Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report
RJTim). Documented Range and Habitat: North (Amato et
al. in press a). Habitat use unclear; likely to be upper hill and
montane forest. Status Information: First described from Ban
Muangyo, Phongsali Province (Osgood 1932), specimens
were collected in central Xiangkhouang Province in 1996
(Amato et al. in press a, in press b). Some reports of small
muntjacs from other areas (Table 12) may be of this species.
Deuve (1961a, 1972) speculated that it inhabited Louang-
Namtha Province. However, this was based on a local name.
Apparently he never observed the animal and was given few
details of its appearance by villagers, as Elaphodus
cephalophus Tufted Deer was suggested as an alternative
possibility. A set of antlers obtained from Nam Et / Phou
Louey NBCAs was perhaps of this species (Davidson 1998),
but until the species’s morphological characters are clarified,
firm identifications are ill-advised. Muntjac antlers are used
in traditional medicine (Baird 1995b). Too little is yet known
of this species to consider it anything other than Little Known
in Lao PDR. Taxonomic issues: Morphology and genetics
both indicate that Roosevelts’ Muntjac is clearly not a subspecies
of M. feae of Thailand and Myanmar (Amato et al. in
press a; RJTim).
• Muntiacus truongsonensis Annamite Muntjac (=
Truongson Muntjac). Conservation Significance: Discovered
too late for inclusion in M7 ; Little Known in Lao PDR.
Endemic to Lao PDR and Vietnam; likely to occur only east
of the Mekong (Giao et al. 1998, Timmins et al. 1998, RJTim).
Documented Range and Habitat: South (Amato et al. in press
b). Habitat use unclear, but may inhabit upper hill and
montane evergreen forest and degraded derivatives. Status
Information: The first example of an animal presumed to be
this species was found alive in a small zoo in Ban Lak (20) in
1995 (Schaller 1995b, Timmins 1996). The photograph in
Robichaud (1997b) listed as the “new species of muntjac”
probably in fact portrays a dark Muntiacus muntjak. The species
was formally described on the basis of genetics (Giao et
al. 1998) and DNA testing has confirmed the species from
the Phou Ahyon area (Amato et al. in press b). Knowledge of
the species’s morphology remains embryonic and other information
about it in Lao PDR is thus provisional. It may
occur widely along the Annamites from the Nam Theun
basin south to at least Phou Ahyon (Timmins and
Vongkhamheng 1996a, Timmins et al. 1998; RJTim; Table
12). Skulls of small muntjacs not M. muntjak have also been
found in Dong Ampham NBCA (Davidson et al. 1997).
Muntjac antlers are used in traditional medicine (Baird
1995b). Too little is yet known of this species to consider it
anything other than Little Known in Lao PDR. Taxonomic
issues: The morphological diagnosis in the type description
of M. truongsonensis (Giao et al. 1998) does not rule out M.
rooseveltorum and some information concerning the species
in Lao PDR is erroneous, as is the statement that a new species
of muntjac awaits formal description from Lao PDR.
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The name M. napensis was used, prematurely, in Tobias
(1997) for the small dark muntjac in the Nam Theun area,
now presumed to be M. truongsonensis; it has never been
formally applied to any species.
Conservation Management and Research Proposed for Deer:
Hog Deer:
• Immediate investigation of any plausible reports of
surviving Hog Deer.
• Immediate and total protection of any site supporting Hog
Deer, with management focussing on controlling hunting.
Eld’s Deer:
• Immediate cessation of hunting of the last known Lao
population of Eld’s Deer, in Dong Khanthung PNBCA.
• Declaration of Dong Khanthung as an NBCA, including
the entire region known to support Eld’s Deer and an
ample surrounding buffer zone in which no further new
farmland or roads are developed.
• Formation of a local government staffed Eld’s Deer team,
to (a) monitor Eld’s Deer status, (b) raise awareness
through a consistent long-term education programme with
local communities and (c) monitor illegal activities and
facilitate punishment of law-breakers.
• Discussion with provincial authorities over development
plans, which currently involve the relocation of large
numbers of people from the Mekong islands into Dong
Khanthung.
• Study of soil characteristics of Dong Khanthung to identify
which areas are not suitable for agriculture, followed
by assessment of the ability of the latter areas in combination
to conserve Eld’s Deer and the area’s general wildlife
community.
• Surveys of other areas reported to retain the species (parts
of Savannakhet, Salavan and Champasak Provinces) by
surveyors with prior experience of Eld’s Deer signs.
• Collaboration with army bases in Dong Khanthung over
hunting issues, with focus on reducing killing of Eld’s
Deer (and selected other key species, notably Banteng).
• Immediate and total protection of any other site supporting
Eld’s Deer, with management focussing on controlling
hunting.
• Swift action in the Dong Khanthung area is essential, to
prevent extirpation within a couple of years: Round
(1998) estimated that six Eld’s Deer died within 18
months in 1997-1998, while local opinion placed the
remaining population at only a dozen or so individuals.
Muntjacs:
• Documentation of the distribution and status of muntjac
species other than M. muntjak so that conservation needs
of each species can be determined.
• Designation and protection of appropriate core zones of
NBCAs and other protected areas to protect key
populations of each species.