MADAGASCAR - The Game

The Activision video game for Madagascar The Movie is to be released on May 24th 2005, and is based on this summer's animated entertainment from Dreamworks Pictures (the Shrek folks). Versions of the game will be available on most platforms, including PC CD-Rom, Microsoft's XBox, Playstation 2, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube.

The movie stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith, and sees animals escaping from the Central Park Zoo, and heading to the island of Madagascar. Along the way they meet the island's native lemurs, and soon discover "it's a jungle out there!".

The game will feature three mini-game bonus chapters, including a "Lemur Rave" where you can test out your rhythm skills to cool jungle beats, and Melmen's helicopter neck-fling ammo includes coconuts and lemurs!

Activision's Madagascar homepage is also now available. (Firefox users, just click "continue" - their browser detection code is rubbish)

RODRIGUES FRUIT BATS - Chattering and flapping

This page about the Rodrigues fruit bat has a short sound clip of them chattering and flapping.

KAKAPO PARROTS - Fourth chick hatched last weekend...

The Kakapo population now stands at 87! An update at The Kakapo Recovery Programme has the latest...

Kakapo Programme officer Phil Marsh reports that all chicks are healthy and putting on weight and things are looking good for their future.

Mention also needs to be made of the fine jobs that Margaret Maree, Cyndy, and Flossie (with a pair of chicks) are doing to look after their hungry babies. Sarah and Alice are also both sitting on fertile eggs so all fingers and toes are crossed for a new crop of nestlings in early to mid April.

NEWS - Population explosion is a time bomb for the Earth

This story on the Scotsman.com discusses how the Earth's population explosion is devastating the natural world.

We have been cutting down the world’s forests at such a rate over the past century that some African countries now have as little as 5-10 per cent of their original forest cover left. What remain of the planet’s forests are being lost at a rate of about 8 per cent per decade.
[...]
The tragedy that hides beneath these bald figures is brought sharply into focus by the prospects for our closest living relatives, the great apes. [...]The rate of deforestation in their strongholds in Sumatra and Borneo, and the resulting decline in orang[-utan] numbers, are such that there are unlikely to be any left in the wild in 2015.
[...]
The forecasts aren'’t much better for the gorilla and the chimpanzee. They will out-live their Asian cousin only by a few decades. A lethal combination of deforestation and hunting to feed a voracious market for "bushmeat" hold out a promise of only another 20-50 years for most wild populations.

In related news, this BBC article talks about the increased destruction of Indonesia's forests to help in the rebuilding of their towns in the wake of December's devastating Tsunamis.

MAURITIUS KESTREL - Conservation Project

This section at the Mauritius Research Council discusses a talk on the Conservation Management of Endangered Endemic Bird Species in Mauritius, by the team led by Dr Carl Jones.

The PDF presentation has all the slides from the talk, and includes information on the decline and recovery of both the Mauritius Kestrel and the Pink Pigeon.

TSUNAMI ALERTS Cancelled

It would appear all threat of Tsunamis from Monday's quake have now passed, and scientists are now debating whether it was truly an aftershock from December's great quake, or an event in its own right.

TSUNAMI ALERT Issued in Madagascar and Mauritius

This article at the Mail & Guardian Online reports on the Tsunami alerts issued after today's 8.x magnitude quake.

In Madagascar, weather and rescue services issued alerts for the entire east of the country, officials said. The director of the national meteorological service, Alain Razafimahazo, said he would go on national radio and TV to warn the population.

The tsunami at the end of last year did not claim any victims in Madagascar, which escaped any serious damage from the disaster. It did cause damage in Mauritius, Seychelles and the French island territory of Reunion.

On Mauritius, the national weather service said it sent out tsunami alerts to the coastal regions as well as the islands of Rodrigues and Agalega.

This report at Xtra MSN

Tsunami warnings are in effect across much of Asia, however so far the only waves that have been reported have arrived in the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Scientists say the energy from the quake appears to be heading south away from Asia and towards Mauritius.

