The crocodile lizard was recently discovered in Vietnam (Source: WWF) HCM City (VNA) - A beautifullycoloured frog found in the limestone mountains of Vietnam, two mole speciesfound by a team of Vietnamese and Russian scientists, and the Vietnamesecrocodile lizard are among 115 new species discovered by scientists in theGreater Mekong region in 2016, according to a new report released on December21 by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The report, Stranger Species, documents thework of hundreds of scientists from universities, conservation organisationsand research institutes around the world who discovered 11 amphibians, twofishes, 11 reptiles, 88 plants and three mammals in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,Thailand and Vietnam.
It brought the number of new species ofplants and animals discovered in the region between 1997 and 2016 to 2,524.
“More than two new species a week and 2,500in the past 20 years speak to how incredibly important the Greater Mekong is toglobal bio-diversity,” Stuart Chapman, WWF-Greater Mekong regionalrepresentative, said.
“While the threats to the region are many,these discoveries give us hope that species from the tiger to the turtle willsurvive.”
The Vietnamese crocodile lizard,Shinisaurus crocodilurus vietnamensis, is a medium-sized lizard that lives inremote freshwater and evergreen forest habitats of southern China and northern Vietnam.
It is so severely threatened by habitatdestruction, coal mining and collection for the pet trade that as few as 200individuals could remain in the country.
The lizard, discovered by a research teamheaded by Prof Dr Thomas Ziegler, has been immortalised in a comic stripfeaturing “Shini,” who helps explain to school children the importance ofprotecting lizards.
The two moles, Euroscaptor orlovi andEuroscaptor kuznetsovi, which were discovered in streams and rivers in Vietnam’snorth have given insights into the history and formation of Indo-Chinesemammals.
One of the discoverers, Dr Alexei Abramov,said one of the ways moles managed to maintain stable populations and escapepoachers is because they live underground.
A vibrantly coloured frog, OdorranaMutschmanni, is one of five new species discovered in the same karst forest innorthern Vietnam by a research team led by Dr Nguyen Truong.
These species are threatened by quarryingfor cement and road construction and their karst forest home desperately needsnew protection.
The new discoveries come at a criticaltime: The Greater Mekong region is under intense development pressure frommines to roads to dams, threatening the survival of the natural landscapes thatmake it so unique.
Poaching for meat or the multi-billiondollar illegal wildlife trade puts additional pressure on the region’s wildlife,meaning many species could be lost before they are even discovered by science.
The illegal wildlife trade is decimatingwildlife populations across the Greater Mekong, especially in the GoldenTriangle where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet.
“WWF has launched an ambitious project todisrupt the trade by closing down the biggest markets in the Greater Mekongregion,” Chapman added.
Working with partners and across borders,WWF attempts to combat illegal trade in key threatened species such aselephants, tigers and rhinos by promoting species protection legislation andeffective trans-boundary cooperation, and improving law enforcementeffectiveness at key border crossings. - VNA
VNA
