The winners of the second edition of the Satellites for Biodiversity Award have been announced.
The winners include conservation initiatives that use satellite data to monitor and protect wildlife such as chimpanzees, bears, wolves and rhinos in South Sudan, Peru, Ethiopia and Nepal respectively.
The award was launched in December 2022 as a partnership between the Airbus Foundation and U.K.-based nonprofit the Connected Conservation Foundation.
The winners of the award will be granted access to Airbus’s high-resolution satellites as well as funding and training from the Connected Conservation Foundation.
The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation have announced the winners of the second edition of their Satellites for Biodiversity Award.
The four winners of the award are international conservation NGO Fauna & Flora International, Peruvian nonprofit Conservación Amazónica–ACCA, Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, and conservation charity the Zoological Society of London. The winners, selected for successfully deploying satellites and other cutting-edge technology for critical conservation work, will be granted access to Airbus’s Pléiades and Pléiades Neo satellite systems, the former delivering images with a resolution of 50 centimeters (20 inches) and the latter delivering an even finer resolution of 30 cm (12 in). They will also receive funding support and training from the U.K.-based nonprofit Connected Conservation Foundation.
“As we navigate an era defined by unprecedented environmental threats, the role of remote sensing in biodiversity conservation has never been more critical,” Sophie Maxwell, executive director of the Connected Conservation Foundation, told Mongabay in an email interview. “From tracking habitat changes to monitoring species populations, satellites offer a bird’s eye view of our planet’s intricate ecosystems, providing invaluable insights into their health and resilience.”
The Lorian ecosystem in Kenya from space. The Connected Conservation Foundation and the Airbus Foundation are currently accepting proposals for an award to support the use of satellite imagery for biodiversity conservation. Image courtesy of the Airbus Foundation.
The Satellites for Biodiversity Award aims to encourage the adoption and use of very-high-resolution satellite imagery for monitoring, tracking and protecting global biodiversity. In December 2022, the Connected Conservation Foundation, which works with local communities to encourage the use of technology in conservation, teamed up with the Airbus Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the European aerospace company, to launch the award. According to a previous press statement, the two foundations are advocating for efficient satellite use to monitor global biodiversity loss, ramp up efforts to preserve habitats, and support initiatives that are working to slow down and reverse the sixth mass extinction.
The winners of this edition of the award were recognized for their work in biodiversity monitoring and protection.
“A common theme in this year’s winners is a focus on promoting human-wildlife coexistence,” Maxwell said. “All of the projects involve working closely with local communities and government entities to ensure that conservation efforts are widely effective and sustainable.”
FFI was chosen for its work in using satellite imagery to assess landscapes in South Sudan, identify causes of deforestation, and protect animals like chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis and Smutsia spp.) and African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). Conservación Amazónica–ACCA uses spatial data to map the habitats of Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in order to develop an effective conservation strategy.
One-horned rhinos in Chitwan, Nepal. Image courtesy of amanderson2 via Flickr (CC BY 2.0.)
Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, meanwhile, partnered with the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute to monitor the remaining 366 individuals of Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) in Bale Mountains National Park. ZSL’s conservation initiative focuses on Nepal’s Chitwan-Para-Valmiki complex, where it plans to harness satellite data to protect the threatened one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis).
Having gone through the second round of the awards, Maxwell said she feels hopeful about the role of innovation in biodiversity monitoring and conservation.
“We see great synergy developing between on the ground data sets and remote sensing data acquired by different technologies,” she said. “This combination is facilitating science-based tracking, monitoring, and assessment of nature risks and investment impacts. This is a turbo-charging mechanism for change.”
In Bangladesh, rapid village expansion shrinks wetlands, forcing fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) closer to humans. This triggers human-cat conflicts occurring every two weeks, with over half of them ending in a cat’s death.
The main reason for the killings is fear. Locals often mistake fishing cats for tigers and feel threatened. Social pressure to participate in killings and revenge for livestock losses (often caused by other animals) further fuel the conflicts.
Despite ongoing threats like infrastructure projects that fragment habitats, some hope exists. Government awareness campaigns and dedicated nongovernmental efforts are educating communities and finding solutions to promote peaceful coexistence with fishing cats.
In a quiet village called Charghikamala in Rajbari district, a sad story unfolded one night. Helal, a villager, heard his goat crying out in fear. When he went to check, he found a beautiful creature lying still under the moonlight — a fishing cat, with fur like twilight and eyes shining like emeralds.
Helal says he felt sad seeing the cat. This wasn’t just any cat; it was a guardian of the wetlands. Unfortunately, its life ended in the blink of an eye. News of the killed cat spread fast, turning villagers both curious and fearful.
Helal told everyone what had happened. He had heard his goat crying, saw something moving in the dark in the goat’s vicinity, and in his panic, he swung his machete. It was all a big misunderstanding, he said. The cat was just looking for food, but it ended up dead because Helal couldn’t understand it.
This isn’t isolated incident. It’s part of a bigger problem in Bangladesh’s wetlands. As villages grow, the cats’ homes disappear, and they end up closer to human habitation in search of food.
A recent survey by Dhaka University’s Zoology Department paints a grim picture of Bangladesh’s lesser-known fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus). The study reveals a worrying frequency of conflicts between humans and these elusive creatures: every two weeks, on average.
Between 2016 and 2021, a staggering 361 cases involving fishing cats have been documented nationwide. This translates to a new conflict arising every fortnight, highlighting the rapid decline of an already vulnerable species. In total, the reports comprise 160 fishing cat deaths.
“These conflicts are more than just statistics,” explains Muntasir Akash, a DU zoology academic who led the survey. “They signal the breakdown of a fragile ecosystem.”
He attributes most conflicts to the dry season, when shrinking water sources leave fishing cats struggling to find food. Habitat loss due to the conversion of wetlands into cities, farms and fishponds further pushes them toward danger zones.
“It is further fueled by general intolerance toward fishing cats and any other wildlife,” Akash says, highlighting that nearly 50% of reported incidents were triggered as retaliation-on-sight reactions rather than any actual harm done by the cats.
Despite being recorded in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the exact global range of the fishing cat remains unclear due to unreliable data. Their patchy distribution across South and Southeast Asia likely reflects their dependence on scarce and scattered wetlands in the region, according to the nonprofit Small Cat Advocacy and Research.
