Amazing Amazonia: Amazon Rainforest [46 Pics]

From: http://www.lovethesepics.com/

The “lungs of our planet” have been attributed to the Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia. This Amazon jungle, or the Amazon basin in South America, covers over 1.7 billion acres acres (7,000,000 square kilometers); the actual tropical rainforest is spread over 1.4 billion acres and 9 countries: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. 60% of the Amazon jungle is contained within Brazil. The Amazon represents over half the remaining rainforests worldwide and contains the largest and most species-rich tropical forest system on our planet. Amazonia grew around the Amazon River which is the longest river, the largest river, and the basin has the largest area in the world. The Amazon River has total flow greater than the top ten world’s rivers combined. The biodiversity of this wet tropical forest could boggle the brain; one in ten animal species lives here and it is the largest collection of living plants on the globe . . . and much of the Amazon is still unexplored. It definitely should be protected for the tropical jungle paradise may hold the keys, yet to be discovered, to cure countless diseases.The amazing Amazon rainforest is one of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition. We love these pics! [46 Photos]

The biodiversity in these wet tropical forests is mind-blowing. It is home to the largest collection of living plant and animal species in the world. One in ten known species on this planet lives in the Amazon Rainforest. Amazonia is home to around 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and more than 2,000 birds and mammals. So far, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified within this region. One in five of all bird and fish species live here. The Scarlet Macaws above are indigenous to the American tropics. The photographer wrote, “Red-and-Green Macaws DO grow on trees in the Amazon.” Photo #1 by Billtacular

The San Rafael Falls and Quijos River are located at the foot of the highly active Reventador Volcano which rises out of the Amazon jungle east of the Andes. Based on archaeological evidence, it is believed that humans first inhabited this Amazon paradise at least 11,200 years ago. Photo #2 by Imagesunion

Streams of light in the Amazonian mist. Inside this rainforest, you never quite know what you might see . . . Photo #3 by Jon Rawlinson

You might see a Tupi ‘red bird,’ also known as the scarlet ibis, one of the most beautiful Brazilian birds, because of the color of their plumage. Photo #4 by J.Gil Photography

Or you might see an Amazonian ‘Godzilla.’ Photo #5 by Laurent

In Amazonia, you might even stumble upon an Emerald Boa. Eek! Photo #6 by Free Pet Wallpapers

Amazon rainforest jaguar. Bet you won’t bump into one of these beautiful beasties in an urban jungle? Photo #7 by By Land Rover Our Planet

Click here for the FULL GALLERY: http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/10/amazing-amazonia-amazon-rainforest-46-pics/

Baby Sloths Might Be the Cutest Things Ever [Video] watch!

vbs.tv — Let's meet Costa Rica's cutest sloth babies!

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

As soon as I heard about the Aviarios Del Caribe sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica I knew it would be perfect for the Cute Show. It’s the world’s only sloth orphanage, home to over a hundred very sleepy urchins whose lives have been saved by legendary sloth whisperer Judy Arroyo.

Sloth’s are fantastically weird animals, the junkies of the jungle who seem to spend their lives either nodding off or scratching and occasionally eating a bean or two before drifting back to what looks like a blissful sleep.

The babies are especially helpless and comical and I fell in love with them immediately. So I cut a few choice clips together to show my old colleague VBS UK producer Vida Toombs and Cute Show creator Amy Kellner and posted the video on my Vimeo page. To my surprise the clip went viral and was watched by a million people in a week. Clearly I was not alone in thinking that these animals had super squee powers. So here is my Cute Show about the sloths, the perfect prelude to a sneaky daytime nap.

If you fall for these animals like I did then you can join the sanctuary’s volunteer programme. Trainee sloth wranglers get to feed the sloths and help exercise and potty train the babies. The sanctuary runs on donations and voluntary help so you can do your bit by helping these vulnerable creatures whose jungle home is being slowly destroyed by pesticides, sold off to US real estate agencies and sliced up by roads and power lines.

