial proposal submitted by Botswana, Cambodia, Eswatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe sought to change these criteria, to require that international trade be the primary driver of a species’ decline for it to qualify for inclusion on CITES appendices, and to add criteria relating to the potential impacts on livelihoods and food security of a CITES listing. In effect, these changes could significantly reduce the number of species that meet criteria for CITES protections.

Many parties spoke up against the proposal, saying it would be contrary to the fundamental principles of the convention, the original text of which says Appendix I shall apply to all threatened species which “are or may be affected by trade”, and that Appendix II shall include all species that could become threatened by unregulated trade. Ultimately, the proposal was rejected by a vote; China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan all voted for its adoption.

What is the ilu in Avatar?We are diving into the deep: this time, into an otherworldly ocean. "Avatar: The Way of Water,...
05/01/2023

What is the ilu in Avatar?

We are diving into the deep: this time, into an otherworldly ocean. "Avatar: The Way of Water,”directed by James Cameron, takes you to explore Pandora's glittering oceans.

In the movie, the ilu is the children's mount, an indispensable means of transportation for the seaside tribes. The ilu is intelligent, sociable and easily domesticated, with a long neck, six flippers and rudder-like tail, closely resembling Earth's extinct Plesiosaur species.

The Plesiosaur, which existed from 228 million years ago to 61.6 million years ago, was an aquatic reptile of the Jurassic period. It used four fins and a short broad tail for mobility, and had a serpentine neck almost as long as the rest of its body, with a small head at the end. It was at home in European seas and around the Pacific Ocean, including Australia, North America and Asia.

Beginning in 1824 when Victorian naturalist William Conybeare named Plesiosaurus after an almost complete skeleton, all types of Plesiosaurus – from small-headed, long-necked to large-headed, short-necked – used their four large flippers to flap and fly through the water. This way of swimming is very different from the lateral, fish-like manner of most other marine reptile lineages.

Scientists have long wondered about the Plesiosaur's neck – what did it do with such a long neck? British geologist William Conybeare believes that the long neck may have forced it to swim at the surface, arching its long neck like a swan, occasionally darting it down at the fish which happened to float within its reach, or the equivalent of a snake in the grass, relying on the suddenness and agility of its attacks.

However, paleontologists including a marine-reptile expert told National Geographic that the range of motion of the neck is limited by the flattened joint surfaces between the bones. "The close fit, the relatively flat surface of the articulation between the vertebrae, and the lack of space between [projections of bone from the body of the vertebrae called] neural spines and transverse processes on adjoining vertebrae probably meant that there was little movement between the individual vertebrae," the expert said.

If they couldn't lift their heads out of the water to hunt, and they couldn't flexibly poke their heads out of hiding, how else could they forage for food? Apparently, the slender necks of these animals evolved for some adaptive reason and were very useful.

Scientists are continuing to explore the secrets of the Plesiosaur.

Saving Nepal’s rare tortoisesThe critically endangered Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongate) is one of the 16 specie...
05/01/2023

Saving Nepal’s rare tortoises

The critically endangered Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongate) is one of the 16 species of tortoises found in Nepal. Native to South and Southeast Asia, it is also known as the Yellow-Headed Tortoise, Ground Tortoise, Golden Tortoise and ठोटरी.

Its habitat is spread across Nepal and the reptile spends most of its life hiding under dry leaves in sal forests, bushes or bamboo groves. It feeds primarily on flowers and fruits, fungi, and smaller organisms like earthworms, snails and slugs.

Turtles are some of the most threatened creatures with half of the 356 species found worldwide listed as endangered.

While in Nepali they are all called कछुवा, the distinction is made between whether the animal is aquatic (turtle) or terrestrial (tortoise). Morphologically, turtles have webbed feet for swimming and they come to land only to lay eggs, while tortoises have club-like forelegs and ‘elephantine’ hind legs, are heavier and cannot swim. In Nepal, Indotestudo elongata is the only entirely terrestrial tortoise.

According to the IUCN, several species of the Testudine order of reptiles, which includes tortoises and turtles, are more endangered than tigers, snow leopards, elephants or rhinos.

However, as governments, organisations and researchers prioritise the study and conservation of larger charismatic mammals, turtles and tortoises are largely overshadowed.

Popular for its meat and eggs, the shy Elongated Tortoise is also reared in homes as it is considered lucky and auspicious, an incarnation of Vishnu and bearer of wealth, and is often left in monasteries and water wells for worship. Its meat is also believed to have medicinal properties, but the curative and religious benefits are scientifically inconclusive.

