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EXOTICS NEWS The latest from the world of exotic animals
Five new species of tree-dwelling snake, belonging to the genera Sibon and Dipsas, have been found in the jungles of Ecuador, Colombia and Panama and are now at risk from mining activity across the regions.
©Juan Carlos Sánchez-Nivicela / Archive Museo de Zoología, Universidad San Francisco de Quito
New frog species named after J.R.R. Tolkein
A new species of stream frog has been named after The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkein. The frog, Hyloscirtus tolkieni, was discovered in the Ecuadorian Andes by researchers Juan C. Sánchez-Nivicela, José M. Falcón-Reibán and Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia and named after the fantasy author due to its other-worldly colouring. It lives in the streams of the Rio Negro-Sopladora National Park in south east Ecuador which lies at 3190 metres above sea level. The species’ measures 65mm in length and its tadpoles develop among the rocks of fast-moving rivers. Only one of the species has been found and researchers will now assess its conservation status and risk of extinction.
Paradise Wildlife Park to open two new “world class” habitats
Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire is due to open two new enclosures after a two-year delay. With the opening originally planned for 2021, Jaguar Jungle and Sun
Bear Heights will now be open to the public from 1st April. After Covid-19 restrictions forced the park to postpone the opening, it has now described the delay as a “blessing in disguise” that allowed them to create an even better experience with the extra time. Aaron Whitnall, one of three brothers who run the zoo, said: “Even though it’s a bit behind, the delay has had its benefits. We’ve been able to take a bit more time and we now think we’ve got world class habitats. “It was a blessing in disguise- we’ve now been able to create something amazing that we think will blow people away.” Jaguar Jungle will be the only enclosure in the UK where people can see the big cats swim, while Sun Bear Heights will be the home to endangered sun bears, binturong and two Asian small-clawed otters.
New species of South American tree snakes under threat from illegal mining
The species were described by biologists Alejandro Artega and Abel Batista, with three being named by actor and founder of Re:wild, Leonardo DiCaprio (Sibon irmelindicaprioae) and businessman and philanthropist Brian Sheth (Sibon marleyae and Dipsas welborni) in an effort to raise awareness of the risk to the new-found species. The snakes are under threat from increasing copper and gold mining in the regions, where illegal openpit operations reached critical levels during the Covid-19 pandemic. The neotropical snakes are arboreal and favour dense vegetation, the very habitats that are being rapidly destroyed by the spread of the mines. Their prey largely consists of snails and slugs which are in sharp decline due to the pollution of water bodies caused by nearby mining. With their diet rapidly disappearing and their habitats being reduced to rubble, the new species are at immediate risk of decimation. With unemployment levels high and the mining an illegal but lucrative practice, there is a major incentive for miners to expand their operations, and little motivation to reduce their impact on the surrounding habitats. Fortunately, non-governmental organisations Khami, Nature and Culture International and Adopta Bosque in Ecuador and Panama have initiated the process of protecting the snakes’ habitats by requesting urgent land protection, the only route to avoid extinction for the new species.
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MAY 2023