IUCN classified Bangladesh’s fishing cats as endangered in 2015. Despite being widespread, these cats face high conflict rates in every wetland stronghold. More than 90% of their habitat receives no conservation efforts, according to researchers.
A fishing cat in Tanguar Haor, a wetland ecosystem in northeastern Bangladesh in 2008. Habitat loss due to the conversion of wetlands into cities, farms and fishponds further pushes them toward danger zones. Image by Monirul Khan.
What is fueling the fire?
In Bangladesh, much focus has been on protecting large carnivores causing significant damage, while the killings of smaller ones have largely been overlooked. Recently, researchers have delved into the puzzling phenomenon of why locals in northeastern Bangladesh were targeting fishing cats.
The study has revealed a disconcerting pattern: Groups of 10–15 people, motivated by fear, were employing various tools to kill these felines without any intention to sell their carcasses.
“Unlike other carnivores, fear, not financial gain, motivated these killings,” the study says.
Jahangirnagar University’s Department of Zoology Professor M.A. Aziz, who also co-authored the study, emphasizes two key factors driving the indiscriminate killing of fishing cats by humans: people’s perception and social obligation.
“Locals often mistake fishing cats for tigers due to their similar appearance and limited awareness within the community,” Aziz explains. “This fear leads to the belief that these cats pose a physical threat, prompting people to kill them.”
“Furthermore, societal pressure plays a significant role,” he notes. “Individuals feel compelled to participate in such killings due to social norms and values.”
He also highlights the desire for revenge as another motivation. Interestingly, despite fishing cats being blamed, it’s actually jackals (Canis aureus) and jungle cats (Felis chaus) that cause most damage to poultry farms.
“In our study area, many fishing cats were killed by poultry farmers,” he notes. “They use traps baited with chickens to catch and kill the cats almost every night in retaliation for losses in their poultry farms.”
“Moreover, many of these farms are illegally occupying government lands,” he adds, “taking advantage of their proximity to wetlands to raise ducks conveniently.”
Akash highlights one of the latest plights of fishing cats in Bangladesh: Ongoing infrastructure development projects often overlook environmental concerns. “The construction of the Dhaka-Mawa expressway, for example, severely impacted the fishing cat population in Arial Beel, the country’s third-largest freshwater wetland. We observed a significant rise in cat deaths after the highway opened, likely due to them attempting to cross the road.”
He emphasizes the vital role that fishing cats play in maintaining healthy wetlands. “They are the ambassadors of healthy wetlands,” he says. “Their decline will surely spiral into a cascading effect that will ultimately impact people who rely on healthy wetlands for fishing and agriculture. Bangladesh desperately needs a countrywide conservation program for fishing cats before it is too little too late.”
Mirza Mehedhi Sorowar, a wildlife and biodiversity conservation officer with the Department of Forest, however, highlights the positive impact of the government’s awareness campaigns on protecting the country’s wildlife.
He notes, “There was a time when incidents of fishing cat killings went unreported in the media. Nowadays, aided by easy communication modes, villagers promptly notify us whenever a fishing cat is spotted in their locality.”
Sorowar emphasizes that the reduction of wetlands and the decline of indigenous fish in natural water bodies pose significant challenges for the cats. He urges individuals, organizations and the media to collaborate in raising awareness and addressing these issues.
A fishing cat among the mangrove roots of Baikka Beel Wetland Sanctuary in 2010. Image by Sayam Chowdhury.
A glimmer of hope
In a challenging scenario, there’s still hope. Hardworking conservationists are studying conflicts and finding solutions. Meet Project Fishing Cat Bangladesh, founded in 2012, which engages in conservation efforts Baikka Beel in northeast Bangladesh’s Hail Haor Wildlife Sanctuary.
The project aims to educate locals on the importance of fishing cats, mitigate conflicts and safeguard the species for the future. They implement innovative solutions such as predator-proof enclosures to reduce human-fishing cat conflicts.
“Despite limited resources, our Baikka Beel project is making headway. Locals are increasingly aware of fishing cats’ importance,” says project leader Sayam U Chowdhury.
“Large-scale government awareness campaigns reaching the grassroots level are crucial,” Chowdhury emphasizes. “People need to understand that fishing cats pose no threat.”
He further urges the government to consider implementing environmentally friendly agricultural practices to ensure the long-term well-being of wildlife.
Another project with Aziz to tackle human-cat conflict started in 2017 targets zones in Hakaluki Haor. It explores vegetation structures to create better fishing cat habitat and reduce killings. Beyond exploring integrated habitat restoration with flood management schemes, the project tackles social norms that tolerate fishing cat killings.
They aim to elevate the value of these cats through primary school education and further surveys to develop meaningful solutions. Local communities and students are joining the effort.
“Despite housing the majority of the world’s fishing cats, Bangladesh lacks significant government initiatives for their protection. We must act now to prevent these magnificent creatures from vanishing from our nation,” Aziz warns.
Nigeria’s environment minister, Balarbe Abbas Lawal, seated at left, and his Cameroonian counterpart, Jules Doret Ndongo, are pictured at the signing of a transborder agreement to protect wildlife, in Abuja, Nigeria, April 19, 2024. (Timothy Obiezu/VOA)
ABUJA, NIGERIA —
Nigeria and Cameroon on Friday signed a historic partnership designed to protect wildlife, preserve critical habitats and tackle illegal wildlife trade across their borders.
Nigeria’s environment minister, his Cameroonian counterpart and other dignitaries were present at a signing ceremony for the pact, which provides legal support for the joint protection of endangered species, including gorillas and chimpanzees, and shared natural habitats.
Authorities said the countries would share intelligence, conduct research and strengthen law enforcement against offenders.
Jules Doret Ndongo, Cameroon’s minister of forestry and wildlife, said, “The exploitation of forestry resources and poaching, especially cross-border poaching, are serious threats to the sustainable management of our natural resources.”
The partnership will also address illegal hunting and wildlife trafficking.
FILE – A pile of about 2,000 illegally trafficked elephant tusks and hundreds of finished ivory products are disposed of in a burning of poached wildlife goods, in Yaounde, Cameroon, April 19, 2016.
Nigeria shares a nearly 2,000-kilometer border to the south with Cameroon. The region is home to some of Africa’s most endangered species of apes, chimpanzees, leopards and elephants, all of them threatened by poaching, growing population, mining activities and illegal felling of trees.
