Uuganbadrakh, our EDGE Fellow in Mongolia, will be trained to handle the long-eared jerboa by Batsaikhan Nyamsuren, a lecturer and mammal expert of the National University of Mongolia.

Batsaikhan is going to help design the EDGE programme’s long-eared jerboa research in Little Gobi Strictly Protected Area. He will go with ZSL’s Steppe Forward Programme (SFP) team to the select the research site, and meet with eco-herders who are currently recording wild animal sightings and conducting ecological research with students who work for SFP’s community led conservation programme.

Batsaikhan Nyamsuren is one of the most experienced biologists and mammal experts in Mongolia. He has participated in many biological expeditions: Mongolian and German joint expedition of small mammals which was conducted in Southern Mongolia in 2001. He is also leading an ongoing research program that aims to study the population status of brandt’s vole (Lasiopodomys brandti) in the steppe grassland of eastern Mongolia since 1999.

In 2003 he attended a Mongolian and German joint expedition aimed at studying small mammal communities in northern and northwestern Mongolia. Batsaikhan has also implemented a research project, between 2001 and 2006, on Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) conservation, which aimed to census wild ass population in south and south eastern Gobi desert. In 2005, he also worked as a Mongolian counterpart for a joint Mongolian and German expedition of rodent species in southern Gobi desert.

Ok, hands up. Who didn’t know what a solenodon was at the beginning of the week? We hope that this peculiar creature has gained a few more fans following our Valentine’s Day awareness-raising campaign…

Thanks to everyone who sent e-cards and/or donated to the EDGE programme over the past few days. Your support has been a real boost to everyone who is working hard to conserve this unique mammal.

In collaboration with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, we plan to assess the current status and distribution of the Hispaniolan solenodon in Haiti, determine the abundance and distribution of introduced mammals, and develop a Conservation Action Plan for the species.

Preparations for the expedition are underway, and our resident solenodon expert and no. 1 fan – Sam - is itching to begin research in April. We are now just £800 short of our fundraising target. Sadly, the individual on the Valentine’s card died alone. Help us to ensure that his wild relatives can find a mate this spring.

Of all our focal species for 2007, the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) has received the least attention in support and sponsorship, even though it is the fifth highest ranked EDGE mammal. This truly lonely nocturnal insectivore is found only on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola. Its only living relative is the Cuban solenodon. The ancestors of these two species diverged from all other mammals an astonishing 76 million years ago.

Solenodons resemble very closely the primitive mammals that lived near the end of the age of the dinosaurs. They are the only mammals with the ability to inject venom into their prey through specialized grooves on their second insiors. The Hispaniolan solenodon was the top predator on its island habitat until nineteenth century. It was during this period that its population began to decline with the arrival of western explorers to the island who introduced dogs, cats and mongooses, which found the naïve solenodons easy prey.

Since the arrival of Europeans the destruction and development of the solenodon’s forest habitat has applied more pressure to their populations, causing them to become separated and fragmented, hindering the ability of individuals to find mates and reproduce. Solenodons also have a slow reproductive cycle, with females producing only 1 or 2 litters of 1–3 young a year, which serves to compound their problem of dispersal and increase their vulnerability to local threats.

The EDGE team are very concerned about the decline of this species. Individuals are notoriously difficult to observe in the wild and relatively few have been recorded. To help raise the awareness of the plight of these creatures we have created a Valentine’s e-card for you to send to the people you care about. We are trying to generate enough support to carry out a comprehensive survey of solenodon habitat to find out how many individuals survive, and what actions are needed to ensure these remarkable animals have a future.

You can support the Hispaniolan solenodon by making an online donation at http://www.edgeofexistence.org/conservation/hispaniolan_solenodon.asp

The EDGE team would like to highlight the work of all individuals and organizations working to conserve EDGE species. Please send information to info@edgeofexistence.org.

The following information was sent to us by Stephen van der Mark, Flora and Fauna International’s Senior Programme Manager:

Liberia is recovering from nearly 14 years of civil conflict. Displaced and war-affected communities are slowly returning to their ancestral lands, but they face enormous obstacles in their pursuit of a basic livelihood. Whilst there are fresh hopes for Liberia’s reconciliation and revival, rural communities are in dire need of economic development. As agriculture resumes in rural areas, human-wildlife conflicts adjacent to protected areas may threaten the success of conservation activities. Several endangered or threatened species have been implicated in crop raiding by local communities in Liberia, including the chimpanzee and pygmy hippopotamus.

The pygmy hippo is much less familiar than the larger, gregarious common hippo. A secretive and largely solitary forest animal, found alongside rivers in densely wooded areas, it is confined to four West African states: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast. Local communities endow the species with mystical properties, believing, for example, that it carries a diamond in its mouth at night to light its path.

Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, the pygmy hippo is threatened by logging, agricultural encroachment and, to a lesser extent, the bushmeat trade. Regional unrest and instability has also reduced the effectiveness of protected areas and the enforcement of logging controls. Liberia’s Sapo National Park still harbours a sizeable population of pygmy hippos, but the level of protection for this and other key areas is inadequate.

Many animals are killed to protect crops from destruction, with much of the meat being sold locally or in urban bushmeat markets. Some members of the communities living alongside Sapo National Park believe that crop destruction is perpetrated by animals from within the park. This weakens support for the park and its conservation mission. Establishing which species are really responsible for the damage is a prerequisite for the implementation of measures that will reduce crop raiding and the negotiation of benefit-sharing schemes to compensate for crop losses caused by park animals.

A new project to conserve the western chimpanzee and pygmy hippo, by addressing human-wildlife conflicts adjacent to Sapo National Park, Liberia, West Africa, is about to be implemented by two of FFI’s partners in Liberia: Forest Partners International and the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia. This pilot project will use video camera monitoring to evaluate the level and forms of crop raiding by wildlife, especially by the two flagship species, in target communities adjacent to Sapo National Park and enable FFI’s local partners to master the relevant monitoring techniques. Neighbouring communities will be told how and to what degree chimpanzees and pygmy hippos are genuinely affecting agricultural activities, and the data gathered will enable these communities and the Forestry Development Authority to mitigate damage to crops by wildlife, thereby reducing negative attitudes towards the park and, in particular, the chimpanzee and pygmy hippo. The project will serve to foster community awareness and understanding of the protected status of the target species, while new footage of Liberian animals that have rarely been studied or photographed in the wild will supplement current knowledge about these species and help to raise additional funding for future studies and conservation activities. For further information please contact: Svandermark@fauna-flora.org