This paper describes the distribution, population size and conservation needs of the land snail Gulella taitensis (Gastropoda: Streptaxidae) endemic to the Taita Hills, Kenya. The species was investigated using timed searches between July and December 2000. In total 37 snails were recorded from only five of nine forest fragments searched. The snail was generally more abundant in the smaller forest fragments. The species appears to be a forest specialist, exhibiting preference for the least disturbed sections of forest. The small population size, restricted distribution and concentration in the smallest and most fragile forest fragments suggests the species is on the brink of extinction. The species fulfills the requirements for changing its conservation status from Endangered to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Promotion of the Forest Reserves to a conservation category that provides greater legal protection is necessary.

Living plant collections play a crucial role in ex situ conservation, but their conservation value hinges on assessment of their composition, data quality and on strategic planning for optimization of the collection that takes into account species diversity, conservation status and allocation of resources. Cactaceae is one of the most threatened plant families globally and has a broad distribution in Brazil, with two of the seven centres of diversity for this group and a total of 276 known species. Climate change could escalate the threat to cacti, potentially placing 90% of species at risk by 2050. We conducted a case study of Cactaceae in the living Cactarium collection of the Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden, evaluating the diversity of the collection and recommending strategic actions to enhance its conservation value. In 2022, we inventoried all specimens in the collection and cross-referenced them with the institutional specimen registry system, Jabot. The collection contains 156 cacti species that naturally occur in Brazil (57% of the total), including 43 species categorized as threatened on the Brazilian Red List and 57 categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List. We recommend research to map cacti species that are threatened but not covered by in situ conservation in the country, list the priority species for acquisition by the collection, and make recommendations that will facilitate improved contribution of the Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden to the conservation of the Brazilian flora.

To execute environmental education effectively, the success and impacts of educational activities must be assessed. In areas of high biodiversity there is generally a lack of evaluation of the impact of environmental education. In this study we investigate the effect of a one-time classroom activity on student knowledge of local environmental issues, environmental attitudes and aspirations. The project was conducted on the island of Maio, Cabo Verde, a small, highly biodiverse island, as part of a classroom visit programme with the local environmental organization, Maio Biodiversity Foundation. We visited every fourth-grade class (i.e. students with an age range of 9–10 years) on the island (a total of 142 students) and delivered a half-day classroom activity. The results show that this activity did not influence environmental attitudes; however, it did significantly improve student knowledge and awareness of local environmental issues. This study shows that environmental education should not be assumed to improve attitudes and knowledge but requires individual evaluation for each type of activity. For environmental education to reach its full potential, activities should be planned in response to evaluation results.

Project Tiger was launched by the World Wildlife Fund in 1972. The author, who was closely involved in the project, examines the progress ten years later.

When I first visited Ruaneliya Estate in the Bingiriya area, 75 miles from the heart of the city of Colombo, 200 of its 1,200 acres were under coconuts, the rest was jungle. In spite of occasional raids by elephants, the coconuts did well; but as surrounding areas were opened up, the elephants became isolated in Ruaneliya and the surrounding jungles and their visits to the coconut plantation became more and more frequent.

Pangolins are some of the most overexploited but least studied mammals. The giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea is the largest of the eight pangolin species, measuring up to 180 cm in length and weighing up to 40 kg. It is a nocturnal, solitary species that occurs at low densities and little is known regarding its biology and ecology. It is distributed widely across the rainforests and forest savannah mosaics of equatorial Africa but its exact range extent is unknown. Apart from a single record in Kenya predating 1971, the eastern limit of its range was thought only to extend to central Uganda and western Tanzania. Here we present three spatially separate records confirming the presence of this species in Kenyan Afromontane forests. The three records are c. 120 km apart and c. 500 km east of the nearest confirmed giant pangolin population in Uganda. These records represent a significant range extension for the species and highlight the biodiversity and conservation importance of the Afromontane forests of western Kenya.

We used citizen science and inexpensive methodology to assess the distribution of the jungle cat Felis chaus, a relatively common species in Sri Lanka but the least studied of the four wild cat species occurring in the country. We obtained three types of records of the jungle cat: geo-referenced photographs of the species from the public; sightings obtained from print and social media, and provided via an online sighting form; and sightings by field biologists. We combined the 112 unique records obtained in this way with the 21 records from the 2012 National Red List distribution map of the species, and used MaxEnt to predict habitat suitability for the species. The new sightings were primarily in drier regions, expanding the known extent of occurrence for this species in Sri Lanka. Of the new sightings, 7.1% were road kills. Distance to nearest riverine forest, annual precipitation and distance to the nearest reservoir were the most important variables explaining habitat suitability. These findings validate our hypotheses that the species is more widespread than demonstrated previously and also ranges in human-dominated landscapes outside protected areas. Our study provides a model for how ecological and behavioural information for common species can be obtained inexpensively and incorporated into species distribution models. Studies of species such as the jungle cat, which are neither threatened nor charismatic, will help ensure that we keep common species common.

