Wildlife camera trap surveys provide new insights into the occurrence of
two threatened Annamite endemics in Viet Nam and Laos

Date:
February 22, 2022
Source:
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Summary:
Using wildlife cameras, scientists have provided new insights
through a large-scale assessment of the occurrence and distribution
of the Annamite striped rabbit and two Annamite dark muntjacs in
six sites in Viet Nam and Laos. The team identified factors that
influence the occurrence of these threatened endemics, and provided
prediction maps for these sites.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Effective conservation strategies are required to address accelerating extinction rates across the globe. In order to be effective,
these strategies need to rely on scientific knowledge about ecology, distribution and population status of threatened species. Using wildlife cameras, a team of scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and
Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), WWF-Viet Nam, Save Vietnam's Wildlife,
Re:wild and FFI Vietnam have provided new insights through a large-scale assessment of the occurrence and distribution of the Annamite striped
rabbit and two Annamite dark muntjacs in six sites in Viet Nam and
Laos. The team identified factors that influence the occurrence of these threatened endemics, and provided prediction maps for these sites. The
data and maps for all species are published in the scientific journal Conservation Science and Practice.


==========================================================================
The Annamite striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi and the Annamite
dark muntjac species complex with a minimum of two species currently
known as Roosevelt's muntjac Muntiacus rooseveltorumand the Annamite muntjacMuntiacus truongsonensis are only known from the Annamite Mountains along the Viet Nam-Laos border.

Scientists know little about the ecology, behaviour and distribution of
these species -- but they do know that they are threatened across their
range. The primary threat to both the striped rabbit and the two dark
muntjacs is widespread poaching through the setting of indiscriminate
wire snares.

Understanding more about their populations across the Annamites and
the factors that influence their occurrence is an important first step
towards developing more effective conservation strategies to protect them.

To learn more about these species, the team of scientists conducted
systematic landscape-scale camera surveys in six sites in the northern and central Annamites. The results showed that the occurrence of the dark
muntjac and the Annamite striped rabbit are influenced by different
landscape factors, including elevation and two proxies for hunting
pressure, the degree of seclusion and the proximity to human settlements
around the protected areas.

The degree of seclusion was calculated as the average travel time from
major roads to a place inside protected areas. The proximity to human settlements around the protected areas was quantified by measuring the
village density outside the protected area boundary. Importantly, the scientists used a mathematical modelling technique to show that these
factors influenced species occurrence in different ways in different
sites.

"The factors influencing species distribution in the Annamite
Mountains are complex," says Thanh Van Nguyen, PhD student at the
Leibniz-IZW. "Through this study, we could assess how these factors
influenced the occurrence of Annamite striped rabbit and the dark muntjac species across several study sites, and thus improve our understanding
of this complexity. Our results show that the Annamite striped rabbit
is found in higher elevation areas in some sites and lower elevation
areas in some others, and surprisingly there were no clear effects of
proxies for hunting pressure on their occurrence. On the other hand, the
dark muntjac species were more likely to occur at higher elevations and
at some sites had higher occupancies in more remote areas. It was only
by taking into account site-specific differences that we could begin to
unravel the factors that influence species distribution in the Annamites." Although the scientists found no clear effect of the hunting proxies on
the occurrence of the Annamite striped rabbit, they found the highest occupancies for this species in the Saola Nature Reserves in Viet Nam,
where WWF-Viet Nam has conducted intensive snare removal patrols for
more than 10 years. Mr. Anh Quang Hoa Nguyen, Central Annamite Landscape species Coordinator and Project Manager at WWF-Viet Nam, adds "We have
been proud to be involved in this project and look forward to using this information to help protect these species as well as other key species
that make the biodiversity in this part of the world so unique. The
results on the Annamite striped rabbit are a promising first sign that
our intensive conservation effort in the Saola Nature Reserves can have
a positive benefit for the long term conservation of Annamite endemics."
Mr. Cuong Xuan Tran, Director of Pu Mat National Park (Viet Nam), also
sees the usefulness of this work for conservation. "The results from
this work are a major step forward in protecting these Annamite species,"
says Mr. Cuong Xuan Tran.

"With this baseline data, we will be able to monitor population trends
of both species in the sites where we are engaged, thus measuring the
impact of conservation efforts," says Dr Andrew Tilker, Asian Species
Officer at Re:wild and postdoc at the Leibniz-IZW. Tilker is also a
member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN)
SSC Deer and Lagomorph Specialist Groups, with a focus on muntjacs and
Annamite striped rabbit, respectively.

"Studies such as this are a first step towards implementing
evidence-driven conservation initiatives to make sure that these species survive -- and thrive -- in the Annamite Mountains." The Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi) is a forest-dwelling lagomorph native to the Annamite Mountains along the Viet Nam-Laos border. It was first described
by science recently in the year 2000, and knowledge of its ecology or
behaviour is still scarce. The species is threatened by habitat loss
and indiscriminate snaring and is classified as "Endangered" on The Red
List of Threatened Species by the IUCN. The Annamite dark muntjacs are
a complex group of two known -- and possibly more unknown -- species,
including Muntiacus rooseveltorum and Muntiacus truongsonensis. The dark muntjacsare small deer with dark fur, tiny fangs and a beautiful tuft of
hair on their forehead. As so little is known about them, including their taxonomy, the dark muntjacs are currently listed as "Data Deficient"
by the IUCN, though there is a general agreement among scientists and conservationists that their populations have declined across the Annamite mountains through unsustainable hunting.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Leibniz_Institute_for_Zoo_and_Wildlife_Research_(IZW).

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Thanh V. Nguyen, Andreas Wilting, Ju"rgen Niedballa, An Nguyen,
Benjamin
M. Rawson, Anh Q. H. Nguyen, Trung T. Cao, Oliver R. Wearn,
Anh C. Dao, Andrew Tilker. Getting the big picture:
Landscape‐scale occupancy patterns of two Annamite endemics
among multiple protected areas.

Conservation Science and Practice, 2022; DOI: 10.1111/csp2.620 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220222135259.htm

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