An experimental research project is being carried out at Bako National Park in Sarawak to devise means by which young orphaned orang-utans can be re-established to wild living.

The Sumatran rhino Dicerorhinus sumatrensis is regarded as critically endangered with a world population of approximately 400. In 1991 it was recorded in Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia, 30 years after the park's last rhino was believed to have been shot. A Sumatran Rhino Population and Habitat Viability Analysis (PHVA) workshop in 1993 recommended an immediate survey be carried out to assess the rhino population in the park. The Way Kambas Project recorded observations of rhino sign between 1993 and 1995. Sign was most frequently observed along trails in mature secondary forest. Data from the areas surveyed suggest the presence of at least four rhinos.

What has happened to the animals and birds listed as endangered species 25 years ago at IUCN's first technical meeting? The FPS Hon. Secretary investigates their present status and looks at the conservation methods that have proved most effective.

Although the tamaraw occurred on Luzon during the Pleistocene, in historic times this buffalo has been restricted to the Philippine island of Mindoro. There it established a reputation for aggressiveness that made it widely known in the Philippines, but it was not described for science until 1888. It has been estimated that 10,000 tamaraw Bubalus mindorensis occupied Mindoro island in 1900 but by 1949 numbers had declined to 1000 animals, and in 1953 fewer than 250 remained. In 1969 Harrisson estimated that about 100 survived in three of their four known areas. Poaching was the main cause of the decline. Thanks to Harrisson's and General Lindbergh's efforts, 1969 also marked the start of the Philippine Government's tamaraw conservation effort, and wardens and guards were posted at the Mt Iglit Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary in Occidental Mindoro. Between May 1972 and March 1974 I conducted a tamaraw study on 2000 hectares of the refuge where the major tamaraw population was to be found.

The Nakuru hartebeest is virtually extinct. Only one male survives thanks to thoughtless slaughter. This article consists of extracts from a report to the Kenya Game Department by the author, then at University College, Nairobi, ending with a note by him on the scientific reason for conserving subspecies such as this hartebeest.

Since the last report on the work of the Mountain Gorilla Project (Oryx, August 1980), all the three main programmes in Rwanda – conservation education, park protection and park development – have made substantial progress.

The Legal Position.—The Wild Life Protection Act of 1936 is still in force. Section 6 affords complete protection to rhinoceros, tapir, peafowl, Argus pheasant and masked finfoot. But the provision to the said section reads as follows:—

“Provided that it shall not be an offence for any physician or druggist to possess or sell, or for any person to possess for private medical purposes rhinoceros blood or any preparation thereof.”

A gap between research and management exists in numerous natural resource fields. This can lead to management actions that are based on experience rather than evidence and may be less effective as a result. The gap may be partly attributable to research not being relevant, timely or accessible for managers. Editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals are responsible for determining the relevance of submitted manuscripts for a journal's readership. Limited representation of natural resource managers on editorial boards may make it more difficult for journals to identify the topics and findings of most relevance for management, thus contributing to the research–management gap. We quantified the representation of natural resource managers on the editorial boards of 79 conservation and applied natural resource journals. We found that 65% of editors were affiliated with universities, 13% with research institutions, 12% with government agencies and 3% with NGOs. On average, 9% of editors were affiliated with an agency or organization responsible for managing or regulating natural resources. The proportion of managers on editorial boards did not differ significantly between natural resource fields or with journal impact factor. Potential benefits of greater integration of managers into the research and publishing process include selection of research topics with greater relevance for management, clearer statements of the management implications of research studies, and more frequent publication of research evaluating the effectiveness of management interventions. Further study is needed to evaluate whether greater participation of managers in the editorial review process may contribute to achieving these benefits.

Although the electric fence has been proved a successful deterrent to crop-raiding deer, pig, gaur and other wild animals, I hesitate to sing its praises against elephant.

The Chinese regard conservation as important, more for economic than for aesthetic or moral reasons. An economic rationale is a persuasive tool in a developing country such as China. The trade in wild-animal products plus the potential of rare and endemic wildlife species to attract much-needed foreign exchange are important factors. Rational use of wildlife through domestication and sustained-yield harvesting can alleviate pressures on wild populations and help to ensure genetic diversity for the future. Rare and endemic species such as the giant panda attract foreign exchange through tourism and research, and conservation measures preserve a cultural heritage, something of increasing importance to the Chinese.

Several questions arise, however. How do economically unimportant species fit into this scheme? How can conflicts of interest created by economic incentives be resolved? Will the shortage of trained manpower undermine the conservation effort? Once these obstacles are resolved, China may become a leader i n wildlife conservation among the developing countries of the world, and show that conservation and development can co-exist.

In an attempt to stem the decline of the black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis in Kenya, the Rhino Rescue Charitable Appeal Trust was formed in England in 1985. Within a year work on the first sanctuary, in the Lake Nakuru National Park, had begun. The sanctuary was opened in 1987, when 17 rhinos from Mr Courtland Parfet's private ranch at Solio joined the wo animals already in Nakuru. A further 11 females are due to be added to the park shortly. Rhino Rescue, of which the author is a patron and trustee, is also developing its own education programme, and is contributing to other rhino sanctuaries in Kenya.

So much of Borneo is still uninhabited by man—it must be the leaśt densely populated part of tropical Asia—that it is difficult to imagine its wild fauna being endangered. Much the larger part of the island is still jungle, visited only (if at all) by nomadic groups. But a few species, conspicuous and attractive to humanity for size, food, medicine or beauty, are to-day in danger in all the four territories (Indonesian Borneo, and the British western section comprising North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei).

In 1964 twelve nations made conservation history when they produced the Agreed Measures for conserving the Antarctic fauna and lora, the first time such an international agreement had been achieved. The movement towards Antarctic conservation stems from the International Geophysical Year, in 1957–58, when the twelve nations, all in the Antarctic, and including the USA and the USSR, achieved an informal political truce and started collaboration in scientific research. After the end of the IGY this collaboration continued, under the aegis of the International Council of Scientific Unions and with the secretariat at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, of which Dr. Roberts is a member. One result was the Antarctic Treaty, which came into force in 1961, and this in turn led to the Agreed Measures.