Three Little Pigs Facing the Chop!

Three little pigs appear to be facing a future of bacon and sausages, after New Zealand's authorities demanded their removal from Stewart Island, fearing that the pigs may pose a threat to local wildlife, including the Kakapo Parrots. 3News.co.nz has the story.

Gavin Ferguson who brought the pigs to the island says he knew that feral pigs were banned on Stewart Island, but thought that domestic pigs were permitted - unaware that a bylaw had been passed last September that banned all types of pigs from the island.

Stewart Island is home to some of New Zealand's rarest native birds, including kiwi and kakapo. Authorities say that while they do not want to play the role of the big bad wolf, pigs pose too big a threat to wildlife.

Stephen Fry Reveals TV Series Show Breakdown

Stephen Fry has revealed on his Twitter feed what the probable running order may be for the Last Chance To See TV series.

With some of the animals probably already extinct (Northern White Rhino, Yangtze Dolphin), and others doing rather well (10,000 Juan Fernandez Fur Seals), the choice of locations for the TV series was something that the team thought long and hard about, including what new animals to introduce to the series. The Where In The World? section of this page has more on this decision process.

Here is the possible running order according to Stephen's Tweet, with the probable animals added by me...

1) Amazon (Amazonian Manatee etc)
2) Africa (Mountain Gorillas, Rhinos, Chimpanzees etc)
3) Madagascar (Aye-Aye Lemurs, Rodrigues Fruitbats etc)
4) New Zealand (Kakapo Parrots, possibly whales etc)
5) Indonesia (Komodo Dragons etc)
6) Bay of Cortes, Mexico (More whales? Not quite sure yet)

Lee the Kakapo Has Died

Sad news from 3News.co.nz this morning. Lee the Kakapo, who could have been as much as 100 years old, has died a day before he was due to be returned to his island sanctury. He was successfully treated for lead poisoning recently, and everything seemed to be going well for him.

[Lee] died suddenly at Auckland Zoo last night from a small tear in the side of his crop, the sac-like part of the digestive system where food is stored before it enters the stomach.
[...]
"While working to repair this injury, Lee's heart stopped twice, but we managed to resuscitate him," said senior vet Dr Richard Jakob-Hoff. "However, he went into cardiac arrest again at the end of the procedure, and this time we were unable to bring him back - the shock on his system just too great."

With Lee's death, there are now a total of 90 Kakapos alive in the world, including the six chicks that survive from 2008's breeding season.

Virunga in Crisis: Rebels Seize Mountain Gorilla Park

CNN are among many news agencies reporting that Congolese rebels have seized Virunga National Park, home of the Mountain Gorillas, and this has sent upwards of 50 park rangers fleeing into the forest, fearing for their lives. A truly dreadful development.

Congolese rebels seized a major military camp and a spacious gorilla park in a renewed bout of heavy fighting that sent thousands fleeing, according to the United Nations and park officials.
[...]
A park ranger described the takeover.

"When the rebels started approaching the park station we thought we were all going to be killed," said Park Ranger Bareke Sekibibi, 29, who spoke by cell phone from the forest earlier as he fled, according to the park statement.

A Virunga Park ranger in the Congo describes the fighting in this video, as mortars burst repeatedly in the background.

The new Gorilla.CD website will have ongoing updates from the area.

New Fundraiser - The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

I'm very pleased to begin our fourth annual AnotherChanceToSee.com fundraiser, and this time we'll be raising funds for The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, which helps to save endangered species around the world.

Gerald Durrell visited Madagascar in 1990 to start captive breeding programs with a number of animals such as the Aye-Aye Lemur. From this expedition came his final book The Aye-aye and I: A Rescue Mission in Madagascar. Since Aye-Aye's were the very first animal visited by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine for what would become the original Last Chance to See, I thought it would be nice to raise a few pennies for them, and I hope you can help, even just a little.

After sponsoring a Mountain Gorilla infant called Urwibutso for $50, raising £281 for Save The Rhino and then another $96 for Mountain Gorillas, I hope we're able to repeat this success for the The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure, and any amount will be welcome. If you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving will also add a 25% bonus donation in Gift Aid, but you're still able to donate to this fundraiser from anywhere in the world.

Many thanks for your anticipated support.

Lulu's Baby Doing Well. Hope for the Northern White Rhino?

Back in October 2007, we reported that Lulu, a Southern White Rhino at Budapest Zoo, was successfully inseminated from frozen sperm donated by Colchester Zoo's Simba.

Over the weekend, the Telegraph reported that, after a year long gestation period, the baby was born on Wednesday 22nd October, has been accepted by its mother Lulu, and is doing very well.

While the rhinos here are all Southern White Rhinos, the research team led by Dr Robert Hermes of the Leibniz Institute in Berlin, are optimistic that similar results could be obtained with the remaining Northern White Rhino in captivity.

Dr Hermes said...

"It enables us to bring new gene material from the wild to the rhino conservation breeding programme without having to transport the animals", said Dr Hermes. "In the future, reproduction experts can anaesthetise wild bulls, collect semen from them, and use the frozen sperm for breeding offspring in international zoos.

"This is a very important result for conservation efforts. The northern white rhino population, in particular, could benefit dramatically from this procedure as there are only three, possibly four individuals left in the wild and only eight individuals in zoos worldwide. Using this method, we hope to be able to sustain the dwindling populations of these highly endangered species."

The Budapest Zoo site has a picture of the birth taking place.

Mountain Gorillas: New Official Website of the Virunga National Park

The official website of the Virunga National Park, which documents the work being done to protect the Mountain Gorillas, has moved to a new a brand new site at www.gorilla.cd.

The top story on the site right now is the recent re-sighting of a Silverback Gorilla called Buhanga who was spotted by Rangers near a patrol post in the Gorilla Sector. This was the first sighting in over 1 year, and was captured in this fabulous video...

For more videos, head over to the Gorilla.cd YouTube Channel.

Also, check out these charming pictures of baby mountain gorillas Ndeze and Ndakasi, who were orphaned when their mothers were shot and killed in June and July 2007.