(This report was reprinted from pp. 79-87 in“Recent Advances in the Biology of Japanese
Insectivora −Proceedings on the Symposium on the Biology of Insectivores in Japan and on the
Wildlife Conservation”(1999) which was published by the Hiba Society of Natural History and
Hiwa Museum for Natural History in Shobara and Hiwa in Hiroshima Pref., Japan, respectively,
with permission of the publishers.)

On the“Urgent Appeal for the Conservation of Natural Environment in Uotsuri-jima Island in Senkaku Islands, Japan”

Yasushi YOKOHATA

Laboratory of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Education, Toyama University, Toyama 930-8555, Japan

Abstract. Uotsuri-Jima Island of Senkaku Islands in Japan is a small island with very valuable biota with a high rate of endemicity, including the Senkaku mole Nesoscaptor uchidai. The ecosystem on this island, however, is at risk destruction because of domestic goats Capra aegarus, which were introduced in 1978. Their population has increased to more than 300 individuals. The lecturers of the“Symposium on the Biology of Insctivores and on the Wildlife Conservation" and Hiba Society of Natural History adopted the“Urgent Appeal for the Conservation of Natural Environment in Uotsuri-Jima Island in Senkaku Islands, Japan”and presented this appeal to some public organizations in Japan. This problem is made very difficult considering contradictions caused by governmental territoriality of the Islands among Japan, China and Taiwan.

Key words: Senkaku mole, Nesoscaptor uchidai, domestic goats, Capra aegarus,
introduced animal, insular biota, conservation

Introduction

Senkaku Islands (or Senkaku Archipelago) lie 180 km north of Iriomote Island in Ryukyu Islands in Japan (25゜44'- 25゜56'N, 123゜28'- 124゜34'E; Fig. 1), and consist of five small islands and some rocks. Uotsuri-jima Island is a very small island with an area of only 4.3 km2, though it is the largest island of the group (Fig. 2). The biota in this island is highly valuable with high rate of endemicity as mentioned below, including many endemic organisms, such as a mole species, Senkaku mole Nesoscaptor uchidai Abe et al., 1991 (Fig. 3). But the biota is threatened under the influence of introduced domestic goats Capra aegarus (＝C. hircus; Yokohata 1998; Fig. 4). The lecturers of the "Symposium on the Biology of Insectivores in Japan and on the Wildlife Conservation" and the Hiba Society of Natural History adopted the "Urgent appeal for the conservation of the natural environment in Uotsuri-jima Island in Senkaku Islands, Japan" (see Appendix) in the Symposium, and presented this appeal to some public organizations in Japan. However, there is a contradiction concerning the governmental territoriality of the Senkaku Islands among Japan, China and Taiwan, so that it is difficult to conduct some countermeasures to the problem of the goats. In this paper, I show the natural biota and present condition of this island, and the process of this problem untill and after the adoption of this appeal.

Fig. 1. Map of the main part of the Senkaku Islands (modified from Abe et al.
1991). Inset. Map of East Asia, showing the current land areas (darkened
portions) including the Senkaku Islands (arrows) and minimally estimated
additional land areas during the late Pleistocene (currently as deep as, or
shallower than, 120m; stippled portions) (by the courtesy of Dr. H. Ota) .

Fig. 2. An aerophotograph of the Uotsuri-jima Island taken on November 30, 1978
before the influence of goats. A light green colored spherical area near the
northwestern coast is a Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus community,
which was changed into bare area later. (omitted with constraint on copyright)

Fig. 3. Senkaku mole Nesoscaptor uchidai (Abe et al. 1991).(omitted with constraint on copyright)

Fig. 4. Introduced domestic goats Capra aegarus in the Uotsuri-jima Island at 1991
(Yokohata, 1998; photogragh: Dr. M. Yokota).

