Frog & Toad Species?

The winter is already there, and this year it is unusually cold, may be the fault is in my feeling it much more that it really is! Anyway what I am reporting is from the weather gone by, that is the rainy season. It was a pleasant time for  taking photos of birds, insects, trees etc for the sky after rains was clear from dust; trees were washed after heavy rain: they appeared in their green in abundance.

Winter is more challenging for life-forms to survive; almost every creature is affected by winter, more or less. Birds of warmer climate are under threat of cold and cold-blooded animals go in hiding. For example, the ubiquitous wall lizard appears  in homes as temperatures rise and and go in hiding (hibernation) as temperatures go down.

This rainy season just gone by, I had taken shots of two amphibians I wanted to find out their species. And I have not been able to ascertain their species. A large frog/toad of the size of an orange with a rough skin will appear at my gate with definite regularity every night. The lights at the gate attracted insects which served as its food. I was fascinated with the roughness of its skin, the large mouth, and the compose with which it sat on my entrance. This orange-size amphibian is definitely a toad.This reminded me of story how scientists from Conservation International had to travel to Suriname and discovered some new frog species. Look at the picture of this toad, and if someone can identify its species:

  A toad (species not known) with a very rough skin. ©Photograph by: Zaka Imam

Another small creature climbing on the tile of bathroom in the evening! I thought it was some worm. I reach for my glasses and to my dismay I find it is a very tiny frog climbing on the tile of bathroom, it was about one foot above from the ground. Its size was lesser than a housefly, Musca domestica, I take its photographs. I wonder if it is a tadpole just metamorphosed to tiny little frog or some new species of frog than can climb on tiles. The earlier reported world's tiniest frog is Paedophryne amaurensis of the size of housefly. Can anyone help identify this tiny frog that can climb on bathroom tiles. I reproduce the two photographs that I had taken in May 2012.

Tiny frog about a foot above from ground walking on  bathroom's tile ( Left); closer view of frog walking on bathroom tile (Right).© Photographs by: Zaka Imam 

I will look for details of these frogs when I find them again next rainy season!

Cambodia Cares for its Pangolins: Rehabilitation Center Establshed

According to the Conservation International, a new facility, the Pangolin Rehabilitation Center (PRC)  has opened in Cambodia to provide specialist care to the kingdom’s endangered pangolins. The facility was established to rehabilitate injured pangolins rescued from hunters throughout Cambodia – an increasing and serious threat to the survival of this magnificent and little known species.

Opened with a Buddhist blessing and ceremony, the PRC was created through a joint initiative between Conservation International (CI) and the Forestry Administration, (within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Royal Government of Cambodia to bolster conservation efforts for this species. The PRC is located at the Phnom Tamao Zoological Park and Wildlife Rescue Center (PTWRC) in Takeo Province and staffed by a well-trained and dedicated team who care for the pangolins until they are ready for release back into the wild.

The center also aims to raise awareness of the plight of the pangolin and to do so have been fitted with information signs about the species, the wildlife trade and how the public can help.  There are already six pangolins under its care, which are all victims of the wildlife trade and are receiving treatment for a range of injuries. These animals were rescued by FA rangers working in the Cardamom Mountains with support from local communities.

Annette Olsson, Scientific Technical Advisor of CI’s Greater Mekong program said, ‘The launch of this facility today gives rescued pangolins hope. Pangolins are often transported in very cruel ways by traffickers to avoid detection by authorities. Sometimes they are kept for days in plastic bags, without food or water,  hidden in small spaces. It’s common for the animals to die in transit, or after rescue, due to these terrible practices.’

In Cambodia trafficked pangolins are typically kept alive as they fetch the best price on the market live. But as they are hunted using snares and hunting dogs, many confiscated pangolins have severe injuries that require professional medical treatment before they can be released back to the wild. The Cambodian government cares deeply for the kingdom’s wildlife and have partnered with CI to create this facility to help to conserve this important species so that they remain in our forests now and forever as a special part of our unique biodiversity.

The PRC represents one part of the initiative to conserve pangolins in Cambodia. The FA also employs rangers to carry out forest patrols and enforce forestry law in areas known to be inhabited by pangolins. FA, in collaboration with CI, also has had a community engagement program in place for over a decade with various communities who live near the pangolin’s habitat. We are working to provide sustainable, alternative livelihoods in return for the communities’ assistance in forest and species protection.

Pangolins, or "scaly ant-eaters," are covered with protective, overlapping scales, and can quickly roll up into a tight ball when threatened. They are nocturnal and sleep in hollow trees or burrows emerging at night to forage for ants and termites, using their extraordinarily long and sticky tongue. Half of the world’s species of pangolins are found in Asia where they have been hunted heavily to very low numbers.

The Sunda pangolin, Manis javanica, is the only species found in Cambodia and is now very rare due to hunting pressures to supply the international illegal market. ‘The greatest threat to the survival of Asian pangolins in the wild is illegal hunting for meat and scales used for luxury food, tonics and traditional medicines. Hundreds and thousands of pangolins are hunted throughout the region. The price for a live pangolin is high, often more than $100 USD, and is often an irresistible incentive for poor hunters and farmers in spite of the international and national ban on hunting of this species.’ Said Mr. Ratanapich.

 

The Sunda pangolin is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and in CITES Appendix II, with a ‘zero’ trade quota, which bans all commercial trade in specimens removed from the wild. In Cambodia, the species is currently protected as a ‘Rare’ species under the Forestry Law, 2002 (MAFF Prakas 20 on Classification and List of Wildlife Species from 2007). The PRC is the second such official and formally recognized pangolin rehabilitation facility in Cambodia. The other is the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB) in Siem Reap Province which has been in place for a several years, which cares for injured pangolins from the northern part of Cambodia. 

A government taskforce, the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team has been created to crack down on illegal wildlife activities and trade. Wildlife is protected throughout Cambodia and it is illegal to eat, kill or sell wild animals in any way. Pangolins conservation is on the agenda of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Pangolin Specialist Group. SavePangolins is a non-profit website that serves as a resource for the general public to learn about pangolins.

 According to the Conservation International, a new facility, the Pangolin Rehabilitation Center (PRC) opened earlier in Cambodia to provide specialist care to the kingdom’s endangered pangolins. The facility was established to rehabilitate injured pangolins rescued from hunters throughout Cambodia – an increasing and serious threat to the survival of this magnificent and little known species.