World Congress on Mountain Ungulates at Munnar from Sep 12

Kochi, Aug 20 (UNI) The fourth World Congress on Mountain Ungulates will be held at Munnar in the high ranges of Kerala from September 12 .

This is for the first time a world conference of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is to be held in South-East Asia.

The four-day conference, will be attended by delegates from more than 100 countries, conference organising committee chairman T Damu said here today.

The conference would be held under the auspices of the 'Caprinae Specialist Group' (CSG) of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN. The High Range Wildlife and Environment Preservation Association (HRW&EPA), a nearly century-old nature conservation NGO, would host the conference.

Mr Damu said Munnar was a natural choice to host the conference, because it is located in the high ranges of Kerala, one of the only 34 biodiversity global hot spots, and a haven for the Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered mountain goat species.

Among the delegates, mostly scientists, distinguished personalities like Dr George B Schaller, Dr Brain Shackleton, Dr Gordon Luikart and experts in the conservation of mountain ungulates would attend the conference.

Mountain ungulates face a number of threats to their survival including habitat destruction, competition and disease transmission from domestic livestock and poaching for meat or commercial products.

The World Congress on Mountain Ungulates is organised every four years to examine the latest developments in research and conservation of mountain ungulates worldwide. The earlier conferences were held at Camerino and St Vincent in Italy and Saragossa in Spain.

Mr Damu said the timing of the conference was special as the 'Kurinji' flowers, which bloom once in 12 years, would be in full bloom during this September.

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