Does This Shark Look Vulnerable?
It may not look it, but the Sand Tiger Shark, also known as the Grey Nurse Shark or Ragged Tooth Shark, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It’s a fate that sadly awaits many of its fellow sharks as well: One in four species is being exploited commercially and unsustainably. The Sand Tiger Shark, for example, is slow to reproduce, producing only 1-2 pups over the course of a year or two. It tends to congregate in large numbers at certain times of the year, exposing it to overfishing. Its fins cut off for shark fin soup and its flesh savored in Japan, the Sand Tiger has been driven close to extinction in previous centuries, when it was prized for its oil; it is now at risk again.
Fortunately, several excellent conservation organizations are working on the problem. Oceana is pushing for effective shark-finning bans, better management of all species, and a reduction in the number of sharks damaged or killed as “bycatch” of fishing operations. They have enlisted January Jones, otherwise known as Mrs. Don Draper, of AMC’s Mad Men, as a spokesperson: Watch her Oceana video here. In the U.K., the Shark Trust is also campaigning against finning and offers an opportunity to Adopt a Shark (Basking or Great White).
And in Argentina, the Sand Tiger Shark has found a true friend. Gustavo Chiaramonte, the head of the Ichthyological Division and curator of the Ichthyology National Collection of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, leads a research team, supported by the Whitley Fund for Nature that is identifying and surveying shark and ray nurseries. While the Sand Tiger and others continue to be heavily fished in Argentine waters, Chiaramonte hopes to use the data to work with local fishermen and national agencies. Already, Argentina’s National Fisheries Authority has agreed to include shark nurseries in the Natural Protected Areas Law and to prohibit fishing at one sensitive coastal area.
Photo: © Andy Murch / Elasmodiver.com for ARKive
Chiru
Today’s Endangered All-Star, the Chiru or Tibetan Antelope, once roamed the Tibetan Plateau by the thousands: Only 50 years ago, a million Chiru grazed across the steppe. But then came the shatoosh shawl, or ring shawl, made of a fabric so fine that an entire length of cloth could be drawn through a ring. Hugely popular in western countries, the shawls adorned the shoulders of the wealthy, but the fur could not be taken unless the animal was killed. Poachers shot their way through herd after herd, reducing the number to perhaps 75,000.
In 2002, a ban on the manufacturing of the fabric began to be enforced in India, and China, India, and Nepal have enacted laws protecting the species. China, however, by opening a major new railway to Lhasa, the capitol of Tibet, may have dealt a severe blow: By encouraging Han Chinese to settle throughout Tibet, and opening new routes of entry, the government has made it all to easy for poachers and traffickers to continue their trade.
To ensure that the Chiru could continue their migration across these new transportation corridors, a Chinese environmentalist, Xin Yang, formed a government-approved NGO—Greenriver—and planned a number of antelope-friendly underpasses passing beneath one of the new roads in the region. By 2005, 2,800 antelope were crossing the Qinghai-Tibetan road, a significant improvement from the year before. Xin Yang is now working on a series of crossing structures for the accompanying railway. In 2006 and again in 2008, Xin Yang received an award in support of his efforts from the UK-based Whitley Fund for Nature. To donate to Whitley, to support Xin and other enterprising conservationists, visit their Donations Page.
Photo: © Alain Dragesco-Joffe / Biosphoto