TSUNAMIS - Massive Earthquake Strikes Sumatra

Breaking news all over the web about the new 8.2 magnitude earthquake in the Indonesian province of Sumatra. The epicentre is located somewhere between Medan and Padang, and has triggered Tsunami warnings across the region for 1000km in every direction.

It is thought to be an aftershock of December 26th's devastating quake which triggered the devastating tsunamis and left up to 300,000 dead across the Indian Ocean. Those tsunami waves did reach Madagascar and Mauritius to the west, although the islands of Flores and Komodo to the south east were protected geographically and so fortunately weren't affected.

NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS - Political war may lead to rhino extinction

Coverage in the Houston Chronicle is among many sites covering the current plight of the wild Northern White Rhino, discussing the current political war in Africa which may lead to the last few rhino's final extermination. It is this politics which is blocking the rhino's last chance of survival - an airlift to Kenya.

Besides those found in zoos in San Diego and the Czech Republic, the rhinos are believed to exist only in Garamba, a rugged place near the border with Sudan that is full of wildlife and lush vegetation but also men with guns.

"I do not believe that any rhinos will survive the year," predicted Thomas J. Foose, program director at the International Rhino Foundation, which is based in the United States and has been working for years in Garamba, the last refuge for the northern white rhino.

The PDF version of the translocation rescue plan can be found here.

JUAN FERNANDEZ FUR SEALS - The Biodiversity of Juan Fernandez Archipelago

A new article published at Planeta Vivo Society discusses the hidden treasures of the Juan Fernandez archipelago.

Oceanic islands are remote oasis for unique, marine and terrestrial life. A tiny spot of land in the vast immensity of the sea, hold slow and fragile ancestral creatures.
[...]
very valuable real treasures of the islands have been found, exploited and some of them extinguished or nearly vanished during the last two centuries.

One of the first animals to suffer this "bad luck" was Juan Fernandez fur seal, a gentle marine mammal that, together with the majority of related extant species of seals, are all now truly survivors of the skin and oil market of the past centuries.

Their previous Juan Fernandez Fur Seal Revisited page is also a nice read.

KAKAPOS - Nesting Calendar Updated

The calendar was updated late last week... Kakapo - Nesting Calendar 2005

KAKAPOS - Dit, Dot & Mmm

The BBC News report on the successful Kakapo hatchings has a picture of the first of the three chicks.

The new chicks, whose feathers are initially white before turning grey and then green, have been born to Flossie and Margaret-Maree.

Flossie has two chicks, unofficially called Dit and Dot, and Margaret-Maree has one, named, for now, Mmm, by her carers.

EXHIBITION - Edinburgh, Scotland

Information from Scotland.com about improvements to a tourist attraction in the city.

Thousands of Easter visitors are expected to take a trip into the fantastic at Our Dynamic Earth this weekend.

The attraction, which presents the story of the planet from its creation to the evolution of mankind, has recently spent more than £500,000 on improvements.

Among these is an array of animatronic animals, including a life-size komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard, which has been added to the showpiece rainforest gallery.

HITCHHIKERSMOVIE.CO.UK - British site now open

Worth mentioning that the UK site for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie is now open, and is radically different to the US site. Check it out at http://www.hitchhikersmovie.co.uk/.

How many secrets can YOU find? I found about a dozen so far...

KAKAPOS - Easter eggs for world's largest parrot

More on this season's successful Kakapo breedings at Birdlife International, and it could all be because of assistance with their diet. The Kakapo Recovery team has been supplementing the Kakapo's diet with walnuts and pine conelets, and it seems to have had a very positive effect.

Good Kakapo breeding years (the last occurred in 2002) coincide with heavy crops of the native rimu fruit. 2005 hasn't been a particularly good rimu year, but supplementary feeding of walnuts and pine conelets has been carried out by the Kakapo Recovery Team.

"We are, as yet, uncertain what sparked breeding this year, but if in fact it was the green supplementary foods, then this will represent an important break-through," commented DOC Kakapo conservationist Don Merton.

NEWS - Threatened species concentrated in fraction of Earth's surface

This report from last month's Guardian Unlimited explains how...

