VNM Press: Tam Dao newt may evade extinction

[wes]

<font color="0000ff">Photo at URL below</font>

<u>VIETNAMNET BRIDGE</u> (Hanoi, Vietnam) 31 August 06 Tam Dao newt may evade extinction
The Hanoi Teacher Training University has successfully bred the <u>Tam Dao newt</u> (Paramesotriton deloustali). The <u>Tam Dao newt</u> is the only amphibian with a tail found in Vietnam since 1934. It is listed in Vietnam’s Red Book and is threatened by extinction.
So far, this kind of animal has been found only in streams in the Tam Dao mountains and in some places in northern Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang and Thai Nguyen provinces.
As they are strange amphibians (having tails when mature), local people often hunt <u>Tam Dao newts</u> to sell to tourists for breeding or to put into wine as a kind of tonic. Consequently, the number of <u>Tam Dao newts</u> is declining rapidly.
In addition, deforestation and the rapid development of tourism have destroyed the habitat of this amphibian.
Scientists at the Hanoi Teacher Training University have successfully bred the <u>Tam Dao newt</u> and they are experimentally breeding baby <u>Tam Dao newts</u> in semi-natural environments in streams and lakes in the Tam Dao region to help them gradually adapt themselves to the natural environment.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2006/08/607802/

 

[paris]

is it me or does that photo look like fire salamanders?

 

[chris]

lets hope the scientists haven't made the same mistake as the web operator...
Chris

 

[mark]

Hm, P. deloustali is certainly not the only urodela species from Vietnam...

 

[joan]

Mark, it says the only urodela with a tail found since 1934, not that it's the only one found in Vietnam.

 

[michael]

I'm guessing the article isn't to scientific. Weren't Tylototriton vietnamensis recently discovered in Vietnam?

 

[chris]

I suspect the journalist used some information which wasn't up to date with the new find there.
I think more imortantly, if rehabilitation of animals to the wild is successful, the prospect of this species will certainly be improved.

The article speaks as if this is the first time deloustali has been bred in captivity, when several people have been breeding them for years...


Chris