Biota in the Uotsuri-jima Island
The Nansei Islands in Japan, consisting of the Ryukyu and Senkaku Islands, were repeatedly connected with and disconnected from both the Eurasian Continent and the other Japanese islands during the Tertiary period. Most parts of the Ryukyu Islands, in which numerous endemic organisms such as some mammals including Iriomote wild cat Felis iriomotensis and Amami rabbit Pentalagus furnessi live, were isolated from the Continent and other islands since the early Quaternary period. The isolation period of Senkaku Islands had been thought to be longer than that of Ryukyu Islands, and extend more than six million years since the Pliocene, though it has been proposed that this island once connected with the Continent at some periods in the late Pleistocene, especially during the Wurm Age (Kizaki and Oshiro 1977; Ota et al. 1993; Fig. 1). Because of the extremely remote location and the problem of govermental territoriality, existing reports on the biota of the Senkaku Islands are not adequate to describe the biota completely. However, it is evident that very valuable biota with a high rate of endemicity has been formed in the Islands under the long isolation period and warm subtropical climate.
Of the mammalian fauna, the Senkaku mole which was described as a new species in 1991 is endemic at the generic level (Abe et al. 1991). Most talpine moles are adapted to deeper soil in the temperate zone, and absent from tropical and subtropical areas. Himalayan mole Euroscaptor micrura is distributed in the Malayan Penninsula, but its distribution is limited to mountains of altitudes higher than 1000 m (Abe 1983, 1998). Abe (1998) noted that the main habitat of the Senkaku mole may be relatively colder forests in mountainous parts of the Uotsuri-jima Island. This mole is an interesting species not only due to its phylogenic status, but also due to some ecological features. IUCN (1995) did not appoint this species to be protected because of the lack of information. This was as the same for the Environment Agency of Japan (1991a). In addition to the mole, the striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius is known only from this Island in Japan, though this rodent species is common in the Korean Penninsula (Shiraishi and Arai 1980; Abe et al. 1991). The Mammalogical Society of Japan (1997) recognized the mole and the mouse as a vulnerable and a rare species, respectively. Recently, the Environment Agency of Japan (1998) recognized these two species as Endangered IA, the highest level of risk of extinction. Other than these species and the domestic goats, house musk shrew Suncus murinus, flying fox Pteropus dasymallus, black rat Rattus rattus and domestic cat Felis cattus have been observed on this island (Takara 1954; Ikehara and Shimojana 1971; Shiraishi and Arai 1980).
At least 34 species of terrestrial birds, seven species of reptiles and no amphibians are known in the Uotsuri-jima Island (Masaki 1941; Takara 1954; Ikehara and Shimojana 1971; Ikehara and Abe 1980; Ota et al. 1993; Ota 1998). Especially, Ota et al.(1993) reexamined these previous reports and the species involved. He recognized six of the seven reptile species in the Uotsuri-jima Island and other islands in the Senkaku Islands, and suggested faunal affinity between herpetofaunas in the Islands and the Taiwan and Chinese Continent. Of the invertebrate fauna, there have been many reports on insects (Masaki 1941; Takara 1954; Kimoto 1964; Kimoto and Gressitt 1966; Ikehara and Shimojana 1971; Chujo 1979, 1980; Ikehara and Abe 1980; Shiraishi and Arai 1980), other arthropods (Masaki 1941; Ikehara and Shimojana 1971; Ikehara and Abe 1980; Shiraishi and Arai 1980) and gastropods (Masaki 1941; Takara 1954; Ikehara and Shimojana 1971; Habe 1979; Ikehara and Abe 1980; Shiraishi and Arai 1980). For example, Ikehara and Shimojana (1971) found 135 species of arthropods, including 63 insects and 41 arachnids, and eight gastropods in this island. Chujo (1979) described a new species of Coleoptera, Strongylium costatum from this island, and Chujo (1980) renamed it S. araii. Habe (1979) reviewed five endemic species of snails from the Senkaku Islands, all of which were reported from the Uotsuri-jima Island. Two of these gastropods, Nesiohelix solida and Zaptyx takarai, are recognized as rare species (Environment Agency of Japan 1991b). Hasegawa et al.(1993) have detected and described nine and two species of parasitic nematodes from the black rats and the striped field mice from this island, respectively.
Of the terrestrial flora in the Uotsuri-jima Island, some researchers have performed investigation repeatedly. For example, Niiro et al.(1971) recorded 298 species or variations including two endemic species and an endemic variation from the Island, which is mostly covered with subtropical forests dominated by Livistona chinensis var. subglobosa. Furthermore, Niiro and Shinjo (1980) recorded 339 species of 103 families of vascular plants from this island. The rate of introduced plants was lowest here (only three species, ca. 1 %) among the four islands in the Senkaku Islands (up to 4.6 %; Niiro et al. 1971). Of all the endemic plants in the Uotsuri-jima Island, two species (Asarum senkakuinsulare, Hypericum senkakuinsulare and Limonium senkakuense) and two variants (Rhododendron simsii var. tawadae and Oplismenus compositus var. purpurascens) have so far been described. Other than these, at least two undescribed endemic variants distribute in this island (Dr. M. Yokota, pers. comm.)