Seventy-five per cent of the most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians live in an area covering just 2.3% of the Earth's surface, and roughly half of all flowering plant species and 42% of land-based vertebrates exist in 34 "hotspots", a four-year study by 400 scientists has found.
[...]
The Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands hotspot was found to have very high concentrations of plant and vertebrate families that are found nowhere else on Earth. "We now know that by concentrating on the hotspots, we are not only protecting species, but deep lineages of evolutionary history.

MAURITIUS - Tropical storm Hennie to strike March 24th

From Reuters Foundation AlertNet, we have this report on Tropical Storm Hennie, (possibly upgraded to a cyclone).

Tropical storm Hennie is forecast to strike Mauritius at about 12:00 GMT on 24 March. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 19.6 S, 57.6 E. Hennie is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 101 km/hr (63 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher.

The yachting race Oryx Quest is taking place in the area, and the crews are keeping a serious eye on the current situation. This report from Yachting World...

Tropical storm Hennie has been upgraded to Cyclone Hennie and the storm is on a collision course with the boat. At present the eye of the storm is located 330 miles north north-east of the island of Mauritius which also happens to be a required turning mark of the course.

Mauritius is the home of the Pink Pigeon and Mauritius Kestrel of course. The island of Rodrigues is not too far away, and the population of Rodrigues Fruit Bats have long been thought to be under threat if a really big storm were to wipe out their habitat.

KAKAPOS - Interview With Paul Jansen

Here's a page over at Talk Wildlife featuring an interview with Paul Jansen, team leader of The Kakapo Recovery Programme.

Not sure how old the interview is, but it discusses plans for the project beyond 2005, and has some nice pictures of Kakapo chicks.

In up-to-date news, the excitement continues to mount in the programme after the three kakapo chicks hatched last weekend, with more predicted soon.

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS - ORTPN to Organise Gorilla Naming Ceremony

From a press release at allAfrica.com:

ORTPN (The Rwanda National Office for tourism) is to organise a Gorillas naming function in May this year.
[..]
"We would also like to take this opportunity to launch this event and make it an annual event. We want to sensitise the public in general, about the mountain gorillas and their preservation, and we specifically intend to seek for the involvement of the business and leadership community into the conservation action of the gorillas," a release from the tourism office says.

BAIJI DOLPHINS - Asian river dolphins 'threatened'

This report from BBC News covers the plight of river dolphins right across Asia. It does say "13 in the Yangtze", but who knows for sure...?

Asia's river dolphins are in danger of extinction because of the damming of rivers and declining water quality, says global conservation body the WWF.
[...]
The WWF's warning comes as part of the build-up to the United Nations International Decade of Water for Life, which is to be launched on Tuesday.

KAKAPOS - Three chicks and counting

Wonderful news from New Zealand's Scoop. Three Kakapo Parrot chicks hatched over the weekend, bringing the total number of Kakapos back up to 86, the number we had before 3 died of an bacterial infection in 2004.

The number of critically endangered kakapo in the world has increased by three, Conservation Minister Chris Carter announced today.

"I have been informed this morning by the National Kakapo Recovery Team on Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) that three kakapo chicks hatched during the weekend," Mr Carter said.
[...]
"We are poised on the brink of the largest kakapo population in 25 years because at least four more chicks are expected from the 25 eggs laid this breeding season.

Do keep an eye on The Kakapo Recovery Programme's 2005 Nesting Calendar which has a permanent link on the Sticky Posts section (see right).

EVENTS - Run For A Rhino

Please visit Save the Rhino International to find out how you can support the Rhinos by running in various Marathons around the world, from London, Edinburgh, New York, the Sahara Desert and more!

HITCHHIKERSMOVIE.COM - Official site update

Worth mentioning that the official site for the upcoming movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy has just had a big overhaul. Loads of new information and downloads available.

Glad to be of service...

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS - An acrobat appears in the forest

Another personal story of a trip to see the Mountain Gorillas, this one on Vail Daily News.

We hadn't walked more than 50 feet when I first saw a mountain gorilla. It was a baby, about 4 months old. It looked like a small child in the forest.

