Vietnam houses new plant, animal species by Delia Cruceru

Scientist from conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced Wednesday that they have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties. The species were found in the Thua Thien Hue Province, a region known as the Green Corridor. The species are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam's Annamites Mountain Range. "You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them," said Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief technical adviser in the region. "These latest discoveries could be just the tip of the iceberg." The new snake species is a white-lipped keelback, reaching almost 80 cm in length and it lives near streams and it feeds with frogs or other small animals, having a beautiful yellow-white stripe that sweeps along its head and red dots cover its body. The butterflies are the eighth species discovered in the Thua Thien Hue Province and includes a skipper, a butterfly with quick, darting flight habits, from the genus Zela and another one that is a new genus in the subfamily of Satyrinae. The orchid species are very strange because they are leafless, being very unusual for orchids, containing no chlorophyll, which means they don't need light for growing. The region will be protected from illegal hunting, logging, and development by the local authorities.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070926/ap_on_sc/vietnam_new_species;_ylt=ArPa6FYaY2QZ2PSu.DRTLV.s0NUE

by Delia Cruceru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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