The Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo is similar to the closely related Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo shown here (Dendrolagus goodfellowi)
© Timmy Toucan

What
Tree kangaroos are relatives of the kangaroos and wallabies that we all know and have seen.

However they have adpated themselves to a life in the trees with exceptionally long tails and strong forelimbs. They can also get around by moving both their feet at the same time, whereas the kangaroos that live on the ground have to move both rear feet at the same time (ie hop).

The Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus pulcherrimus), is possibly the rarest tree kangeroo that is native and  endemic to montane forests of New Guinea.

It was discovered in 1990 by Pavel German in Mount Sapau, Torricelli Mountains region of Papua New Guniea (PNG).  (Another population was discovered in 2005 in a small area in Indonesia's side of the New Guinea island)

About
It has chestnut brown short coat with a pale belly, and yellowish neck, cheeks and feet.

A double golden stripe runs down its back.

The tail is long and has pale rings.

Why?
The Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo is extremely rare and extinct in most of its original range.

In fact, the animal is the rarest arboreal (tree) jungle-dwelling kangaroo in the world.

Your chances of seeing one in the wild
You would have to be very lucky.

Reports suggests that it has become extinct over as much as 95% of its original range in the past 60 years.

Endangered Olive Ridley Turtle

On the eastern shore of India, along the Orissa coast, the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle is facing yet another challenge to its survival. Plans are currently underway to construct a massive deep water port at the mouth of the Dhamra River, just north of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary - the largest of only three nesting sites for the Olive Ridley in the world. Every winter, more than half a million of these endangered turtles mate in the shallow, calm ocean waters, then the females journey ashore for the arribada or “mass nesting.” For the first time, in 2008 there was no arribada on the Orissa beach.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Photo credit: Dr. Bivash Pandav)

In addition to the ongoing threats these turtles face from trawlers, gill netting and environmental factors such as global warming, the construction of the port will introduce numerous new stresses. Increased shipping traffic will deter the turtles from coming in from the sea to mate and nest; dredging, oil spills and chemical leaks with add deadly pollutants to the ocean waters; and artificial lighting will confuse the instinctual movements of both adults and hatchlings.

The Olive Ridley’s will not be able to adapt to these new threats quickly enough to shift the arribada to a safer and more suitable location, however the location of the port can.

Source:

http://www.wild.org/field-projects/endangered-olive-ridley-turtles

Of all the cats in the world the leopard has the widest distribution. Leopards were originally found in almost the whole of Africa and in large parts of Asia, ranging from Turkey and the Middle East to Indonesia and Russia. At one time there were thought to be over thirty distinct subspecies of leopard, but most cat specialists now believe that the majority of these subspecies are not valid; eight have been proposed instead (Miththapala and Seidensticker 1995), and revision of the taxonomy is still under debate.

Of the eight subspecies the Amur, or Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) shows the strongest divergence in coat pattern. The coat is pale cream (especially in winter) and has widely spaced rosettes with thick, black rings and darkened centres. The length of the coat varies between 2.5cm in summer and 7.5cm in winter.

Male Amur leopards weigh 32-48 kg, with exceptionally large males up to 60-75 kg. Females are smaller than the males at 25-43 kg.

The main prey species of the Amur leopard are roe and sika deer, along with hares and badgers.

Whilst it has been found in other regions that leopards do not do well in areas where they share territory with tigers, this has not proved to be the case in Russia. Studies have indicated that an increased tiger population in the Southwest Primorye area has not adversely affected the leopard population.

Amur leopards in zoos show some evidence of breeding seasonalilty with a peak in births in late spring/early summer. After a gestation period of around 12 weeks cubs are born in litters of 1-4 individuals, with an average litter size of just over 2. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years before becoming fully independent. Females first breed at an age of 3-4 years.

A rare species of sheep discovered by Marco Polo in the 13th century is edging closer to extinction due to increased trophy hunting in Central Asian countries, new research reports.
The species, once prominent in the Pamir Mountains on the border of China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, now numbers around 10,000, according to George Schaller of the Science and Exploration Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
To read the rest and see the picture click here:

http://helpinganimalsworldwide.blogspot.com/2009/03/trophy-hunting-pushing-marco-polo-sheep.html