Guest guest Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 The captive breeding failed as they were absolutely incompetent and had no idea of the possible zoonoses. But isn't it ridiculous to state that low sperm count is the reason why they might go extinct? What about poaching and deforestation??? Edwin Wiek WFFT _____ aapn [aapn ] On Behalf Of yitzeling Thursday, 05 July, 2007 15:24 animal_net ; aapn MY) rhinos extinct 2007/07/05 Experts link low sperm count to rhinos going extinct-New Straits TImes KOTA KINABALU, Thurs: Low sperm count among the male Sumatran rhinoceros in Sabah may be the reason why it's going extinct. To compound the problem, experts have also found that many female rhinos have cysts in their reproductive organs. These were among the observations recorded in a three-year study spearheaded by the State Wildlife Department here. " That is the current direction of our ongoing studies but we are curious to learn more, " said deputy Wildlife Department director Laurentius Ambu yesterday. Ambu said while many would tend to link the conditions affecting the rhinos' reproduction capabilities to their diet, the department was more inclined to believe that their habitat had something to do with it. " Maybe because they live in fragmented locations deep in the jungles and because of that, they rarely get the opportunity to mate. This may probably affect their reproductive ability. " Ambu said the department estimated that there were between 30 to 50 rhinos left in the jungles of Sabah. Most of them are in the Tabin Wildife Sanctuary and Danum Valley, in the district of Lahad Datu. The topic would be among the highlights of the two-day 4th Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Workshop which begins here today. " The workshop will include talks from experts from the department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah as well as NGOs like SOS Rhinos Borneo and World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia. " He said while there were still rhinos which were reproducing, as seen from evidence of young animals, its worst enemy which could lead to its extinction was its own inability to reproduce. " Scientists from as far as Germany, the US or even our own experts find this intriguing. It's a mystery. " he said. " It's more to do with the conversion of land. Forested areas are split, hence trapping some animals in different locations and this causes the fragmentation. " Ambu said the authorities had tried to implement captive breeding but it had failed. " We try our best to allow the rhinos to breed naturally, " he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Its like the fire men worrying about a man lighting his cigaratte when there is a whole building on fire - Thats the feeling I got when I was reading the email. And scrolling down, Edwin had just read my mind. Nevertheless Yitzeling, I really appreciate all your inputs on AAPN. You deserve a round of applause for that. But guys, it amazes me to see the cold response to the incidents that have been happening at Kaziranga. I think our colleague Azam, who resides close by is updating us evrey now and then (I wouldn be wrong to say....once a week) of rhinos being poached there. No excuse by any of the wardens or vets will help once the last of the rhinos have been shot. We would require appeals from folks who have a good raport with the authorities at Kaziranga to push for action. We need to see action. And action thats strong. There could be some who argue about human rights......but then we need to look at the bigger and more important picture. Rhinos are fast dissappearing from all their usual habitats and we need to save em. May be the options are limited.... but for a start we could push the authorities for action right? Thanks, Pablo. On 7/5/07, Edwin Wiek <edwin.wiek wrote: > > The captive breeding failed as they were absolutely incompetent and had > no > idea of the possible zoonoses. But isn't it ridiculous to state that low > sperm count is the reason why they might go extinct? What about poaching > and > deforestation??? > > Edwin Wiek > > WFFT > > _____ > > aapn <aapn%40> [ > aapn <aapn%40>] On Behalf Of > yitzeling > Thursday, 05 July, 2007 15:24 > animal_net <animal_net%40>; > aapn <aapn%40> > MY) rhinos extinct > > 2007/07/05 > Experts link low sperm count to rhinos going extinct-New Straits TImes > > KOTA KINABALU, Thurs: > > Low sperm count among the male Sumatran rhinoceros in Sabah may be the > reason why it's going extinct. > To compound the problem, experts have also found that many female > rhinos have cysts in their reproductive organs. > > These were among the observations recorded in a three-year study > spearheaded by the State Wildlife Department here. > > " That is the current direction of our ongoing studies but we are > curious to learn more, " said deputy Wildlife Department director > Laurentius Ambu yesterday. > > Ambu said while many would tend to link the conditions affecting the > rhinos' reproduction