Here are some links:

Sloth Sanctuary:www.slothrescue.org

My Vimeo page: http://vimeo.com/11712103

—LUCY COOKE

Borneo Rainforest: New Species Found Include Lung-Less Frog

A lung-less frog and a slug that shoots love darts: Just two of the 123 new species found in Borneo rainforest since 2007

By Daily Mail Reporter

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/



A lung-less frog, a frog that flies and a slug that shoots love darts are among 123 new species found in Borneo since 2007 in a project to conserve one of the oldest rainforests in the world.

The global conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has called for protecting the threatened species and equatorial rain forest on Borneo, the South China Sea island that is the world's third-largest and is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

'The challenge is to ensure that these precious landscapes are still intact for future generations,' said a WWF report released today.

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No lungs: Known as the Barbourula kalimantanensis and discovered in 2008, this flat-headed frog breathes entirely through its skin. It is among 123 new species found in Borneo since 2007

The search for the new species was part of the Heart of Borneo project that started in February 2007 and is backed by the WWF and the three countries that share the island.

The aim is to conserve 85,000 square miles of rain forest that was described by Charles Darwin as 'one great luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself'.

 

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• Revealed: The secret of how worms re-grow amputated body parts... and how humans could one day do the same

Explorers have been visiting Borneo for centuries, but vast tracts of its interior are yet to be biologically explored, said Adam Tomasek, leader of WWF's Heart of Borneo project.

He said: 'If this stretch of irreplaceable rain forest can be conserved for our children, the promise of more discoveries must be a tantalizing one for the next generation of researchers to contemplate.'

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Dendrelaphis kopsteini: This snake has an almost flame-like neck colouration that gradually fuses into a vivid blue, green and brown pattern. When threatened it flares its nape, revealing bright orange colours

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Ibycus rachelae: This slug uses 'love darts' made of calcium carbonate to pierce and inject a hormone into a mate to increase the chances of reproduction

The scientists' discoveries include the world's longest known stick insect at 56.7cm, a flame-coloured snake and a frog that flies and changes its skin and eye colour.
In total, 67 plants, 29 invertebrates, 17 fish, five frogs, three snakes and two lizards and a brand new species of bird were discovered, said the report.

Borneo has long been known as a hub for monster insects, including giant cockroaches about 10cm long.

Flying frog: The Rhacophorus Penanorum changes colour at night

Notable among the species discovered are:

• A snake that has a bright orange, almost flame-like, neck colouration that gradually fuses into an extraordinary iridescent and vivid blue, green and brown pattern. When threatened it flares its nape, revealing bright orange colours
• A frog that breathes through its skin because it has no lungs, which makes it appear flat. This aerodynamic shape allows the frogs to move swiftly in fast flowing streams. Although the species was discovered in 1978, it was only now that scientists found the frog has no lungs
• A high-altitude slug found on Mount Kinabalu that has a tail three times the length of its head. They shoot calcium carbonate 'love darts' during courtship to inject a hormone into a mate. While resting, the slug wraps its long tail around its body.
  

The Heart of Borneo, the core island area the conservation effort targets, is home to ten species of primate, more than 350 birds, 150 reptiles and amphibians and a staggering 10,000 plants that are found nowhere else in the world, the report says.

Phobaeticus chani: Now officially the world's longest stick insect, it measures 56.7cm long with a body of 35.7cm). Only three have ever been found, all discovered near Gunung Kinabalu Park

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Crystal-clear fins: Another new discovery is the Eirmotus insignis

Read more:

Smuggler Caught With Heads of 353 African Gray Parrots

Written by Dave Harcourt

A new trade in parrot heads and tail feathers is adding to the pressure on the world’s wild population of African Grey Parrots, which is confined to the tropical forest area of West and Central Africa.

This is highlighted by a recent post by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from Cameroon, which reports on a suspect arrested by game rangers who was found to be carrying 353 parrot heads and 2000 tail feathers. The suspect stated that he had collected the material for a witch doctor who was treating his mentally ill brother.