Balarbe Abbas Lawal, Nigeria’s environment minister. said that “apart from the global phenomenon of climate change and environmental challenges, social factors include overpopulation, poverty, food insecurity have continued to amass these resources on the brink of extinction. While this is going on, cross-boundary illegality has further aggravated the trend. And we’re coming up with so many other steps to address this, including trying to enforce our legal system to see environmental crime as serious as other crimes. So we need the cooperation of the two countries to achieve this.”
Nigeria is the epicenter of wildlife smuggling in Africa. Pangolin scales and elephant ivory are the most trafficked items.
In February, Nigerian authorities intercepted 200 kilograms of elephant tusks in a southern border town near Cameroon.
Lack of awareness and prosecution of offenders are the reasons the trend has continued.
Apart from the joint partnership, Nigerian lawmakers are also considering a new bill that would protect endangered species and punish wildlife poachers and traffickers. A public hearing for the bill is expected in May.
A poaching case currently being heard in an Indonesian court has revealed that at least seven Javan rhinos were killed from 2019-2023 for their horns.
The world’s sole remaining population of Javan rhinos lives in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park, with official population estimates standing at around 70 individuals.
A single suspect has been arrested and indicted in the case, with three alleged accomplices still at large.
The revelation from the recent indictment raises questions about security at the park, most of which has been closed off to the public since September 2023 over poaching concerns.
It was news that rhino conservationists had long feared. Indonesian media are reporting that a poaching ring allegedly killed seven Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), and possibly more, from 2019-2023, potentially wiping out 10% of the entire global population of the critically endangered species.
Ardi Andono, the head of the government agency that runs Ujung Kulon National Park, told local media his office had not yet confirmed how many rhinos were killed, pending ongoing investigation of body parts seized from the sole suspect arrested to date.
The information came to light as the suspect, Sunendi, was indicted earlier this month in Pandeglang District Court, raising questions about the security — or lack thereof — in Ujung Kulon National Park, the last place on Earth home to Javan rhinos. Sunendi has been charged with poaching, illegal possession of firearms, and the theft of four camera traps.
Male Javan rhino calf named Luther with his mother in 2020. Image courtesy of Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
According to the indictment, Sunendi was arrested in November 2023 after he was pictured by a camera trap inside the park in April that year. The arrest was part of a series of joint raids by police and enforcement officers from the environment ministry. Prosecutors allege he killed at least seven rhinos between 2019 and 2023, entering Ujung Kulon National Park from the village of Rancapinang at the southern boundary of the park. Police are still searching for three other suspects alleged to be part of the poaching ring, identified by prosecutors only as Haris, Sukarya and Icut.
Sunendi reportedly told the court in detail how the gang operated. After one successful hunt, in May 2022, the defendant said that Haris sliced the rhino’s neck, “just like slaughtering a goat.” They cut off the horn, put it in a plastic bag and took it back to Sunendi’s house to store in the bathroom. Eventually he put the horn on the roof of his house to sun-dry it and also “so that it would not be noticed by other people.”
Later that same month, Sunendi allegedly took the horn to a dealer in Jakarta, where he sold it for 280 million rupiah, or about $19,000 at the exchange rate at the time.
Andono said the series of raids carried out in October 2023 that resulted in Sunendi’s arrest also yielded 345 weapons from people believed to be entering Ujung Kulon to hunt. The haul included automatic firearms that in Indonesia are restricted for use only by the military.
The punishment for poaching in Indonesia is five years, but if the guns prove to be illegally held, that could add 20 years to the sentence.
Nina Fascione, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), which works closely with the Indonesian government on conservation of both the Javan and Sumatran rhino, called on prosecutors “to seek the highest possible sentencing for anyone found guilty of rhino poaching. Other would-be poachers need to know that wildlife crimes will not be tolerated in Indonesia.”
A rhino protection unit patrols Ujung Kulon National Park by water. Image by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.
Indonesian authorities have long credited strong protection of Ujung Kulon as one of the factors allowing for a stable and growing population of Javan rhinos. However, claims of poaching have long persisted, and were escalated last year with the release of a report by the NGO Auriga Nusantara casting the government’s population claims into doubt. The report not only alleged that poachers were entering the park, but also said that 18 rhinos still officially counted as alive had not been seen in three years, and that at least three of those rhinos had been confirmed dead.
In 2021, the Indonesian government put the Javan rhino population at 76 animals. However, that same year camera traps only managed to confirm 34 individual rhinos. Given that law enforcement and the courts have now confirmed the activity of at least one alleged poaching gang, it’s impossible to say how many Javan rhinos may be left on the planet.
“We don’t yet have a full picture of exactly what has happened or how — there are still suspects at large and the investigation is ongoing,” Fascione said. “We implore these criminals to do the right thing and turn themselves in, and for anyone with information regarding this case to assist authorities.”
The poaching revelations raise questions as to how this could have happened in the first place, especially as Sunendi and his gang are alleged to have operated for four years. Rhino protection units routinely patrol the park and camera traps are set up widely. News reports say Sunendi and his accomplices knew the routines of the guards and exploited that. Since then, officials have upped security.
A park ranger examines a male Javan rhino found dead on April 23, 2018. Park officials have occasionally publicized the deaths of rhinos, but noted that these animals were found with horns intact. Image courtesy of the Ujung Kulon National Park Agency
“We have also closed the route to the entire peninsula, including for tourism, we have also dismantled the huts in Sangiang Sirah which were apparently used by hunters,” Andono told local media. “Apart from that, we also implement a full protection system on the peninsula, the area is guarded 24 hours a day.”
For decades, conservationists have been calling on the Indonesia government to establish a second site where some of the Javan rhinos could be relocated, in an effort to boost the species’ prospects of survival. Their current home, Ujung Kulon, is vulnerable to disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes, as well as to poachers and the incursion of domestic livestock that could potentially expose the rhinos to disease. But plans for a new site have never gone beyond discussions, despite the rhinos’ precarious position.
A paper last year argued that Indonesia should also set up a captive-breeding population of Javan rhinos, similar to what’s being done for Sumatran rhinos, to better protect them and increase the birth rate.
Despite the recently uncovered poaching allegations, the Javan rhinos are still reproducing. In March, camera traps caught an image of a mother and a calf. Since 2022, conservationists have recorded four new calves in the park.