capabilities to their diet, the department was > more inclined to believe that their habitat had something to do with > it. > " Maybe because they live in fragmented locations deep in the jungles > and because of that, they rarely get the opportunity to mate. This may > probably affect their reproductive ability. " > > Ambu said the department estimated that there were between 30 to 50 > rhinos left in the jungles of Sabah. Most of them are in the Tabin > Wildife Sanctuary and Danum Valley, in the district of Lahad Datu. > > The topic would be among the highlights of the two-day 4th Sumatran > Rhinoceros Conservation Workshop which begins here today. > > " The workshop will include talks from experts from the department, > Universiti Malaysia Sabah as well as NGOs like SOS Rhinos Borneo and > World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia. " > > He said while there were still rhinos which were reproducing, as seen > from evidence of young animals, its worst enemy which could lead to > its extinction was its own inability to reproduce. > > " Scientists from as far as Germany, the US or even our own experts > find this intriguing. It's a mystery. " he said. > > " It's more to do with the conversion of land. Forested areas are > split, hence trapping some animals in different locations and this > causes the fragmentation. " > > Ambu said the authorities had tried to implement captive breeding but > it had failed. " We try our best to allow the rhinos to breed > naturally, " he said. > > > -- WOCON: http://groups.google.co.inwocon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 >The captive breeding failed as they were absolutely incompetent and had no >idea of the possible zoonoses. But isn't it ridiculous to state that low >sperm count is the reason why they might go extinct? What about poaching and >deforestation??? Whether a low sperm count is a likely reason for the decline of a species that is subject to intensive poaching and major habitat loss might be debatable. Of note, however, is that steeply reduced sperm counts are among the effects of exposure to the class of chemicals known as " endocrine disruptors, " which include many of the most widely used defoliants. Some of the defoliants are commonly applied to roadsides, power line corridors, and fields which have recently been planted, to eliminate vegetation competing with crops. Some break down relatively rapidly when exposed to sunlight. Others may get into water supplies and persist for many years. The outcome, in any event, may be that reduced fertility is compounding the other problems afflicting Sumatran rhinos, and comes from the same direction as the habitat losses. -- Merritt Clifton Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton, WA 98236 Telephone: 360-579-2505 Fax: 360-579-2575 E-mail: anmlpepl Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year; for free sample, send address.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 In a recent television interview, young Indian Wildlife researcher and documentary filmmaker Mr. Shekhar Dattari compared the national parks and other Wildlife inhabited areas of India to that of an open bank vault with huge quantities of cash and other valuables in it left unguarded with just a caution signboard which says: PLEASE DO NOT STEAL. The ground situation at least what I have seen in Assam and the neighbouring northeastern states is very much true to what Mr Dattari has compared with. There are 800 posts of Forest Guards lying vacant for years now which have not been filled up. The Forest Department is desperately requesting the state Government to fill the vaccum but its cries have gone unheard. There is an acute shortage of wireless sets in the parks and sanctuaries. Most of those that are in use are due to the initiatives taken by NGOs like Aaranyak with assistance from some international organsiations as well. A majority of the Forest Guards have to patrol with age old .303 rifles, barefooted, no raincoats, torn umbrellas, broken roofs, no power to charge the wireless sets, no binoculars...... whereas the poachers are armed with sophisticated weapons and with a new trend of silent killings using tranquilizer guns borrowed from none other than our very own protectors of the forest ( a rhino poacher was arrested with the tranquiliser gun of the PCCF wildlife of Nagaland state ). Some of the forest Guards like the one I met in Orang National Forest has been there posted for more than 20years. His job, patrolling the park on a dilapidated country boat where he has to live 24x7. Total lack of motivation and you talk of protecting the wildlife here. The ever increasing volume of forest and national park land encroacher is mushrooming at an alarming rate with most of them allegedly illegal immigrants. No strong measures are taken to get them evicted. Earlier during man-leopard conflicts near parks etc after the kill the carcass was handed to the forest department by the villagers, now all that remains is