Over 1000 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong Region since last decade
Last updated 12/01/2009 00:22:54
Annamite striped rabbit from Lao PDR and Vietnam. Photo © Trinh Viet Cuong FFI
In the last decade, over 1000 new species, equal to two a week, have been discovered in the Greater Mekong Region of Southeast Asia, according to WWF’s report First Contact in the Greater Mekong.
The news has given a fresh hope for environmentalists, after a string of negative reports last year on rising water level and poverty issues surrounding the area.
“This region is like what I read about as a child in the stories of Charles Darwin,” said Dr Thomas Ziegler, Curator at the Cologne Zoo.
“It is a great feeling being in an unexplored area and to document its biodiversity for the first time… both enigmatic and beautiful,” he said.
One of the most surprising find is the Laotian rock rat (Laonastes aenigmamus), which was thought to be extinct 11 million years ago, first encountered by scientists in a local food market.