The Javan rhino is one of the most endangered large mammals on Earth, and one of the last remaining megafauna on the island of Java. Indonesia has already lost the Javan tiger and the Bali tiger.
“This is not just a crime against Indonesia, but against the world,” Fascione said.
Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, considered one of the best-protected nature reserves in the world, has seen a spike in deforestation on its fringes from the expansion of illegal coca cultivation and mining, and new road construction.
The forest loss appears to be affecting the ancestral lands of several Indigenous communities, including the Harakbut, Yine and Matsiguenka peoples, according to a new report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
The report found that 19,978 hectares (49,367 acres) of forest have been cleared in the buffer of the reserve over the past two decades.
According to Indigenous leaders, the state is doing “practically nothing” to address deforestation drivers in the buffer zone, and they warn that if left unchecked, the activity will spread into the protected area itself.
A recent report has revealed a spike in deforestation in the buffer zone of one of the world’s best-protected areas, Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve.
Between 2001 and 2023, 19,978 hectares (49,367 acres) of forest were lost in the buffer zone of the reserve, which is home to the ancestral lands of the Indigenous Harakbut, Yine and Matsiguenka peoples. According to the report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP), there are several factors for this trend, including illegal mining, coca cultivation and creation of landing strips, and new road developments.
Amarakaeri is co-managed by ECA Amarakaeri, an Indigenous organization representing the communities in its buffer zone, and SERNANP, the Peruvian agency for protected areas. It’s home to many threatened and endemic species, such as harpy eagles (Harpia harpyja) and spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus), and in 2018 was named to the Green List of the IUCN, the global nature conservation authority, for sites that are “effectively managed and fairly governed, with long-term positive impacts on people and nature.”
“About five years ago, probably the most threatened protected area used to be the Tambopata National Reserve,” said Sidney Novoa, a co-author of the MAAP report and director of conservation technology at the Peruvian NGO Conservación Amazónica–ACCA. “But in the last few years, Amarakaeri has scaled up in this list of most threatened protected areas in southern Peru. If the pressure increases, they are going to eventually lose this [IUCN Green List] category.”
Illegal activity in the buffer zone of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve in Peru. Image courtesy of Amarakaeri.org.
In Sabaluyoc and Itahuanía, to the south and southwest of the reserve, illegal cultivation of coca to produce cocaine is the main driver of deforestation. Between 2017 and 2022, the amount of land around Amarakaeri covered by illegal coca crops increased by almost 160%, according to data from DEVIDA, Peru’s anti-drugs commission.
“The issue of illicit crops in the southwest is something that worries us,” Novoa said. “For now, the people involved in this activity have enough land outside of the protected area to produce coca. If the threat continues over time, they will probably reach inside the [protected] area.”
Walter Quertehuari Dariquebe, the ECA Amarakaeri president, told Mongabay that to “clash with the issue of drug trafficking is to seek your death.” He added, “What do we do?”
It’s not just illegal activity driving the deforestation in Amarakaeri: according to the MAAP report, construction of the Nuevo Edén–Boca Manú highway in the northwest sector of the reserve has led to the loss of 407 hectares (1,000 acres) of primary forest since the project started in 2015.
More recently, the government proposed a new 96-kilometer (59-mile) extension to the highway, from Boca Manú to Boca Colorado. The MAAP report warns this could impact Amarakaeri and other protected areas, such as Manú National Park and Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve, as it would allow organized crime groups easier access to those areas, endangering the lives of Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation who also pass through this sector. If the project is approved, the MAAP estimates it could result in more than 11,350 hectares (28,000 acres) of deforestation over the next 10 years.
Local forest surveillance teams use a drone to carry out monitoring work at Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. Image courtesy of Amarakaeri.org.The Madre de Dios River observed from the Harakbut Indigenous community in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve buffer zone. Image courtesy of Amarakaeri.org.
In 2023, Indigenous leaders from Madre de Dios issued a public statement urging the Peruvian Congress to reject a bill that would declare the proposed Boca Manú–Boca Colorado extension, as well as other road projects in the country, as being of national interest. They said this would violate “our collective rights to the territory, to prior consultation, to the life of our brothers in isolation and initial contact and ignores our opinion as Indigenous organizations representative of Madre de Dios.”
They also wrote in their statement that they aren’t “against development projects for our region. However, we consider it important that development includes our vision and protection of the territory.”
Besides the expansion of illegal coca production and new road projects, the MAAP report also identified illegal mining within the buffer zone east of Amarakaeri. Quertehuari Dariquebe blamed the mining activity for contamination of nearby water sources, poisoning fish and local communities. Because of this, he said, members of the community are suffering from health issues and babies are being born with serious health defects.
Quertehuari Dariquebe said the state is doing “practically nothing” to deal with the problems in the reserve’s buffer zone where Indigenous communities live and are most affected. The effects could easily spread inside the reserve if issues there continue unabated, he added.
“There is still a large gap for surveillance and control actions in protected natural areas and their buffer zones to be more effective,” Fredy Mamani, head of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, told Mongabay. “SERNANP together with the ECA Amarakaeri have already been making efforts to reduce these gaps in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, but our institution does not exercise control in the buffer zone and influence where these threats arise.”
Researcher Shyam Thapa, who recently completed his Ph.D. in ecology, highlights flaws in traditional grassland management methods, particularly in Bardiya National Park.
Thapa’s findings suggest the need for improved grassland management to enhance the health and numbers of tiger prey species.
He emphasizes the importance of tailored management approaches based on grassland functionality.
Implementing his study’s recommendations could potentially increase herbivore numbers in tiger habitats, reducing human-wildlife conflicts, Thapa says.
As winter bids adieu to the Northern Hemisphere and the mercury peaks and humidity plummets, most of Nepal’s plains and hills become tinderboxes awaiting a spark.
As officials face a gargantuan task of controlling wildfires, some authorities from Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation are themselves involved in starting fires in the name of “habitat management,” especially inside national parks in the plains. They say they believe that fires are a cost-effective tool to prevent grasslands, which provide habitat for Nepal’s iconic tigers (Panthera tigris) and their prey such as deer and chital (Axis axis), from turning into forests, and to promote the growth of fresh and nutritious grass sprouts.
