Two endangered primates rescued in Vietnam

The Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC) has received a yellow-cheeked gibbon and a black shanked douc langur in Vietnam, which were voluntarily handed over by locals on August 18.

According to EPRC’s Facebook page, the endangered yellow-cheeked gibbon, aged 4, was found stuck on a snare in the forest three years ago by Pham Thi Tu's family in the remote mountains of Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands. The family decided to bring it home without knowing how endangered and rare this species was. She lost two fingers after that accident.

Since then, the gibbon has been raised like a member of the family, given human's food like rice, meat, fish or even coffee in the morning. She was showered every few days, lived together with the family under the same roof, and has become very used to walking bipedally like humans.

Tu voluntarily gave the endangered gibbon to the EPRC on the request from the district’s forest protection officials.

The black shanked douc langur, just six months old, weighs about 800 grams. A week ago, Doan Duc Loc, a man from Ho Chi Minh City paid VND5 million ($221) for the animal from a local in the southern province of Binh Phuoc.

The two threatened animals have been transported to EPRC in Cuc Phuong National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh. They have shown signs of being stressed after a 40-hour trip.

It will take time for the center to adjust the eating habits of the two animals after they were fed with unsuitable food by locals, according to Elke Schwierz, an official from EPRC.

EPRC was established in 1993 and is a project of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Currently it houses a lot of individuals of various species and sub-species, including some found nowhere else in captivity.

Logged forests are havens for endangered species in Southeast Asia

LONDON,  A logged forest isn't a lost forest, new research reveals. In recent surveys, scientists from Imperial College London found a surprising number of endangered species living in logged forests in Borneo.

The forests in question aren't clear cut, but "selectively logged." Only a specific tree species is removed. Often, conservationists labels these forests as "degraded." When agricultural interests lobby for more land, these forests are the first to be sacrificed.

The latest findings, detailed in the journal Ecological Applications, suggest these forests are tremendously undervalued.

Scientists surveyed biodiversity levels in both old growth and selectively logged forests using trap-and-release techniques as well as motion sensor cameras. Researchers monitored species numbers for three years.

The biologists found large predators like cloud leopards and civets were just as common in logged forests as protected old growth forests. Smaller animals like squirrels and rodents were actually more abundant in logged forests.

Scientists hypothesize that the higher biodiversity is enabled by the variety of habitat types in logged forests.

"The logging process creates a greater variation in habitat types in a smaller area, from untouched areas on steep slopes to completely denuded areas of open grassland," lead researcher Oliver Wearn said in a news release. "Old-growth forests would likely have the same diversity if we looked at them on a much larger scale."

Wearn says he and his research partners can't be sure the biodiversity found in logged forests is sustainable long-term.

"What we can say from this study is that protecting those large areas of forest that have already been logged could help conserve mammal species better than preserving fragmented pockets of forests inside oil palm landscapes," Wearn added.

Wearn says large portions of old growth forest should remain the top priority for conservationists, but that doesn't mean logged forests should be ignored. The new research is proof that conservationists should be thinking about protecting and rehabilitating logged forests, too, not giving up on them.

248 endangered animals in four bags seized

PADANG BESAR: Padang Besar Customs Department found 248 endangered animals worth about RM70,000 during checks on an express train from Bangkok, Thailand this morning.

Its director Kamarudin Jaafar said the exotic animals; 181 snakes of various species, six sugar gliders, 10 Sulcata tortoises, 29 Dhab lizards, two iguanas, 10 squirrels and 11 rabbits, were kept inside four bags on separate coaches of the train.

Two of the bags were found in the cargo coach while another two were found in one of the toilets during an inspection at the Padang Besar train station near the border at 9am.

He said the team had earlier detected some movement and animal-like images while using the scanning devices.

“No permit or import licences were found near the bags and the department is looking for the individual or group responsible for transporting these endangered animals into the country.

“The case will be handed over to the state Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) for further investigation under Customs Act 1967 and Wildlife Conservation Act 2010,” he said.