At risk from the bushmeat and traditional medicine trade in Asia, this unfortunately edible Pangolin (scaly anteater) in Vietnam is quite defenceless against humans. However Pangolins now benefit from RSCT and other organisations who have supported the building of a specialised rescue and rehabilitation centre in Vietnam. Veterinary care, research into diet and behaviour and local awareness raising are all part of this project.

Pangolins that have been rescued are housed and rehabilitated on site, a weaver ant breeding project has also been implemented on site to ensure a steady supply of food for the Pangolins that are cared for. Once in a fit and healthy state they are then released back into the forest.

The Small Carnivore Conservation Project at Cuc Phuong, Viet Nam.

The Small Carnivore Conservation Centre at Cuc Phuong was established in 1995 as a breeding and research facility for the endangered Owston's Civet. Over the years the program became ever more aware of the plight of all Vietnam's small carnivores and the lack of conservation actions being carried out and developed a range of activities targeting the conservation of more species of small carnivore including education materials, capacity building exercises for forest rangers and zoo keepers, rescue-rehab-placement of small carnivores, captive research and field research; the program was in a unique position and naturally evolved into the Small Carnivore Conservation Centre (SCC) in 2005.

In December 2004, the first six Owston's civets have been sent to zoos abroad under a Breeding Loan Program, recipients were Paradise Wildlife Park, Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens and Newquay Zoo. Later RSCC received captive bred offspring from this group. The program continues to raise awareness both nationally and internationally on the plight and conservation of small carnivores. It is further developing facilities for the rescue and rehabilitation of Vietnam's most threatened small carnivores, such as binturong, marbled cat, golden cat, leopard cat, smooth coated otter and hairy nosed otter along with various small viverrids and continues to train forest rangers in identification and protection of small carnivores, is compiling a national status review on the distribution and status of small carnivores in Vietnam, developing more ex situ conservation programs for more species, and designing ecology and behaviour studies of small carnivores in the wild.

Rare Species Conservation Trust actively supports the SCP in Vietnam and has amongst other things helped to facilitate a study of The Hairy Nosed Otter (Lutra sumatrana) in the Mekong Delta. We have also donated funds to build a veterinary hospital at the SCC in Vietnam.

Our partner company Edible. Has also launched the product "Civet Coffee" 5% of the sale of this coffee goes to the SCP in Vietnam to help protect endangered Vietnamese Civets. This coffee is naturally found by collecting Palm Civet droppings in the coffee plantations of South East Asia. The Civets raid the coffee plantations at night and choose to eat only the finest, ripest coffee cherries, these are then subjected to a digestive process in the Civets stomach which alter the flavour drastically! The Civets only digest the fruit on the outside of the coffee cherries resulting in the beans being expelled out the other end. This is then collected, cleaned and roasted. This coffee can be found on sale on our webshop and is also served at the RSCC café.

Rare Species Conservation Trust works closely with and on the following conservation projects and is committed to these projects on a permanent basis, in 2006 RSCT also funded a new Clouded Leopard facility in Cambodia, so hopefully we will start to see some great results there.

The Clouded Leopard Project (Thailand).

The Clouded Leopard Project in Thailand is dedicated to the conservation of clouded leopards and the habitat upon which they depend by supporting field research, implementing education initiatives in range countries, and bringing global awareness to clouded leopard conservation issues.

The RSCT Clouded Leopard Rehabilitation & Breeding Project (Cambodia)

The Clouded Leopard Rehabilitation & Breeding Project in Cambodia is located at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, where we are assisting the Cambodian government in housing, feeding and caring for Clouded Leopards which have been either poached from the wild or rescued from unsuitable homes. Recently there has been a captive breeding program started also, with the hope that any offspring bred at the centre will be placed on monitored release into adjacent forest. The Clouded Leopard has already become extremely rare in Cambodia and are seldom seen in the wild - proving that this species is in serious decline in Cambodia. This new project will hopefully assist further in securing a future for Clouded Leopards there.