In this study we provide the first comprehensive camera-trap assessment of terrestrial mammals in the Yangambi landscape, comprising the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve and a logging concession in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The terrestrial mammal community in this area exhibits lower occupancy and species richness compared to other conservation areas in the Congo Basin. The community is dominated by four species: Emin's pouched rat Cricetomys emini (1.3 kg), African brush-tailed porcupine Atherurus africanus (2.8 kg), blue duiker Philantomba monticola (5 kg) and bay duiker Cephalophus dorsalis (12 kg), which are known to be highly resilient. Large ungulates and medium-sized carnivores have particularly low abundances. Our study also confirmed the presence of four species categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List: the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes, giant ground pangolin Smutsia gigantea, black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla and white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis. Our findings highlight the need to consider wildlife conservation at the landscape level, including the logging concession, where species showed higher occupancy levels compared to the Biosphere Reserve, and highlighting the need for planning infrastructure construction and developing mitigation schemes, reducing forest degradation from logging and developing permanent cash crop agriculture. Landscape-level conservation will only be possible if a collaborative management model steered by local communities is developed with the participation of all constituencies.

Experiments in domesticating fringe-eared oryx on a Kenya ranch suggest they could be an economic proposition in semi-arid areas, where domestic cattle can only be kept for a few months each year. Oryx have also proved superior to eland, at one time believed to be the most promising wild ungulate for domestication, largely because they feed by day, whereas in this climate eland feed at night, a time when domesticated animals have to be penned to protect them from predators, notably lions.

After my report was in print I received Bulletin No. 6 of the Commission de la Chasse en Montagne dated the 21st July, 1952. This bulletin contains a very interesting section on the game of Greece and, in particular, a report by M. Georges Livas on the Cretan wild goat and the goats on the island of Ghyaros (Ghiura), in the Northern Sporades, and on the island of Antimilos.

Cordeauxia edulis (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), commonly called yeheb, is a small tree/shrub species endemic to Ethiopia and Somalia. The tree produces nuts that are consumed as a staple food by pastoralists and are sold in local markets. Recent reports indicate that C. edulis has vanished from many locations where it was noted by earlier travellers and, as a result, it is currently categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. To assess the current status of the species we studied it around 10 villages in Boh district in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, where the only known remnant stands of C. edulis in Ethiopia are found. The results show that these populations of C. edulis are declining and natural regeneration is negligible. We recommend that yeheb should be categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on criteria A1d, because we estimate that there has been at least a 70% reduction in population size from overexploitation. The major constraints to natural regeneration and imbalance in the population structure are over-harvesting of immature nuts, excessive browsing of shoots and leaves by livestock and excessive cutting of wood for fuel and construction. We recommend that conservation measures for the species focus on sustainable harvesting of mature nuts, raising awareness among local people, preservation and monitoring of remnant populations and introduction of the species in ecologically suitable sites.

Scientists and conservationists in five circumpolar countries are collaborating in a programme of research on the polar bear so that management plans can be evolved to ensure the survival of this endangered ‘Red Book’ animal. The author, who is an ecologist in the Institutt for Matin Biologi in Oslo University, describes the work he has been doing on Svalbard (Spitsbergen).

Little is known about the Endangered Grevy's zebra Equus grevyi in far northern Kenya, where the species exists in small, isolated populations at the periphery of its range. Understanding the threats facing this species is a prerequisite for effective conservation planning but its rarity makes obtaining accurate information challenging. We set out to establish the current status of, and attitudes towards, Grevy's zebra in northern Kenya using local knowledge as the primary source of information. Pastoralists perceived Grevy's zebra to be in decline as a result of drought, lack of pasture and water, and hunting for consumptive use. There was also evidence of competition with livestock. Attitudes towards Grevy's zebra were predominantly positive, influenced by a range of perceived benefits of living alongside the species, and an absence of severe costs. Coupled with evidence of local conservation efforts in several locations, this is a positive starting point for community-based conservation.

Despite being protected under the law, illegal trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles is common in India, with different species being trafficked for different markets. Indian species of tortoises and hard-shell turtles are predominantly trafficked for the pet trade and soft-shell turtles for the meat trade. Given their distinct markets, the operation of trade may vary between these different groups of tortoises and freshwater turtles, thereby necessitating different types of interventions. However, a systematic examination of illegal trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles that takes into account the differences between these markets is currently lacking. Here we compare the supply networks of tortoises/hard-shell turtles (in demand for pet trade) vs soft-shell turtles (meat trade), using information from 78 and 64 seizures, respectively, that were reported in the media during 2013–2019. We used social network analysis to compare the two networks and the role of individual nodes (defined as locations at the district or city scale) within these networks. We found that the tortoise/hard-shell turtle network had a larger geographical scale, with more international trafficking links, than the soft-shell turtle network. We recorded convoluted smuggling routes in tortoise/hard-shell turtle trafficking, whereas soft-shell turtle trafficking was uni-directional from source to destination. Within both networks, we found that a few nodes played disproportionately important roles as key exporting, importing or transit nodes. Our study provides insights into the similarities and differences in the illegal supply networks of different groups of tortoises and freshwater turtles, in demand for different markets. We highlight the need for intervention strategies tailored to address the illegal trade in each of these groups.