Environment
Philippines discovers pangolins: The Philippine coast guard said Monday it had found hundreds of frozen pangolins, or scaly anteaters, in the cargo hold of a Chinese boat which ran aground in a protected marine sanctuary last week in Manila.
Wildlife officials have been informed of the discovery, which could lead to more charges for 12 Chinese men arrested for allegedly poaching after their boat was stranded in Tubbataha Reef last week.
“We found 400 boxes containing anteaters aboard the vessel, and we are now determining where these came from,” coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo told AFP.
The creatures were individually wrapped in plastic and hidden inside sacks.
A protected species, pangolins are widely hunted in parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales. In China, they are known as a delicacy and are purported to have medicinal qualities.
All eight species of the insect-eating mammals are protected by international law. Two — the Malaysian and Chinese pangolins — are in the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of endangered species.
The animals are also found in the western Philippine island of Palawan, the nearest land area to Tubbataha Reef where the Chinese boat had been marooned.
Balilo said the poacher’s vessel remained stuck in Tubbataha, while the coast guard awaited arrival of a salvage ship to tow it it away.
Angelique Songco, head of the office managing the Tubbataha marine park, said the Chinese ship had already caused “a lot of damage” to the corals.
The Philippine office of the World Wide Fund for Nature condemned the poaching of the pangolins, saying that growing demand in China was wiping the animal out in Southeast Asia.
“It is simply deplorable that they appear to be posing as fishermen to trade in illegal wildlife,” WWF-Philippines chief executive officer Jose Maria Lorenzo Tan said in a statement. (AFP) Law protects premier turtle: Puerto Rico’s governor on Saturday signed a law to protect a swath of land along the island’s northeast coast that is a top US nesting site for the world’s largest turtle species.
The law ends a 15-year fight that environmentalists and celebrities including actor Benicio Del Toro had waged against developers eager to build hotels, golf courses and luxury homes in an area fringed by palm trees and turquoise waters.
“This is so exciting,” said Angie Colon, an official with a nonprofit activist group that fought to preserve the land. “I’m still coming to terms with the fact that this is real.”
The area, known as the Northeast Ecological Corridor, covers more than 1,200 hectares (2,900 acres) of lush vegetation and pristine beaches that are a nesting site for the federally endangered leatherback turtle. It is also the site of a popular bioluminescent bay featuring microorganisms that emit a blue glow in the dark when agitated.
The 13-mile-long area also features all ecosystems found in Puerto Rico, ranging from a subtropical dry forest to El Yunque tropical rain forest, the only one that forms part of the US forest system. The protected region has more than 861 types of flora and fauna, including 50 rare, endemic or threatened species. Scientists recently spotted a large brown bird known as a limpkin for its unusual walk that was last seen in the late 1950s.
The region has long been a point of contention among developers, government officials and environmentalists.
Former governor Anibal Acevedo Vila sought to protect the area by law several years ago, but some senators rejected the project. As a result, Acevedo issued an executive order in 2007 to protect the land, declaring it off-limits to all development except for small, eco-friendly projects.
Acevedo was later defeated by former governor Luis Fortuno, who issued a new order to allow large-scale development on land just north of El Yunque rain forest. Fortuno acted with support from officials including local mayors who sought to open the region to development to generate jobs and boost the local economy.
Developers in recent years have submitted plans to build two large hotels, four golf courses and 4,000 luxury homes. However, none of those projects obtained permits.
“Today, with the signing of this law, we honor and acknowledge the respect that this natural reserve deserves,” said Gov Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
Environmental groups now plan to develop the area for ecotourism. (AP)