Nicaragua cloud forest 'under siege' by illegal loggers.

Bosawas forest - the Bosawas Reserve is a critically important rainforest but native people say it is being destroyed by "colonists"

A famed rainforest in Nicaragua is under growing threat from illegal loggers, say indigenous leaders.

The Bosawas Biosphere Reserve is Central America's largest tropical forest with clouds constantly drifting over the hilly terrain.

But the Mayangna and Miskito people who live there say 30,000 hectares a year are being deforested by "colonists".

They are calling on US president Barack Obama, who is visiting the region, to support their battle.

Described by the United Nations as a global biological treasure, the reserve is located on the border between Nicaragua and Honduras and teems with wildlife.

“We believe that if there is no intervention there will be no Biosphere Reserve in five to 10 years” Taymond Robins, Mayangna people

The two million hectares are said to be home to 150,000 insect species, rare jaguars, eagles and crocodiles as well as the world's last populations of Baird's Tapir and the Central American Spider Monkey.

Landless invaders

The Bosawas reserve also overlaps the homes of indigenous communities who have been there for centuries, living by hunting and fishing.

The Nicaraguan government recognised the full legal title of the Mayangna to their lands in 2007.

Rhino poaching in South Africa reaches record levels

 

 
A dead rhino is dehorned by a researcher in Zimbabwe.
 

Figures from the South African government indicate that poaching for rhinoceros has increased substantially in the last year.

A record 668 rhinos were killed for their horns in 2012, up almost 50% on the number for 2011.

The majority of the animals were killed in the Kruger national park, the country's biggest wildlife reserve.

“Rhinos are being illegally killed...all for the frivolous

use of their horns as a hangover cure” Sabri Zain TRAFFIC

Experts say that growing demand for rhino horn in Asia is driving the slaughter.

South Africa is home to around three quarters of the world's rhinoceros

population of around 28,000 animals. In 2007 a mere 13 animals were lost to poachers.

But since then the killing has increased substantially. It is being fuelled

by the belief in countries like China and Vietnam that powdered rhino horn has

medicinal powers and can impact diseases like cancer. Horns can sell for around $65,000 a kg.

Poaching crisis

The rich rewards have attracted criminal gangs who deploy a range of

sophisticated technologies in their efforts to capture and dehorn the animals.

Sawfish snout senses, swipes and stabs

The spectacular snouts of sawfish are

revealed as complete hunting weapons, sensing prey and killing them.

The saws, which can grow more than a metre long in some species, have

previously been identified as able to sense prey by their electric fields.

Now, researchers have filmed the fish impaling prey on the teeth of the

saws. They suggest in Current Biology that

sawfish are more active hunters than previously thought, which could help in their much-needed conservation.

All seven species are listed as Critically Endangered on

the internationally-recognised Red List.

The researchers, mainly based in Australia, suggest sawfish may be unique

among their peers in possessing a snout, or rostrum, that works both as a

sensory organ and a hunting weapon.