The increased severity and frequency of bushfires accompanying human-induced global warming have dire implications for biodiversity conservation. Here we investigate the response of a cryptic, cool-climate elapid, the mustard-bellied snake Drysdalia rhodogaster, to the extensive Black Summer fires of 2019/2020 in south-eastern Australia. The species is categorized as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (last assessed in 2017), but because a large part of its range was burnt during the Black Summer and little was known about its ecology, D. rhodogaster was identified as a priority species for post-fire impact assessment. We evaluated three lines of evidence to assess the impact of the Black Summer fires on D. rhodogaster. Habitat suitability modelling indicated that c. 46% of the predicted range of the species was affected by bushfire. Field surveys conducted 9–36 months post-fire and collation of records from public databases submitted 0–24 months post-fire indicated that D. rhodogaster persisted in burnt landscapes. Fire severity and proportion of the landscape that was burnt within a 1,000-m radius of survey sites were poor predictors of site occupancy by D. rhodogaster. Although conclusions regarding the effects of fire on D. rhodogaster are limited because of the lack of baseline data, it is evident that the species has persisted across the landscape in the wake of extensive bushfires. Our work highlights the need for baseline knowledge on cryptic species even when they are categorized as Least Concern, as otherwise assessments of the impacts of catastrophic events will be constrained.

The rhinoceros area in Nepal covers approximately 1,250 square miles, comprising the valleys of the Rivers Narayani, Rapti, and Reu. Although it is dun country, it contains most of the sub-tropical vegetation usually associated with terai country, and can roughly be divided into (1) riverain, (2) grassland above flood level, and (3) sal forest. The hills are almost entirely under sal (Shorea robusta), a valuable hardwood.

The decline of the Pyrenean desman reflects the pollution, degradation and fragmentation of its mountain torrent habitat, but there are other threats too. In some areas of Spain that were once densely populated by desmans, escaped mink from fur farms have established and the desmans have disappeared. In October 1984 Walter Poduschka, Chairman of IUCN/SSC's Insectivore Specialist Group, and Bernard Richard, desman specialist, visited the Sierras north-west of Madrid to investigate the plight of the desman there. Their findings made them raise the matter at the SSC meeting in Madrid in 1984, and they urge that Spanish scientists study the animal and its problems before it is too late.

In 1978, Bernd-Ulrich and Christiane Meyburg reported in Oryx the efforts to safeguard a very special area of Extremadura in Western Spain. On 4 April 1979, 17,582 hectares was designated as a Parque Natural (a nature park or reserve) by the Government. Perhaps readers of the Meyburgs' article, especially those who responded to its appeal for moral and financial support, would hail this as a great success for conservation in Spain: but there is much more to the story than that …

The mule deer endemic to Cedros Island, off Baja California, was believed to be endangered until a survey in 1980 revealed that around 300 still remained. The authors carried out a follow-up survey in 1985 in order to discover whether the status of the deer had changed and to devise a method for the long-term monitoring of its population.

In the winter of 1951–52 a few members of the Bishop's Stortford College Natural History Society decided to make a particular study of the bats frequenting the local countryside, both during the period of hibernation and in the active season.

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 Ceylon elephant is in serious danger, due largely to the spread of cultivation in the island bringing destruction of its habitat and interruption of the migration routes. As an essential preliminary to devising ways of protecting the elephants, the Smithsonian Institution and the World Wildlife Fund have sponsored a field survey. Dr Kurt is one of the team of zoologists who started work in April 1967, and for whom the FPS/WWF Revolving Fund last year supplied a much needed Land Rover.

The major obstacle to snake conservation in India, and probably in other countries too, is human fear. The author visited the Madras Snake Park in 1980 and describes the fear of snake bite that pervades the country and how the Park is seeking to overcome the problem by a programme of public education.