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canids – is the main implementing body of this strategy, which
includes a 10-year National Action Plan. Jointly with the Cat
Specialist Group, the CSG has spearheaded the development
of regional conservation strategies for African wild dogs and
cheetah, since these two species have similar ecological
requirements and face similar threats. Under each regional
strategy we support range countries to prepare their own
national action plans, ably assisted by regional coordinators
recruited by the sponsors of the initiative; the Zoological
Society of London and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
We are in the process of reassessing all canid species for
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a planned
completion date of 2015. To facilitate the process for a
number of reassessments, we are piloting an online forum
prepared by the SSC, onto which the draft reassessments
have been posted. During 2014 we plan to undertake
assessments on Arctic foxes, dholes, maned wolves and all
the South American foxes, with the view to reassess the
remaining species in 2015.
Our priority is fine-tuning our global network of canid
experts using a working group approach, and promoting the
implementation of Canid Action Plan projects and actions. We
would like to see more bottom-up initiatives and dynamism
amongst the CSG membership.
Dr Claudio Sillero-Zubiri
Chair, Canid Specialist Group
Caprinae Specialist Group
The Caprinae Specialist Group seeks to promote the
conservation of mountain ungulates and their habitat.
Ongoing concerns include habitat degradation, competition
and disease transmission from domestic livestock and
poaching. Many of our efforts are focused on Asia, which has
both the largest number of species and the greatest
conservation problems. For example, several group members
participated in workshops that led to an international Argali
action plan currently under review. In addition, mountainadapted
species face an increasing threat from global
warming; for example, declines in body size in alpine chamois
appear related to warming temperatures in the Alps, although
data on alpine ibex suggest an opposite relationship between
body size and temperature; we clearly still have a lot to learn
about the complex effects of climate change.
Our group has also long been interested in the potential
biological and economic consequences of trophy hunting.
Many caprinae species are highly sought after by trophy
hunters. For example, to hunt some species of wild sheep,
hunters, often foreigners, are willing to pay several tens of
thousands of dollars. This creates both an opportunity to
generate funds for conservation and a concern about possible
artificial selection. Several of our group members are involved
in research on the biological consequences of selective
hunting. We also made a substantial contribution to the recent
publication IUCN Guiding Principles on Trophy Hunting as a
Tool for Creating Conservation Incentives. This publication sets
forth the condition required to make a trophy hunting program
ecologically and evolutionarily sustainable, as well as a positive
contribution to conservation. It builds upon our long-standing
position statement on trophy hunting and has already been
used by conservation agencies to distinguish trophy hunting
operations that do and do not contribute to conservation.
Argali Ram. © Rich Reading
Continuing activities include analyses of long-term data on
both live and hunter-harvested animals, and evaluation of the
conservation status of different species.
Prof. Marco Festa-Bianchet
Chair, Caprinae Specialist Group
Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group
The Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group (CPSG) currently has
a membership of six (including Patron). Our mission is to help
ensure that that the conservation status of all carnivorous
plants are adequately and accurately documented; to assist in
raising public awareness and encourage initiation of
appropriate conservation measures, and to ensure that The
IUCN Red List is updated as quickly as possible, commencing
with those taxa that are currently listed as Data Deficient and
which have been identified by experts within the CPSG as
being most in need of conservation action.
An externally funded project was undertaken by the
CPSG in 2013, with the aim of conducting research to gather
data to facilitate IUCN Red List assessments of 19 Nepenthes
pitcher plant species; all of which were considered threatened
in the wild, and for which adequate, up to date information
about their conservation status was lacking. Of the 19 species
intended for survey, 13 had not been assessed previously.
Five field expeditions were undertaken to various parts of
Southeast Asia during 2013, including Sumatra (two
expeditions), New Guinea, Palawan, Luzon, and Sulawesi.
The project delivered significantly better outcomes than
originally anticipated; a total of 28 Nepenthes species were
surveyed, with 26 receiving new or revised Red List
assessments. All data was entered into the Species
Information Service, along with distribution maps and
supporting documentation and was reviewed by the end of
2013. This project has resulted in new, complete Red List
assessments for more than 15% of all Nepenthes species and
has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of Data
Deficient and therefore Not Evaluated species. This stands us
in good stead to attain our goal of revising the Red List
assessments for all Nepenthes species in the next few years.
One unexpected outcome of these survey expeditions was
the discovery of one, as yet undescribed species of
Nepenthes.
40 IUCN species Annual Report 2013