Sharks, warblers, deer on endangered species list

By Nita Bhalla

NAIROBI (Reuters) – The world’s second largest shark, a
bird found in the Garden of Eden and Central Asia’s only true
deer were among 11 new species given the title of “endangered”
by countries around the world on Friday.

Around 95 countries, members of the Convention on Migratory
Species (CMS), agreed that several birds and mammals faced

increasing threats to their survival and needed more
protection.

“The 11 species will join a listing of around 107 migratory
animals which are considered endangered and thereby given
special status by all member states,” Marco Barbieri, CMS
scientific officer, told journalists.

“This means countries will need to take concerted action to
protect the species, such as conservation projects and
protection measures,” he said at the end of a CMS conference in
the Kenyan capital.

The CMS, a treaty signed under the aegis of the United
Nations Environment Program (UNEP), says migratory species are
considered more vulnerable than others because of their
patterns of regular movement across borders and countries.

U.N. wildlife experts say the Basking Shark, which can
reach 10 meters in length, is found in the continental shelves
of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans and the Mediterranean
and is often caught in fishing nets or collides with boats in
shallow waters.

The Basra Reed Warbler, a small brown and white bird which
breeds in the Mesopotamian marshlands of southern Iraq, thought
to be the original Garden of Eden, is also on the list.

Experts say the warbler’s numbers have dwindled in Iraq
because of heavy drainage of the marshlands under Saddam
Hussein’s rule. The global population is believed to be between
2,500 and 10,000.

Another species to be given special status is the Bukhara
deer, which inhabits central Asia’s arid zones, migrating
across countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Threatened by habitat destruction and possibly pesticide
contamination, the Bukhara deer population is around 800 to
900.

Other species which made the endangered listing are
Henderson’s Petrel, a sea bird, the Malagasy Pond Heron, the
Red Knot bird, the Balearic Sheerwater bird, the Spotted Ground
Thrush and the Short-Beaked Common Dolphin.