Wildlife Alliance

Asiatic Bear Cub Rescue

Two Asiatic black bears were rescued from a suspected wildlife traders house in Kompong Seila district, Koh Kong province, Cambodia. The WRRT received a tip from an anonymous person on the wildlife hotline and arrived just in time. The trader keeping the cubs was attempting to trade them abroad illegally. Juvenile bears are frequently captured as they are easy to train and/or transport when they are young and small, and can easily be used once they are older for their bile and gallbladders, the ‘dancing bear’ pet trade, or as the main ingredient in bear paw soup. Wildlife Alliance staff and partners in the Cambodian government are rescuing bears like these from appalling conditions and ensuring that they receive humane care after they are freed from poachers or traders. The two cubs were being kept in tiny cardboard boxes before their rescue, but now they have excellent enclosures and a healthy diet. The bears are growing rapidly under trained care and humane surroundings at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center and are thriving in their new environment. The Asiatic Black Bear lives all across the Asian Continent. However, its numbers are declining due to poaching and habitat loss. It is listed as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Animals. See the Rescue Photos!

Big Oil, Big Business, Big Problem Amur tigers, threatened by poaching and wildlife trade, may face a new enemy in the Russian oil industry. Transneft, an oil and gas giant, is preparing the second stage of a massive pipeline construction project, currently slated to penetrate through the heart of Amur tiger habitat. The construction of a pipeline is no small matter. Transneft plans to build temporary and permanent roads, dig quarries for building materials, construct camps for workers, and cross rivers and streams. The construction works and further exploitation of Russia’s oil resources will undoubtedly have negative impacts on Amur tiger populations. Responding to this threat, Wildlife Alliance’s Russian partner, the Phoenix Fund on behalf of a number of ecological organizations in the Russian Far East have urged the pipeline designers and Transneft to minimize possible risks to flora and fauna. For more information please visit Phoenix Fund’s website to learn about their work protecting Russia’s environment from poorly managed oil and natural gas projects. More Info

Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team Attracts Foreign Interest Vietnamese forest and wildlife rangers visited Cambodia in April to learn from the experiences of Wildlife Alliance’s rangers through an exchange funded by the World Wildlife Fund and the Asian Development Bank and implemented by Wildlife Alliance’s Thai partner, PeunPa. The forest rangers came from two central Vietnamese provinces that are faced with an epidemic of wildlife poaching and illegal logging. During their weeklong study tour, officers from Vietnam’s Forest Protection Department visited rangers in Bokor National Park, visited the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, and exchanged insights with the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team. Like Cambodia, Vietnam is working to prevent wildlife poaching and trafficking, and struggling to protect forests from illegal loggers and forest fires. Cambodia’s Forestry Administration officers and military police, working under skilled management and training provided by Wildlife Alliance, can serve as a model for other agencies dedicated to protecting the region’s fragile ecosystems. The Vietnam-Cambodia exchange also offers future opportunities for international collaboration. Much of the wildlife and forest resources taken illegally from Cambodia is destined ultimately for Vietnam, China, or elsewhere. If agencies can coordinate and share information on trafficking routes, they will be much more successful at detecting, deterring, and prosecuting wildlife and forest criminals. More Info

Smooth Characters: The Social Life of the Smooth Coated OtterSmooth coated otters, the largest otters in Southeast Asia, are named for their short, velvety coats. Smooth coated otters live in family groups and are usually monogamous for life. All species of otters are very playful and are among the few mammals that play into adulthood. Smooth coated otters live in large lowland rivers and lakes, peat swamp forests, mangrove forests by coasts and estuaries, and even rice fields in Southeast Asia. They can and will travel overland for long distances looking for suitable habitat. Smooth coated otters are very vocal, and communicate with a diverse array of chirping or barking sounds. They are a very vocal species, and communicate with a diverse array of distinct social sounds that sound like chirping, barking, and whistling. They communicate non-verbally by spraying their scent, and within family groups by nipping and gripping with their mouths. Smooth coated otters are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and are considered to be on a downward spiral. They are threatened by loss of their habitat (which has declined significantly in the last 10 years), river pollution, contaminated fish, the fur and pet trade, and conflict with farmers and fishermen who deem them as pests. In addition to their ecological significance, smooth coated otters have cultural and economic significance. These otters have been trained to help fishermen drive fish into nets, since at least the sixth century. Trained otters are greatly valued even today and fetch a high price. Wildlife Alliance has been rescuing otter species from the wildlife trade and providing them humane and natural enclosures at the government-run Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center in Cambodia for years. The center houses 12 otters, which enjoy large, natural enclosures which provide for all of their physical and mental needs. The constant provision of live fish enables these hyperactive hunters to keep their natural instincts alive in preparation for a time when we can safely re-release some of them back into the wild to bolster the dwindling wild populations.

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Chainsaw replicas contributing to Cambodia's  deforestation? Wildlife Alliance’s partner PeunPa, has teamed with park rangers to end the cycle of illegal logging since 1999, six years before chainsaw permit legislation was passed. Although more than 600 chainsaws have been confiscated in that time, illegally imported chainsaws assembled from recycled parts in China are still finding their way into protected forests and contributing to their rapid deforestation.

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