New critters found

350 species discovered but WWF says threat from climate change puts them at risk

A report released by the World Wildlife Fund this week says more than 350 new species have been discovered in the fragile ecosystem of the Eastern Himalayas in the last decade but are under threat from climate change.

The report, The Eastern Himalayas - Where Worlds Collide, describes the area which spans Bhutan and north-eastern India to the far north of Myanmar (Burma) as well as Nepal and southern parts of Tibet as a treasure trove of biological diversity, but one which is now threatened by climate change.

The finds amount to 244 plants, 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, two birds, two mammals and at least 60 new invertebrates. These include a bright green frog (Rhacophorus suffry) which uses its long red webbed feet to glide in the air. Also the miniature muntjac, also called the “leaf deer”, which is the world’s oldest and smallest deer species.

However, the region is fragile. Mark Wright, WWF’s conservation science advisor describes it as ‘one of the regions most at risk from climate change, as evidenced by the rapid retreat of the glaciers’. To help prevent this, the WWF is working with local communities to help them cope with the impacts of climate change. But, it says, significant action has to be taken by developed countries.  The WWF is also calling on governments attending the climate change talks in Copenhagen this December to commit to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by industrialised countries of 40% by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels).

Wright concluded: “There is no room for compromise on this issue; without these cuts the Himalayas face a precarious future – impacting both the unique wildlife and the 20% of humanity who rely on the river systems that arise in these mountains”