Audubon+Society+Meeting+Conservation+of+the+Lao+Newt

=**Conservation of the Lao Newt: Audubon Society Meeting 5/8/2018**=
 * By Meera Dahlmann (3B)**

The Audubon Society held its most recent meeting over the subject of the Conservation of the Lao Newt, which is currently being threatened by the illegal international pet trade due to overexploitation of amphibians and reptiles. South Asia has a lot of new species being recently discovered in the past couple of decades; South Asia is rich in biodiversity!

Laos is the world's most heavily bombed country in the world, most of which have been dropped by the United States. For example, during the Vietnam War the United States dropped //2 million tons// of bombs over Laos. That's 50% more than were dropped over North Vietnam. The repercussions of this include lots of 'bomb crater ponds', shallow little pools created by the landing of bombs. These pools are breeding grounds for many animals such as reptiles, amphibia ns, and insects.

One of these exceptional animals is the Laotritan Iaoensis, the only salamander known in Laos. It is larger and more colorful than other Asian newts and the only currently known species in its evolutionary group. The species is over 15 million years old. It is sold in Europe and Japan for about 200 euros each.

The scientists that discovered the Lao newt thought they were improving scientific knowledge about the animal and expanding information on biodiversity, when in reality they inadvertently gave the information into the wrong hands. By writing and displaying their thesis's on the Lao newt, international exotic pet traders used their pamphlets in order to exploit the animal and profit off of it.

The solution that the scientists came up with to combat this issue is called the Dual-Use Dilemma. Nowadays, the type locality data of newly discovered species is withheld from the general public and only given out when requested by qualified researchers. This will help with preserving the biodiversity of the world and preserve the Lao Newt as a species.

This meeting pertained to the APES curriculum because we discussed biodiversity and conservation methods.

(Me and Grace at the Environmental CONFERENCE CENTER) ==