Unless the trade in rhino horn is stopped, the survival of the world's rhinos is in jeopardy. Thanks to the efforts of conservationists, many countries have now banned exports and imports of rhino products, and most of the trade that occurs is illegal. There is still much to be done, however, as the authors explain.

Until two decades ago, the only reference to the white uacari of the upper Amazon, known locally as the ‘English monkey’, had been provided by the British naturalist Henry Walter Bates, who saw captured animals during his sojourn in Amazonia in the 1850s. A major Brazilian initiative led us to the first intensive field study of the species, which was carried out in 1983 and 1984 by one of the authors, J. M. Ayres, with the participation of a large number of Brazilian scientists and a few from overseas. The study illustrated the uniqueness of the várzea habitat in which the animals live and the threats it currently faces. It also captured the attention of both the Brazilian scientific community and the public. Possibilities for the creation of a reserve area within the várzea are now being implemented.

In 1985 the Worldlife Fund's Gold Medal, its highest honour, was awarded to George Archibald, Director and co-founder with Ron Sauey of the International Crane Foundation at Baraboo, Wisconsin, which has achieved so much for the world's endangered cranes. Their most remarkable success story—and an outstanding example of international conservation efforts across political boundaries—is surely that of the beautiful Siberian white crane Grus leucogeranus. It is a story, too, of astonishingly recent discovery, as they told this writer on a recent visit to Baraboo.

The greater Indian rhinoceros, on the verge of extinction in India 80 years ago, has recovered dramatically with conservation help. In 1980 there were 1250 in the country. At about that time, however, poaching suddenly started to become a serious problem, and since then over 200 animals have been killed. The authors explain why and suggest how this reverse could be stopped.

The range of the endangered greater Indian rhinoceros is now restricted to a few isolated pockets. One of the conservation measures recommended for the species is the establishment of additional viable populations in suitable areas. The authors describe an attempt to do this in Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, India.

On a visit to Ile du Lys, Iles Glorieuses, one of the authors witnessed a massive night attack by rats on roosting common noddies. Although introduced rats are known predators of nesting seabirds, there were no previous records of them killing large numbers of non-breeding seabirds. The authors discuss the circumstances of the case and attempt to explain the phenomenon.

The world is being altered by human action more rapidly now than natural forces changed it during any short period in the past. There are predictions of massive ecological changes and extinctions of species on a unprecedented scale. The author examines what is actually happening, what the consequences are likely to be, and what corrective action can be taken. He emphasizes that, as with all exercises in crystal gazing, this cannot be an error-free analysis. Despite the vast scale of current scientific activity, our knowledge of the processes affecting the world environment and our monitoring of changes are far from adequate. Too many statements—including widely quoted estimates of extinctions—are based on extrapolation from limited data. This is a speculative paper intended as a spur to further analysis rather than as a definitive review. It is based on an address to the Annual General Meeting of the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society on 10 September 1986.*

In 1985 many African elephant populations, which had been monitored for a decade or more, were either in rapid decline or down to a fraction of their former size. The author examines regional trends and information on key populations with reference to the critical factors affecting the survival of the African elephant, most significantly poaching and the illegal trade in ivory

The continuing war in Kampuchea has made it difficult for zoologists to assess the status of endangered species in the remoter parts of the country. Two of the world's rarest mammals, the kouprey and the Javan rhinoceros, may still survive there. The author visited the area in April 1986 and, in interviews with people in two refugee camps on the Thai border, gained the impression that the effects of the war on wildlife were not as drastic as had been expected.

The first systematic search for the volcano rabbit, a Mexican endemic, found no evidence of the species outside the central region of the transverse neovolcanic axis around Mexico City, and reveals that the rabbit has now disappeared from areas of this central zone where it has been reported in the recent past. It depends for its survival on the pine forest—bunch grass ecosystem, and this is being destroyed by conversion to agriculture, over-grazing, fire-burns, poor forestry management and encroaching property developments. The authors make recommendations for the immediate protection of the remaining areas of core habitat and for further research.

Kaziranga, home of the world's largest population of the greater Indian rhinoceros, is under threat. The author, who is a magistrate in Guwahati, Assam, and who has published about 80 articles and papers, mainly on wildlife, is concerned about its future.

Amazon river turtles have a long history of over-exploitation, firstly for oil production, and lately as a luxury food for the expanding human population. In many areas, the populations of the two main commercial species Podocnemis expansa and P. unifilis are now so low that extinction is in sight. In 1985 a WWF-US project aimed at investigating interactions between economic development and wildlife populations conducted a case-study of the exploitation of turtles on the River Tefé in western Brazilian Amazonia.

Just before Christmas 1985 wolf researchers in Sweden made a particularly ugly discovery: the ritually mutilated corpse of an 18-month-old pup. It had been shot and scalped, its ears removed and a hind leg cut off. Then, in February 1986, another young wolf was chased along a forest track by a car, which smashed its back legs and killed it. These are merely the latest incidents in an irrational anti-wolf campaign, which is threatening the species's tentative come-back in Scandinavia. The author, who has worked extensively with Scandinavian conservationists since 1971, describes the plight of Sweden's wolves and explains why it is important to protect them.

The southern bearded saki is a critically endangered Amazonian primate, occurring only in a small area of north-eastern Brazil. The animal is poorly known, and recent evidence suggests that the species may comprise several critically endangered subspecies. All existing forms are threatened by the continuing economic development of their rain-forest habitat. The fate of this monkey is only an example of the dark future faced by many species as forest clearance spreads through the region.

The mires of Western Europe are perhaps the major type of habitat in the region that is of global importance for conservation. They are as well represented in Europe as in any other part of the world, with many distinct and unique types surviving. Mires, wherever they occur, are being destroyed at ever-increasing rates, and measures for their conservation need to be effectively co-ordinated at regional and international levels. The author, who is Symposium Secretary of the International Mire Conservation Group, describes the problems faced by mires in Europe.

Over the years Oryx has published several papers on the wildlife of Mauritius and its neighbouring islands and islets, and the Oryx 100% Fund has contributed towards some of the conservation work being done there. The author, who first visited Mauritius with the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition in 1973 and has played an active role in conservation plans since, brings us up to date with conservation in the area and highlights the steps that are essential if the wildlife that remains is to be saved.