The chameleon genus Brookesia, with 26 species, is endemic to Madagascar. The main threats to Brookesia are habitat destruction and collection for trade. At the CITES Conference of Parties 12, held in Santiago, Chile in 2002, all but one Brookesia species were added to Appendix II, under which trade is controlled in order to avoid utilization being incompatible with species' survival. The Vulnerable B. perarmata was added to Appendix I, under which trade is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Summary information for Brookesia is presented here, reviewing taxonomy, habitat preferences, available population estimates, relevant legislation, major threats, and trade levels. Brookesia live on or close to the ground, with roost sites mostly <1 m above ground. Density estimates are available for only a few species, with a mean density estimate for four species across sites and seasons of 16 individuals ha−1. A number of species have distinct altitudinal ranges, and a preference for primary forest. Continued deforestation will therefore potentially lead to extirpations. Research on population sizes and seasonal trends of Brookesia is required, without which, combined with data on the impacts of harvesting, the establishment of sustainable trade will not be possible. The apparent reduction and possible cessation of trade in B. perarmata following its listing on CITES indicates that the Convention can succeed in managing global trade in a threatened species.

This paper presents the analyses of data obtained from eight permanent 20 km transects to determine the relative effect of local human populations and ecological factors on the distribution of large mammals within the Dzanga sector of the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and the adjacent area of the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve in south-west Central African Republic. Principal component analysis indicated that human activities significantly influence the distribution of large mammals, even within this protected area. Distance from the village and the main road as well as the distance from secondary roads appeared to have the greatest influence. Elephants in particular were significantly less common in areas related to human use. Our study showed that poachers use roads, both primary and secondary, to penetrate into the National Park. Thus increasing anti-poaching efforts along these roads could be an effective protection measure.

The Mexican prairie dog Cynomys mexicanus is an endemic burrowing rodent with a restricted distribution. Up to 1996 the species experienced a loss of c. 60% of its historical range, and in the last few years a further loss of habitat has occurred, with the current range now covering only 36% of the historical range. In this study we examined the population dynamics of the Mexican prairie dog to determine the relative effects of habitat loss, isolation of remaining colonies, and decreasing habitat quality. We used data on prairie dog numbers in all colonies and demographic data for two colonies to carry out a stochastic population viability analysis. We found differing vital rates, which are presumed to result from differing habitat quality, at two colonies. As small variations of vital rates in the model strongly influenced the extinction risk for small populations, we conclude that habitat quality is important for the small populations. In the model the Los Angeles complex of colonies experienced a low risk of local extinction whereas at the Manantial complex local extinctions were frequent. Scenarios with changes in population sizes had the largest effect on extinction risk. Differing migration scenarios had little impact on extinction risk.

The goal of this study was to quantify marine turtle nesting activity by species, identify threats to their populations, and provide recommendations for their conservation on the south-east coast of Nicaragua. One survey was conducted in each of 1998 and 1999, and 10 surveys in 2000. The majority of nesting emergences were by leatherback Dermochelys coriacea and hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata turtles, with some nesting also by green turtles Chelonia mydas. In 2000, egg poaching was highest for green turtle (83%) and hawksbill (75%) clutches. A total of 87 dead stranded turtles were encountered, of which at least 63.2% were green, 10.3% hawksbill, and 6.9% loggerhead turtles. The principal threats to marine turtle populations on the south-east coast of Nicaragua were the killing of nesting females, egg poaching, and bycatch in commercial and artisanal fisheries.

Across its range in Latin America the jaguar Panthera onca is threatened by habitat loss and through conflict with people. In the Pantanal of Brazil, where large areas of land are devoted to cattle ranching, jaguars often attack livestock and are persecuted by ranchers. However, the extent to which livestock predation and/or other socio-economic factors affect ranchers' tolerance of jaguars is unclear. This study examined ranchers' attitudes towards jaguars and conservation in the northern Pantanal in order to identify ways of resolving jaguar-rancher conflict. The results suggest that most respondents supported the conservation of the Pantanal but that attitudes towards jaguars were mixed and difficult to predict on the basis of socio-economic factors. Attitudes towards jaguars were more closely related to respondents' age and relative wealth than to jaguar-related benefits through tourism or costs through cattle predation. Whilst efforts to reduce cattle losses are needed, it may be equally as important for conservation initiatives to focus on the inherent appreciation of the natural value of the Pantanal within this ranching community.

The curio trade in marine fishes has not previously been quantitatively analysed. As a contribution towards understanding the scale and conservation impact of such trade we summarize import and export data from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for 1997–2001. At least 32 fish species were involved in the USA's international trade in curios, of which 24 were included on the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with categorizations ranging from Endangered to Data Deficient. The USA apparently imported an annual total of approximately one million fish and 360 tonnes of fish parts, worth more than USD 1.7 million, although total volume declined over the 5 years of data. Fish curios imported to the USA reportedly came primarily from Taiwan and the Philippines, with 95% of curios obtained from wild populations. The three marine fish groups most traded for curios were sharks, seahorses and porcupinefishes. The value per individual fish fluctuated across years, with a considerable increase in the value of dried seahorses from 1997 to 2001. The trade probably adds to conservation concerns for at least some species.

