The success of the FPS Mountain Gorilla Appeal is now assured thanks to many generous donors. FPS now holds £32,168, and the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), £13,000.

These extracts from a memorandum by two scientists resident in Kenya describe the desperate situation to which poaching has brought the black rhino in East Africa. Dr Hillman is Chairman of the IUCN/SSC African Rhino Group.

A Vice-President of the FPS, Dr Curry-Lindahl has long experience as a scientist studying wildlife in the field, especially in Africa, as adviser on ecology and conservation to African governments, as a Council member of IUCN and as a staff member of both UNESCO and UNEP. This analysis of the ways in which technical assistance is deployed by the international organisations leads him to answer his title question with a firm ‘yes’. This address was given to the FPS at the Annual General Meeting in London on July 4.

In two years the new Wildlife Foundation in Argentina has created two reserves, one to protect a new species of grebe that was only discovered in 1974 in its only known habitat, the other to protect the endangered endemic race of the pampas deer.

The Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus occurs along the southern flanks of the Himalaya, from the Pir Panjal Range in northern India eastwards through Nepal to Sikkim, between 1500m and 5200m. It is also reported as being ‘not uncommon’ at 1500–2100m in southwest Bhutan. It is the only one of the three surviving tahr species that is not endangered. In Nepal its formerly continuous distribution has been disrupted by traditional land-use practices, which are spreading due to the increasing human population, and some hunting. Schaller mapped 14 populations known to occur in Nepal, but many more undoubtedly exist.

Arabian tahr are confined to Oman, with a population of under 2000. Unlike other tahr species, which depend on grass, Arabian tahr require also fruits, seeds and young shoots. The areas where these can be found in this arid country are on certain north-facing mountain slopes with a higher rainfall, and it is there that reserves to protect this tahr must be made. The author spent two years in Oman studying the tahr.

Counts of the two endemic bats in the Seychelles in 1977 suggested that the fruit bat Pteropus seychellensis occurred in large numbers on Praslin and La Digue. But the author suggests that the number taken for food, especially for the tourist restaurants on Mahé, is excessive and should be curbed; tree-felling in suitable roosting areas should also be discouraged. The other bat, the small insectivorous Coleura seychellensis, is clearly endangered — only six were found despite an extensive search — and complete protection is called for.

Between 1969 and 1976 the price of rhino horn in Kenya rose 446 per cent — from K£8.24 per kilogram to K–44.6. Between 1972 and 1976 the average amount exported each year represented the product of 1197 rhinos. Most of it went to Hong Kong, but demand was rising in southern Arabia, especially North Yemen. In March 1979 rhino horn imports were totally banned in Hong Kong, but the authors believe that the price in North Yemen will continue to rise, and with it the demand for rhino horn.

Siberut, the largest of the Mentawai Islands, has a remarkable fauna with at least ten endemic mammal species — which include four primates — one endemic bird, thirteen endemic bird subspecies, and probably endemic insects, reptiles and amphibians still to be discovered. Until the 20th century the Siberut people lived in harmony with their environment, but modern practices are changing their ways, destroying their culture, and threatening the wildlife. The author describes the wildlife, the people, and the programme planned to help both in this difficult transition.

The authors describe the conservation plan they prepared at WWF's request while they were engaged on a two-year study of the Indonesian island of Siberut in 1976–78. Their plan is designed to conserve as much as possible of both the remarkable wildlife, which includes many endemic species, and the people's traditional way of life. Edited and coordinated by Jeff McNeely, whose article describing Siberut is on page 159, this plan is now being considered by the Indonesian Government.

A large river turtle Dermatemys mawei, found only in the coastal lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico, is becoming rare throughout most of its restricted range. It is found from central Veracruz, Mexico, eastward through Guatemala and Belize, but not in the Yucatan Peninsula, and it is heavily hunted for its meat. The only living representative of the Dermatemydidae, a turtle family known from as early as the Cretaceous, its closest living relatives are the mud turtles (Kinosternidae), and it is not as closely related to the snapping turtles (Chelydridae) as previously thought.4,5,9,20 In the latest classification of turtles the Dermatemydidae are placed in the Superfamily Trionychoidea of the Infraorder Cryptodira.

In 1965 the author, a resident of the Falkland Islands, made an aerial survey of seal populations, concentrating mainly on sealions, because numbers appeared to be declining. His results showed a drastic decline in sealion numbers, and he believes that they are still a fair indication of the situation today. In this article he surveys the history of sealing in the islands, describes his census, discusses results and the possible causes for the decline, and urges the need for a full official census.