icun redlist examined Rhinoceros and horn Elephants and Ivory Tigers and Skin Edition No. 2
This edition of Conservation RedList focuses on three animals, the African Elephant, the Tiger & the Rhinoceros. The sad thing is , it would be so easy to continue highlighting more and more animals, but this magazine would then contain thousands of pages! To start this edition it would be best to explain who the IUCN are and what the ‘Red List’ actually is. We then look at the featured animals in turn; the Elephant and the work of the WWF & African Wildlife Foundation. The Tiger with Panthera and Save the Tiger, who have joined together to work on conservation projects across tiger range states in Asia. Finally we re-visit ‘Boots on the Ground’ and update ourselves on the situation in the ongoing war against rhino horn poachers in Africa. Thank you for reading Conservation RedList, Chief Editor, Paul W.
FRONT COVER PHOTOGRAH CREDIT Courteously of stockvault.net CC0 CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Paul White, Sponchia , Barbara Schneider Baluda, Cocoparisienne, maurizio palumbo lisa solonynk
BOOTS ON THE GROUND PHOTOGRAPHS Angie Raab, Nigel Kuhn, Clare James
Photo credit cocoparisienne
kimberley wood, Braam Malherb
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IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and nongovernmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together. Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 16,000 experts. It is a leading provider of
conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.
IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Working with many partners
general assembly of the Union's members. Subject to the authority, direction and policy of the IUCN World Conservation Congress, the role of the IUCN Council is to set strategic direction and policy guidance for the work of the Union; provide oversight and guidance on the traditional knowledge of local performance of the communities, these projects components of the Union as a work to reverse habitat loss, whole and of the Director restore ecosystems and General in particular; fulfil its improve people’s well-being. fiduciary responsibilities to the Members of the Union and The IUCN Council is the render account to them; and principal governing body of support the Director General in IUCN, International Union for communicating IUCN’s Conservation of Nature, in between sessions of the World objectives, policy and Programme to the world Conservation Congress - the community.
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The IUCN Global Species Programme working with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) has been assessing the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale for the past 50 years in order to highlight taxa threatened with extinction, and thereby promote their conservation. http://cms.iucn.org/ The plants, fungi and animals assessed for The IUCN Red List are the bearers of genetic diversity and the building blocks of ecosystems, and information on their conservation status and distribution provides the foundation for making informed
decisions about conserving biodiversity from local to global levels.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants, fungi and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. This system is designed to determine the relative risk of extinction, and the main purpose of the IUCN Red List is to catalogue and highlight those plants and animals that are facing a higher risk of global extinction (i.e.
those listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable). The IUCN Red List
also includes information on plants, fungi and animals that are categorized as Extinct or Extinct in the Wild; on taxa that cannot be evaluated because of insufficient information (i.e., are Data Deficient); and on plants, fungi and animals that are either close to meeting the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened were it not for an ongoing taxonspecific conservation programme (i.e., are Near Threatened). Plants, fungi and animals that have been evaluated to have a low risk of extinction are classified as Least Concern. The Least Concern assessments did not appear on IUCN Red Lists produced
before 2003 (except for a few that were listed in 1996) because the main focus of attention has been on threatened species. However, for the sake of transparency and to place threatened assessments in context, all Least Concern assessments are now included on The IUCN Red List. Thus, despite its title, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ does not just focus on threatened species; it considers the status of all species across an increasing number of taxonomic groups. In the past, there has unfortunately been no formal reporting process to capture all the Least Concern assessments; hence the list of Least Concern species on The IUCN Red List is not comprehensive (i.e., many
species have been assessed to be Least Concern, but as that information was never formally captured, the listings do not appear on the Red List).
Only a small number of the world's plant, fungi and animal species have been assessed. In addition to the many thousands of species which have not yet
other species that are not included on The IUCN Red List are those that went extinct before 1500 AD and Least Concern species that have not yet been data based. The species groups that have been comprehensively assessed include the amphibians, birds, mammals, freshwater crabs, warm-water reef building corals,
conifers and cycads. The vast majority of plants listed in the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants have not yet been evaluated against the revised Red List Criteria and are therefore not included here. In this edition of Conservation RedList we are focusing solely on the planets mammals. Included in the IUCN Red List is the comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of the world's 5,488 mammal species. Here you will find global summary statistics for the assessment, as well as individual species accounts including IUCN Red List threat category, range map, ecology information, and other data for every mammal species.
geographic and taxonomic coverage of the IUCN Red List. The mammal data on the 2008 IUCN Red List includes 5,488 species, 412 subspecies and 21 subpopulations. The primary focus of the current assessment was at the species level, and all species assessments are complete including all supporting documentation. For subspecies and subpopulations only the systematic information and the IUCN Red List assessment sections were completed. All other information relevant at the subspecies level such as distribution and population, were incorporated in the relevant species level assessment. Therefore, in the analyses of the mammal data presented here only species level data is used.
