Five to read in conservation travel
Apr 29th, 2011 by wwftravel
Orangutans are found only in the lowland forests of Borneo and Sumatra. WWF © WWF-US / Jay Sherman
A roundup of the latest interesting reads in travel and conservation …
- Fishing isn’t exactly a top 10 hobby of primates, though some species have been observed doing it. The latest among them? Orangutans in Borneo. A pair of anthropologists spent two years observing wild orangutans not just scooping catfish out of small ponds but also using sticks and other basic instruments to aid them in fishing, Wired reports.
- Deforestation as a result of gold panning is eroding parts of the Peruvian Amazon at alarming rates, Scientific American reports. As global gold prices rise, deforestation as a result of small-scale gold panning has increased sixfold.
- Central America possesses a remarkable number of deep cave systems, including the five-mile-long Barton Creek Cave network in Belize. The cave is one we by canoe on our annual tour to the Central American country and is spotlighted this week on The Travelers Zone.
- Using satellite images, topographical maps and navigational charts, researchers have discovered 657 new islands around the globe – nearly 31 percent more than previously charted, in 2001. The islands didn’t just pop up in the past decade, said researchers from Duke University and Meredith College; they were just misclassified or overlooked. The majority are barrier islands are along U.S. coasts, including a large number along the Alaskan Arctic shoreline.
- The adventures of British travelers Rick Politz and Sara Damergi in Kerala, India, aren’t precisely like what you’ll experience on our Southern India expedition. But their journal entry about cruising among hidden villages and lush forests of Kochi’s backwaters paints a lovely and apt picture of the natural setting you’ll see on our voyage.
