a leaf warbler's gleanings

Living as we are through an ongoing megaextinction (thanks largely to our own species), us biophiles in the conservation business have precious little to cheer about on most days. Everywhere we look, we see holes in the fabrics of ecosystems where species used to be, empty nodes in food webs as they collapse upon themselves. Or, on good days, the fabric taut, worn thin, but not yet ripped, with species teetering on the brink of extinction. And on really good days, we get stories of species seemingly risen again from the dead. I have two such new stories of rediscovered animals to brighten your weekend. And many a tale would seem to lie behind the manner of these rediscoveries in opposite halves of the Earth, tales I can only guess at, so I won't try to explain, but merely present these stories, and let you ponder the parallels and contrasts.

East:

For the first time in more than ten years, there has been a confirmed sighting of one of the rarest and most enigmatic animals in the world, the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) from the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam. The Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (also known as Laos) has announced that in late August villagers in the central province of Bolikhamxay captured a Saola and brought it back to their village.

When news of the Saola's capture reached Lao authorities, the Bolikhamxay Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office immediately sent a technical team, advised by the IUCN Saola Working Group and the Lao Programme of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), to examine the Saola and release it. Unfortunately, the animal, an adult male, weakened by the ordeal of several days in captivity, died shortly after the team reached the remote village. The animal was photographed while still alive.

"The government of Lao PDR and WCS are to be commended for their rapid response and efforts to save this animal. We hope the information gained from the incident can be used to ensure that this is not the last Saola anyone has a chance to see," says William Robichaud, Coordinator of the IUCN Saola Working Group.

This is the first confirmed record of the species since two photographs of wild Saola were taken in Laos by automatic camera traps in 1999.

West:

RENO, NEV. — Scientists are hailing the confirmed find of a Sierra Nevada red fox about 90 miles south of Reno, a native subspecies feared extinct in the range since the last verified sighting in 1990.

The fox was photographed Aug. 11 near Sonora Pass on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest by a motion-activated camera set up by U.S. Forest Service employees monitoring the activities of other wildlife.

DNA testing of saliva samples from a chicken-filled sock at the site found the fox is most likely a member of a remnant population of the subspecies in the Sierra, said Ben Sacks, an assistant professor of biology at the University of California, Davis, who conducted the tests.

"This is the most exciting animal discovery we've had in California since the discovery of a wolverine in the Sierra two years ago," Sacks said. "Only this time the unexpected critter turned out to be homegrown, which is truly big news."

Researchers determined the wolverine wandered into the Sierra from the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.

John Perrine, a biology professor at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, said it was the first confirmed sighting of the fox subspecies (Vulpes vulpes necator) in the Sierra since 1990 near Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park.