Our Sunburnt Country is out now
Enigmatic Clouded Leopards as Major Evidence-based Ambassador Species
We are super excited that we are not the only ones who believe Clouded Leopards are fantastic indicator and Ambassador Species.
Some of the highest rates of habitat loss via deforestation is occurring within the Southeast Asian Biodiversity Hotspots, find out more here
Among the many species facing declines in this region, clouded leopards rank notably for their ambassadorial potential and capacity to act as powerful levers for broader forest conservation programmes.
WildCRU, using systematic camera trapping, have identified core habitat and connectivity corridors and ranked remaining habitat patches for conservation prioritisation for the entire ranges of the mainland and Sunda clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa and N. diardi.
This evidence-based conservation prioritization could help secure strongholds for Sumatran and Mainland Tiger, Sunbear, Other small asiatic cats (Golden Cats, Marble Cats) and many other species.
A huge shout out to WildCRU for this work and we hope that the areas of concern identified can be safeguarded. Follow us on facebook or pinterest and keep an eye out for ideas of how you could support this work. To learn more about this project check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2rhK7bSLg0
Beyond Tiger King: This is Tiger Reality TV!
By Dr Matthew J Muir BVSc/BVetBiol (Hons)
As the world recovers from its Tiger King binge, its important to point out that recent developments for wild tigers have indicated that a holistic solution to saving the tiger is not unfortunately in sight, read the full article and download India’s “A policy framework for connectivity conservation and smart green infrastructure development in the Central Indian and Eastern Ghats tiger landscape” white paper here
While at Planet Decent we try to remain positive in the media stories we present, aiming to inspire positive change, with a special focus on empowerment of people to protect and ultimately improve biodiversity, it is important to share the truth and the terrible situation.
In order to appreciate how things could go sour for Tigers globally, we can take Laos as a case example.
I wish to keep this brief and let the footage speak for itself. It is important to realise poverty is endemic globally and wildlife trafficking / bush meat consumption can be ways for many disempowered people to feed their families, so we must look at wildlife conservation through the lens of the human inequality issue facing our planet.
When I was trekking in Laos, my guide expressed his delight that Tigers had vanished from his area as he was scared of being eaten by them as a child. It is important for conservationists and global citizens to remember that it is easy to want to have predators living everywhere but we must also be mindful of predator-human conflict and how mitigating it needs to be part of the solution.
I wish to present the following 3 videos to show what can happen to biodiversity hotspots. This is an example of an Indo-Chinese biodiversity hotspot that has been ravaged. Clouded Leopard, Asian Leopard, Marbled Cats, Soala, Asiatic Golden Cats, Asiatic Elephant and Mainland Tiger were all camera trapped. For more on biodiversity hotspots check this out. While deforestation and keystone species prey density are major factors affecting species conservation, this area has also suffered significantly from poaching. Videos 1 and 2 are before and afters which I hope give the reality check that many people need.
The 3rd Video reveals another major issue in Laos which are industrial Tiger Farms, thought to put an end to the poaching of wild tiger by flooding the market with cheap farmed tiger products, which has been demonstrated as an ineffective strategy for other species (protected by CITES that are still traded illegally) including bear and elephant.
It is highly important for all citizens of the world to realise that we have lost 96% of Tigers in the last 100 years and at high risk for ongoing losses with increased infrastructure development, land clearing and human population in Asia. It is unclear if captive bred tigers would be able to survive in the wild so we cannot rely on this. We also may not have appropriate geographic locations to even try to release captive bred tigers should they become extinct in the wild. We must act on a systematic level NOW.
Please view, share and comment below.
Video 1:
A well captured overview of Laos as a wildlife wonderland. So much promise, but already you can see risk-factors associated with mindless wildlife trade.
Video 2:
The sad reality of what ensured over the following decades. We need to be aware of how quickly biodiversity hotspots can be depleted.
Video 3:
Awareness for the Tiger Farm Industry (with farms known in Laos and China), why they exist and the Organised Criminals behind it
Saving Keystone Species like Sun Bears
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a Saving Sun Bears Event organised by The Sumatran Sun Bear Team in Sydney, Australia. I encourage you to find out how you could get involved with them here
It was a great awareness and fund-raising event with lectures about Sun Bear Ecology, Threats, Health Care Management and, excitingly, Rehabilitation and Release back to the wild.
Dr Siew Te Wong from the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, which takes a holistic approach to Sun Bear conservation, was one the guest speakers. Dr Larry Vogelnest from Taronga Wildlife Hospital also gave a talk with his insights into the role of Veterinarians in the care of the Sun Bear, especially after time spent with the Free The Bears organisation.
It was an incredible day and very inspiring.
At Planet Decent we are very interested in Keystone species that range across biodiversity hotspots. Keystone species are species that positively impact that life of other species within the same ecosystem.
We are also excited to support Sun Bear conservation especially, as it’s mainland asian and bornean/sumatran is similar to our ambassador species, the Clouded Leopard.
