Part One of this survey of the three gorilla races—western lowland, eastern lowland and volcano—was published in the last Oryx (June 1978) and covered the western lowland gorillas. Eastern lowland and volcano are discussed below.

The two animals most seriously threatened by development in the Malay peninsula are the Sumatran rhinoceros and the seladang. The author, who has extensive knowledge of the peninsula, puts the rhinos at ten known individuals, with a probable total population of thirty, but many areas are still unexplored and information is far from complete. The seladang or Malayan gaur, the huge wild ox standing as high as six feet at the shoulder, is even more vulnerable than the rhino. Seladang unfortunately prefer habitats that are suitable for cultivation, and since the war some herds of thirty or more animals have completely disappeared. Two projected dams, which will destroy the greatest concentration of salt licks in Malaya, are a new and serious threat to the seladang.

The hog deer Axis porcinus formerly occurred in south-west China but has not been recorded there since 1965. To investigate the current status of the species in China, we conducted interviews, and transect and camera-trap surveys during October 2018–June 2020 to search for signs of hog deer across its historical range in the country. We interviewed 50 local inhabitants and surveyed 14 line transects in four counties of Lincang City, Yunnan Province. The camera traps were deployed in Nangunhe Nature Reserve (39.4 km of transects, 82 camera stations, 15,120 camera days) and Daxueshan Nature Reserve (41.1 km of transects, 68 camera stations, 13,554 camera days). We found no hog deer tracks and no hog deer were trapped by cameras. The floodplain grasslands preferred by hog deer along Nanting River have been transformed into agriculture plantations and human settlements. Our findings suggest that hog deer may have been extirpated from China, most likely as a result of habitat loss and overhunting. The conservation priorities for this species in China are the establishment of a protected area in the Nanting River watershed, restoration of habitat and reintroduction of individuals from range countries.

In wild life affairs all licensing systems, be they the licensing of hunting, capture, sale of trophies, or anything else, should have the primary purpose of conservation. Assuming that any trade at all in wild animals is justifiable the country concerned should decide the maximum number of animals of each kind which it can spare and may then charge as much as possible for each of them. The basic purpose is to limit the number shot or captured to that which the stock can stand.

The human race is setting itself some formidable problems by both increasing at an unprecedented rate and raising its living standards at an even faster rate. Have we the resources to feed, house, clothe, let alone provide leisure and culture, for all? What, for example, are the untapped food resources of the sea, of rivers and lakes, of wildlife? Nobody knows. The task of the International Biological Programme is to find the answers. Dr. Worthington, deputy director of the Nature Conservancy, and scientific director designate of the IBP, explains the task, and outlines the methods.

The Vulnerable bumphead parrotfish Bolbometopon muricatum, a highly prized fishery resource worldwide, has experienced population declines throughout its geographical range. There is limited knowledge of the distribution and abundance of, and threats to, this fish in Indian waters, particularly for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. To assess the species’ distribution and conservation status we conducted underwater surveys across 75 sites around 51 islands and interviewed 99 fishers across the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. We recorded a total of 59 individual B. muricatum across nine sites from the northernmost island in the Andamans (Landfall Island) to the southernmost island in the Nicobars (Great Nicobar Island). Interviews revealed that most fishers (100% in Nicobar, 94% in Middle Andaman, 62% in South Andaman) had seen B. muricatum, and knowledge of the species is highest amongst spearfishers. Generalized linear models indicated that presence of marine protected areas and high live coral cover influenced the abundance and distribution of B. muricatum. The species' density seems to be naturally low in the archipelago. We discuss our findings in the light of protecting rare and threatened species, and recommend strengthening the existing marine protected areas in these islands.