You can also donate money to help our conservation progams for clouded leopards at our reception via gift aid or you can place money in one of our conservation collection boxes.

Information coming soon.

Cambodia has finally emerged from more than 30 years of civil war and conflict. Until recently, security concerns ensured that large areas of forest remained untouched by humans, allowing populations of endangered species such as Sun bears and Asiatic black bears to thrive. However, with the country now finally at peace but guns and rifles still commonplace, the hunting and capture of bears for the illegal wildlife trade poses a serious threat to their long-term survival in Cambodia. Despite recent efforts by the government to ban the trade in wildlife, bear paw soup is still regarded as a delicacy in some city restaurants. The keeping of bears in small cages as a symbol of wealth also occurs as well as the illegal smuggling of bears into neighbouring countries for use in bear bile farms.

Cambodian Bear Sanctuary.

Free the Bears Fund has been working with the Cambodian Forestry Administration to provide a sanctuary for rescued bears since 1997. Located at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, some 40km outside of the national capital Phnom Penh, the sanctuary has grown as more bears continue to arrive each year and now covers an area of more than 5 hectares. Sixteen forested habitats have been built to house almost ninety bears (a mixture of Sun bears and Asiatic black bears) of different ages and personalities. The bears in our Cambodian sanctuary come from a variety of different backgrounds; some arrive with terrible injuries after being caught by hunters using snares whilst others are found in traders houses, awaiting sale to the highest bidder. Once at our sanctuary they are treated for any injuries at the Cambodian Wildlife Hospital (see below) and slowly integrated into a social group consisting of animals of a similar age.

Any young cubs are given around-the-clock care and bottle fed until they are old enough to be introduced to other infants in our nursery group. All of the enclosures at our Cambodian sanctuary are extensively furnished with pools, rocks, climbing frames and a variety of enrichment toys to ensure that the bears are kept happy and healthy at all times. Free the Bears Fund covers 100% of the running costs of the bear sanctuary, employing a team of seven local keepers to care for the bears.

RSCT supports the important work of Free The Bears Fund in Cambodia with funds, and we also supply them with veterinary supplies.

Since 2007, Rare Species Conservation Trust has supported hornbill conservation programs in Thailand. One of the most successful projects is the Nest Adoption Program in southern Thailand. This program was established by the Hornbill Research Foundation (HRF) in 1994. Six of the thirteen hornbill species that occur in Thailand nest in Budo-Sungai Padi National Park (BSP). These are the Helmeted, Rhinoceros, Bar-pouched wreathed, White-crowned, and Bushy-crested and Great hornbills. The HRF has worked with residents from the surrounding villages to protect the hornbills, collect important field data, and provide much needed income to the local people (see this article profiling Dr. Pilai Poonswad for more details).

Rare Species Conservation Trust has supported this program by adopting the nests of Rhinoceros & Great Hornbills. which in turn local researchers and villagers help to protect these nests. After the breeding season, results are sent to each adopter providing information about each specific nest adopted. This includes dates of activity at the nest, photos of the nest guardians, lists of food items fed the nestlings, and if the nest was successful.

From the success of the nest adoption program evolved an educational component. In 2003, local villagers donated land and began construction of the Budo Hornbill Conservation and Education Center (BHCEC) in Tapoh village. This facility was dedicated in February 2004. Since then, RSCT and many other zoological facilities have annually provided funding for educational staff and programs associated with hornbill and habitat conservation.

In recent years, the HRF has employed nest guardians to construct and install artificial nest structures in the surrounding forest to increase breeding potential for the birds. One of the primary limiting factors for hornbill survival is suitable nesting sites. Since hornbills are large birds that nest in cavities, they require large diameter trees for nesting. Frequently in the tropics, such large trees are often felled for wood products or clearing of land for agriculture/agronomy (e.g. palm oil plantations). In addition, hornbills do not excavate their own nest cavities. The number of naturally occurring cavities in large diameter trees is limited. These artificial nests have met with some success as several nests have been occupied by breeding pairs of hornbills.