But the traditional approach to grassland management may not be working, says researcher Shyam Thapa, who recently completed his Ph.D. in wildlife conservation and ecology from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands. During his study, Thapa looked at steps that need to be taken at Bardiya National Park, home to a third of the country’s 355 tigers, so that tiger prey herbivores, such a deer, get to eat more quality grass and their health as well as numbers improve.
Thapa and another researcher examining the ground of the grassland. Image courtesy of Shyam Thapa.
Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi met Thapa in Kathmandu recently to talk about the findings of his research and its implications for conservation in Nepal. The following interview has been translated from Nepali and edited for clarity.
Mongabay: With the start of the spring season in Nepal, protected area managers in Nepal launch their grassland management programs. How has human activity around the grasslands changed over the years?
Shyam Thapa: Until a few decades ago, authorities at Nepal’s national parks, such as Chitwan and Bardiya, allowed locals to visit the protected areas to cut elephant grass from designated areas for 15 days in a year. People used to make use of the sturdy grass to thatch their roofs and prepare different types of furniture.
But things have changed these days. Local people are given just three days for the job. But not many people show up, as they have become accustomed to living in concrete houses. This shift has its impact on grassland management practices in Nepal, as officials have to rely on contractors who use machines to chop off tall grasses and then set them on fire.
Mongabay: Why is it necessary to actively “manage” grassland ecosystems? Why can’t they be left in their natural condition?
Shyam Thapa: There are several reasons why we need to do that. The first reason is that the digestive system of herbivores (tigers’ prey) require fresh grass for them to absorb an optimum amount of nutrition from their food. When the grass is in its growth stage, it is tender and rich in nutrients, but as it grows older, the plant itself utilizes its nutrition for growth. The older the grass is, the less nutritious it is for herbivores such as deer.
Secondly, large patches of grasslands, especially in Bardiya, were created by human slash-and-burn-style agriculture. As they didn’t come into existence naturally, they may not sustain on their own due to various factors such as ecological succession (trees replacing grass) and the proliferation of invasive alien species. Also, in human-dominated landscapes, cattle raised by humans also helped regulate the grasslands. But human activities are no longer allowed in protected areas and these functions can’t take place naturally.
Similarly, in the distant past, the grasslands were home to an assemblage of different types of herbivores of varying sizes and appetites, such as gaurs (Bos gaurus), deer, water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) and even rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), to some extent. They acted as “engineers” of the grasslands by munching on the grass and not allowing it to grow tall. But in recent years, the assemblage has shrunk and we don’t see as many herbivores in the grasslands. The situation is better in Chitwan where we see different varieties of deer and the gaur and the rhinos. But in Bardiya, that’s not the case. That’s why we have also proposed that the government translocate some gaur to Bardiya.
Aerial view of the landscape in Bardiya. Image by Shyam Thapa.
Mongabay: What are some of the impacts of using heavy machinery for grassland management?
Shyam Thapa: We’ve seen that machines used to cut grass are heavy and they tend to trample the grass beneath them. We have observed that such trampling may be causing a mulching effect on soil. For example, on farms, people used hay to cover the land so that weeds wouldn’t grow. This approach remains effective until the hay decomposes. In the case of grasslands, the mulching effect may slow down the growth of fresh grass from underneath.
Mongabay: Could you please describe how you went about carrying out your research?
Shyam Thapa: As part of my research, we carried out experiments on different plots of grazing lawns to assess the optimal frequency of grass cutting needed for the herbivores to make full use of the nutrients available in the grassland.
We found that cutting and burning is highly effective in the short term, as highly nutritious grass grows from the ashes. But in the long run, the quality slowly deteriorates. Our findings suggested that the best approach would be to cut the grass manually four times a year so that the herbivores can get the most out of the grasslands.
Mongabay: Does this mean all the grass has to be cut four times every year?
Shyam Thapa: No, that’s not the case. Our research suggests that we should manage different grasslands based on their functional use by different herbivore species. For example, some patches may be used by herbivores as movement corridors, others as refuge against predator species. We can’t have the same blanket approach to manage all patches of grasslands.
“On farms, people used hay to cover the land so that weeds wouldn’t grow. This approach remains effective until the hay decomposes. In the case of grasslands, the mulching effect may slow down the growth of fresh grass from underneath,” says Thapa. Image by Shyam Thapa.
Mongabay: So, what are some of the steps officials can take to ensure that herbivore species get the maximum nutrients they need?
Shyam Thapa: As I said earlier, we need to identify the functional role of each patch of grassland and devise our strategy accordingly. If the patch is used for grazing, it would be best to cut the grass four times, or at least three times, a year so that the animals concerned get better nutrition.
During the initial years, it might seem a lot of work and hard on resources, but as the years progress, the herbivores themselves will manage the grassland and natural processes will take over.
Similarly, we are also talking about the translocation of herbivores to their historical ranges so that the assemblage of grass eaters increases and the management of grasslands becomes easier.
Also, we can use the grass to prepare fodder for the livestock industry, which is flourishing around national parks such as Chitwan. Incinerating the grass, as is being done, only increases pollution and may have negative impacts on different species that may not be able to escape the flames during their breeding season.
Some of the suggestions have already been incorporated in the recent government-issued guidelines on wildlife habitat management. It provides a good start, but we need to do more.
We also recommend the use of manual cutting over mechanized cutting, as the money from the work goes to local communities. Yes, the safety of people doing the work is an issue, but it can be addressed if they work in groups and officials help them improve their safety measures.
Thapa (second from right) with a team of researchers in Bardiya National Park. Image courtesy of Shyam Thapa.
Mongabay: Is it correct to say that if the measures you recommend are implemented, the number of herbivores in tiger habitats could significantly go up, thereby opening the possibility of providing for even more tigers in Nepal’s Terai grasslands?
Shyam Thapa: Yes, that’s true. Changes in grassland management regimes could help increase the density of tigers in the country and even accommodate transient tigers. This would not only mean more tigers, but also fewer incidents of negative interactions with humans.
There are some researchers who say that tigers enter human settlements as they are not getting enough to eat due to the absence of mega herbivores, especially in Bardiya.
Yes, I also believe that this could be a possibility.
Mongabay: When we talk about grassland management in tiger habitats in Nepal, we can’t leave out grasslands in India. What are some of the lessons Nepal can learn from India on this?
