Bangkok - The 163 species discovered last year in the Greater Mekong River region, including a bird-eating fanged frog and a technicoloured gecko, are now at risk of extinction because of climate change, a World Wild Fund for Nature report said Friday. "Rare, endangered and endemic species like those newly discovered are especially vulnerable because climate change will further shrink their already restricted habitats," said Stuart Chapman, director of the WWF Greater Mekong Programme.
According to recent studies, the climate of the Greater Mekong is already changing. Models suggested continued warming, increased climate variability, and more frequent and damaging extreme climate events.
Rising seas and saltwater intrusion was projected to profoundly impact coastal areas, especially the Mekong River Delta, which is one of the three most vulnerable deltas on Earth, according to the most recent International Panel on Climate Change report.
In 2008, scientists discovered 163 unique species in the Greater Mekong - 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, two mammals and a bird - according to the WWF report Close Encounters.
The region, comprising the countries through which the 4,350-kilometre-long Mekong River flows, spans Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the south-western Chinese province of Yunnan.
"After millennia in hiding these species are now finally in the spotlight, and there are clearly more waiting to be discovered," Chapman said.
Among the new species discovered was the fanged frog, which lies in streams waiting for prey; a leopard gecko with orange eyes, spindly limbs and technicolour skin; and the Nonggang babbler, a bird that appears to prefer walking to flying.
The report by the environmental group was released days before the launch of two weeks of UN climate change talks to be held in Bangkok Monday through October 9 in the lead-up to a climate summit in December in Copenhagen, where the world was scheduled to agree on a new global climate treaty.