Monitoring rare species of wild ungulates is critical for their conservation management. The Italian roe deer Capreolus capreolus italicus was recently confirmed to be a subspecies in Mediterranean habitats of central and southern Italy. We have monitored this subspecies at Castelporziano, near Rome, since 1988, and detected an abrupt population decline in 2001. We compared distance sampling surveys undertaken before and after the population crash to determine the ability of this method to detect variations in animal density and to investigate which factors may influence the precision of the estimates. We used radio tagged roe deer to evaluate the accuracy of our surveys, comparing distance sampling and mark-resight estimates at the same site, and studying the behavioural reaction of the animals to the presence of an observer. We found that before the crash distance sampling surveys attained a good precision but that the survey conditions influenced both precision and accuracy. Post-crash surveys were less precise, but the difference in density, before and after the crash was highly significant, indicating the potential of the method to quickly detect density variations and so to allow wildlife managers to react without delay to a crisis. The direct test of distance sampling assumptions showed that estimates were almost unbiased. We conclude that the methodology was successful for monitoring this population and that it may be used in other situations where ungulates are rare and efficient monitoring must be attained with restricted budgets.

The proper valuation of non-market environmental commodities such as wildlife viewing has significant policy implications. We implemented the Travel Cost Method (TCM) to estimate the value of viewing threatened Eurasian griffon vulture Gyps fulvus by the public at Gamla Nature Reserve, northern Israel. We used the zonal TCM, where concentric zones were defined around the site such that the cost of travel from all points in a given zone was approximately constant. We generated a visit-distance function and used it, based on 143 questionnaires, to derive the demand function for the site from which a monetary value could be estimated. The potential annual benefit of Gamla was estimated to be NIS 5.5–6.0 million (USD 1.1–1.2 million). The annual economic value of Gamla to the visiting public is approximately five times higher than the current revenue, and 85% of the visitors to Gamla came to view vultures. This information can be used to estimate the benefits of further investment in Gamla Nature Reserve, to price this site according to demand if there are budget limits, and in particular to invest in the protection of vultures and other threatened species.

There is a huge annual trade in Himalayan medicinal plants but only limited information on their sustainable use and conservation. The aim of this paper is to investigate if sustainable commercial medicinal plant management is promoted by forest policy formation and implementation in Nepal. Data was obtained through 175 semi-structured interviews with persons from five stakeholder groups involved in commercial alpine medicinal plant exploitation and conservation in Nepal: harvesters, traders, District Forest Office staff, staff at departments and ministerial level of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, and international and local NGOs and donors. The emphasis was on recording respondents' views on the official mechanisms regulating harvest of alpine commercial medicinal plants. It was found that current approaches to non-timber forest policy formation and implementation need to be revised if objectives of conservation and sustainable management are to be achieved. Identified problems include exclusion of harvesters from the policy formation process and widespread agreement among respondents that current collection permits and bans do not strongly affect resource utilization.

Bird-keeping is an extremely popular pastime in Indonesia, where there is a thriving internal market in both wild-caught and captive-bred birds. However, little is known about whether the scale of bird-keeping represents a genuine conservation threat to native populations. Here we present the results of the largest ever survey of bird-keeping among households in Indonesia's five major cities. Birds were found to be urban Indonesia's most popular pet (kept by 21.8% of survey households) and we conservatively estimate that as many as 2.6 million birds are kept in the five cities sampled. Of bird-keeping households, 78.5% kept domestic species and/or commercially bred species and 60.2% kept wild-caught birds that we classified into three conservation categories: native songbirds, native parrots and imported songbirds. Compared to non-bird owners, households keeping wild-caught birds in all three conservation categories were richer and better educated, whereas households owning commercially-bred species were richer but not better educated and households keeping domestic species did not differ in educational or socio-economic status. We conclude that bird-keeping in Indonesia is at a scale that warrants a conservation intervention and that promoting commercially-bred alternatives may be an effective and popular solution.

We present the first assessment of the endemic vascular flora of Ascension Island for over 20 years. Combining new with existing data the following IUCN Red List categorizations are proposed: Anogramma ascensionis, Dryopteris ascensionis, Oldenlandia adscensionis and Sporobolus durus (Extinct); Pteris adscensionis and Euphorbia origanoides (Critically Endangered); Sporobolus caespitosus (Vulnerable); Asplenium ascensionis, Marattia purpurascens and Xiphopteris ascensionensis (Near Threatened). The primary cause of the four presumed extinctions appears to be introductions of exotic species and subsequent alteration of ecological conditions. M. purpurascens, A. ascensionis, and X. ascensionensis appear to be under no immediate threat of extinction, although long-term survival is uncertain. E. origanoides, P. adscensionis, and S. caespitosus require active conservation measures to ensure their survival.

We translocated four Amur tigers Panthera tigris altaica captured after killing domestic animals or attacking people; two were released immediately and two following 162 and 388 days rehabilitation. All were radio-collared and released 150–350 km from their capture site. Two translocations were successful: the tigers caused no conflicts with people, killed wild prey, and survived their first winter, although one was poached after 1.1 year and one slipped its collar after surviving 10 months. In the two translocations that were unsuccessful, both tigers moved to areas of high human activity and were killed by people. At least in some cases, translocation appears to be a viable alternative to killing or removing problem tigers from the wild.

The Vulnerable endemic Kloss's gibbon was surveyed throughout the Mentawai Islands, Sumatra, Indonesia, using a call-based method. Populations were estimated by extrapolating from local densities using recent assessments of remaining forest cover. About 20,000–25,000 Kloss's gibbons remain in nearly 3,000 km2 of forest (about 40% of the islands' total area). This number is markedly lower than a 1980 estimate of 36,000 on the northernmost island of Siberut. Conservation action to preserve the remaining populations should focus on strengthening the enforcement of regulations in Siberut National Park, formally protecting the Peleonan forest in north Siberut, and cooperating with a logging company in North and South Pagai to protect the populations in the company's self-established conservation and buffer areas.