IUCN

Almost half threatened vertebrates are on islands

Washington - AFP

Nearly half the world's vertebrates faced with extinction live on islands where it is easier to control the invasive species that may endanger their survival, a study published Wednesday said. Researchers found that 1,189 highly threatened vertebrate species -- amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals -- breed on 1,288 islands, the study in Science Advances journal said. The threatened species areRead more

Pandas rebounding, but their habitat isn't: study

Paris - Muslimchronicle

China's fiercely protected giant panda had a smaller habitat in 2013 than when it was declared endangered more than 20 years earlier, researchers said Monday. What living space they had was much more fragmented, and often in areas under threat from earthquakes, road construction, tourism or global warming, they wrote in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. Last year,Read more

Shrimp farmers fish for fortunes

Soc Trang - Muslimchronicle

With a flashy gold watch and a chunky matching ring, Tang Van Cuol looks a far cry from the average Vietnamese farmer as he slings back a shot of rice wine and boasts about his projected earnings. After years scratching a living growing rice and onions or farming ducks, the 54-year-old says his life was transformed in 2000 -- byRead more

Thai jungle cameras reveal new breeding population of endangered tigers

Bangkok - Arab today

Images of Indochinese tigers and cubs captured on camera in Thailand's eastern jungle have confirmed the existence of the world's second breeding population of the critically endangered animals, wildlife conservationists said on Wednesday. Poaching for the skin and body parts of tigers, used in traditional Chinese medicine, is a multi-million dollar business in Asia that has driven the animals toRead more

Rare tortoises threatened with extinction go on show for first time at British zoo

London - Xinhua

Four rare tortoises rescued in Hong Kong from illegal smugglers went on show for the first time Saturday in their new home at Britain's Chester Zoo. The ploughshare tortoises, regarded by conservationists as one of the world's most threatened species of tortoise, were handed to the zoo in 2012 after being confiscated by customs officials in Hong Kong in 2009.Read more

Tiny plastic particles from clothing, tyres clogging oceans

Paris - AFP

Invisible particles washed off products like synthetic clothing and car tyres account for up to a third of the plastic polluting oceans, impacting eco-systems and human health, a top conservationist body warned Wednesday. Unlike the shocking images of country-sized garbage patches floating in the oceans, the microplastic particles that wash off textiles and roadways leave the waterways looking pristine. ButRead more

Climate change impact on animals 'under-appreciated'

Paris - AFP

Nearly half of endangered mammals and a quarter of birds are already harmed by climate change -- a much bigger segment than previously thought, researchers have found. Endangered primates and elephants are among the groups squeezed hardest by global warming, partly because they reproduce slowly and thus take longer to adapt to rapid environmental changes, they reported. While most studiesRead more

Omani wildlife expert on mission to save Arabian leopard

Muscat - Arab Today

With fewer than 200 Arabian leopards now roaming the wild, one Omani zoologist is taking steps to ensure the majestic cat does not become extinct. The animal has been listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of animals that are close to extinction. Hadi Al Hikmani is a wildlife specialist with theRead more

World's oldest male panda dies

Beijing - Arab Today

The world's oldest male panda, with more than 130 descendants -- a quarter of all the captive-bred pandas on the planet -- has died aged 31, officials said. Giant pandas have a notoriously low reproductive rate, a key contributor -- along with habitat loss -- to their status as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN)Read more

Giraffes, rarer than elephants, put on extinction watch list

Washington - ArabToday

The giraffe, the tallest land is now at risk of extinction, biologists say. Because the giraffe population has shrunk nearly 40 per cent in just 30 years, scientists put it on the official watch list of threatened and endangered species worldwide, calling it “vulnerable.” That’s two steps up the danger ladder from its previous designation of being a species ofRead more