The Sun Bear is found across an impressive range, however, it’s population is decreasing and increasingly under threat from habitat destruction and fragmentation, poaching (for bush meats and folk medicine) and for the pet trade. The IUCN Red List deem Sun Bears as Threatened (Vulnerable). It was identified, that while the Bornean Sun Bears having the passion, care and expertise provided by Dr Wong and his team, the Sumatran Sun Bears do not have access, so the team headed up by Lesley Small decided to launch a project to build a conservation centre in Sumatra.
Conservation efforts on the ground in Sumatra are also impactful in that they increase awareness for conservation of other species extant to Sumatra, including the endangered Sumatran Tiger.
To learn more about the Sun Bear I would recommend reviewing the following links in addition to viewing the following video from Dr Wong;
Stay Informed about animal conservation from the World Conservation Society here
Learn more about Sun Bear, and other species, threats via the IUCN Red List here
What is a Keystone Species? Click here to find out
Only demand deforestation-free supply chain palm oil, Get you head around Sustainable Palm Oil here
Why "Seeing a Tiger in the Wild" should be on your bucket list
Author - Dr Matthew J Muir BVSc/BVetBiol (Hons) MRCVS
The main focus of Planet Decent is to empower for biodiversity
Sustainable Responsible Eco-tourism is undoubtedly one of the ways communities and consequently, ecosystems can be empowered.
Working estimates of numbers of Tigers left in the wild are at about 4000; but perhaps only 400 Siberian and Sumatran Tigers, the rest being mostly the Bengal (Indochine, Southern China Tiger are critically endangered). These tigers are living in fragmented areas. What is not known is how genetically diverse (inbred or otherwise) these populations are. This lack of scientific data means we cannot predict the potential of catastrophic population collapse. It is wiser we are uber conservative for Tiger's sake and assume we need more genetically diverse populations and work on habitat corridors to connect remaining populations to hedge our bets. For more information see the respected authorities; the IUCN Red List, WWF and Panthera.
In this last month I have been researching human-animal conflict particularly related to the Tiger, I have been focused on the Bengal Tiger surrounding Chitwan National Park in Nepal and the Sunderbans in India and Bangladesh, The Siberian Tiger in the Taiga, Siberia and the Sumatran Tiger in Southern Sumatra. My main research tool is youtube, with follow up searches of media outlets.
I have also been interested in the conflict associated with Leopard in suburban Mumbai and complexities of settlements within Sanjay Gandhi National Park (surrounded on 3 sides by Mumbai).
It is very important to understand human-wildlife conflict in order to give these species a chance. We must respect the people that share their homes with dangerous wild animals.
While trekking in Champasak province of Southern Laos 6 years ago, my travel buddy Gemma, and I, were asking our guide about Tiger in the area. He was very happy to report that Tiger had vanished and that it was less stressful for locals now. We talked openly and he revealed how killing a tiger may be able to provide food for 10 children for a year (I now understand that this is probably a myth, what poachers receive on the ground for their work is peanuts compared with the middlemen and organised criminal networks at the top). He didn't want tigers back, but he had a tourism job already...
When looking at the reasons where conflict occurs; we often see poverty. Economic development is often far from equitable in Tiger habitat.
When investigating man-eating as a major conflict and concern, we look to the dynamics of what has occurred. From what I can gather (and I welcome comments to clarify, particularly research papers) it often looks something like this;
communities who have traditionally lived off the land + habitat destruction + lack of micro-enterprise + encroachment of remaining wildness areas + logging/grass harvesting/bush meat harvesting (wild prey for big carnivores) + lower yields + increasing human desperation + increasing human risk-taking behaviour + less wild prey for big carnivores + increasing wildlife desperation + increasing wildlife risk-taking behaviour = human-wildlife conflict.
This can be seen surrounding Chitwan National Park, Nepal and in the Sunderbans, Bangladesh.
A great introduction to this pattern can be seen here (Nepal) where a Tigress was driven to attacking humans when her cubs were subadults requiring huge amounts of meat and here (Sunderbans)
This issue is not limited to Tigers. Only 1 in 20 lions die a natural death in Africa, the other 19 are killed usually because of human-livestock-lion conflicts. Often Lions are driven to killing livestock or even humans when there natural prey is depleting.
For generations wildlife and humans have been able to co-exist with relative harmony (of course it has not been perfect; many people have been killed by wildlife over the last few centuries (estimates are in the 100000's in India for death from tigers in the last 150 years), but when ecosystems are healthy, predators learn that the path of least resistance is to avoid humans and their livestock and focus on natural prey, where it exists!
The purpose of sharing this information is to start to realise the impact between unsustainable development, inequality, and poverty has on wildlife conservation, particularly big cats (Apex predators).
As indicator species, a focus on apex predators conservation will generally reflect a healthy eco-system and by default conserves other biodiversity (the insects, the trees, the deer, the earthworms).
