RID - 3292 ROTARACT CLUB OF KATHMANDU MID-TOWN

Snow Leopard:

Snow Leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. In Nepal, their habitat area is of about 30000 sq. KM and their population is estimated to be around 300-500. Apart from Nepal, the snow leopard is currently restricted to Asia in Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and possibly also to Myanmar.

In 1972, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) placed the snow leopard on its Red List of Threatened Species as globally “endangered”; the same threat category was applied in the assessment conducted in 2008.

The diet of the snow leopard varies across its range and with the time of year, and depends on prey availability. In the Himalayas, it preys mostly on bharals (Himalayan blue sheep). Smaller prey consists of woolly hares, various rodents, and birds such as the snow cock. 

In Nepal, they are found in the following national parks and conservation areas:

• Sagarmatha National Park (a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site)

• Shey-Phoksundo National Park

• Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve

• Annapurna Conservation Area

Conservation: Major threats to the snow leopard include prey base depletion, illegal trade, conflict with local people and lack of conservation capacity, policy and awareness. In Nepal’s Himalayan region, reduction of natural prey due to competition with livestock, killing of snow leopards in retribution for livestock depredation, lack of trans-boundary cooperation, and human population growth or poverty are one of the major reasons for the declining population of snow leopards.

The following measures can be adopted for the conservation of snow leopard in Nepal and its surrounding Himalayan regions:

• Grazing management and livestock husbandry: promote livestock grazing practices that reduce impacts on native wildlife; promote husbandry practices which reduce livestock vulnerability to snow leopard predation and improve efficiency and yield

• Financial incentives for communities to conserve snow leopards; including wildlife-based ecotourism (e.g., snow leopard treks)

• Improve conservation education and awareness among the local communities

• Strengthen national legislation and conservation policies by filling gaps in range state legislation to prohibit the hunting, killing, possession, sale and trade of snow leopards

• Strengthen law enforcement capacity by tightening controls along known trade routes; establish anti-poaching teams to detect and deter illegal killing

• Strengthen international cooperation to enforce trade bans through adherence to CITES resolutions

References:

- http://en.wikipedia.org

- IUCN Red List (http://www.iucnredlist.org)

- http://www.fanpop.com

Rotaract Club of Kathmandu Mid-Town – RID 3292, NEPAL

RID - 4190 ROTARACT CLUB OF VERACRUZ PUERTO

MASCOTARACT

Is an activity developed and created proudly by Rotaract Club of Veracruz Puerto's members in 2008. Nowadays the club has developed 5 successful events.

Objectives:
• Mascotaract's main goal is promote love and care for animals through right information and adoption.

• To encourage pet barn campaign (dogs and cats) to reduce the number of homeless animals.

• To raise funds for projects that requires our help and/or participation.

How is this accomplished?

Through activities that encourge the interaction between human being and pet and information diffusion too.

Rotaract Club of Veracruz Puerto – RID 4190, MEXICO

RID - 2450 ROTARACT GEZIRA SPORTING CLUB

Hippo:

Just 10 years ago, Hippos were widely believed to be extinct in Egypt, and although scientists have proved that this animal still exists outside of the Giza Zoo Egypt, its small population remains threatened.

Threats: The animal once resided across North Africa’s mountainous areas. It used to cover nearly all of Egypt except Sinai, but since the mid-1900s their habitat has been confined mainly to the southwest near the Libyan border and the southeast near the Sudanese border.  Their greatest threat is hunting and poaching – from locals, Libyans who cross the border, and Egyptian soldiers in the area. Aside from hunters and poachers, years with low rainfall in Africa can also harm the population as they rely on for food that becomes even sparser, according to wildlife.

Habitat: Hippos can survive for long periods without fresh water and negotiate rocky terrain that is difficult for humans. They live from 40 to 50 years.  

“They do live in very remote areas, especially the ones in the Western Desert. They are difficult places to visit with permits and logistics like water very far from anywhere and that is why they do exist there because it is difficult for people to get there.”

Opinions of professionals to protect hippos:

• We would start with a business proposal about how their population could be made sustainable adding that the plan would likely involve building housing and hiring biologists to help capture and breed the hippos in some sort of reserve.

• Laws can also be promulgated to forbid their killing.

Rotaract Gezira Sporting Club – RID 2450, EGYPT

RID - 2440 ROTARACT CLUB OF BOSTANLI

Van Cat:

When we talk about cats in Turkey, firstly Van cats come to mind as one of the breeds. They have taken their name Van Cat from a city called “Van” in Turkey. The Van cat is considered a rare breed, one of the most beautiful and certainly the most unusual breeds of a cat ever known.

Distinguishing Characteristics: This breed of cats has lean and long-legged appearance. One of the characteristics of Van cats is the colour of their eyes. They are classified under three groups according to the colour of their eyes:

• Both eyes blue

• Both eyes amber colour

• One eye blue and the other amber

Largely, the new-borned Van cats have 10-12 cm body lenght and adults reach up to 30-40 cm. They all mention as sympathic, warm and friendly cats. The distinctive feature that separates it from other cats is swimming. They all love water and swimming. It is a great pleasure for them.

