Baby Siamese Crocodiles and Migrating Whitetip Sharks

So, this is the second post in a biweekly series I'm doing. I have two articles I'd like to share this week.

The first is from the Wildlife Conservation Society, or the WCS. This article reports the release of nineteen baby Siamese crocodiles into the wild. The release is to be performed by the WCS and some of their partners in the village of Than Soum in Lao PDR on March 6. The release is part of the Crocodile Recovery and Livelihood Improvement Project, a community-based program that hopes to save the local Siamese crocodile population and the wetlands that they live in.


Siamese crocodiles

The Siamese crocodile has an estimated population of only 250 in the wild, due to over hunting and the destruction of their habitat. Their range extends throughout Southeast Asia and the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Java.


Siamese crocodile range

The full article on the Wildlife Conservation Society's page is here: http://www.wcs.org/press/press-releases/siamese-croc-release.aspx

Next, we have an article from Stony Brook University about Oceanic whitetip sharks. There's been new research about their migration patterns, showing that when they migrate, they often cross international boundaries.


Oceanic whitetip shark

Scientists from Stony Brook, the Cape Eleuthera Institute, and Microwave Telematry, Inc attached tags to one male shark and ten female sharks offshore from Cat Island in the Bahamas. Three of the sharks stayed within the Bahamas Exclusive Economic Zone for the whole period of time they were tracked. Five more strayed from the site they were tagged, and one went all the way to Bermuda. The common thing between them: they all returned to the Bahamas. This is the first evidence that migrating Oceanic whitetip sharks do return-migration. While the sharks didn't come within risk of fishing in the Bahamas, they could have gotten tangled in fishing gear from other countries set up to catch other species. To protect the sharks, countries n the region that fish will have to work together to create a safe habitat for them. A link to the full article is here: http://commcgi.cc.stonybrook.edu/am2/publish/General_University_News_2/New_Research_on_Migratory_Behavior_of_Endangered_Oceanic_Whitetip_Sharks_Can_Help_Shape_Conservation_Strategies.shtml

Well, that's it for this week. I hope you check again next time I post. Thanks for reading!