Shyam Thapa: The way grasslands are managed in India is similar to the way we do it here in Nepal. The only difference is that in one of the habitats, they tried out harrowing to improve the productivity of the grassland, which didn’t work out particularly well. During exchanges, they told us that the practice introduced unwanted species to the habitat and impacted the quality of the grass.
Every winter, monarch butterflies from across eastern North America migrate to the mountain forests in Mexico, but those forests are threatened by the rapidly expanding avocado industry.
Avocado production in Mexico is tied to deforestation, water hoarding and violence, and much of the resulting crop is exported to the U.S.
Conservation groups are urging the U.S. State Department, USDA and USTR to ban imports of avocados from recently deforested lands in Mexico.
This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Monarch butterflies are returning to gardens across the United States, but a few months ago, I stood in a mountain forest in Mexico where the monarchs spend the winter. They clustered on trees by the thousands and when the sun hit them, they swarmed in a cloud of bright orange confetti.
I was surrounded by an unimaginable number of butterflies but also, I knew, far less than there should be. This year’s population was the second-lowest ever recorded.
I saw firsthand how avocado production is encroaching on the butterflies’ forests and draining their water supplies. The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is in Michoacán, the world’s largest producer of avocados and is where most of the avocados shipped to the United States come from.
Monarch butterflies flit among the trees of Chincua Monarch Sanctuary, Angangueo, Michoacán, Mexico. Image by hspauldi via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where millions of monarch butterflies migrate from across North America and across generations to spend the winter. It’s one of the planet’s most incredible migrations. And it’s threatened by our love of avocados.
On a recent trip to Michoacán, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar expressed concern about the proliferation of avocado orchards on illegally deforested lands, saying, “They shouldn’t have the opportunity to sell those avocados to the United States market.”
There’s no time to waste turning that statement into policy. Because while cartels, importers and grocery stores are cashing in on the “green gold,” Mexico’s forests, the wildlife that depend on them, and the surrounding communities are suffering the consequences.
When I returned home from my own trip, I looked for avocados that I could be sure weren’t harming the monarchs. But every avocado in every grocery store near me was labeled from Mexico with no way to tell whether they’d come from a plantation on recently deforested lands.
Avocado orchards like this one in Michoacan have replaced native forest and export 80% of their crop to the U.S. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay.
Nearly 90% of avocados sold in the United States are imported from Mexico. People in the United States gobble up nearly 3 billion pounds of avocados annually, three times more than we ate 20 years ago.
Yet local and Indigenous communities, small farmers, and farm workers aren’t reaping the benefits of avocados’ meteoric rise. Instead, the lucrative industry has attracted organized crime and locals are suffering the costs of violence, pollution, water hoarding, land grabs and deforestation.
That’s why the Center for Biological Diversity, where I work, and more than 25 other organizations sent a letter last week to federal officials urging them to stop importing and promoting avocados grown on lands deforested since 2014.
Eastern monarch butterfly numbers have fallen more than 90% over the past 20 years. They face extreme threats throughout their migration, from habitat loss to pesticides, so having safe overwintering grounds in Mexico is critical to the species’ survival.
As of 2018, nearly 2,400 acres of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve had been replaced by avocado plantations. The surrounding forests have also been logged, making the reserve more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and less suitable for the butterflies.
Avocado farmers fill large tanks at a community spring in Michoacan, reducing the amount of water available to other farmers for their own crops. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay.
But it’s not just monarchs in danger. Avocado expansion endangers 10 species of threatened pollinators in Mexico, including lesser long-nosed bats, Mexican long-tongued bats, rufous hummingbirds and three species of bumble bees. Over the past 10 years, 10 football field sized tracts of land a day have been cleared to expand avocado production.
While Mexico and the United States signed an agreement to stop deforestation to help fight climate change, Michoacán’s forests continue to be destroyed to grow more avocados. Because most of Michoacán’s avocado harvest is sent our way, the United States has a huge influence on the industry there. Mexican officials have asked for help to keep avocados associated with deforestation out of the U.S. market.
State, agriculture and trade officials need to put a mechanism in place to ensure that only deforestation-free avocados reach the United States. The USDA already inspects avocado shipments for pests — they can also certify that the fruit wasn’t grown on deforested lands. Until that mechanism is in place and shoppers can feel confident about where their avocados came from, avocado imports from Mexico should be suspended.
In the meantime, grocery stores and importers can commit to only selling deforestation-free avocados and hold their supply chains accountable for any destruction of forests and violence toward local and Indigenous communities.
Avocado lovers can look for fair trade, organic and domestically grown avocados. Fair trade certification protects forests and independent producers, although fewer than 1% of the avocados consumed in the United States are fair trade. Buying organic avocados supports smaller producers and safeguards workers and the environment from toxic chemicals.
The majority of avocados are grown on long-established plantations by law-abiding farmers, so banning imports of avocados from recently deforested lands won’t harm their livelihoods or affect our ability to keep enjoying avocado toast and guacamole.
But it would help reduce criminals’ power over the industry, protect local communities and the future of monarch butterflies.
Stephanie Feldstein is the Population and Sustainability Director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Shock and disappointment at rise in rhino poaching in South Africa.
A staggering 499 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa in 2023, an increase of 51 on the poaching numbers for 2022. This disappointing figure is a chilling reminder that the South African government and wildlife authorities have not got poaching under control.
Barbara Creecy, the minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment (DFFE), said when releasing the annual poaching figures that poaching had dropped in Kruger National Park, previously the focal point of rhino crime. However, she added: “The pressure again has been felt in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province with Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park facing the brunt of poaching cases.” A total 307 of the 499 killed nationally took place there. Creecy said the KZN figure for 2023 was the “highest poaching loss within this province” recorded for any one year.
In Kruger NP, 78 rhino were killed in 2023, compared with 124 in 2022 – a decrease due to improved security, careful vetting of staff in the park to weed out corrupt rangers and other staff and the dehorning of many of the rhinos, but also because there is a much smaller rhino population due to over a decade of heavy poaching.
Gangs
White rhino numbers in Kruger fell from 10,621 in 2011 to 1,988 at the end of 2022 and there is now likely to have been a further fall in 2023 when natural mortality is added to the poaching figures and balanced against births: black rhino are down from 415 in 2013 to 208 at the end of 2022.
