Opinion
Well, you read it here first.
At the start of 2024 we published our annual ‘Ten species to watch’ list. Among the species we profiled was the hippo that hardly anyone had heard of. That all changed when a newborn pygmy hippo named Moo Deng took the internet by storm. Whatever your views on the paparazzi-style hounding of the hippo, the massive media attention has enabled us to highlight the plight of her wild relatives.
And that can only be a good thing, because this endangered animal needs all the help it can get. The positive Moo Deng music offers renewed hope for the hard-pressed half-pint hippo. Wouldn’t it be great if it generated extra support for the vital conservation work that Fauna & Flora and our local partners are doing to help Bouncy Pork’s wild counterparts in West Africa bounce back from the brink?
We hit the jackpot with the pygmy hippo, but how did the other species on our watch list fare? There were some noteworthy activities to report, and several of them deserve an honourable mention here.
Asprete latest
Having discovered record numbers of a fish that was one feared to be extinct, we have since redoubled our efforts to help revive the fortunes of the critically endangered asprete. Before we can protect and restore its fragmented freshwater habitat in Romania, we need to confirm the limits of its current range, how abundant it is and where exactly to focus our conservation efforts. In 2024, working in tandem with the Alex Găvan Foundation, we surveyed 21 sites along a 16-kilometre stretch of the Vâlsan River, capturing 97 asprete and filming the fish at night for the first time since its discovery. Worryingly, only one of the specimens caught was a juvenile, suggesting that the asprete is not reproducing very successfully. Unless that situation changes, the population could gradually decrease as the adults naturally die, leading to the eventual disappearance of the species. Reversing that alarming trend will be a priority in the coming years.
Asprete in the Vâlsan river, Romania. © Alex Găvan Foundation
Asprete in the Vâlsan river, Romania.
Yellow-naped parrot. Juan Pablo Moreiras / Fauna & Flora
Yellow-naped parrot.
Parrot refresh
Given the encouraging results from previous surveys, we were hoping to witness a continuing increase in the population of the yellow-naped amazon at our project site in Nicaragua, where we’re working with local partner Biometepe to protect this critically endangered parrot from poaching. The 2024 survey results did not disappoint. We recorded 1,502 adults on Ometepe Island, an 8.6% increase from the previous year.
Over 70 chicks fledged successfully from the nests we monitored, with just 10 birds poached.
Iguana patrols
The Grenadines pink rhino iguana was also in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. This extremely rare island endemic is vulnerable to poaching driven by the demand for exotic pets, and we’ve been working with our Caribbean and international partners to combat that threat. In 2024, those protection measures were tested to the limit by forces beyond our immediate control. Hurricane Beryl struck St Vincent and the Grenadines – and Union Island in particular – with frightening ferocity. It left a trail of destruction in its wake, and the human toll was devastating. Left homeless and hungry, some islanders resorted to hunting wild meat, including the critically endangered iguanas. Fauna & Flora launched an emergency appeal and the response was so generous that Union Island Environmental Alliance, our partner on the ground, was able to set aside a proportion of donations to fund ongoing island-wide patrols conducted by its community rangers to protect the lizards from would-be poachers. As the long-term rebuilding process continues, we’re helping to ensure that recovery doesn’t come at the expense of the island’s unique wildlife.
Repeat performance?
Will our predictions for 2025 prove just as prophetic? Only time will tell, but we’ll be publishing a new ‘species to watch’ list in early January, so watch this space.
Adult male Grenadines pink rhino iguana. © Jenny Daltry
Adult male Grenadines pink rhino iguana. © Jenny Daltry
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Donate todayBaby pygmy hippo. Credit: Steph Baker / Stock photography
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