As we got closer there was a female, then another baby, then a large male. We were as close a 7 feet from the baby and 10 feet from the adults. The vegetation being as dense as it was made photography challenging.

The baby began to climb a small tree directly in front of us. He played and swung around till he slipped. Then he grabbed a vine above him and began an acrobatic routine that cracked us up. Swinging and hanging upside down.

TRAVEL - Taking in the Ocean Deep Of Mauritius

Here's a travelogue from Mauritius from The Star Online.

If you want to dive into the sea but don’t want to get wet, here's how: head for Mauritius, the only place in the Indian Ocean where you can get an underwater cruise on board a submarine, as RENA GOEP discovers.
[...]
The Mauritians made sure we saw as much as possible of their island, taking us from the south to the east and north, onto the central plateau, then west and finally back to the south.

The itinerary included a boat ride with Pierre De Boucherville Baissac, PR & Ecotourism manager, to Ile Aux Aigrettes, a 26ha islet off the southeast coast.

Declared a nature reserve in 1965, the islet is now home to the pink pigeon and other rare birds, endemic plants that can't be found anywhere else in the world and the coastal ebony forest, the natural habitat of the now extinct Dodo bird.

MARK CARWARDINE - Website Update

Mark Carwardine .com has had a nice makeover. Do head on over to find out more about his travels, writing and exploits.

Some lovely desktop backgrounds, and lots of useful information.

KOMODO DRAGONS - London Zoo Update

In this report from Wood and Vale 24 we have news that the Komodo Dragon enclosure is going to be modified, and that a hunt is on for a new female companion for Raja.

Komodo dragons, storks and ostriches can all live happily in London Zoo after Westminster Council approved changes to the Komodo Dragon Building opened last summer.
[...]
Last Thursday the council's planning applications sub-committee granted the green roof retrospective approval on condition that zoo staff regularly water it to prevent the grass from drying out.

Raja, the male Komodo dragon who has been living in the enclosure alone since last July, could soon be breathing a fiery sigh of relief, as plans are underway to find him a female companion.

You may remember that Raja's previous companion Nina died in a fall last year.

And here's the original post on the "eco-roof".

KAKAPOS - Nesting Calendar 2005

The Kakapo Recovery Programme website has recently been updated with a 2005 Nesting Calendar where we can keep track of the flurry of activity currently taking place, including projected hatching dates.

After a lapse of three years kakapo on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island have begun to breed again... Signs found at male track and bowl systems indicate that since early February up to 14 matings, involving 9 females have taken place. Ten nests have been found so far, and at least 26 eggs have been laid. We know at least four, perhaps five eggs are fertile and are developing - and we have yet to check the ten most recently found eggs. Further nests are expected in the next week or two!

BAIJI DOLPHINS - In Search Of The Baiji

Here's a 1995 report on a trip to China to see the Baiji Dolphin, including the reports on the death of Qi Qi.

As we reported earlier this week, Mark Carwardine said at the Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture that the Baiji is now likely to be extinct.

KAKAPOS - Pearl flies home to Codfish Island

News from STUFF - New Zealand about Pearl the Kakapo...

A three-year-old female kakapo will have her own seat on a commercial flight back to Codfish Island today after being hospitalised at Massey University for the past seven months.

Pearl flies to Invercargill in her own seat, then will be helicoptered to her home off Stewart Island and returned to the wild.

Pearl, one of 83 kakapo left in the world, was flown to the university's vet clinic last year after an abscess was found on her bottom, Massey vet Brett Gartrell said.

"This is the first time a kakapo has been hospitalised for any length of time. She spent a month in a pen on the island, but she wasn't getting any better, so she was brought up here. We never thought she would stay in this long.

Full Story

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH - BBC Archive

The BBC's "Attenborough Archive" features a number of great video clips, including the famous sequence from "Life On Earth" featuring David's encounter with the Mountain Gorillas.

Life On Earth is available on DVD in the UK (Region 2), but unfortunately not in the USA - you'd need a region free DVD player to play the UK version.

David Attenborough's Zoo Quest For A Dragon is a lovely audio book about his early trip to Komodo.