just bits of flesh and blood stains. Claws, tooth, skin, bones all make their way to where the demand is. Infact most of the recent conflicts are mere poaching in disguise. Even the election commission of India has allowed polling booths to come up quite near the national parks etc making it even easier for the encroacher to legalize his ground. Plus these encroachers qualify as a strong vote bank for the politicians, so you can never afford to evict them. It is tough though to distinguish between the innocent villager and the poacher. Therefore with such major flaws it is not shocking that the poaching graph in Assam continues to boom. Azam Siddiqui On 7/5/07, Pablo <pablo.tachil wrote: > > Its like the fire men worrying about a man lighting his cigaratte when > there > is a whole building on fire - Thats the feeling I got when I was reading > the > email. And scrolling down, Edwin had just read my mind. > > Nevertheless Yitzeling, I really appreciate all your inputs on AAPN. You > deserve a round of applause for that. > > But guys, it amazes me to see the cold response to the incidents that have > been happening at Kaziranga. I think our colleague Azam, who resides close > by is updating us evrey now and then (I wouldn be wrong to say....once a > week) of rhinos being poached there. No excuse by any of the wardens or > vets > will help once the last of the rhinos have been shot. > > We would require appeals from folks who have a good raport with the > authorities at Kaziranga to push for action. We need to see action. And > action thats strong. There could be some who argue about human > rights......but then we need to look at the bigger and more important > picture. Rhinos are fast dissappearing from all their usual habitats and > we > need to save em. May be the options are limited.... but for a start we > could > push the authorities for action right? > > Thanks, Pablo. > > On 7/5/07, Edwin Wiek <edwin.wiek <edwin.wiek%40wfft.org>> wrote: > > > > The captive breeding failed as they were absolutely incompetent and had > > no > > idea of the possible zoonoses. But isn't it ridiculous to state that low > > sperm count is the reason why they might go extinct? What about poaching > > and > > deforestation??? > > > > Edwin Wiek > > > > WFFT > > > > _____ > > > > aapn <aapn%40><aapn%40> [ > > aapn <aapn%40> <aapn%40>] > On Behalf Of > > yitzeling > > Thursday, 05 July, 2007 15:24 > > animal_net <animal_net%40><animal_net%40>; > > aapn <aapn%40> <aapn%40> > > > MY) rhinos extinct > > > > 2007/07/05 > > Experts link low sperm count to rhinos going extinct-New Straits TImes > > > > KOTA KINABALU, Thurs: > > > > Low sperm count among the male Sumatran rhinoceros in Sabah may be the > > reason why it's going extinct. > > To compound the problem, experts have also found that many female > > rhinos have cysts in their reproductive organs. > > > > These were among the observations recorded in a three-year study > > spearheaded by the State Wildlife Department here. > > > > " That is the current direction of our ongoing studies but we are > > curious to learn more, " said deputy Wildlife Department director > > Laurentius Ambu yesterday. > > > > Ambu said while many would tend to link the conditions affecting the > > rhinos' reproduction capabilities to their diet, the department was > > more inclined to believe that their habitat had something to do with > > it. > > " Maybe because they live in fragmented locations deep in the jungles > > and because of that, they rarely get the opportunity to mate. This may > > probably affect their reproductive ability. " > > > > Ambu said the department estimated that there were between 30 to 50 > > rhinos left in the jungles of Sabah. Most of them are in the Tabin > > Wildife Sanctuary and Danum Valley, in the district of Lahad Datu. > > > > The topic would be among the highlights of the two-day 4th Sumatran > > Rhinoceros Conservation Workshop which begins here today. > > > > " The workshop will include talks from experts from the department, > > Universiti Malaysia Sabah as well as NGOs like SOS Rhinos Borneo and > > World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia. " > > > > He said while there were still rhinos which were reproducing, as seen > > from evidence of young animals, its worst enemy which could lead to > > its extinction was its own inability to reproduce. > > > > " Scientists from as far as Germany, the US or even our own experts > > find this intriguing. It's a mystery. " he said. > > > > " It's more to do with the conversion of land. Forested areas are > > split, hence trapping some animals in different locations and this > > causes the fragmentation. " > > > > Ambu said the authorities had tried to implement captive breeding but > > it had failed. " We try our best to allow the rhinos to breed > > naturally, " he said. > > > > > > > > -- > WOCON: http://groups.google.co.inwocon > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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