The current dataset on mammals is the product of one of several global initiatives led by IUCN and One species is excluded from the analyses, namely Homo sapiens. partners to rapidly expand the
Nearly one-quarter (22 %) of the world's mammal species are known to be globally threatened or extinct, 63 % are known to not be threatened, and 15 % have insufficient data to determine their threat status.
Indonesia (184). Mexico is the only other country in triple figures with 100 threatened species. Half of the top 20 countries for numbers of threatened species are in Asia; for example, India (96), China (74) and Malaysia (70). However, the highest levels of threat are found in island There are 76 mammals nations, and in particular the considered to have gone top three are islands or island Extinct since 1500, and two are groups in the Indian Ocean: Extinct in the Wild. Mauritius (64 %), RĂŠunion (43 The most diverse country for %) and the Seychelles (39 %). mammals is Indonesia (670), followed closely by Brazil (648). China (551) and Mexico Habitat loss, affecting over 2,000 mammal species, is the (523) are the only other two greatest threat globally. The other countries with more second greatest threat is than 500 species. utilization which is affecting over 900 mammal species, The country with by far the mainly those in Asia. most threatened species is
Photo Credit baluda
With an estimated 35,000 elephants poached, this has now reached an alltime high Asia is one of the biggest markets for illegal wildlife products. The Say No Campaign targets major ivory and rhino horn consuming nations in Asia—including China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. As much as 70 percent of elephant ivory is transported to China, where it is where it is sold for up to US$3,000 per pound and carved into jewellery, religious figurines and trinkets.
In 2012, AWF and partners conducted a survey in China that showed a lack of understanding of the origins of wildlife products. The survey showed that only 33 percent of individuals know that elephants are killed to obtain their ivory.
Elephants do not know borders. Elephant populations in Southern Africa roam freely across many countries, seeking food, water, and suitable habitat. As a result, monitoring, protecting, and securing habitats for elephant herds is particularly difficult. To answer the call of 40,000 elephants across three countries, and with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other donor partners, African Wildlife Foundation has brought together all stakeholders in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to develop a Heartlandwide management strategy for the elephants. There are only 300,000 African elephants in Southern African Heartlands and small herds in the mere hundreds throughout West Africa. We need continued support to protect elephant migration routes.
1. Big Business Wildlife hunting is big business – a recent (2013) estimate valued the illegal poaching trade in Africa as being worth $17 billion dollars a year and growing.
2. Big Weapons The most common poaching gun in east Africa is the AK47. Increasingly poachers spot elephant herds from helicopter and target their prey from above. On-the-ground poachers have been known to use machetes, spears and watermelons spiked with cyanide.
3. Big Profits According to gun policy officials the going rate for a rifle in Kenya is around $100-120 – a fortune by local economic standards but a mere fraction of the money that can be made from just one elephant (a single tusk can be worth up to $240).
4. Chinese Prices In China such a tusk would sell for more than $2000 – its value therefore increasing tenfold by the time it is shipped out of
5. Local Misunderstanding A recent study cited by The Times found that less than a third of Chinese people surveyed knew that elephants are killed for their tusks.
6. Common mythology A separate study showed 70 per cent think they grow back like fingernails. Another myth propagated is that elephants’ tusks fall out naturally.
7. 104 Deaths a Day Animal rights groups estimate that poachers in Africa kill between 25,000 and 35,000 elephants annually – meaning about 104 die a day.
8. An Offence Without Prosecution Of the 157 poaching-related cases detected in Kenya in the past three years, less than five per cent have been prosecuted and only three of those convicted were sentenced to jail.
9, Not Far from Human Elephants are more like us than you may know. They can be gay, left-handed, have the ability to grieve and – true to reputation – have amazing memories.
Every year, Save the Elephants adds to the protection program as the threats to elephants evolve [and fester]. Beginning with our specialty, GMS collaring and tracking, STE continues to improve on tracking technology which not only tells us how fast elephants move through certain areas, often proportional to the perceived level of threat, it can also give us exact positions of where families and vulnerable bulls are, allowing concentration of effort within the vast Mara and Samburu ecosystems. Coupled with this, our Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) program we can provide accurate data about hotspots and safe zones, and the on-going body count serves as an important pillar in influencing international policy.
