Wildlife conservation

This compilation brings together current information on the status of Asian freshwater cetacean populations, the factors that have caused their recent declines, and what can be done to improve their chances for survival. All of the species or populations in quesion are classified as endangered or critically endangered in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Includes papers on water development issues, the Yangtze River Dolphin, or Baiji, the Ganges River Dolphin, or Susu, and the Yantgze River population of finless porpoisese.

One threat to parrot arises from their attractiveness as "talking" companions to humans, leading to a high demand for trade that involves hundreds of thousands of birds annually on a global basis, and gives parrots a high monetary value. There is an urgent need to change the attitudes of both the many millions who keep parrots, and those who make billions of dollars in trading them. Neither group accepts responsibility for survival of parrots in the wild, and governments find it difficult to establish sustainable use regimes.