News and views New extinct blackfly rings warning bell a little flow in the few sections of old masonry water conduit still in functional order. Modern The extinction of numerous small insect species irrigation methods, however, do not offer oppor- must often pass unnoticed. Many disappear even tunities for blackflies because the water is before they are known to science. Such was the delivered to storage cisterns and fields either in fate of a simuliid blackfly now being described closed pipes or in open channels that receive from specimens collected in the Canary Islands in intermittent water on a rota system. 1931 (Crosskey, in press). Endemic to Gran Canaria, it no longer occurs there for the simple As the streams of the Canary Islands continue to reason that the streams in which it must have disappear it is not only the blackflies that are bred no longer flow. threatened. The entire association of flora and fauna dependent on running water is at stake. Blackfly larvae live only in running water and We do not know how many species are at risk or depend on filtering small organic particles how many of them are endemic—or what their brought to them by the current. The adults are disappearance could mean for the islands' small, stout-bodied flies. The females of most ecology. It seems certain, however, that unless species feed on the blood of birds or mammals. something is done the species of running fresh- The Canary Islands are inhospitable to blackflies water on the Canaries are doomed. because there are very few permanent streams and an erratically distributed rainfall. The host animals in the islands are probably mainly birds Reference because the species nearly all belong to 'orni- Crosskey, RW. In press. Taxonomy and geography of the thophilic' groups and the Canaries lack in- blackflies of the Canary Islands (Diptera: Simuliidae). J. digenous mammals. Despite these factors, Nat. Hist. Crosskey's review reveals that the archipelago still supports six Simulium species. Their pros- Concern over 'killer' canal pects do not look good, however. Only some of the seven main islands have streams able to A water supply project in South West Africa/ support the blackflies, and these streams are dis- Namibia, which will eventually pump and carry appearing because the human population has water over 750 km from the Okavango River to captured their potential flow high in the Windhoek, has been much criticized in the mountains and diverted it to supply the towns, region. The objections are on two grounds. the tourists and the crops—especially the Firstly, it is feared that extraction of water from bananas, renowned for their thirst. Gran Canaria the Okavango River would severely affect Bot- apparently no longer has any streams, and so has swana's Okavango Delta, and secondly, the 203- lost all five species of blackflies known to have km open section of the canal is claimed to be a occurred there—including the new and already death trap for many animals. extinct one noted. The very few streams left in The animal deaths in the uncompleted canal Tenerife, La Palma and Gomera flow for only were widely publicized by the media and dis- short distances, and the simuliids may not have tressing photographs were published showing habitat for much longer if flowing streams there trapped and injured animals unable to climb out suffer the same fate as in Gran Canaria. of what was referred to as the 'killer canal'. The public outcry that followed forced the Depart- Two of the surviving six species are also endemic ment of Water Affairs and the Directorate of to the islands, and one of these is also newly Nature Conservation and Recreation Resorts to described (Crosskey, in press). It seems that this species, too, is in imminent danger of following investigate the problems. They have now pub- the one mentioned from Gran Canaria into lished a report showing that thousands of animals oblivion. can be expected to die in the canal each year. Between June 1985 and August 1986 farmers, Apart from the streams, which are mostly quite researchers and the Department of Water Affairs shallow and often not more than one metre removed 7234 animals from the completed across, some blackfly habitat is also provided by sections of the canal. When the canal is complete News and views 205 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 23 Sep 2021 at 10:36:47, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300027125 News and views it is estimated that 17,586 animals will die each time the Department of Water Affairs has asked year. the Directorate of Nature Conservation and The report points to warthogs as the mammal Resorts for an EIA, but this has not been made species most affected, accounting for 4.68 per public and conservationists fear that the dam is cent of the total number of animals found in the going to be built regardless. canal. Of the 35 animal groups found in the canal, 22 do not appear to be affected adversely Source and include the animals able to escape on their Jones, B. 1987. The Eastern National Water Carrier. Afr. own, although the report admits that most Wi/d/. 41(3), 110-113. animals falling into the canal will be unable to escape. The report concludes that the five main International Whaling Commission groups requiring assistance to escape, or which confronts 'scientific whaling' should be prevented from falling in, are the bull- by Kieran Mulvaney frogs, terrapins, tortoises, ground-dwelling snakes and warthogs. In addition, it draws atten- The 39th annual conference of the International tion to 10 rare mammal species that might war- Whaling Commission (IWC), which took place in rant remedial action, but says that more research Bournemouth during the last week of June, was is needed on their status in the region before an one of those rare occasions on which the IWC assessment can be made of the impact of the elected to concentrate almost entirely on fulfilling canal. the conservation requirements of its mandate. It The grisly harvest has yielded some surprises. A finally confronted the problem of 'scientific wild dog was found in the Grootfontein area whaling' head-on, and severely curtailed what deep in the farming heartland where the species had become by far the most serious abuse of the had not been seen for many years. Two new commercial whaling moratorium. species of snakes fell in: one is a stiletto snake of Conservationist hopes that the Commission the genus Atractaspis and the other is possibly a might act to prevent scientific permits being fur- new genus altogether. ther used as a cover for continued commercial The most obvious solution to the problem would whaling, rested on a resolution tabled by the US. be to cover the canal, but the report said there Co-sponsored by Australia, the Netherlands, was insufficient justification for such drastic and New Zealand, Sweden and Finland, the reso- lution proposed that the Commission should expensive (R30 million) action. Instead it sug- request the Scientific Committee to review all gests electric fences and walls to keep out wart- research whaling programmes, and to report to hogs, tortoises, terrapins and snakes. It also the Commission whether the programmes met recommends a variety of steps and crossings. certain scientific criteria. In itself, this was nothing It is unfortunate that the survey was necessary at new: the Committee had been charged with all, and there is still concern that the full impact of doing just that at the 1986 IWC meeting in the canal has not been predicted. It is hoped that Malmo, although the criteria by which it judged in future similar projects will be preceded by a special permits then differed slightly from the thorough Environmental Impact Assessment ones contained in the US proposal. However, (EIA). The next project in the pipeline is a large previously, the Commission had been unable to storage dam on the Ugab River in Damaraland, act on the Committee's advice, no matter how which flows through the Namib Desert to the vehement the scientists' criticism of the value of Skeleton Coast It has been proposed because research whaling programmes. The US resol- the Damaraland capital, Khorixas, is short of ution, on the other hand, proposed that, if the water. Unless there is exceptional rainfall the pro- permits concerned failed to satisfy the Scientific posed dam, with a retention time of six years, Committee's criteria, then the Commission should have the authority to recommend that the would deprive the lower reaches of the river of a Contracting Governments responsible not issue significant part of their flow. This could have them. drastic effects on the wildlife of the Desert. This 206 Oryx Vol 21 No 4, October 1987 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 23 Sep 2021 at 10:36:47, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300027125 News and views Reaction from the whaling nations was, not un- will strengthen the hand of the US Commerce expectedly, less than enthusiastic. Iceland, in Department (which generally favours taking particular, gave it an extremely hostile reception. positive action against miscreant whalers) in its In one of the angriest tirades seen in the Com- private battle of wits against the State Depart- mission in recent years, the Icelandic com- ment (which is normally more reluctant to take missioner declared that, if the resolution was punitive measures), and makes it most unlikely passed, his country might consider taking a that the Administration will establish any deals number of drastic measures, from walking out of with the whalers, such as the one that allowed the meeting to leaving the IWC, and even taking Japan to escape certification for objecting to the the issue to the International Court of Justice.