Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report
or other grey literature. The former have generally been
checked more carefully prior to final printing. References
frequently cited for distribution are abbreviated thus (recent):
M8 Duckworth et al. (1994), M14 Bergmans (1995), M15 WCS
(1995b), M9 Duckworth (1996a), M10 Timmins and Evans
(1996), M11 Davidson et al. (1997), M12 Duckworth (1997a),
M13 Duckworth (1998), M16 Showler et al. (1998b), M17 Robinson
and Webber (1998a), and (historical) M18 Osgood (1932).
Distribution maps would be of limited use for most species
of large mammal at this stage. Confirmed records of most
species are positioned essentially randomly across their range.
There is no indication that the survey areas with records represent
those in which the species is most common. Similarly,
it is so difficult to see or otherwise find, say, Marbled Cats,
that there is no reason to believe them absent from those survey
areas with no records. Recent village-interview data are
not amenable to mapping in the semi-quantitative style of
the first edition of this work (Salter 1993b, repeated here as
Annex 5). Maps of predictive distribution would be entirely
inappropriate in a work of this nature.
Habitats are assigned from personal experience of the
authors, using a loose classification (see Introduction).
As habitat use often varies across a species’s range, every
attempt is made to present information specific to Lao PDR,
or derived from adjacent parts of Thailand, Cambodia and
Vietnam. If there is no information from Lao PDR, this is
stated.
Key Species of Special Conservation Significance
Key species (those of special conservation significance)
are bulletted (• ). Global status information is from the 1996
IUCN Red List of threatened animals (IUCN 1996). Globally
Threatened species are listed (in increasing order of threat)
as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critical. Globally Near-
Threatened species are not yet believed to be Globally Threatened,
but may soon be so if current trends continue. Data
Deficient species are too poorly known for their conservation
status to be assessed (see Conventions).
National risk status categories have been assigned specifically
for this report, the evaluations having been made by
the authors in discussion with a number of experienced
observers (R. J. Tizard, R. Steinmetz, S. Sawathvong, W. G.
Robichaud and T. D. Evans). Species of large mammal confirmed
or assumed to be still extant in Lao PDR are categorised
as At Risk in Lao PDR, Potentially At Risk in Lao PDR,
Little Known in Lao PDR or Not At Risk in Lao PDR (see
Conventions). Assessments were made, following the guidelines
of Thewlis et al. (1998), on the basis of observed and
perceived threats to the species or its habitat together with
perception of the species’s population level relative to the
apparent carrying capacity of the habitat.
Species Conditionally At Risk in Lao PDR are those which
are not confirmed to occur in Lao PDR in the late 1990s but
which, if present, are clearly at risk, e.g. rhinoceroses, Hog
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Deer and Hairy-nosed Otter. They cannot logically be categorised
as at risk, as this term would imply their presence in
Lao PDR. If there is no clear rationale for a species with no
confirmed Lao records to be considered at risk in Lao PDR,
it is not assigned a national risk category, even if it is currently
considered Globally Threatened (e.g. Red Panda).
All species of large mammal with confirmed records for
Lao PDR and not assigned a risk category are considered to
be Not At Risk in Lao PDR at the current time. If any species
unconfirmed to occur in Lao PDR is recorded in the future,
its national risk category would need to be established. Most
such species would be likely to qualify for at least Little
Known in Lao PDR.
Four species listed as of special conservation concern in
the first edition (Salter 1993b) were not retained as key species
in this edition. Recent surveys show that Leopard Cat,
Variable Squirrel and Cambodian Striped Squirrel are clearly
not at risk. There is neither evidence that Intermediate Loris
inhabits Lao PDR, nor grounds for assuming that if it does, it
is at risk. The supposition that Grey Wolf occurred in Lao
PDR may have been an error.
A recommended list of key species of mammals for use
in future work in Lao PDR is given in Annex 6. National
species conservation priorities are presented in Table 6. Key
species occurrence in each recent survey area is given in
Table 12. A status summary, usually with detail for less widely
available records, has been included under each key species
account.
Proposed Conservation Management and Research
Measures
A synopsis of proposed conservation measures is provided
for key species, usually presented by group. As well as
the specific recommendations, there is a general need for
further information on the distribution, abundance and particularly
the habitat-use and altitudinal range of many species,
and for active management of Lao PDR’s protected area
system to maintain viable populations of mammals.
CITES-listed and Restricted-range Species
CITES information is from the Checklist of CITES
species (WCMC 1998). Except for Northern Treeshrew and
Leopard Cat, all CITES-listed species occurring in Lao PDR
(Annex 3) are key species and so receive a status review.
Species with restricted ranges (local or regional endemics)
are highlighted, to indicate the significance of the Lao range
to the conservation of the species. Extralimital ranges are
not given for other, more widespread, species.
Historical Sources
There is little historical information on mammals of Lao
PDR. Osgood (1932) summarised the then available material
and several subsequent reviews of taxonomic groups
include Lao material (e.g. diurnal squirrels: Moore and Tate