Search launched for 25 missing species

This is absolutely brilliant. I'm really looking forward to seeing what these expeditions yield. Robin Moore was also responsible for the 2010 'Search for Lost Frogs' and in his book he outlines part of the selection process for potential candidates. By the look of things it seems they have quite a good balance of taxa from interesting areas around the world, and the commentsI've seen seem optimistic about re-discovering other 'lost' taxa too, as well as discovering new ones.
 
Agree with devilfish : sounds really intresting and exiting ! Hopefully they will have a 100 % succes-rate !
 
It's a pity they are not looking for thylacines or ivory billed woodpeckers though.
 
I thought people were already looking for Pink-headed Duck. I know I read an article a while back about a man who's basically devoted his life to it.
 
drill said:
It's a pity they are not looking for thylacines or ivory billed woodpeckers though.
Click to expand...

I feel like enough people have wasted their time looking for thylacines, which are quite conclusively extinct. Glad to see some much lesser-known organisms getting funded search efforts, like the New Zealand greater short-tailed bat and the Syr Darya sturgeon.

I found the Galapagos tortoise subspecies very surprising. There is a well-staffed research station in the Galapagos; how has nobody bothered to visit that island and check for living tortoises in the last century?
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I found the Galapagos tortoise subspecies very surprising. There is a well-staffed research station in the Galapagos; how has nobody bothered to visit that island and check for living tortoises in the last century?
Click to expand...

Erm, Fernandina has been well-surveyed and can even be visited by tourists. It's not even clear the subspecies existed, so I've no idea why anybody thinks it stands a chance of surviving.
 
The Sinu parakeet is quite a surprising choice as well. ProAves is in Colombia working a lot on their endangered parrots and they have experience with Pyrrhura species. They were unable to locate the species even though they have a good network on the ground.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I feel like enough people have wasted their time looking for thylacines, which are quite conclusively extinct. Glad to see some much lesser-known organisms getting funded search efforts, like the New Zealand greater short-tailed bat and the Syr Darya sturgeon.

I found the Galapagos tortoise subspecies very surprising. There is a well-staffed research station in the Galapagos; how has nobody bothered to visit that island and check for living tortoises in the last century?
Click to expand...
Isn't there some proof that they maybe stil living in Papua New Guinea and really the chances of them finding thylacines is far better than finding a seahorse with only one specimen found and a quail last seen in the 19th century. Thinking with a clear mind and being very pessimistic about their success, I believe 60% percent is the highest rate of success for this expedition.
 
drill said:
Isn't there some proof that they maybe stil living in Papua New Guinea and really the chances of them finding thylacines is far better than finding a seahorse with only one specimen found and a quail last seen in the 19th century. Thinking with a clear mind and being very pessimistic about their success, I believe 60% percent is the highest rate of success for this expedition.
Click to expand...
no, there are stories of thylacines in New Guinea - very far indeed from "proof". Re-finding the seahorse has a much higher chance of success than finding a thylacine, given that the thylacine is actually extinct.

Also, I'd say that if you think 60% may be found, then that puts you well above pessimistic.
 
Giant Panda said:
Erm, Fernandina has been well-surveyed and can even be visited by tourists. It's not even clear the subspecies existed, so I've no idea why anybody thinks it stands a chance of surviving.
Click to expand...

I've always suspected that the sole known individual may have been a hybrid between two known species, which was translocated to Fernandina by sailors at some point prior to being rediscovered and killed.
 
I've seen this news elsewhere on the site, but thought I would put it here as well because of its links to the project.

An amateur naturalist in West Papua has seen and photographed an animal that is almost certainly the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo. It was last seen when the type specimen was collected in 1928.

The naturalist who rediscovered the animal wants to return to the region next year with experts and camera traps to find more of the animals and has plans to apply for permits to bring back faecal samples, which experts have already offered to DNA match with the 1928 skeleton currently housed in London's Natural History Museum.

The article itself is included here:
Tree kangaroo thought to have gone extinct is captured on film for the first time in 90 YEARS – Brinkwire

The photos are included in this article:
http://www.ladbible.com/news/animal...f-rare-tree-kangaroo-thought-extinct-20180819
 
Well, Mongabay or any of the other more environmental news sources don't seem to have picked up the story for some reason
 
Good news, but my main question is whether there's a proper population or just a few individuals. Are they extremely rare or do they live in a barely studied area?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top