The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is a medium-sized parrot, endemic to the rainforests of West and Central Africa. The birds are highly valued for their beauty and ability to mimic humans - they cost a minimum of US$ 500 each.

Between 1994 & 2003 more than 450 000 parrots were captured and exported under controls that required a permit from a national authority to certify that the export was not detrimental to the species in the wild. However, this trade along with illegal capturing, exceeding of quotas and other demands resulted in considerable stress on the African Grey populations. As a result and following investigation, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) recommended zero export quotas for several range states and decided to develop regional management plans for the species. In particular it recommended a two-year ban on the export of African Grey Parrots from Cameroon. It is interesting that the United States and the EU have banned the import of wild caught parrots since 1992 and 2007 respectively.

This introduction of regulated trade does not effect the illegal export of African Grey Parrots, which is apparently quite well established although very inefficient. For example, it is believed that about 15,000 birds are taken out of the Lobeke region of Cameroon every year but that almost half of these die in transit due to poor handling.

The constraints on the movement of live parrots has probably contributed to this even more threatening trade in heads and feathers, which are more easily stored and transported. The market for these products in not yet understood. Balla Ottou, a leader in Cameroon’s wildlife management, thinks the heads are probably mainly exported to India and China and the tails to Nigeria. This needs to be clarified so that the authorities can develop counter strategies

Unfortunately this kind of trade is likely to flourish as the financial difficulties of the world bite deeper and the unemployed poor in Africa become more and more desperate.

Interestingly a search of ebay, shows that there is a substantial trade in the red feathers of the African Grey. The feathers appear to be used for craft and fly fishing. On 24/01/2009 there were 16 auctions for feathers with one seller parrotinthegarden having 125 feathers on auction, supposedly molted by his African Grey Pandora! These feathers sell for from 50c to just over a dollar each. Another person sells African Grey Tail feathers as “Pluma De Loro Africano” for religious purposes at US$ 7 each!

Photo credit: Michael Gwyther-Jones on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Why is Brazil Doubling its Military Protection in the Amazon Rainforest?

Written by Levi Novey

Brazil’s government has announced plans to increase their soldiers in the Amazon Rainforest from 17,000 to 30,000 over the next 9 years, as well as build new forts and improve others. Why have they chosen to invest $488.6 million in this plan?

The answer is more muddled than I would have guessed. But what can you expect given Brazil’s recent my-way-or-the-highway conservation tactics, their boldness in announcing an unrealistically ambitious anti-deforestation campaign, and a giant oil discovery that further added to the wealth of a country that is now buying more ethanol than gas?

As part of the “Protecting Amazon” project, the military buildup will supposedly aid in the further protection of tribal reservations and the Brazilian border. Brazil shares an extensive border in the rainforest with 8 other countries, and has recently been involved in a dispute with Peru over uprooted Indian tribes. Brazilian authorities and several NGOs devoted to advocacy efforts for tribal peoples claim that deforestation in Peru’s forests is displacing tribal peoples rapidly into Brazil. But this dispute in fact, seems to have little to do with the plan for military buildup.

When I first read about Brazil’s plan, I thought they were pursuing it for conservation reasons, much in the way that Peru’s Environmental Minister has proposed a 3,000 person Environment Police to patrol the Amazon Rainforest and protect its biodiversity. It turns out that its more so about modernizing their military, for what I think are pretty lame reasons.

As mentioned earlier, last year Brazil discovered a huge oil deposit offshore. They promptly scheduled military war games as a show that they were willing to protect the oil. From who I ask? George Bush? In addition to modernizing their ground forces via this new Amazon protection plan, Brazil also wants to build nuclear submarines with the help of France, to help defend their coastline (from who I ask?–once again).

I also am not sure if building 28 new forts will do much good in Brazil’s section of the Amazon Rainforest, but I’m hoping I’m wrong. Perhaps it will help lead to greater protection of the amazing biodiversity and cultures found within the forest’s boundaries.

Photo Credit: openDemocracy on Flickr under a Creative Commons license