NewsWhore
11-10-2010, 03:20 PM
The Natural History Museum at Plaza de la Cultura is holding a photo exhibition, Fauna Dominicana, to celebrate the first year of "The Last Survivors" project as part of the International Year of Biodiversity. The project seeks to raise awareness of the last surviving Caribbean endemic land mammals and focuses conservation attention on these valuable but highly threatened species.
Field project manager Dr. Jose Nunez-Mino is encouraging everyone to visit the exhibition to understand these creatures better so that more people can contribute to their protection. In the Dominican Republic, the project is based at the National Zoo, Tel 809 378-2149, x 237.
Threatened species in the DR include the Hispaniolan hutia (Plagiodontia aedium), the Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), the Baoruco Painted Anole lizard (Anolis bahorucoensis), Ricord's Rock Iguana (Cyclura ricordi), Hispaniola boa (Epicrates striatus), the Black and White Warbler or Pega Palo (Mniotilta varia), the Narrow-billed Tody or Chi-cui (Todus angustirostris), Ridgway Hawk or Gavilan de la Hispaniola (Buteo ridgwayi), Querebebe or Antillean Nighthawk (Chordeiles gundlachii), Zumbardorcito or Vervain Hummingbird (Mellisuga minima), the Osprey or Aguila pescadora (Pandion Haliaetus), Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliaie), and the American stingray (Dasyatis americana).
According to the researchers, before humans arrived to the island, around 120 species of land mammals (excluding bats) were present in the Caribbean region, many have now gone extinct, some very recently, with possibly only 15 surviving today.
For two of the "Last Survivors", the Hispaniolan solenodon and Hispaniolan hutia, a Darwin-Initiative funded project was launched in the Dominican Republic in October 2009. It is a collaborative effort between Dominican and UK partners, led by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Its goal is to conduct field research on these poorly known species to assess their status, identify their conservation needs, to develop monitoring tools and to plan their long-term conservation. To follow the project, see
www.thelastsurvivors.org (http://www.thelastsurvivors.org)
For more on ongoing and upcoming events, see www.dr1.com/calendar (http://www.dr1.com/calendar)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)
Field project manager Dr. Jose Nunez-Mino is encouraging everyone to visit the exhibition to understand these creatures better so that more people can contribute to their protection. In the Dominican Republic, the project is based at the National Zoo, Tel 809 378-2149, x 237.
Threatened species in the DR include the Hispaniolan hutia (Plagiodontia aedium), the Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), the Baoruco Painted Anole lizard (Anolis bahorucoensis), Ricord's Rock Iguana (Cyclura ricordi), Hispaniola boa (Epicrates striatus), the Black and White Warbler or Pega Palo (Mniotilta varia), the Narrow-billed Tody or Chi-cui (Todus angustirostris), Ridgway Hawk or Gavilan de la Hispaniola (Buteo ridgwayi), Querebebe or Antillean Nighthawk (Chordeiles gundlachii), Zumbardorcito or Vervain Hummingbird (Mellisuga minima), the Osprey or Aguila pescadora (Pandion Haliaetus), Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliaie), and the American stingray (Dasyatis americana).
According to the researchers, before humans arrived to the island, around 120 species of land mammals (excluding bats) were present in the Caribbean region, many have now gone extinct, some very recently, with possibly only 15 surviving today.
For two of the "Last Survivors", the Hispaniolan solenodon and Hispaniolan hutia, a Darwin-Initiative funded project was launched in the Dominican Republic in October 2009. It is a collaborative effort between Dominican and UK partners, led by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Its goal is to conduct field research on these poorly known species to assess their status, identify their conservation needs, to develop monitoring tools and to plan their long-term conservation. To follow the project, see
www.thelastsurvivors.org (http://www.thelastsurvivors.org)
For more on ongoing and upcoming events, see www.dr1.com/calendar (http://www.dr1.com/calendar)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#12)