LONDON: British scientists are launching a project aiming to save some of the rarest and most neglected species of animals in the world from extinction. They will focus on some of the animals that are usually overlooked by conservationists and they intend to seek help from the public in this task.
The Zoological Society of London has taken the initiative in the project, named EDGE to signify Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered, and some 100 species of mammals that have fewest numbers alive today and which make up the world's most-genetically unique animals have been selected to be covered under the project. During the first year, 10 of these mammals, which include a venomous shrew-like creature, an egg-laying mammal, the Yanghtze river dolphin and bumblebee bat, will be the focus.
Jonathan Baillie, a scientist at the ZSL, said the aim of the project is to prevent these unique species from sliding unnoticed towards extinction. He said this is first global scale program specifically developed to focus on these one-of-a-kind and highly threatened animals.
The project will make use of the internet to get people interested in the study and encourage them to sponsor work involving specific animals.
Baillie is afraid the creature on the top of the scientists' agenda, the almost-blind Yanghtze River dolphin would have already disappeared from the face of the globe. Its last count had been 13, but a team of scientists, which had visited the area of its habitation recently, had not found any, Baillee said.
The other species that the project plans to include in the study are the egg-laying long-beaked echidna, the mouse-like long-eared jeboa, the Hispaniolan solenodon and the golden-rumped elephant shrew.
The bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), believed to be the world's smallest mammal, is the sole member of the Craseonycterudae family of bats, and is thought to have last shared a common ancestor with another species about 43 million years ago. First described in 1974, the tiny creature is disturbed by collectors and tourists wanting to see it. It is threatened by forest burning near its habitat in western Thailand and south-east Myanmar.
Baillie said if any of these species are lost, there can be nothing similar to them left on the planet.
The scientists had drawn the list of EDGE animals on the basis of those existing now with the fewest close relatives. The list had been cross-referenced with the International Conservation Union's official list of endangered species to identify the 10 priority animals. Many of these animals have been overlooked because they come from poorly-explored regions or species groups where scientists have had little interest.
ZSL plans to involve local scientists and biodiversity groups in the project to evolve conservation plans needed for each species on the list. The plans will then be posted on the website and move ahead as funds become available.
Scientists have identified a total of 564 species that fall within the EDGE definition.