The Indotestudo elongata grows and matures slowly, and reproduces at a slower rate, even by tortoise standards. In the wild, this is particularly impacted by the fact that different animals feed on its young and eggs, and only a few survive.

Adding to the challenge is the mass harvesting of the remaining wild populations for the growing food markets in China and East Asia, where it is incorrectly believed that a mixture, made by grinding up the tortoise’s shell, serves as an aphrodisiac.

IUCN notes that the Indotestudo elongata has declined across its range by at least 80% in the last 90 years as a result of habitat loss alone, and has additionally been extensively and intensively exploited for consumption and export trade.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) states that Elongated Tortoise’s transport and trade without a permit is punishable by 2-10 years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs100,000–500,000, or both.

But in Nepal, the Elongated Tortoise is still not listed as an endangered species, even as it nears extinction globally. However, the National Parks and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which specifies that it is illegal to kill, trade or transport any species of tortoises without a permit, punishable by one to 10 years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs40,000–75,000, or both.

Even then, haphazard harvesting and online buying and selling through platforms such as Facebook is still rampant, as the Commercial Wildlife Husbandry and Breeding Standards, 2021, authorises the rearing of turtles without specifying the species. Government statistics also do not detail turtle smuggling, making it difficult to trace the origin of certain species and their location once they are sold, putting Elongated Tortoises at increased risk.

This makes the conservation of tortoises in Nepal all the more important. World Turtle Day is observed every 23 May, and it is necessary to continue to spread public awareness to protect the shelled reptiles and their habitats, and to dispel any misconception about them.

Wildlife conservation in Nepal is largely focused on tigers and rhinos, but it is equally imperative that we turn to smaller tortoises and turtles that play a significant role in biodiversity. They help disperse seeds of plants, keep the environment clean by eating insects and dead animals that may cause disease, and help maintain balance in the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Conservation work is currently taking place in Jhapa’s Turtle Rescue and Conservation Centre, Chitwan and Bardia National Parks, and on smaller scales in other places. But it is a matter of urgency that more rescue and conservation centres were set up in other parts of the country. As it is, seven species of turtles and tortoises have already become extinct in the world.

Breeding programs are also underway in Jhapa Conservation Centre and Chitwan National Park, but they may not be enough to save the Elongated Tortoise from poachers and habitat destruction.

Conservation efforts must include creating an action plan for conservation, implementing laws and regulations related to wildlife protection, spreading public awareness, helping them breed in a protected area, and ultimately releasing them into the wild with monitoring.

ဘုရားလိပ်ကန်က လိပ်ကလေးတွေ အကြောင်း သိစရာ🐢လိပ်တွေနဲ့ ပတ်သတ်ရင် လူတွေအသွားအလာများတဲ့ ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်က ကန်တွေထဲမှာ (ဥပမာ - တိရိ...
18/10/2022

ဘုရားလိပ်ကန်က လိပ်ကလေးတွေ အကြောင်း သိစရာ

🐢လိပ်တွေနဲ့ ပတ်သတ်ရင် လူတွေအသွားအလာများတဲ့ ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်က ကန်တွေထဲမှာ (ဥပမာ - တိရိစ္ဆာန်ရုံ၊ ဘုရားလိပ်ကန်) ကန်စွန်းရွက် (သို့) ပေါင်မုန့် (သို့) ပေါက်ပေါက်ဆုပ်တွေ ကျွေးထားတာကို အမြဲမြင်တွေရမှာပါ။

အရွက်စားလိပ်တွေအတွက် ကန်စွန်းရွက်က အဆင်ပြေပေမဲ့ လိပ်ကန်တွေမှာ ပေါပေါများများတွေ့ရတဲ့ စင်းလျောစသဖြင့် အသားစားလိပ်တွေအတွက်တော့ ကန်စွန်းရွက်က ကျန်းမာရေးထိခိုက်စေပါတယ်။ ပေါင်မုန့်မှာလည်း နို့ထွက်ပစ္စည်းပါဝင်တဲ့အတွက် လိပ်တွေကို ထိခိုက်စေပါတယ်။

ဒီအကြောင်းနဲ့ ပတ်သတ်ပြီး မြို့တမြို့ရှိ ဘုရားလိပ်ကန်အနီးမှာ WOM team စာကပ်ခဲ့ဖူးပါတယ် (မြို့နာမည်မဖော်ပြတော့ပါ)။ လူအများရဲ့စိတ်ဝင်စားမှုကို ရရှိခဲ့ပေမဲ့ နောက်တနေ့မှာ အဲ့ဒီစာရွက်ဖြုတ်ချခံခဲ့ရပါတယ်။ အွန်လိုင်းမှာ လက်လှမ်းမမှီတဲ့သူတွေကို အတတ်နိုင်ဆုံး ပညာမျှဝေပေးဖို့ ကြိုးစားတဲ့အချိန် ကိုယ်ကျိုးအတွက် အများပြည်သူလေ့လာပိုင်ခွင့်ကို တားဆီးနိုင်တဲ့စိတ်ဓာတ်တွေကို ဒေါသထွက်ရသလို စိတ်မကောင်းလည်း ဖြစ်မိပါတယ်။