Next we added in the community conservation element. In the arid north of Kenya, where tourism and pastoralism are the two activities with the highest economic potential, communities have long had to grapple with retrogressive cultural practices like cattle rustling which bear down heavily on the security for people and wildlife, reducing their prospects even further. Cattle bandits have morphed or been infiltrated by something just as sinister poachers. Now STE works closely with the umbrella, the Northern Rangelands Trust, to bring communities together to create safer conservancies where their animals, and wildlife, can live in peace. The first step to securing their areas is the deployment of community rangers, and aerial surveillance which STE supports with generous funding from the Liz Clairborne Art Ortenberg Foundation and the Elephant Crisis Fund (ECF). In 2013, we bolstered our Education Program, which has a focus on children, with a fresh component. Headed up by Jerenimo Lepirei, the Community Outreach program serves to get the conversation about the importance of wildlife going among the people who live with them.
The program appears to be just what the Samburu needed, and has sparked interest from both likely and unlikely quarters. Embedded in the crowds of eager locals, Kenyan county government officials, and ex-poachers looking to transform into gamekeepers are among the meeting stakeholders. The battle is by no means won, but through our evergrowing program, we hope to spot the poachers a mile off, or make entire gangs are sufficiently convinced to quit the practice of poaching altogether.
This is an amazing story and the approach to saving the desert elephant of Mali is as complex as the threat itself. Here Angie Raab interviews Dr. Susan Canney on the outskirts of Bamako before we head out to the Gourma with Rory Young of Chengeta Wildlife. Saying goodbye to an elephant she knew. Kenya burned seized ivory and rhino horn, spreading one very clear message. Ivory and rhino horn belongs only to the elephant and rhino. It is NOT a commodity.
Image Angie Raab
Susan Canney WILD Foundation She started something and then could not stop- the Mali Elephant project. Susan organized the world's most dangerous Anti-Poaching operation and it shows success. The legendary desert elephants are connected to the desert tribes and this relationship is supported and build on by Wild Foundation. We will tell her story and that of the project in the movie.
Image: Nigel Kuhn.
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This tiger subspecies is at the top of the food chain in the wild. But tigers are also a vital link in maintaining the rich diversity of nature. When tigers are protected, we save so much more. For example, with just one tiger, we protect around 25,000 acres of forest. These ecosystems supply both nature and people with fresh water, food, and health.
The tiger is one of the most iconic animals on earth, but the largest of the big cats is on the brink of extinction. Tigers are globally listed as "Endangered" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Two of the remaining sub-species — Malayan and Sumatran — are "Critically Endangered." As recently as 100 years ago, as many as 100,000 wild tigers roamed across Asia. Today, about 3,900 tigers are left in the wild, occupying a mere four percent of their former range. This catastrophic population decline is driven by a range of threats, including poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, overhunting of prey species by local people, habitat loss and fragmentation, and human-tiger conflict.
The largest of all the Asian big cats, tigers rely primarily on sight and sound rather than smell. They typically hunt alone and stalk prey. A tiger can consume up to 88 pounds of meat at one time. On average, tigers give birth to two or three cubs every two years. If all the cubs in one litter die, a second litter may be produced within five months. Tigers generally gain independence at two years of age and attain sexual maturity at age three or four for females and at four or five years for males. Juvenile mortality is high however—about half of all cubs do not survive more than two years. Tigers have been known to reach the age of 26 years in the wild. Males of the largest subspecies, the Amur (Siberian) tiger, may weigh up to 660 pounds. For males of the smallest subspecies—the Sumatran tiger—upper range is at around 310 pounds. Within each subspecies, males are heavier than females. Tigers are mostly solitary, apart from associations between mother and offspring. Individual tigers have a
large territory, and the size is determined mostly by the availability of prey. Although individuals do not patrol their territories, they visit them over a period of days or weeks and mark their domain with urine and feces. Across their range, tigers face unrelenting pressures from poaching, retaliatory killings and habitat loss. They are forced to compete for space with dense and often growing human populations.
Photo credit Sponchia
The tiger has evolved over thousands of years. Currently, this big cat is being trapped, skinned and pushed out of its home. Those left in the wild cling to survival in a few patches of forest scattered across Asia. As a large predator, the tiger plays a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. These ecosystems supply both nature and people with fresh water, food, and health—which means that by saving tigers, we are helping people too. Tigers can directly help some of the world’s poorest communities. Where tigers exist, tourists go. And where tourists go, money can be made by communities with few alternatives for income. Tiger conservation projects also help provide alternative livelihoods for rural communities that are not only more sustainable, but can raise income levels too.
