How much do we know about our planet? Almost every day we hear about animals facing extinction. Yet we also hear about how new species are found in the most inaccessible places on earth. Underwater creatures living near oceanic vents, a primate species once thought extinct resurfaced on the Borneo landscape, biological evidence of the elusive giant tortoises suggests they are still roaming around and now in the jungle of southwestern Suriname researchers may have found new species to add to the earth’s wildlife list. 

Conservation International has documented around 1,300 animals in 2010 of which 46 are new discoveries. The study was published in the RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment series. 

As part of their environmental programme, the Surinamese government founded the Central Suriname Nature Reserve in 1998, that takes up 10 percent of the country, an area the size of New Jersey. UNESCO declared the reserve a World Heritage Site two years later. 

This unspoiled tropical forest has remained pristine because of effective land management by the owners, while enjoying a low population/area ratio. 

“That’s not unlike the rest of Suriname, which is thickly forested but thinly populated,” said Conservation International in a statement. “The ‘big game’ of Amazonia - like the Giant River Otter, Lowland Tapir, Giant Armadillo and the American Manatee - threatened elsewhere, are still abundant, because large parts of their habitat is still intact and undisturbed.”

The potentially new species included the “armored catfish”, a large tree-frog, the “Great Horned Beetle”, the “Pac-Man Frog”, and several insects and freshwater fish.

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