LATE NEWS - MBE for Carl Jones

Carl Jones, the man sent to close down the Mauritius Kestrel preservation project, and who failed miserably, was honoured with an MBE last year for his great work. This article at Durrell Wildlife site has more.

KOMODO DRAGON NEWS - Did dragons cause human extinction?

The BBC are amoung large numbers of sites reporting on the discovery of a new species of human, skeletons of which have been found in Indonesia. I mention it here, because all of the reports mention that this 'hobbit' species shared its island with huge lizards, including Komodo Dragons. How ironic it would be if Komodo Dragons had caused the extinction of a species of humans....

Here's the BBC Report

The three-foot (one-metre) tall species - dubbed "the Hobbit" - lived on Flores island until at least 12,000 years ago.
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Details of the sensational find are described in the journal Nature.

The discovery has been hailed as one of the most significant of its type in decades.
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...shared its island with a golden retriever-sized rat, giant tortoises and huge lizards - including Komodo dragons - and a pony-sized dwarf elephant called Stegodon which the "hobbits" probably hunted.

WHITE RHINO NEWS - Rhino Fund Uganda

Some good news for the White Rhino. Wolfgang H. Thome records that the Rhino Fund Uganda...

...recently reported that the fencing of the 18,000 acres sanctuary will soon be completed and that the holding bomas for the new rhinos are also nearing completion. The first rhinos are expected by late 2004 and the official opening of the sanctuary is expected by mid 2005, when the relocated rhinos have settled in and overcome the relocation stress.

You can find out more about the Rhino Fund Uganda at Save The Rhino and their own website, Rhino Fund Uganda.

In 1968 more than 100 Northern White Rhino lived in Uganda. The last rhino was seen in 1983. Today 41 Northern White Rhinos are known to exist in the entire world. The only wild population of 30 lives in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are about 11500 Southern White Rhinos living in Africa.

EVENTS - Festival Of Wildlife 2005

Mark Carwardine will be among many appearing at the Festival of Wildlife 2005, in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador from 2nd to 10th April 2005.

Join us for a unique series of talks, presentations, masterclasses and workshops from these renowned wildlife experts in one of the world's finest wildlife locations. The Galapagos Islands, off Ecuador's Pacific Coast, originated from undersea volcanic activity, six million years ago.
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Hear John Craven talk about wildlife journalism, and Jonathan and Angela Scott recount tales of their travels and photographic trips. Learn about underwater photography and marine wildlife from Mark Carwardine, join award winning television producer Christopher Ralling for tips on wildlife film-making and hear about the life and travels of Charles Darwin.

KAKAPO NEWS - New Zealand DoC losing battle to save rarest species

This report from the New Zealand Herald has the Department of Conservation losing their battle to save the rarest species in New Zealand, kakapos included of course.

The Department of Conservation is failing to stop the slide to extinction of more than half of New Zealand's rare plants and wildlife.

Data revealed for the first time in the department's annual report to Parliament show DoC is fighting a losing battle.
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Acutely threatened means at serious risk of imminent extinction and includes the kakapo, black stilt, takahe and orange-fronted parakeet.

PINK PIGEON - Gerald Durrell Photo Gallery

Quick link to a gallery of Pink Pigeon photographs.

Plus here's a report about Durrell Wildlife's work with the Pink Pigeon (PDF).

KAKAPO WEBSITE - Kiwi Conservation Club

The Kiwi Conservation Club has loads of good stuff about our old friend the Kakapo Parrot

If there was a 'Guiness Book of Bird Records' the kakapo would be a star! The Kakapo is the ...

They have a FULL LIST of ALL the Kakapo Names, and it is up-to-date, because it takes into account the three deaths in July 2004.

In 2001 there were 62 kakapo.
But over the 2001/2002 summer 24 kakapo chicks were born.
Then there were 86 kakapo!
Sadly in July 2004 three kakapo girls died.
So now there are 83.

Here's their page about Kakapo Booming.

And then test yourself on what you've learnt with their Kakapo Quiz.

You can learn more about some of the individual Kakapos at the Kakapo Recovery Programme.