Vietnam 2013: Part 3

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Zach Cava
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Vietnam 2013: Part 3

Post by Zach Cava »

Continued from Part 2


After an hour-long, somewhat scary motorbike ride, we get settled at another park outpost where we will spend the next few days surveying around the area.

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Returning from a short hike during a nice sunshower

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Hylarana sp.

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Hemidactylus sp. (?)

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A different Hemidactylus sp. ?

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Preparing dinner

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Trying new foods—our Vietnamese cook called this one “Mickey Mouse.” Poaching is a big problem within the park, and sadly it seems that park officials, the very people who are supposed to be protecting these resources, are largely responsible. So, after we were offered this meal of roasted rodent (rat? squirrel?) that was certainly hunted within the park, we had to try and explain to our hosts that we did not want this type of food. Although conveying that we did not encourage poaching was important, it doesn’t make the problem go away… more on this later.

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Daphnis hypothous

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Rhacophorus mutus metamorph. (syn. Polypedates leucomystax and P. mutus).

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Foam egg mass on a leaf overhanging a swamp; probably also R. mutus

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Parasa lepida (Nettle Caterpillar, Blue-striped Nettle Grub). Native to Vietnam but considered an introduced pest in other parts of Asia, such as Japan.

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Microhyla sp.

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Freshwater crab

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Heterometrus sp. (?)

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Rhacophorus kio—my biggest regret of this trip was not getting better photos of this beautiful animal. These photos don’t do it justice.

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Paul sports a matching dragonfly

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Processing specimens. Paul photographs animals before they are euthanized and preserved as museum vouchers. This was the least enjoyable part of our job.

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Collecting a tissue sample from a specimen. These samples will be sent to a lab for genetic analysis that will aid in identification.

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Adjusting the position of a specimen before it sets

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Preserved specimens awaiting transport to Vinh University, where they will be accessioned into the institution’s collection.

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Going for a bike ride—I believe this shot was taken right before I almost rode off a cliff.

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Making friends

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This bamboo aqueduct system was supplying water to a few thatched huts in the area.

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Macracantha arcuata; syn. Gasteracantha arcuata (Long-horned Orb Weaver)

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Limnonectes kuhlii (Kuhl’s Creek Frog) *species complex

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Tadpoles, probably also L. kuhlii. How many do you see?

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Acanthosaura sp., maybe A. lepidogaster?

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Ophryophryne sp.

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Odoranna hosii (?)

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Pareas hamptoni (Hampton’s Slug-eating Snake) in situ

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More photos from the next day

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We have this snake ID'd as Boiga cyanea (Green Cat Snake). Interestingly, most of the photos I can find of this species show it with light-colored eyes and less pronounced blue on the chin.

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Sinonatrix sp. (S. aequifasciata or S. percarinata?)

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Kurixalis sp. (?)

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Dendrelaphis sp. (?)

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We were walking back from a survey late at night when our guide tore off running after some creature I couldn’t quite make out. But once he caught the animal and carried it over, it’s identity was unmistakable—a pangolin! (Manis pentadactyla or M. javanica).

Pangolins are the only scaled mammal in the world, and they are probably the coolest animal I’ve ever seen. When threatened, they will roll up into an armored ball as a defense (just like a pill bug), which this one did initially. Our guide placed the terrified creature in his helmet and began tapping it repeatedly. At first we had no idea what he was doing, but it soon became clear as we watched the pangolin appear to fall into a trance. After a few minutes, it cautiously “unrolled” itself and began to take a few shaky steps. It was clearly quite dizzy/disoriented from the tapping spell. (I’m curious to know what the underlying mechanism is behind this. Any ideas?)

Pangolins are not doing very well. Aside from habitat loss, illegal wildlife is a major threat to pangolins. They are considered a delicacy in many parts of Asia and are also hunted for their perceived medicinal value. Consequently, pangolin are in high demand on the black market, and can sell for up to $1,000 each.

With this in mind, I couldn’t help but reflect on our guide’s prowess in spotting and catching the animal—it was clearly not his first time. This got me thinking... Even if he had hunted/sold pangolins before, could I really blame him? If I were in his position—struggling to get by in a place where concepts like “environmentalism” and “sustainability” are unheard of—wouldn’t I do everything in my power to better myself and take care of my family?

For me (and I suspect others on this trip), this and countless other experiences brought us face-to-face with some of the greatest challenges relating to conservation and the future health of our planet. None of us were naïve to cultural differences regarding environmental issues before this trip, but at times we were taken aback by the extent and pervasiveness of these differences.

This disparity became most evident when spending time with Vietnamese graduate students from the biology department at Vinh University, who accompanied us on our surveys. On one memorable occasion, Scott was conducting a stream survey when the batteries in a student’s headlamp died. Scott watched in disbelief as the man popped out the batteries and nonchalantly tossed them into the stream. Knowing this was something he could not politely ignore, Scott had the uncomfortable job of explaining to this individual (remember, a graduate student in biology) why a stream is a bad place to dispose of batteries.

These were difficult talks to have for obvious reasons. For one, anyone who has attempted to teach ecological principles to someone completely unfamiliar with these ideas understands that it can be futile—and that’s assuming both parties speak the same language! We had to be careful to not appear as patronizing, self-rightious Americans coming to Vietnam and telling the locals what to do. On top of that, it felt especially weird/ironic telling these people not to throw a battery in the stream, considering that not long ago our country was liberally dousing these forests with napalm and Agent Orange!

While the students/guides obliged our requests, we all got the impression this was out of politeness rather than appreciating what we were trying to convey, and that things would return to business as usual once we were gone.

However depressing these realizations were, I am grateful for them. I am now more convinced than ever that conservation will only work if a permanent, well-managed infrastructure exists that fosters such attitudes, preferably from an early age. In the poor, rural areas we were working in, this infrastructure was not surprisingly absent. What came as a shock was seeing that these principles were apparently unfamiliar to the privileged and well-educated…

This was one of the most notable differences between this trip and my previous expedition with The Biodiversity Group (TBG) in Ecuador. TBG has been active in Ecuador for years, and the organization has done an incredible job getting local kids educated, involved, and excited about exploring and protecting the natural world around them.*

Of course TBG’s presence in Ecuador didn’t happen overnight-it took time to grow and evolve, for relationships to form, etc. In contrast, our trip to Vietnam was TBG’s first formal expedition there. Although cultural differences may make the process more complicated than in Ecuador, I hope that in the future similar strategies based on community outreach can be employed (modified as needed) in Vietnam, and elsewhere.

*See a relevant post from Ecuador here.

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A closer look at the pangolin’s large, overlapping scales, which are composed of keratin.

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At this time, due to a medical emergency Paul was forced to cut his stay short and be medevaced to Vinh via motorbike (especially unfortunate considering the nature of his injury, which I’ll spare you all the details of… but don’t worry, he made a full recovery!). Coming up next in the series finale: we make a final trek out into some old-growth forest, then return to Vinh for some urban herping and a tour of Vinh University’s specimen collections.

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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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