SOS - Help save species & sustain livelihoods!

“Now, at the beginning of our third breeding season here at the Abidjan National Zoo we’re incubating 110 eggs – that’s almost 50% more than 2014!” says Dr. Matt Shirley. Project coordinator with SOS Grantee RSCF, Matt explains the higher figures are most certainly a result of better daily care resulting in reduced stress, and an improved food supply for these Critically Endangered crocodiles. The role of training and the dedication of a team of Zoo personnel and volunteers cannot be underestimated in the project’s progress so far.

Rewind to 2013, when Project Mecistops’ captive-breeding programme started at the Zoo, it lacked the basic equipment and facilities to perform. The prognosis for Slender-snouted crocodiles in the region was bleak however - a recent survey had counted 49 wild individuals, just three of which were adults. The difficult decision was taken to pull eggs from nests in the Zoo. “We improvised using Styrofoam coolers in a volunteer’s home as incubators. Of the 78 eggs collected, three hatched and none survived”.

Regrouping for the following year, Shirley brought in US-based crocodile specialists. First, we constructed a climate-controlled incubator out of an old beer refrigerator. Captive crocodile specialist Matt Eschenbrenner trained the Abidjan keeper team in incubation techniques including establishing a data collection protocol.  Of the 84 eggs recovered 29 were fertile and 23 hatched viable baby cataphractus. 

In July 2014, specialist keeper Cody Bartolini from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm arrived in Abidjan to work with the crocodile keeper team on hatchling care and maintenance.  As a result of the combined incubation and care training, 18 of the 23 crocodiles from 2014 continue to thrive nearly a year later.  

Meanwhile the 2015 breeding season began in April and the crocodile keepers maintained vigilance for telltale signs of egg deposition: paths leading to mounds of leaves and soil.  Two weeks later they uncovered the first two clutches. “Two females had laid in the same nest: one laying 23 eggs and the other, presumably one of our smaller females laying ten“. That was the start of the bumper harvest for 2015.  

None of this would be possible without the hard work of the Zoo team and the many stakeholders and volunteers continually working to improve the facilities and animal husbandry practices, asserts Matt. This joint effort is helping to ensure the success of Project Mecistops’ captive-breeding programme and the future of one of Africa’s most enigmatic species.

Links:

• SOS funded Slender-snouted Crocodile project page
• Sign up for SOS newsletter

Thanks to the support and generosity of our donors committed to protecting threatened wildlife, SOS has made possible a two-year international Pangolin Conservation Initiative taking place in Cameroon, Thailand and China which we are proud to announce!

Did you know that one million pangolins have been traded illegally in the last 10 years? And did you know there are eight species of pangolins and all are threatened with extinction?

The IUCN's Pangolin Specialist Group (PSG) estimates that the pangolin population has declined by up to 80% in Asian pangolin species and a subsequent increase in inter-continental trade in pangolin parts from African countries to Asian markets. All species of pangolin have been included in Appendix II of CITES since 1975 which means international trade is restricted. Despite this populations are increasingly under pressure from illegal hunting and poaching for illicit international trade. Demand for their meat, which is considered a delicacy in East Asia, and their scales which are used in traditional Asian medicines is beyond unsustainable.

To date there have been very few targeted conservation initiatives in place for pangolins according to Dan Challender, Co-Chair of the IUCN's Pangolin Specialist Group (PSG) and technical advisor to the SOS project. “Reducing demand for pangolins in East Asian markets is imperative to securing their future,” he adds.

This initiative aims to protect four species of Pangolin. This includes the Giant Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), the White-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), the Black-bellied Pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) - all of which are categorised as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The fourth is the Critically Endangered Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica).

SOS project activities will focus on tackling direct threats to pangolins at priority sites in Africa and Asia, and initiating research into reducing demand for pangolin products in China, the primary market for the species and their derivatives.

This project, implemented by IUCN Member Zoological Society of London (ZSL) will effect key conservation recommendations articulated in the recently published action plan ‘Scaling up pangolin conservation’. This document – the first of its kind ever - sets out the priorities for the next 10 years of pangolin conservation. It is a key tool to help generate effective recommendations for coordinated pangolin conservation efforts. Because it is directly aligned to this ten year plan, the SOS Pangolin Conservation Initiative in collaboration with other partners represents an exciting development joining up the dots across international borders to help build a coordinated frontline effort against pangolin extinction.

As such, we look forward to publishing more information detailing the project’s activities in Cameroon, Thailand and China soon via a dedicated Project Profile page on the SOS website.

Watch the Pangolin video here to learn a little more about them and thanks again for your priceless support!

Links:

• IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group
• SOS news story
• IUCN pangolin news