2012 november - december
- In November RAVON hosted a workshop (led by Ruud Foppen) in the village Bunde (Southern Limburg). Attendees included State Forestry, Nature Monuments, Prorail (railway maintenance), Artis (Amsterdam Zoo), Kasteelpark Born, volunteers, fieldworkers- and researchers, private property owners and others.
- The transfer of Fire salamanders has been postponed due to recent deaths in the captive population. Quarantine will remain in effect until the cause has been determined.
- Journalist Nienke Beintema (newspaper NRC) wrote an excellent article on Fire salamander which was published on the 22nd of December. [Link article] [Link cover photo]
2012 5 OCTOBER - 1 november
- New Fire salamanders are ready to be adopted!
- This summer almost no adults have been found, in October several males have been found though!
- A meeting with exports of the AmphibianArk project and the IUCN resulted in the decision that at least 30 unrelated males and females are necessary(15 of each sex) to create a viable, long-term breeding project.
- Currently enough animals are present in the shelter to create a breeding project. All animals will be screened on a genetic level to determine if they are related to each other and which couples would be suitable for breeding. No more animals are collected from in the field.
- Bielefeld University (Germany) specializes in genetic research. They will study the genetic diversity of Dutch Fire salamander populations. The results of this study will form the basis of a possible long-term breeding project in order to create an assurance colony.
- In it Vijlenerbos surveys have been conducted by student Jochem Giessen and afterwards by various fieldworkers. Alas, no Fire salamanders, be it larvae, juveniles, sub-adults or adults, have been found.
- The animals in quarantine will soon be transferred to two Zoos (contracts are being signed at the moment). Four Zoos have been approached in order to house and possibly participate in a breeding project. Of these four Kasteelpark Born and Artis (Amsterdam Zoo) have agreed to facilitate these efforts.
2012 11 september - 4 OCTOBER
- The project now has its very own Twitter-account! Want to be kept up to date of all the developments; follow @VurigeSjeng. Soon a Facebook account will be created as well.
- With several Zoos there have been meetings to investigate if they can house Dutch Fire salamanders for a possible long-term breeding project. More concrete reports are expected by mid-October.
- On October the third no less than three Fire salamanders have been spotted in the wild!
- RAVON and the Ministry of Economic affairs have had a meeting on how to tackle the ongoing decline of the Fire salamander.
- A workshop on the decline of the Fire salamander will soon be organized by RAVON for all parties involved.
- Most of the salamanders that were up for adoption have one or more adoptive "parents"! This campaign has raised nearly 4700 euros!
- The article "Aandacht voor de vuursalamander - Special care for the Fire salamander" has also been published in the fall issue "Mens en Natuur" of the Institute of Nature-education and sustainability.
2012 27 augustus - 10 september
Since the launch of the project "SOS Fire salamander" a lot of progress has been made!
- Member of Parliament Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) has asked question in Parliament (Tweede Kamer) to demissionary Secretary of State Henk Bleker.
- The project was started of with a generous donation (2400 euro) made by Dierenrampfonds. After that an additional 1696 euro has been donated by private donors of which we are very grateful. These funds will be allocated to the ex situ project (housing, food and research on wildlife diseases).
- Several people have adopted Fire salamanders; Rob Veen & Claire Heijmans (Centre Tigouleix), Gerrit & Marijke Krips (Dutch Salamander Society) and Niels de Zwarte.
- Several private persons have started campaigns in order to raise funds for the project.
- A female Fire salamander named Gerda in quarantine has given birth to 41 larvae. Of these 12 successfully metamorphized into juvenile salamanders.
- Two salamanders display aberrant behavior and are transferred to Gent University for further investigation (by Dr. Frank Pasmans and Dr. An Martel).
- Teacher Arnoud van den Berg developed special lessons dedicated to the Fire salamander.
- The September issue of RAVON magazine reports on the rapid decline of the Fire salamander in the Netherlands.I
- An action plan for the 2013 is in development. In the fall of 2012 a workshop will be developed and hosted by RAVON for all parties involved (like nature organizations/managers, volunteers, Arcadis, the province of Limburg and research institutes). All in order to develop and refine an action plan.
Freek Vonk bij De Wereld Draait Door
Uitzending 7 februari gemist? Geen nood Klik HIER voor Freek bij DWDD
Strip uit 1996 van Tom Poes en de vuursalamanders
Freek Vonk bij De Wereld Draait Door
Uitzending 7 februari gemist? Geen nood Klik HIER voor Freek bij DWDD
Strip uit 1996 van Tom Poes en de vuursalamanders