Every part of the tiger—from whisker to tail—is traded in illegal wildlife markets. Poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. In relentless demand, their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies and increasingly as status symbols among some Asian cultures. There are usually limited resources for guarding protected areas in the countries where tigers live. Even countries with strong enforcement of tiger protection laws fight a neverending battle against poaching. In Indochina and China, poaching is so pervasive that thousands of forest acres stand empty of tigers. The impact from the death of a single tiger at the hands of poachers reaches beyond one single loss. If a female tiger with cubs is killed, her cubs will likely die without their mother. Also, the female's potential for future breeding is lost. If a male is killed, his death can result in intensive competition for his territory among surviving males in the population, creating disruption in further breeding by those males. People and tigers increasingly compete for space. The conflict threatens the world’s remaining wild tigers and poses a major problem for communities living in or near forests with tigers. As forests shrink and prey gets scarce,
tigers are forced to hunt domestic livestock, which many local communities depend on for their livelihood. In retaliation, tigers are killed or captured. “Conflict” tigers are known to end up for sale in black markets. Local community dependence on forests for fuelwood, food and timber heightens the risk of tiger attacks on people. One of the world’s largest tiger populations is found in the Sundarbans—a large mangrove forest area shared by India and Bangladesh on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean. This area harbors Bengal tigers and protects coastal regions from storm surges and wind damage. However, rising sea levels caused by climate change threaten to wipe out these forests and the last remaining habitat of this tiger population. According to a WWF study, without mitigation efforts, projected sea level rise—about a foot by 2070—could destroy nearly the entire Sundarbans tiger habitat.
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Some of you are probably thinking: “Why are rhinos, elephants, lions, tigers, wolves, bears,
sharks, whales etc so important to some people, so important that they put their life in danger to save and protect them." We call them keystone species. They play a unique and crucial role in the way our ecosystems function. Without these species, ecosystems would change dramatically or cease to exist altogether. A small number of keystone species can have a huge impact on the environment. A keystone species' disappearance would start a domino effect. Other species in the habitat would also disappear and become extinct. What would that mean for us humans as we are part of the ecosystem we are destroying? This poaching epidemic, destroying keystone and other species for the greed of a few as well as the illegal wildlife trade, concern all of us as a global community.
The convoy Boots on the Ground team travelled with every day to a location. Armoured vehicles as an escort and security measure.
AK-47 It is used by poachers in South Africa, wreaking havoc on the rhino population. It is also used in Mali, by Rangers, to protect the legendary Desert Elephants!
Photo credit PAUL WHITE
Rhinoceroses are the largest land mammals after the elephant. There are five species of rhinos, two African and three Asian. The African species are the white and black rhinoceroses, and both species have two horns. Asian rhinos include the Indian (or great one-horned rhinoceros) and the Javan, each with one horn, and the Sumatran, which has two.
Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis): 4,880 White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum): 20,165 Sadly, the Northern White Rhino – a subspecies of the white rhino – has been completely wiped out. No animals remain in the wild, and with only 5 left in captivity, this subspecies faces certain extinction. Only the southern white rhino will remain. Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis): 140 - 210 Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus): 35 - 45 Indian Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis): 3,624
Rhinos use their horns not only in battles for territory or females, but also to defend themselves from lions, tigers
Rhinos rank among the most endangered species on Earth. Valued for their horns, they face a dire threat from poaching, which is rapidly pushing them towards extinction. Their horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine, as well as carved into jewelry, dagger handles and other trinkets. Rhino horns have become so valuable on the black market that thieves are stealing them from museums and game trophies shot long ago. Adding to the problem is the fact that for some species, the Sumatran rhino in particular, over-hunting has occurred for so long that the remaining population is broken into disconnected groups, unable to breed and to continue adding to the species genetic diversity.
BootsOnTheGround tells the story of the men and women, protecting Africa’s iconic species. We are their voice. We are telling stories that matter. We are here to help, supporting the men and women on the ground who are putting their life on the line every day. We are telling their story. We are telling the story of the Boots, the inspirational men and women who are on the frontline- the last barrier between the wildlife they protect and the ruthless poachers. Men and women, who are trying to save a species, men and women who fight for what they believe in.