Wondering what the solution can be? I propose it be Eco-tourism.
After spending over a year between Asia and Africa exploring eco-tourism and volunteering, I have found that wildlife tourism infrastructure to see a Lion in the wild is much more advanced than that of the tiger, I propose this must change, communities must be given the opportunity to make a living through engagement with eco-tourists.
Asia has such advanced tourism infrastructure, but it seems, Seeing a tiger in the wild, is not on people's bucket lists. I propose this needs to change. Tiger are elusive, and rightly so, they are being hunted to extinction for their use in traditional medicines (highly likely to be placebo effect because they are seen as powerful animals, no therapeutic benefit ever been validated using modern science, but also for their skins and heads as trophies). Elusiveness may pose a problem to seeing them in the wild, however in National Parks in India, Tiger are now seen very frequently.
It will not be until ecotourists start visiting tiger conversation areas with volume, and with an acceptance that while they may not see a tiger this time, (but the knowledge they are contributing to attempts to save the species), that the positive effects of ecotourism will filter through communities enough for them to see the value of conservation for themselves. It will be then that desperate poachers could undergo redemption and transform into wildlife warriors, consultants, guides, and people will have access to sustainable jobs.
For now, I encourage you to put seeing a tiger in the wild on your bucket list and encourage you to build some level of eco-tourism or wildlife volunteering into your travel itineraries. Do your research and take care with choosing responsible travel organisations (see here for guidelines and inspiration). Definitely share your genuine eco-tourism experiences on social media to inspire others, especially if you have influence!
Here are some areas to consider for your Tiger Safari.
Planet Decent is continuing to research, brainstorm, network and collaborate so we can contribute to large scale eco-tourism and conservation projects globally. Please hit take action to get involved.
Three articles of interest surrounding this topic and conservation in a broader sense are:
Human-Wildlife Conflict as Abnormal Behaviour (National Geographic)
We can stop the poaching of big cats! Heres How (NY Times)
Biodiversity 101: Are Earths Megafauna Doomed? (Agence French Presse)
Please SHARE and COMMENT BELOW to learn, inspire and empower
Dr Matthew J Muir is a Veterinarian and Biologist. He is working towards a Masters in Conservation Medicine and works as a holistic vet with a one-health focus.
Vale Professor Tony English - Promoting Veterinary Conservation Medicine
Author: Dr Matthew J Muir
Photo Courtesy: Julie Courtesy
I was very saddened to hear of the passing on Professor Tony English.
I had the pleasure of conversing and brainstorming with Tony in the Australian Outback.
We shared a couple of days and late nights discussing the state of wildlife, particularly the impact feral animals have in Australia.
As a young vet and nature enthusiast I outlined my ideas about how Australia could rid itself of the feral cat and european red fox. Tony advised it was not possible and we needed to focus on other approaches.
Tony gave me an overview of wildlife field immobilisation and provided me with literature and guidelines to learn how to do this safely and effectively. This would later prove useful while working in Kenya's northern conservancies helping to immobilise lion to radio collar.
Tony was pivotal in the creation of Sydney University's Wildlife Health and Conservation Centre (one of only a handful of University-based Wildlife Centres in the World).
Tony was also one of the key visionaries in creating AMRRIC (Animal Management in Remote and Regional Indigenous Communities) which has helped many animals and the local people who have benefited from the flow-on public health benefits. He is remembered by AMRRIC here.
Rest in Peace Tony, your passing is a huge loss for the global conversation effort, your energy and achievements remain highly motivating.
Tony's illustrious career is outlined here
Living Planet Report
Planet Decent is about empowerment. Empowering for Biodiversity. In order for people to be motivated to make positive change, they must be informed.
The WWF warns that unless we take immediate action... Earth will become much less hospitable to our modern globalised society"
To become informed, the WWF Living Planet Report is foundational. Click here to read, perhaps look at the "At a glance" section if reading the full report is daunting.
As a team, we are endeavouring to spread this information and hoping to build an engaged community of global citizens who can rapidly share quality information to inspire.
As the project and vision for Planet Decent continues to grow (a big update coming very soon!) we plan to utilise Ecotourism and Research-generating Volunteer Opportunities in key wilderness areas to help converse biodiversity in a way that empowers local communities, and vice versa.
It would be amazing if you could share the project website via social media or send this article to others.
Here is the link - http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/lpr_living_planet_report_2016.pdf
Get to know the Gouldian Finch, one of our ambassador species
The Save The Gouldian Fund is a great initiative doing some great work in Australia.
This is a great place to learn more about the fascinating species. Click here for insights.
Empowering for Biodiversity Does Start With You
Great amounts of optimism from a conservation biologist, James Borrell, inspiring us all to do something. We particularly like his story about making tree-planting cool in Madagascar
We Need Nature
It is great to see initiatives such as www.natureisspeaking.org where influential people are contributing to environmental and conservation.
Check this inspiring film with a strong message that nature empowers us