Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Development of village regulations on frog harvests. At
least 50 villages in Khon District, Champasak Province,
have initiated village regulations that restrict frog harvests,
particularly Hoplobatrachus rugulosa, in reaction
to a noticeable decline in frog populations. The village
regulations include banning harvest at spawning time
(determined by when the frogs are calling heavily), a ban
on tadpole collection, and a ban on certain activities that
can easily over-exploit frogs, such as using spotlights
along the banks of the Mekong during the dry season,
baited hooks in rice paddies, trap lines of bamboo frog
traps, using metamorphosed froglets as fish bait, and
constructing large water pits (called khoum khiat) in rice
paddies at the end of the rainy season that attract frogs
but prevent their escape up the steep sides. Some villages
have reported that these banning efforts have revived
some of the frog populations in just a few years (I.
Baird verbally 1999). There is a clear need for a documentation
of the success of the conservation actions of
these villages with a view to allowing their adaptation
for use elsewhere in Lao PDR.
Captive breeding needs to be encouraged in the international
zoo community of Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle
Cuora trifasciata, Indochinese Box Turtle Cistoclemmys
galbinifrons and Keeled Box Turtle Pyxidea mouhotii.
The Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle is maintained and
bred in captivity in the private and zoo sectors in the
United States and Europe, yet the importance of these
captive populations may not yet be widely appreciated.
AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
All three species, but particularly C. trifasciata, are likely
to be soon hunted out of the wild in Lao PDR, and possibly
throughout their entire ranges (although C.
trifasciata has not yet been verified to occur in Lao PDR).
Sufficient intact habitat probably remains within their
reported ranges in Lao PDR, considering how much of
the Annamite mountains and limestone karst falls within
declared or proposed protected areas. Captive populations
of these species will be needed for future reintroduction
programmes. Any captive breeding activity for these species
in Lao PDR, especially C. trifasciata, would have
to work around the high risk of theft of the stock (see
account for Cuora trifasciata). Likewise, crocodile farms
in South-east Asia should be encouraged to maintain at
least a small stock of genetically pure strains of Siamese
Crocodile Crocodylus siamensis for the same reason,
although the inherent dangers of using hybrid stock from
these farms in any future reintroduction programmes is
already so great that populations from international zoos
may have to be relied on to provide animals.
Properly recording information when collecting or photographing
specimens. Many of the Lao specimens held in
international museums, particularly those from collections
made in the first half of this century, could not be
used for locality or habitat records because information
recorded with the specimens is inadequate. The amphibian
and reptile composition of Lao PDR still remains
poorly understood, and records of distribution and habitat
use are essential for determining the requirements of
species for their conservation.
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