The Mallorcan midwife toad was described, from subfossil remains, as recently as 1977, and it was not until 1980 that some living tadpoles were recognized as belonging to this new species. Once widespread in Mallorca, now perhaps only 1000–1500 adult toads remain, in secret and remote gorges in the mountains. In order to provide a safety net, should catastrophe strike at the fragile wild populations, the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust offered to set up a captive-breeding programme for the toad. In 1985 the author set out to collect eight toads, to be the founders of the captive colony. The FFPS contributed £85 from its Oryx 100% Fund towards the expedition.

In October 1983 a rat was reported to have been seen on Gough Island, an outlier of the Tristan da Cunha Group in the South Atlantic. Gough Island has no permanently resident human inhabitants, but supports one of the largest and most diverse assemblages of breeding seabirds now remaining anywhere in the temperate zones. The author was a member of a small team of biologists that spent three weeks on Gough Island, in October-November 1984, to try to confirm whether there were any rats on the island, and if so to make recommendations for their control and extermination. The following proposals result from experience in carrying out this survey, and from writing World Conservation Strategy proposals for Oceanic Islands for the IUCN.

Giant river otters were once widespread in the rivers and creeks of the greater Amazon Basin. Hunting for their skins caused many local extinctions and only small scattered populations now remain, although total numbers are unknown. It is seriously endangered in Colombia, and one of the places where it still occurs in any numbers, El Tuparro National Park, is becoming increasingly accessible to people, while the otter populations in adjacent rivers outside the park are even more vulnerable to poaching.

Ethiopia does not often receive publicity for its wildlife conservation work, but there have been a commendable number of achievements over the last 15 years or so. For the last two years the author has been carrying out ecological studies to formulate management plans in the Bale Mountains area, which is in the process of being established as a national park. As a result of the developments and protection already afforded, numbers of the endemic mountain nyala have increased considerably.

Hattah-Kulkyne National Park in Victoria, Australia, is a large reserve important for its vegetation communities, These were once extensive in the region, but are now reduced to remnants due to clearance for agriculture. The vegetation in the Park has suffered from overgrazing, and the rehabilitation programme includes culling kangaroos. Population management of this kind often generates controversy, and the author, a research botanist, explains why it is necessary in this Park.

Ungulate populations are at a low ebb in Saudi Arabia. Indiscriminate hunting and habitat degradation are the main factors causing population declines in three of the five endemic species. The author collected information on the status of these animals while working as a wildlife ecologist for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the northern province of Al-Jouf.

The Gunung Leuser National Park, established by the Indonesian Government in 1980, covers more than 7900 sq km of forests, ranging from tropical lowland to subalpine. It protects many endangered and threatened species. In October 1984 the author, acting as a biologist and guide on an exploratory rafting expedition, floated along the Alas River, which runs through the Park. He describes his journey and the primates he recorded along the way.

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.

During Uganda's political troubles in the 1970s the country's few remaining natural forests suffered acutely from illegal human encroachment, poor management practices and poaching of endangered forest wildlife. While the Kibale Forest suffered from many problems, agricultural encroachment alone destroyed some 97 sq km, or 17 per cent, of the Reserve between 1971 and 1982. In 1983 the Government of Uganda initiated steps to halt the spread of encroachment and to reassert authority over its forest resources.