Scientists find new species in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam - Scientists have discovered 11
new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two
butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature
said Wednesday.

The
new species were found in a remote region known as the "Green Corridor"
in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam, it said.
"You
only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green
Corridor is one of them," Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief technical
adviser in the region, said in a statement.

The new snake species, the white-lipped
keelback, generally lives close to streams and eats frogs and other
small animals, WWF said. It has a yellow-white stripe along its head,
red dots over its body and can reach a length of 31.5 inches.

The
new butterfly species are among eight discovered in Thua Thien Hue
since 1996. One is a "skipper," a butterfly that flies in a quick,
darting motion. It is from the genus Zela. The other is from a new
genus in the subfamily Satyrinae.
Three of the new orchard species are leafless, which is unusual for orchids, WWF said.

The other new plant species include one in the aspidistra
family, which produces a black flower and can subsist in low light, and
an arum, which produces yellow flowers surrounded by funnel-shaped
leaves, it said.

"It's
great news for Vietnam," said Bernard O'Callaghan, Vietnam program
coordinator for the World Conservation Union. "The jungles and
mountains of Vietnam are fascinating places and they continue to
surprise scientists."
All the new species are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam's Annamites mountain range, which offers unique habitats.

All species in the area are under threat from illegal logging, hunting and development.

Many threatened species live in the Green Corridor, including the white-cheeked crested gibbon, one of the world's most endangered primates.