In 1977£78 the Royal Geographical Society sent one of the largest expeditions it has ever mounted to Sarawak to study and survey the newly gazetted Gunung Mulu National Park. The expedition was carried out with the full cooperation of the Sarawak Government particularly the Forest Department under whose care the National Parks in Sarawak reside. Over a period of 15 months 115 scientists spent 10,000 man-days in this wonderfully rich area: over 2500 plants have been identified, 60 mammals, including the world's smallest, Savi's pygmy shrew, over 260 birds, including all Borneo's eight hornbill species, and 320 fish. Insects may number 12,000 species and fungi over 8000.

In the half million hectares of the remote El Tuparro National Park, on the Venezuelan frontier, the abundant wildlife includes the Orinoco crocodile and a good population of the endangered giant otter. Hitherto access to the park has been poor, and the only people are a few settlers and Indians hunting with bows and arrows, but new roads are bringing in both new settlers and vehicle drivers with guns.

The endemic marine iguanas of Galapagos are in severe danger of extinction on some islands. Predation by introduced cats, dogs, pigs and rats is one cause but the first findings of Andrew Laurie's three-year field study, which started in 1981, show that the situation is more complicated.

The Selous contains a wealth of animals but monitoring the populations is difficult because motorable tracks are few and aerial surveys are expensive. The author gained access to the heart of the reserve along its rivers and during a 12-day raft journey he recorded the large animals he saw. He was impressed by the pristine condition of the riverside habitat and he found no evidence of poaching there.

The African wild ass is endangered. Its habitat is a drought-stricken war zone; its flesh is eaten and is believed to cure hepatitis; it is eagerly sought by dealers and collectors. The author, Chief Curator at Israel's Hai-Bar reserve, examines the problems hindering the conservation of this animal and explains why it is urgently necessary to list it on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora at its meeting in April 1983.

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.

The huemul has vanished from much of its historic range in Chile and Argentina; now perhaps only 1300 are left. Since 1976, wildlife guards have been protecting huemuls in some parts of Chile and in 1977 a huemul guard station was built at the Rio Claro with ffPS support. In 1980–81 the author censused the known huemul populations in Chile and reports on their present status, evaluates the conservation measures that are being taken and recommends further action needed to save them.