ဒါကြောင့် WOM နဲ့ Turtles & Tortoises of Myanmar (မြန်မာ) နဲ့အတူ အားလုံးအတူကြိုးစားပြီး ပညာမျှဝေပေးဖို့ တောင်းဆိုပါတယ်။ ပါဝင်ကူညီပေးကြတဲ့ မန်ဘာအားလုံးကို ကျေးဇူးအများကြီးတင်ပါတယ် 🙏🐢

Credit: WOM Admin Team 🐢

A fifth of world's reptile species deemed threatened with extinctionAbout a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapago...
17/10/2022

A fifth of world's reptile species deemed threatened with extinction

About a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapagos tortoises to the Komodo dragon of the Indonesian islands, from West Africa's rhinoceros viper to India's gharial - are threatened with extinction, researchers said on Wednesday (Apr 27) in the first comprehensive global status assessment for reptiles.

The study examined 10,196 reptile species including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes and the tuatara, the only surviving member of a lineage dating back more than 200 million years. They found that 21 per cent of species are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of species. They also identified 31 species that already have gone extinct.

Many reptiles are being pushed to the brink, the researchers said, by factors similarly imperilling the world's other land vertebrates - amphibians, birds and mammals - namely, deforestation for agriculture, logging and development, urban encroachment and hunting by people. Climate change and invasive species also present ongoing threats, they added.

"Reptiles represent an important and diverse branch of the tree of life and play integral roles in the ecosystems where they occur," said Bruce Young, co-leader of the study published in the journal Nature.

"This global assessment is a key beginning to understanding reptile conservation needs. Now we know where the priorities are and what the threats are that we need to ameliorate. There is no longer any excuse for leaving reptiles out of conservation planning and implementation efforts worldwide," added Young, chief zoologist and senior conservation scientist at Arlington Virginia-based NatureServe, a biodiversity science organisation.

Previous status reports found about 41 per cent of amphibian species, 25 per cent of mammal species and 14 per cent of bird species were threatened with extinction. Species status assessments consider distribution, abundance, threats and population trends.

About 27 per cent of reptile species restricted to forested habitats were found to be threatened with extinction, compared to about 14 per cent of species inhabiting arid habitats.

"Destruction of forests for timber and to prepare land for agriculture, including ranching, is widespread. Arid habitats have fewer natural resources and are less suitable for agriculture than forests such that, to date, they have been less altered than forested habitats," Young said.

Some reptiles were found to be doing just fine. Australia's saltwater crocodile, the world's largest reptile, is listed in the category of "least concern" about extinction. Its croc cousin the gharial, on the other hand, is critically endangered.

Among some other well-known reptiles: the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, is endangered; the king cobra, the world's longest venomous snake, is vulnerable; the leatherback, the largest sea turtle, is vulnerable; the Galapagos marine iguana is vulnerable; and the various Galapagos tortoise species range from vulnerable to extinct.

Several "hot spots" for reptile risk were documented.

In the Caribbean, for example, the Jamaican rock iguana and a lizard called the blue-tailed galliwasp are critically endangered. In West Africa, Perret's montane chameleon is endangered and the rhinoceros viper is vulnerable. In Madagascar, the Namoroka leaf chameleon is critically endangered. In Southeast Asia, the big-headed turtle is critically endangered.

"I've been based in Costa Rica since the 1980s. A snake called the black-headed bushmaster, which feeds on small forest mammals such as rats, was once widespread in the lowland rainforests along the Pacific slope of the country. Widespread deforestation, including the conversion of forests to oil palm plantations, has fragmented the habitat to the extent that the species is now categorised as vulnerable," Young said.

Among the most seriously threatened reptiles, Young said, is Chapman's pygmy chameleon, a small lizard inhabiting low elevation rainforests in Malawi that had been considered possibly extinct but now has been found in a few forest fragments.

"Global collaboration and commitment are a must if we are to prevent an extinction catastrophe," said study co-leader Neil Cox, manager of the Biodiversity Assessment Unit, a joint initiative of the IUCN and the group Conservation International. Ref: (CNA)

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