KZN became the main focus for poaching in 2023 with 307 poached in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi alone, compared with 93 in 2020 and a jump to to 244 in 2022 (228 on reserves and 16 privately-owned).
Pelham Jones of the private Rhino Owners’ Association predicted a level of 282 in 2023 in the province’s reserves (especially Hluhluwe-iMfolozi), a prediction which turned out to be too optimistic with 307 rhino killed in 2023 in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi alone and 325 across the whole province according to DFEE figures.
KZN and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi have a number of problems which make poaching easier, now that security has been tightened in Kruger.
Toxic politics, deep-seated inequality, corruption and embedded organised criminality have profoundly affected the park and surrounding communities.
Cedric Coetzee, head of rhino protection at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi in KZN, told me when I visited him there in 2016 that while it might take poachers days to track a rhino in Kruger, the high density of animals in the KwaZulu-Natal reserves meant they might only spend two to three hours there before killing a rhino and escaping with its horns.
The upsurge in poaching in KZN demonstrates how the accessibility of rhino in reserves like Hluhluwe-iMfolozi exposes them to poaching as gangs moved in.
KZN is a province beset by corruption, and both political and criminal violence, with violent factional struggles within the governing African National Congress Party.
Bribes
Corruption in provincial government, law enforcement and the judiciary is rife. The major example of this has been the investigation and suspension of KZN Regional Court President Eric Nzimande following accusations of corrupt payments, racketeering and receiving bribes to appoint unsuitable candidates as attorneys in cases.
The Save the Wild NGO had campaigned for Nzimande’s suspension believing him to have been key in obstructive cases against suspected rhino poaching kingpins – kingpins being the term used to describe the leaders of highly organised poaching syndicates, which are often involved in a wide range of violent criminal activities.
Nzimande was charged with offences related to corruption and is awaiting trial. Implicated in his crimes is Z.W. Ngwenya, who represented the suspected rhino poaching kingpin Dumisani Gwala in his court appearances.
Gwala was arrested in 2014 on rhino poaching charges. Over a period of nine years there were 30 postponements of his trial after a series of objections by his defence team.
In July 2023, a magistrate dismissed the case against him, declaring him not guilty on the poaching charges on the basis that evidence presented by the prosecutors was for some reason not admissible, though he did receive a suspended sentence and a small fine for resisting arrest.
Toxic
The corruption, incompetence and often political interference in cases means that those at the top of the poaching syndicates escape justice or spend years on bail, during which time they can continue directing the poachers on the ground.
With 325 rhinos poached for their horns in KZN 2023, KZN recorded only 49 arrests and 13 seizures of illegal weapons, and these were low-level poachers not the gang leaders.
Work has been done to end corruption within Kruger staff and to track payments to corrupt rangers and poachers (with the Hawks and the international accountancy and management company KPMG having some success in this field), with more integrity testing of employees and those applying for park jobs.
Ending corruption within Kruger, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and other parks or reserves is crucial to reducing poaching in the long-term, as 40-70 per cent of Kruger’s anti-poaching and law enforcement staff are thought “to be aiding poaching networks or involved in corrupt or criminal activities in some way including high levels of fuel theft”. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is riven with corruption, incompetence and sheer fatigue of those fighting poaching.
The criminal syndicates involved in poaching often have close political connections with corrupt police, judges and members of the governing ANC. The diverse links with corrupt individuals in key state institutions has enhanced their ability to recruit national park and provincial reserve employees and use them to aid poaching operations.
As Julian Rademeyer, the investigative journalist and rhino trade expert, acutely observed: “Toxic politics, deep-seated inequality, corruption and embedded organised criminality have profoundly affected the park and surrounding communities. Crime and corruption in the Kruger National Park should not be viewed in isolation without taking the impact of organized crime in Mpumalanga, including kidnappings, cash-in-transit heists, ATM bombings, illegal mining, extortion and corruption, into account.”
Incorruptible
Police and judicial corruption and the role of provincial ANC postholders as godfathers of a diversity of crimes makes this criminal nut a very hard one to crack.
The ability of the criminal syndicates not just to frustrate investigations but to kill lead investigators was demonstrated by the assassination of Hawks (an elite organised crime unit of the South African Police) investigator Lt-Col Leroy Brewer in March 2020 – he was a key figure in fighting organised crime.
Another key figure in rhino protection, Anton Mzimba, a ranger at Timbavati Reserve adjacent to Kruger, was killed in July 2002 in a suspected gangland killing to remove a thorn in the side of poachers. Mzimba was renowned as a committed defender of rhinos and as being incorruptible.
While the Hawks and other law enforcement bodies have tried to catch and jail the heads of crime syndicates involved in rhino poaching, prosecutions have often been inept or held up by the slow and corrupt judicial system.
Big Joe Nyalunga, a former policeman who turned to rhino poaching and drug smuggling, was arrested at Hazyview, Mpumalanga, a few kilometres from Kruger NP in 2011 and then again in 2012 – he was charged with possession of four rhino horns and a large quantity of cannabis, 60 hunting knives and pangas, silencers for .375 and .458 rifles and stolen laptops, all at a time when he was on bail for suspected money laundering.
Investigations over a long period, amid repeated attempts to get him in front of a judge were frustrated by endless delays engineered by Nyalunga’s lawyers, led to the discovery of large amounts of cash suspected of being used by him to pay for rhino poaching and the charging of six Mozambicans suspected of having poached rhino to order for Nyalunga.
As the case dragged on with continual postponements, with several of his co-accused disappearing or being deported, Nyalunga was arrested again in May 2023 on suspicion of rhino poaching, after a high-speed car chase following a poaching incident at Lydenburg. Initially remanded in custody, he was eventually granted bail and is due in court at some unspecified date in the future.
Combat
There is also serious violence between and within criminal syndicates. A notorious criminal syndicate boss and rhino horn kingpin, Clyde Mnisi was shot dead in a suspected gangland killing in March 2023.
He was due to appear in court in April 2023 for his role as a key player in the rhino horn trade as part of a syndicate including policemen and employees at Kruger NP. He was also believed to be involved in cash-in-transit robberies. Mnisi’s wife was killed in another gang-style shooting soon after.