Poaching has been worsening over the past decade, decimating Africa’s wildlife at an unbelievable speed. Reserves and parks have been grappling to keep up with the fight. We are working on a documentary that will intertwine stories of individuals working in Anti Poaching, with the tales of the plight of Africa’s iconic species, the vets who take care of them, the private rhino owners who want their voices to be heard, the organizations that want to work together to find a solution. We started production and filming, beginning of the year. Now the editing process begins‌ Exciting adventures. Beautiful stories. Sad stories. Familiar faces. New faces.
There are doers and there are sayers in this world. Every single person in this picture are doers. They dedicate their lives, risk their lives in fact, to protect and conserve South Africa's rhino - at a great financial and personal cost. We at Boots on The Ground are honoured to know you, to work with you.
Shea Peaton, Carmela Lattanzi, Lynn L. Westover Jr and Ryan Tate
Rhino has been walking earth for 40 million years!!!! Now human greed is decimating this dinosaur's numbers rapidly. With almost 700 rhino killed in Kruger National Park alone this year as well as hundreds of others in other areas of South Africa and Namibia, these numbers will be doubled by the end of the year. You might ask yourselves what is so important about the rhino's survival? It belongs to the so called umbrella species- with protecting and conserving the rhino, we are protecting and conserving other species including birds and reptiles around them. With the rhino gone these species will die out as well. An impact that will be felt all over the world.
Please help us, help them!!! There are amazing people and organizations out there, trying to do their best for rhino and elephant, two highly endangered species!
Chengeta Wildlife ranger training all over Africa, at the moment active in Mali, protecting the last of the legendary desert elephants. Chengeta Wildlife is spearheaded by Rory Young who dedicates his life for wildlife.
Action Against Poaching supporting ranger training and community projects all over Africa to preserve and protect rhino and elephant. AAP is spearheaded by Matt Croucher GC who is exchanging his business suit for camos to help train rangers whenever he can.
Photo credit: Debbie Marshall Cooper Taken earlier this year when we were filming in KZNanother fallen rhino.
savingthewild.com dedicated to fighting corruption within to protect and save the rhino in South Africa. Spearheaded by Jamie Joseph we will see her face off one of the king pins of poaching in KZN. Limpopo Rhino Security Group NPO A group of rhino owners with different opinions ,but one focus only- saving and protecting the rhino. By 2019 rhino might be extinct- one of the Big 5 gone. If we can't save the rhino, what can we save? You might be asking yourselves why should we care? Rhino is an umbrella species, meaning conserving and protecting them, conserves and protects other species around them, including birds, reptiles etc. With an umbrella species gone, we will feel the impact all over the world eventually. There are amazing groups, helping training rangers, supporting community projects and raising awareness or fighting corruption.
Here are a few: Chengeta Wildlife, Action Against Poaching, savingthewild.com, Breaking The Brand ,The Rhino Orphanage, Wild Vet
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IUCN 2016. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016-1.
Species are classified by the IUCN Red List into nine groups, set through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation. Extinct (EX) – No known individuals remaining. Extinct in the wild (EW) – Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalized population outside its historic range. Critically endangered (CR) – Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Endangered (EN) – High risk of extinction in the wild. Vulnerable (VU) – High risk of endangerment in the wild. Near threatened (NT) – Likely to become endangered in the near future. Least concern (LC) – Lowest risk. Does not qualify for a more at -risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category. Data deficient (DD) – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction.
Not evaluated (NE) – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria. When discussing the IUCN Red List, the official term "threatened" is a grouping of three categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable. In this Issue of Conservation RedList we highlight the African Elepahnt, Loxodonta cyclotis. Which is classified as Vulnerable A2a . The Tiger, Panthera tigris. Catagorised as Endangered A2abcd; C1 and the Rhinoceros, which we must class individually: Black Rhino, Diceros bicornis, Critically Endangered A2abcd Greater One-horned Rhino, Rhinoceros unicornis, Vulnerable B1ab(iii) . Northern White Rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum, Near Threatened Sumatran Rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Critically Endangered A2abd; C1+2a(i) South-western Black Rhino, Vulnerable D1 Javan Rhinoceros, Critically Endangered C2a(i); D
Western Black Rhino, Extinct
In the next edition of Conservation RedList we feature…
Amur Leopard The world’s rarest cat. Only 40 left in Russia’s Far East
The Saola (Asian Unicorn) So rare it is almost mythological, the Saola hangs on by its hoof tips In a forest full of poachers’
The Little Dodo Bird Samoa’s little dodo bird is in imminent danger of following the large dodo into extinction.
CONSERVATION REDLIST is published by CQ International.
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