Rare Species Conservation Trust is pleased to be able to continue their support of these programs in Thailand. It can be said that the hornbills need the forests as much as the forests need the hornbills (for seed dispersal). It also can be said that the local villagers need the forests as much as the forests need the villagers (for stewardship and protection). With such sound conservation programs, everybody wins.

The first pair of New Guinea Singing Dogs (NGSD) was brought down from the New Guinea highlands to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, in the late 1950s. Originally they were declared a unique species, Canis hallstromi. But in 1969 they were grouped with the Australian Dingo as a feral wild (wild-living) subspecies of the domestic dog, Canis familiaris dingo. Because of this reclassification, most zoos stopped breeding them. Subsequently, the number in captivity declined. The entire captive NGSD population was estimated in 1995 to be approximately 300 animals, descended from only eight wild-caught founders. The NGSD is now extremely rare in the wild and the NGSD Conservation Society is working co operatively to ensure the survival of this species.

Until the NGSD is once again officially declared a separate subspecies or species, traditional conservation organizations are understandably unwilling to spend funds saving an animal of questionable status. However, by the time the needed evidence is in, it it may be too late. If they die out, we will have lost an opportunity to learn what what this interesting canid might be able to tell us about adaptation, evolution, the origin of the domestic dog, and early man.

Without the support of large conservation organisations, the preservation of the NGSD will take the combined efforts of many individuals and smaller organisations . The New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Society was established in 1997 and later received Section 501(c)3 status as a nonprofit organization in the USA. RSCT is an active member of the NGSD Conservation Society and the NGSDCS has just opened a Papua New Guinea division, a study is planned to determine remaining numbers in the wild and to carry out genetic studies to ensure correct classification is implemented.

AEECL has been carrying out a number of different field research projects in Madagascar since more than 10 years. Researchers financed by AEECL have been working on the taxonomy of lemur genera such as the bamboo lemurs (Hapalemur), the sportive lemurs (Lepilemur) and the sifakas (Propithecus) and are helping to clarify their systematics using cytogenetic methods (more information on research)

As our flagship project, AEECL is currently financing a long-term research programme on the Sclater's lemur, or as we prefer to name it, the blue-eyed black lemur (Eulemur macaco flavifrons), one of Madagascar 's rarest lemurs. The charming lemur with its blue eyes is also the logo of the consortium. One of our priorities is the creation of a reserve for the blue-eyed black lemur on the Sahamalaza peninsula, on which AEECL has been working since a number of years.

The member zoos have furthermore initiated captive breeding programmes for the blue-eyed black lemur as well as for the crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus) and the red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) within the framework of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

How do we help to save Snow Leopards?

We are partnered to The Snow Leopard Trust a US based organization working hard to Protect, preserve and educate us about Snow Leopards. They carry out their work in various Snow Leopard range countries such as Tibet, Pakistan and Mongolia

The Snow Leopard Trust use a combination of approaches that focus on partnering with communities in snow leopard habitat. But as they build community partnerships they use science and research to determine key snow leopard habitat, assess wildlife-human conflict levels, and identify potential resources for conservation programs. Once they have this information we can prioritize the areas where they will work. High priority areas include key snow leopard habitat, with a history of conflict between predators and the communities, and potential resources to sustain a community-based conservation program.

The Snow Leopard Trust strives to follow these principles in all its community-based conservation efforts and throughout their website you will read about the different projects that they are implementing with their community partners. While the projects differ in response to the local needs and conditions, the underlying principles of each of the programs remain the same. The Snow Leopard Trust constantly endeavor to improve their conservation projects to better meet the needs of cats and humans, and are seeing wonderful results at our project sites where the livelihoods of families and communities have improved greatly and snow leopards are being protected.

RSCC directly supports an education program run by The Snow Leopard Trust in India. Check out our news section for updates on it's progress.

RSCC also sells products made by The Snow Leopard Trusts community partnership participants, the purchase of these products also helps native people in their range countries to have an incentive to protect Snow Leopards.