Africa in bid to save species

Simon Santow reported this story on Tuesday, December 22, 2009

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2009/s2778139.htm

PETER CAVE: A last ditch attempt to save the world's rarest large mammal is underway in Africa.

Four of the world's remaining eight northern white rhinoceroses have been flown from a zoo in chilly Europe to Kenya in the hope that their new surroundings will encourage them to breed.

Simon Santow spoke to the man responsible for making the rhinos feel at home once again in Africa, Richard Vigne. He's CEO of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

RICHARD VIGNE: They spent a couple of weeks being air crate trained before they were transported.They got into their crates fine. They had to be mildly sedated on the journey. They ate a little bit on the journey and they got to Kenya absolutely fine. The roads in Kenya are a little bit rougher than the roads in the Czech Republic,but they came slowly, and by the time they got here they walked out of the crates and basically they're fine.

SIMON SANTOW: Now they've been with you now for about 24 hours, a little more than that. How are they adapting?

RICHARD VIGNE: It's still early days, to be honest. They've had a long journey, obviously and they're now having to adapt to a completely different climate, albeit one that they evolved in and therefore should find fairly easy to adapt to.

They're bright and sparky and they're eating and we've got a small concern on one, but it's a really small concern. He was looking a bit shaky on his legs but he's better this evening so I think that's just the effect of the journey. They're fine.

SIMON SANTOW: What jetlag?

RICHARD VIGNE: (Laughs) Yeah, probably, yeah!

SIMON SANTOW: And Richard Vigne, you mentioned that they seem to be adapting quite well. Can you let our listeners know that isn't that, in a sense, a point of the experiment? That you are hoping that they are going to remember their African heritage and that that might inspire them to breed?

RICHARD VIGNE: Obviously they were taken out of Africa and taken into Europe where day lengths are different, the seasons are well, you know, through winter and summer, the food is different but actually more importantly the social structure of the way rhinos live in zoos is completely different to what happens in the wild.

These animals are actually used to being socially stimulated by the presence of other males around the place and other females around the place and without that stimulation, the opportunity or the chance of them breeding is pretty small.

So really it's about making sure that genetic traits which have evolved over millions of years can be retained in the white rhino populationso that, in future, hopefully we can take them back to places from which they've been removed.

SIMON SANTOW: And what is your best estimate as to how many of these sub-species, if you like, of white rhino still remain?

RICHARD VIGNE: The only northern white rhinos left in the world are now the eight that are in zoos, of which there are I think it's six in the zoos from which these four came from and two in San Diego in America.

SIMON SANTOW: So you've really got half of the known population.

RICHARD VIGNE: Yeah, it's worse than that, actually, because of the eight that are left, only four are considered to be viable from a reproductive perspective.

SIMON SANTOW: And how are you going to help that process, or are you just going to hope that it'll happen organically?

RICHARD VIGNE: We want to do it naturally. What the zoos have been doing for the last 20 years, or even 15 years, is sort of artificially-assisted methods of reproduction, special insemination etcetera, etcetera, none of which have worked.

What we intend to do is bring them back into their natural habitat, stimulate them with the presence of other rhinos, albeit not northern white rhinos but white rhinos, but hopefully get their reproductive juices going a little bit, and hopefully that will do it.

If that doesn't do it then we'll have to think again 'cause that's the best bet.

SIMON SANTOW: Rhinos, of course, find themselves in this predicament because of poaching. How bad is the problem of poaching at the moment?

RICHARD VIGNE: The pressure from poachers at the moment across the whole of Africa, not just Kenya, is enormous, and it's a function of demand for rhino horn, and the price for rhino horn is probably the highest it's been in real terms for at least 20 years. Any rhino, irrespective of what species it is, as long as it's got a horn, is fair game, and that's where the pressure is coming from.

SIMON SANTOW: And is it still used as an aphrodisiac, or as a trophy?

RICHARD VIGNE: Most of the demand is coming from the far east. Notwithstanding the fact that nowadays we have Viagra these guys still think the rhino horn is a better bet. The aphrodisiac is one thing, but the other major source of demand is from Yemen where they use rhino horn for dagger handles, so it's a kind of status symbol for rich people.

PETER CAVE: Richard Vigne, CEO of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, speaking there to Simon Santow.

4.4.

Biofuel no answer to greening cars: report

AM - Tuesday, 15 January , 2008 08:29:00

Reporter: Lindy Kerin

TONY EASTLEY: Now, for all the motorists listening to AM. Biofuels have, in recent years, been pushed as the clean alternative to fossil fuels, but a new report out has found that the green alternative may create big environmental problems of its own.

The report by Britain's Royal Society advocates more research into all aspects of biofuel production and its use.

Biofuel is a hot topic. The head of one of the world's biggest car makers, General Motors, has told a motor show in the US the time is up for petrol driven cars.

Lindy Kerin reports.

(rock music plays)

LINDY KERIN: The international car show in

Detroit in the United States opened with great fanfare. Environmentally friendly options have

been a key talking point of the event.

Rick Wagoner, the chairman of General Motors, told the gathering the global oil supply has peaked, and a switch to electric cars is inevitable. His company will announce its investments in alternative transportation and fuels.

The event coincides with the release of a new report by Britain's Royal Society that's raised concerns about the focus on biofuels. It suggests some biofuels don't cut carbon emissions, and warns of rising food prices and rainforest destruction from increased biofuel production.

Professor John Pickett chaired the study.

JOHN PICKETT: It's essential that we look at the whole life cycle, from field to forecourt, from products that are produced on marginal land, and how that marginal land is managed, all the way through to getting into the fuel tank of the transport system.

And by doing that, we can say whether the fuel is causing any major problems in the environment, or to people's livelihoods, further down in the system.

LINDY KERIN: Biofuels have long been seen as the perfect solution to the growing problem of carbon dioxide emissions.

The European Union has set a binding target of 10 per cent of car fuels to come from plants by 2020. But today, it's promised that its new push to promote biofuels will try to prevent harming the environment or adding to greenhouse gas levels.

The EU's Environment Commissioner is Stavros Dimas.

STAVROS DIMAS: We have to move very carefully. and to move carefully, because there are some benefits from biofuels.

LINDY KERIN: Environmentalists have welcomed the EU's comments.

Friends of the Earth director Paul de Clerck has called for the EU to step away from its 10 per cent biofuel target unless it can put safeguards in place.

PAUL DE CLERCK: If biofuels are produced and used on the local level, then they can be a good source of, they can be a good way to reduce CO2 emissions. But the large-scale plantations that we will see in Indonesia and in Brazil are definitely not sustainable.

LINDY KERIN: But the EU will stick to the target.

Spokesman Ferran Tarradellas Espuny has promised the EU will take care to ensure biofuels won't lead to farmers clearing rainforests.

FERRAN TARRADELLAS ESPUNY: The target is going to remain unchanged because we have received a clear mandate from the member states.

TONY EASTLEY: That report by Lindy Kerin.