MOUNTAIN GORILLAS - Desperate plight of the great apes.

This ABC News Online Report discusses the plight of both the Mountain Gorilla and Orangutan.

Once an adviser to the film [Gorillas in the Mist], Ian Redmond is the United Nations' consultant on the push to save the great apes.
[...]
[He] says in Rwanda and the Congo, an increasing threat to gorilla habitat is the unregulated mining of coltan, an ore which produces titanium for our mobile phones and computers.

'It's that world market for computers and PlayStations and that sort of thing which has led to, we fear, something like 70 per cent or 80 per cent of the eastern lowland gorilla population gone,' he said.

EVENT - 29th March 2005 - Meet Mountain Gorilla Researchers

From this month's Dian Fossey newsletter...

Meet Dr. Fawcett from Karisoke on the 29th March! — You and your friends are invited to a free DFGFI special event at Zoo Atlanta in Georgia on March 29, 2005. Meet Dr. Katie Fawcett, Director of the Karisoke Research Center, and hear the inside stories of the mountain gorillas. Free lecture, but reservations required. There are also upcoming events with DFGFI staff in Washington D.C., Phoenix, and Seattle.

BAIJI DOLPHIN BELIEVED EXTINCT - Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture Reports

News over on Planet Magrathea (March 11th entry), with a short report from Jonjo, which I've humbly reproduced here (thanks Jonjo and MJ)...

Zoologist Mark Carwardine was on good form and gave a fantastic talk, filling us in on how the animals featured in Last Chance to See are surviving. Sad news is that the Yangtze River Dolphin is now believed to be extinct. He also read some extracts from the book he co-wrote with Douglas and went into detail on why they never managed to get the book published on time.

In the post-lecture auction, regular "Another Chance To See" visitor and contributor Dave Haddock won the Z88 laptop, as used by Douglas Adams to write "Last Chance To See". Dave's first report on the lecture is in discussion over at the Douglas Adams Continuum Forums.

There was also lots of memorabilia from the upcoming "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" movie in the auction.

It seems the lecture was taped from the wings, so hopefully it will turn up on the internet eventually.

3rd DOUGLAS ADAMS MEMORIAL LECTURE - FEEDBACK REQUEST

If you attend the 3rd Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture, then, lucky lucky you - wish I could have! Please post your thoughts on the evening into the comments...

I'm sure Mark Carwardine will make it a memorable event. And if Mark happens to read this post, then er.... HELLO!

BAIJI DOLPHINS - Preservation of Yangtze River ecosystem "critical"

In this report from the People's Daily Online...

An advisor to the Chinese government stressed Wednesday that it was a critical task to control soil erosion and improve the ecosystem along the Yangtze River, the country's longest waterway.
[...]
"In 2003, an average 30,000 tons of sewage was poured into the river every minute,"
[...]
Ecological deterioration has endangered many aquatic animals, including the Chinese sturgeons and white-flag dolphins, the world's rarest dolphin, according to the survey.

30,000 tons of sewage EVERY MINUTE? That is quite staggering.

DOUGLAS ADAMS MEMORIAL LECTURE - March 10th

FINAL REMINDER! The 3rd Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture takes place on Thursday March 10th, 2005. The lecture is entitled "LAST CHANCE TO SEE…JUST A BIT MORE", and will be given by book co-author Mark Carwardine.

All proceeds will be split between the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Save The Rhino, Douglas Adams' favourite charities. The Douglas Adams Continuum tells us that there will be an auction afterwards, and on offer is a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide signed by the new movie's cast, a script from the new radio series, tickets to the movie premiere, and other bits and bobs like an enamel Marvin The Paranoid Android badge.

REVIEW - German review of Last Chance To See

This German review of "Last Chance To See" has sent a few visitors through to my site, and it's worth checking out even by non-German speakers, if only for the nice line drawing of a baiji, as drawn by Douglas Adams himself in 1993. The drawing is near the bottom on the right-hand side.

HISTORY - 1991 article from The Times

On February 19th, 1991, The Times newspaper published this article, entitled "War's other victims", in which a possible follow-up to "Last Chance To See" was discussed...

Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, plans to visit Gulf war battlefields once the artillery falls silent to
gather material for a book about the plight of wildlife in war zones
around the world.

He and his co-author, Mark Carwardine, had the idea long before the invasion of Kuwait. They have already researched the plight of animals in Afghanistan, Uganda, Nicaragua and Vietnam. "In south-east Asia we were particularly interested in the kouprey, a species of wild ox on the borders of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which has been devastated by minefields," says Adams. "No-one has seen one for some time, and there are fears that it may be extinct."

There are no such fears, as yet, for wildlife in the desert around Kuwait, but Adams and Carwardine are concerned about the long-term effects of the Iraqi-inspire oil spillages in the northern Gulf on fish and bird life.

Thanks to David for this story

KAKAPO PARROTS - Breeding Season Update

Scoop has this update on the current breeding season, which we've covered in a few recent posts. The article describes the team's hopes and plans for the future...

With the kakapo breeding season now in full flight, the Department of Conservation is looking ahead to do more research into improving breeding success.
[...]
It is appropriate now to set in place new directions and goals for the next decade (2006-2016). The review team's report, due in June this year, will serve as a basis for the new plan.

Among new areas of kakapo research are work on improving genetic diversity within the 83-strong kakapo population and the relationship between rimu fruiting and triggering of breeding behaviour.

KAKAPO PARROTS - MP3 Douglas Adams lecture

Courtesy of a link found on the Douglas Adams Continuum, here's an 15-20 minute MP3 file (or RealMedia), part of Douglas Adams' Last Chance To See themed lecture. The file is hosted on Steffen's Fun Stuff page.

Jan has kindly added some information to this in the comments, which helped me link to the Fun Stuff page. Thanks Jan.

NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS - Inseminating elephant takes 2 Germans, an ultrasound and a very long wait

This article from SeattlePI.com discusses Woodland Park Zoo's artificial insemination programme, in relation to elephant and Northern White Rhino.

The basics of artificial insemination may be routine, but a glance into the elephant house at the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday evening should have been enough to convince anyone that this super-sized branch of animal husbandry poses some uniquely huge problems.
[...]
Last night in the elephant house, a scaffold was erected at the business end of Chai so Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, from the Berlin Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research, had easy access. Hildebrandt was covered in plastic protective gear and sporting a bike helmet he had equipped with ultrasound imaging goggles.
[...]
"Reproduction technology is increasingly important for saving species," said Hildebrandt. He and his colleagues apply their skills to many animals, such as the critically endangered Northern White Rhino.

These are the same German scientists who successfully impregnated Lulu, the Northern White Rhino at Budapest Zoo. [Related Archive Post]

Dr Hermes of the Berlin Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research tells me that, to the best of his knowledge, Lulu's pregnancy is progressing normally, and she's due to deliver her baby in August 2005. Enough time to knit some rhino-sized baby-booties...

I'm trying to get in contact with someone at Budapest Zoo who'll be better able to update us on Lulu's progress, but I don't speak Hungarian.

This zoo page has a picture of Lulu, and presumably is talking about her pregnancy, but your guess is as good as mine. I've not found a working online translator for Hungarian to English.

EVENT - Rhino Survival Challenge

Friday 13 – Sunday 15 May 2005

At a secret location in the Herefordshire countryside...
The rhinos are surviving – can you?

You will be exposed to a series of physical and cerebral challenges, which will hone your powers of communication, enhance your team-working skills and test your capacity to survive the elements.

• Your team of five people will arrive at the secret destination at lunchtime on Friday 13 May, and be given instructions, which you’ll have to decode in order to find equipment for your shelter for the weekend
• On hand to help will be a team of experienced ex-SAS instructors, who are experts at survival in the field

Find out more at
Save the Rhino International - Rhino Survival Challenge

MAGAZINE - Travel Africa

The Winter 2004/2005 edition of Travel Africa (with a Mountain Gorilla on the cover), currently on sale (I bought my copy in Borders, Philadelphia) features an article on the current desperate plight of the Northern White Rhino. Every article in the issue finishes with a White Rhino footprint.