He had close connections with Nyalunga and with another rhino kingpin, Petros Mabuza, who had also been killed in what appeared to be a criminal turf war. Despite his reputation as a poacher and criminal, Mabuza’s funeral was attended by leading members of the ANC in Mpumalanga.
The web of criminal and political connections make this a very tough assignment for those in the Hawks to combat.
Impunity
Dr Jo Shaw, CEO of Save the Rhino International, who was previously African Rhino Lead for WWF International, and Senior Manager: Wildlife Portfolio for WWF South Africa, said that the new poaching figures from South Africa paint ‘a worrying picture for rhinos, particularly those in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Rangers are working tirelessly to protect rhinos on the ground, but to make the necessary impact, the upper echelons of crime networks must be disrupted, and this requires a coordinated multi-agency response.
All partners involved urgently need more resources to address the threats at this level. There isn’t an overnight solution, but with a rhino poached every 17 hours in South Africa, we can’t afford to lose any more time.’
The new poaching figures are terrible and a worrying sign that there is a long way to go to bring poaching under control and start to provide sufficient security for rhino numbers to recover, which clearly will not be accomplished quickly or easily.
Anti-poaching measures are important but the major threat is the high level of corruption within the political, law enforcement, wildlife and judicial agencies and, one must not forget, the crushing levels of poverty, unemployment and dire living conditions of millions of South Africans which provides a ready pool of young men desperate to improve their lives who can be tempted by the cash offered to poach by the kingpins, who are able to act with impunity.
This author
Professor Keith Somerville is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, a member of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent and teaches at the centre for journalism. He has written a number of books on wildlife and conservation issues such as the ivory trade, human-lion conflict, hyenas, jackals, honey badgers and his study of the history of human exploitation and conservation of African rhinos will be published by January 2025 by Pelagic Books.
On March 13, the Bangladesh forest department tagged satellite transmitters on two saltwater crocodiles for the first time in Asia and released them in the Sundarbans waters.
So far, four saltwater crocodiles — three from captivity and one from the wild — have been tagged and the preparation is in place to tag more.
The forest department has already started collecting data using the satellite transmitters to understand the crocodile’s habits in this ecosystem and identify nesting its hotspots, ecology, mortality rate and habitat range.
Experts say the satellite data will play an important role in crocodile conservation in Bangladesh, where the species is critically endangered, and will help the authorities make proper conservation management plans to protect it.
DHAKA — In a breakthrough in saltwater crocodile conservation in the country, Bangladesh has started using a satellite tagging system to monitor the species’ movements, habits, and life span in the Sundarbans mangroves. These mangrove forests are the animal’s only wild habitat in Bangladesh.
On March 13, Bangladesh Forest Department, for the first time in Asia, attached satellite tags on two saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) and released them in the mangrove waters of the Sundarbans. A few days later, the same process was repeated on two more individuals.
Two Australian crocodilian experts — Ruchira Somaweera, research scientist at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and an adjunct lecturer at Murdoch University, and Paul Beri, principal ranger of Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services — assisted in tagging the crocodiles and trained the forest officials in tagging and monitoring.
One of the four saltwater crocodile with a newly installed satellite transmitter released into the wild. Image by Md Mofizur Rahaman Chowdury.
Mihir Kumar Doe, Conservator of Forests (Khulna Circle), said there is a sizeable population of wild saltwater crocodiles in the Sundarbans currently as the forest department has released around 200 saltwater crocodiles to the mangroves since 2016 from its Karamjol Crocodile Breeding Centre in eastern Sundarbans.
“But we do not know the survival rate of the released crocodiles and whether the habitat is suitable for them,” Doe added.
He said that using the satellite tags, they are collecting data about the crocodiles’ habitat, range and lifecycle, adding that these data will continue to be helpful in crocodile conservation management in the future.
From the data of the four tagged saltwater crocodiles — one from the wild and three from captivity released into the wild — the researchers and the forest department officials aim to understand the species’ habits, identify their nesting hotspots, their ecology, mortality rate and habitat range, and collect data on human-crocodile conflicts.
ABM Sarwar Alam, program manager of IUCN Bangladesh, told Mongabay that one more wild crocodile will be tagged with a satellite transmitter soon.
Somaweera said that this project makes Bangladesh the first Asian country to deploy satellite tags on crocodiles and only the second in the world after Australia.
Alam said the US-made satellite transmitters they’re using were specially manufactured considering the salty conditions and that they are providing data accurately every hour.
“The four crocodiles tagged with transmitters are absolutely doing well. Three are roaming in different rivers and canals of the Sundarbans but one crocodile went out of the mangrove forest, in Barishal. However, satellite data shows that it is now returning to the Sundarbans after travelling 150 kilometres [93 miles] in first 10 days,” he said.
Alam said the Bangladesh government has had no proper crocodile conservation plan right now and that the satellite data will play an important role in the reptile’s conservation. The home range of the saltwater crocodiles could be identified within one year after examining the data received by the satellite transmitters.
“Once we identify the home range and population of the crocodiles, the forest department will be able to prepare a proper conservation plan for the saltwater crocodiles,” he added.
The forest department team along with the two experts from Australiapose with a newly tagged crodile before releasing it. Image by Md Mofizur Rahaman Chowdury.
Threats to saltwater crocodiles in the Sundarbans
The population of wild saltwater crocodiles is decreasing due to growing anthropogenic pressure from tourism and the water transport system that passes through the core areas of the Sundarbans.
Commercial exploitation the crocodiles for their skins until the 1970s depleted the species’ population in Bangladesh. Under the Wildlife (Protection and Security) Act 2012, the saltwater crocodile is now a protected species in the country, but the remaining population faces a range of anthropogenic threats in the Sundarbans. Hunting remains a major threat to the crocodile since poachers are still active in the Sundarbans, according to a 2018 study.
Around 3.5 million local people enter the Sundarbans annually to collect fish, crabs, honey and non-timber forest products. The disturbance by the large number of resource collectors and cargo vessels navigating through different channels within the forest also disturb the crocodiles from basking in the sun.
According to IUCN red list 2015, which counted a small population of 100-150 mature wild individuals found in only a few estuaries and rivers of the Sundarbans mangroves, the saltwater crocodile is critically endangered in Bangladesh. It inhabits brackish water of coastal areas and rivers along the coast, coastal mangrove swamp forests and visits freshwater rivers and grass swamps too.
ANTI POACHING UNIT 