New species, old threats to Mekong wildlife: WWF
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a "yin-yang" frog (Leptobrachium leucops), just one of five new amphibian species discovered in the region in 2011. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a Sweet singing frog (Gracixalus Quangi). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows the Thick-spiked Coelogyne Orchid (Coelogyne pachystachya). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012 by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows the Thick-spiked Coelogyne Orchid (Coelogyne pachystachya). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a "Walking catfish", a species living in freshwater streams on the island of Phu Quoc off the Vietnamese Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows "Walking catfish", a species living in freshwater streams on the island of Phu Quoc off the Vietnamese Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a new miniature fish which was recently discovered 83km north of Surat Thani in southern Thailand. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a Ruby-eyed pit viper (Trimeresurus rubeus) discovered in forests near Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows one of three new Murina bat species (Murina beelzebub), discovered in Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve, Quang Tri province in central Vietnam. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a "yin-yang" frog (Leptobrachium leucops), just one of five new amphibian species discovered in the region in 2011. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a Sweet singing frog (Gracixalus Quangi). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows the Thick-spiked Coelogyne Orchid (Coelogyne pachystachya). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012 by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows the Thick-spiked Coelogyne Orchid (Coelogyne pachystachya). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a "Walking catfish", a species living in freshwater streams on the island of Phu Quoc off the Vietnamese Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows "Walking catfish", a species living in freshwater streams on the island of Phu Quoc off the Vietnamese Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a new miniature fish which was recently discovered 83km north of Surat Thani in southern Thailand. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows a Ruby-eyed pit viper (Trimeresurus rubeus) discovered in forests near Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
An undated handout picture released on Dec 17, 2012, by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) shows one of three new Murina bat species (Murina beelzebub), discovered in Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve, Quang Tri province in central Vietnam. From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP
HANOI (AFP) - From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 129 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said on Tuesday in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011.
But from forest loss to the construction of major hydropower projects on the Mekong River, existing threats to the region's biodiversity mean many of the new species are already struggling to survive, the conservation group warned.
"The good news is new discoveries. The bad news is that it is getting harder and harder in the world of conservation and environmental sustainability," Mr Nick Cox, manager of WWF-Greater Mekong's Species Programme, told AFP.
Some 129 species were newly recorded last year in the Greater Mekong region, which consists of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan.