Conservation: Van cat is a natural breed of cats and can still be found in eastern Turkey, near Lake Van, although their numbers have decreased. Unfortunately, they are under threat of extinction for fifteen years. However, as required care has not been shown so far, they face loss of the species. The number of them has been decreasing day by day and the original breeds have been lost. There are many reasons for this.

How to help them / How to conserve?

Firstly, measures need to be taken to protect the natural habitat. The destruction of threatened animals’ habitats shoul be illegal. This would protect animals and the environments they live in. Another solution is to promote education about endangered species to be aware of the problem. We should create more national parks and alternative conservation areas. This would allow animals to live and breed safely in their natural habitats.

Mating with other species especially with stray cats creates a big problem by causing changes in this breed. At the same time, urbanization and economic problems of people affect negatively to the generations of Van cats. All these factors led to defect breed and genetic of these cats. The first step, to protect disappearing of these cats, came from a university in Van. They built “Research Center of Van Cats” in 1992 to find the solutions of health problems and make scientific researches. There are approximately 400 cats registered in this institute and it have been expected that 80 number of families feed Van cats outside the city.

For protecting them it is essential, to prevent hybridization and not to let them moving away from their natural habitat. As a result, their numbers would increase and species would not die out. It is necessary to continue with our efforts to save them from becoming extinct.

Rotaract Club of Bostanli – RID 2440, TURKEY

RID - 3140 ROTARACT CLUB OF DOMBIVLI

Green Peacock:
The Peacock is considered as the national bird of India. However, the studies and statistics show how less importance has been given to these national birds. To be specific let’s talk about Green Peacock also known as Green Peafowl.

Name Origin: Green peafowl (Pavo muticus from Latin pavo meaning "peafowl" and muticus meaning "mute, docked or curtailed") is a large galliform bird that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is also known as the java peafowl, but this term is properly used to describe the nominate subspecies endemic to the island of Java. It is the closest relative of the Indian peafowl or blue peafowl (Pavo cristatus), which is mostly found on the Indian sub-continent.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Unlike the related Indian peafowl, the sexes of green peafowl are quite similar in appearance, especially in the field. Both sexes have long upper tail coverts which cover the actual tail underneath. In the male this extends up to two meters decorated with eyespots while in the female the coverts are green and much shorter just covering the tail. Outside the breeding season, however, the male’s train is moulted and it can be difficult to distinguish the sexes unless they are observed up close. The neck and breast feathers of both sexes are iridescent green are scaly in appearance. In the male, the scapulars, median and greater wing coverts are blue while the lesser coverts are green and form a triangle on the shoulder when the wing is closed. Green peafowl are large birds, amongst the largest living galliforms in terms of overall size, though rather lighter-bodied than the wild turkey and perhaps the longest extant, wild bird in total length.

Distribution and Habitat: Green peafowl was widely distributed in Southeast Asia in the past from eastern and north-eastern India, northern Myanmar and southern China, extending through Laos and Thailand into Vietnam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia and the islands of Java. Records from northeastern India have been questioned and old records are possibly of feral birds. The ranges have reduced with habitat destruction and hunting. Green peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs. They usually spend time on or near the ground in tall grasses and sedges. The diet consists mainly of fruits, invertebrates, reptiles and other small animals. As with the other member of its genus, the green peafowl can even hunt venomous snakes. Ticks and termites, flower petals, buds leaves and berries are favorite foods of adult peafowl. Frogs and other aquatic small animals probably make up the bulk of the diet of growing birds.

Status: Due to hunting and a reduction in extent and quality of habitat, green peafowl is evaluated asendangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES. The world population has declined rapidly and the species no longer occurs in many areas of its past distribution specifically India. The last strongholds for the species are in protected areas such as Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand, Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam and Baluran National Park in Java in Indonesia. The population in the wild was estimated to be about 5000 to 10000 individuals around 1995. Although there is no natural range overlap with the Indian peafowl, hybridisation with the Indian peafowl is still a threat. The two species produce fertile hybrids and feral Indian peafowl may hybridize with wild green peafowl. In captivity hybrids are called spaulding peafowl and are used by breeders to create different breeds. Through back-crossing some hybrids become almost indistinguishable from pure green peafowl. Because some aviculturists refer to all races as java peafowl, the sub-species of green peafowl are also mixed in captivity.

Conservation: Green peafowl populations are found in many of the protected areas across the range and wide-ranging public education programmes have been held throughout China and Laos. Distribution and status surveys are necessary to establish the effects of habitat fragmentation and education programmes such as those in China and Laos should be extended into Burma and Cambodia. More protected areas would also be beneficial, but it is important to ensure that hunting bans are enforced in these areas.

If not now then never we will be able to save our national bird. Let’s create awareness of extinction of Green Peafowl and work towards raising their number high back in India!

References:

- http://en.wikipedia.org

- IUCN Red List (http://www.iucnredlist.org)

- http://www.birdlife.org

- CITES (http://www.cites.org)

- Pheasants and peafowl (http://www.gbwf.org)

- BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.

Rotaract Club of Dombivli – RID 3140, INDIA