Articles in ‘Madagascar nature’
Madagascan spider tortoises threatened by poachers
August 27th, 2009 Tortoise smugglers are severely threatening the northern Madagascar spider tortoise, which only lives along a narrow strip of the island’s coast. Scientists say wild numbers of the tortoise may have already plummeted by 90%. Political instability in Madagascar has aggravated the situation, making it easier for smugglers. BBCAfrican wildlife news 2
August 20th, 2009
African Penguins under threat. Photo: Salimfadhley (Wikimedia commons)
- The recent catastrophic decline in numbers of African penguins in the wild has raised alarm among conservationists. The bird are declining at all of their breeding sites. The penguins on Robben Island, South Africa, declined by 62 per cent between 2007 and 2008, leaving a mere 2,200 breeding pairs on the island, down from around 8,000 pairs in 2004
- African village dogs are not a mixture of modern breeds but directly descended from an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs, according to a new genetic study of hundreds of semi-feral dogs. This means that village dogs from most African regions are genetically distinct from non-native breeds and mixed-breed dogs.
- Pictures released by Conservation International depict a troubling development in Madagascar: the emergence of a commercial bushmeat market for lemurs
- Six Botswana bushmen found guilty of hunting without a permit on their ancestral land have been set free with a caution, a lobby group says. Survival International said the “attempt by the Botswana government to punish Bushmen for hunting to feed their families has backfired”. BBC
- 18 new invertebrate species have been described in South Africa, including spiders, snails, millipedes, earthworms and centipedes.
- Lions face extinction in Kenya within the next 20 years unless urgent action is taken to save them. Every year the country is losing an average of 100 of its 2,000 lions due to growing human settlements, increasing farming, climate change and disease, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.
- Eco-Tourism activities have been suspended in Loango National Park, Gabon In 2002, late President Omar Bongo Ondimba put Gabon firmly on the map as an important future eco-tourism destination by nominating more than 11% of the nation’s territory as National Park to protect its vital rainforest and wildlife like the gorilla, chimpanzee and forest elephant. Seven years later, following the death of the President, a disagreement between the current interim government of Gabon and Société de Conservation et Développement (SCD SA) now prevents the country’s main eco-tourism partner Africa’s Eden from continuing its conservation-enabling activities in Loango National Park.
With breathtaking views of the Himalayas, you can soar alongside Egyptian Vultures and Black Kites who will approach to take food out of your hand. They are specially trained rescue birds who can’t be returned to the wild. Among them is Kevin the young Egyptian Vulture, famous for his scrapes with Steppe Eagles. The ultimate aim of the venture is to draw attention to the serious decline of Asian vultures, being poisoned to extinction by vet-prescribed drug Diclofenac. Visit 
This year breeding conditions have been exceptionally good for budgerigars in Queensland, Australia. Heavy rain and river flooding revived the land, providing plenty of grass seeds for the birds to feast on. When all the available trees with the best nesting sites had been taken, budgerigars were laying their eggs on the ground. And now local people are marvelling at the unprecedented size of the flocks, turning the sky green. 
Customs officials first suspected the 22-year old Norwegian, who’d just stepped off a ferry from Denmark, when they spotted a tarantula scuttling inside his bag. They then noticed “his whole body was in constant motion”. The wriggling movement was due to the 14 baby royal pythons tucked away in socks strapped to the man’s torso. That wasn’t all: when the officials made him drop his trousers they found 10 cans taped to his legs, each containing an albino leopard gecko. As Norway bans the import of reptiles, including unendangered species like these, he has been fined 12,500 Norwegian crowns (£1,800). 
