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Hunch-bat, Zorro snake among 367 new species in the Greater Mekong area
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/06/hunch-bat-zorro-snake-among-367-new-species-in-the-greater-mekong-area/
John C. Murphy/WWF/AFP
This undated handout picture released on June 5, 2014 by WWF shows a zorro-masked water snake which is among new species discoveries in the Greater Mekong region
From a hunch-backed bat to a giant flying squirrel, scientists have identified 367 new species in the Greater Mekong area since 2012, according to a new WWF report.
But due to unsustainable development and rapacious demand for wildlife meat and luxury timber, almost all of the newly described species are soon likely to be threatened, the group warned.
Southeast Asia has a higher proportion of threatened terrestrial mammal species than any other region on earth, said WWF expert Thomas Gray.
One of the new species discovered -- a giant flying squirrel -- was found in a wild meat market in Laos and has yet to be recorded in the wild.
