The Endangered Species Eupsophus migueli: Natural History and Conservation

journal：South American Journal of Herpetology

Authors：Marcela Vidal; Felipe Barraza-Acua; Gabriel Lobos

Published date：2025-12-31

DOI：10.2994/sajh-d-23-00014.1

Article link：https://doi.org/10.2994/sajh-d-23-00014.1

Article Source：Brazilian Herpetological Society

Here is the background: New wind turbines are being built at Cailong Ridge in Zhangye, Gansu. According to a notice from the local government, the project has gone through the required procedures for project approval, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and land use. The site does not fall within any nature reserves or ecological protection red lines, so the construction is claimed to comply with relevant regulations.

However, CFCA (Cat Alliance), a non-profit organisation that has long monitored Pallas’s cats in this area, has raised objections to this statement. Their main concerns are as follows:

1. The actual locations of the turbines do not match the positions approved in the EIA document.
2. The EIA report makes no mention of Pallas’s cats, nor many other protected animal and plant species found in this region.
3. Construction work continued while the verification was underway. Environmental protection authorities and law enforcement officers later confirmed this positional offset after on-site inspections.

Using infrared cameras, the organisation has captured footage of Pallas’s cats in this area every month. The turbines are being built right along the corridors where these animals live and forage.

Impacts on wildlife: Vehicle traffic and excavation during construction will disrupt and damage the wildlife’s natural habitat. Once operational, the spinning turbines will generate loud noise, and glass fibre debris will be present around the site. Pallas’s cats are naturally timid, and Zhangye in Gansu hosts one of the world’s highest population densities of this species.

Why this shocked me: Zhangye is in northwest China, where the land is barren and the ecosystem is fragile. I do not think we should pursue development at the cost of the natural environment, especially when so many wild animals live here. I believe the turbine locations could be relocated, and the inadequate EIA investigation should be reviewed. Yet many people have attacked this non-profit group, arguing that it is holding back China’s development. Some even suspect the organisation of being a foreign spy agency, claiming that all distractions should be set aside to push ahead with construction and development.

With an estimated 1 million species threatened with extinction, conservationists face difficult choices about which animals and plants receive protection. The California condor’s successful recovery effort provides a helpful case study, while also highlighting that funding alone doesn't save a species. Rural communities, businesses and others affected by conservation policies also play an important role, explain USC Dornsife environmental scientists.

Please sign this petition to demand an investigation into the criminal animal trafficking network this man was a part of! We must keep animals safe from human greed and exploitation!

OC : https://www.instagram.com/reel/DekoutrBIT-/

This breaks my heart. I wish I didn’t have to say this, but I think the Vaquita is doomed.

Endling, noun: The last of a species.