The Problem of the introduced goats in Uotsuri-jima Island and adoption of the "Urgent Appeal"
As mentioned above, there is a contradiction of the governmental territoriality of the Senkaku Islands among Japan, China and Taiwan. This contradiction has become more severe since the 1970's, when very rich mineral resources, mainly consisting of petroleum and natural gas, were discovered at the bottom of the continental shelf surrounding the Senkaku Islands (Midoruma 1998). Some non-governmental political parties in these countries have repeatedly interfered with the Islands, and this has been seen as a severe international political problem. One of the private political parties in Japan, which had often landed illegally at the Uotsuri-jima Island, brought a male and a female domestic Saanen goats onto this island from Yonaguni-jima Island in Ryukyu Islands and released them intentionally on 1978 (Koyasu 1993). The porpose of the introduction of the goats was supposed to be to appeal on the participation of Japanese people to the Senkaku Islands and to supply food at the landing for the party in the future. Four goats (one male, one female and two young) were observed at 1979 (Ikehara and Abe 1980; Shiraishi and Arai 1980). By 1991, about 300 goats were observed on the southern slope of the Uotsuri-jima Island from a ship (Yokota 1998). At this observation, a round bare area was recognized in the northwestern area of the Island (Fig. 5). This bare area was formed after the disappearance of previously colonized Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus community (Fig. 2), which developed with local artificial deforestation in the past, due to the foraging by the goats. During the seven years since 1992, the condition of this island and the goats has not been observed by any researchers, though fishermen sometimes saw many goats on this island from their ships (Mr. T. Abe, pers. com.).
Domestic goats show very high reproduction rate, due to the earlier sexual maturation (6 - 7 months in both sexes), the shorter gestation period (154 days on the Saanen) and the higher frequency of multiple pregnancy than other domestic ruminants (Hoshi and Yamauchi 1982). The goats usually copulate in autumn and breed in spring in temperate zone, but often reproduce in all seasons in low latitudes (Sasaki, 1964). The goats introduced to other small islands around the world have well been known to severely damage the natural biota and ecosystems on the islands (e.g. Hopper and Smith 1992). In Japan, this phenomenon has been experienced on the Ogasawara Islands (or Bonin Islands; Kurozumi 1995; Shimizu 1995; Tomiyama 1998, Hirata 1999; Takatsuki 1999). In many islands in the Islands, the goats have been repeatedly introduced since 1830, and increased into the several hundreds on some islands. Especially in Muko-jima Island Group in the Islands, where total destruction of ecosystems occurred, including deforestation, erosion of surface soil, pollution of the surrounding sea with eroded soil and the disappearance of many native species (Fig. 6). The introduced goats have been removed by Tokyo Prefectural Agency since 1970 in the Islands. Even if no countermeasures were conducted in Uotsuri-jima Island, these drastic changes would also tragically occur on this island .
I knew this problem for the first time on October 22, 1997, and immediately began to prepare the "Urgent Appeal" to be adopted in the "Symposium on the Biology of Insectivores in Japan and on the Wildlife Conservation" on November 8 - 9 in that year. I did not have adequate time to prepare, but could discuss this problem with some members of this symposium. Several points were discussed, such as the difficulty of predicting of the responses of the society to this appeal and the cooperative relationship with local researchers in the Ryukyu Region. Consequently, all of the lecturers agreed, and this appeal was adopted as part of the "General Discussion" in the Symposium on Nov. 8. This appeal was presented to the Environment and International Agencies of Japan and the local Okinawa Prefectural Agency, but no organizations have showed any response untill now.

Fig. 5. A bare area formed in the Uotsuri-jima under the foraging pressure of the
goats (Yokohata, 1998; photogragh: Dr. M. Yokota).

Fig. 6. Wholly damaged land with introduced domestic goats Capra aegarus in the
Muko-jima Island in Ogasawara Islands. (photogragh: Dr. K. Tomiyama).

Progress on this problem after the adopting of "Urgent Appeal"
After adopting the "Urgent Appeal" in the Symposium, the Mammalogical Society of Japan adopted another appeal, "Appeal for the emergent measure on naturalized mammals in Japan" on October 3, 1998. In this appeal, problems of three introduced mammalian species in Japan, racoon Procyon lotor, mangoose Herpestes auropunctatus (or H.javanicus) and the domestic goat, were especially emphasized as requiring some urgent countermeasures. This Appeal was sent to some national and prefectural agencies concerned, but responses of these agencies were passive, especially on the problem on the goats in the Uotsuri-jima Island (The Commitee on Mammal Conservation and Management in Mammalogical Society of Japan 1999). The passiveness is a result of the difficulty of this problem accompanied with the political contradiction of the governmental territoliality of the Islands among the three countries.
I proposed to adopt another appeal on the problem of goats in the Uotsuri-jima Island and presented it to The Ecological Society of Japan in 1998, and this subject was discussed by the Special Committee on the Nature Conservation of this Society on March 26 on this year. This appeal was not adopted then, but the Committee accepted this problem as its own continuative subject, and a working group for this subject was set up in the Committee. A member of this working group has visited the Environment Agency of Japan and explained this problem, but the person in charge of the Agency only spoke of the difficulty of conducting countermeasures in an effort to solve this problem.
Recently, Dr. M. Yokota of the University of Ryukyus and I were able to observe the present condition of the Uotsuri-jima Island from a small airplane on May 6, 1999. This observation was performed, with assistance of The Asahi Shimbun Co., at about 120 m height for 24 minutes from 10:46 to 11:10. New large bare areas were not recognized, but the vegetation in this island was certainly damaged. Particularly, marginal vegetation surrounding the L. chinensis-forests disappeared in many parts of this island, and apparently some terrestrial plants colonizing near the shore have already been lost (Fig. 7). These changes were absent in other islands in the Senkaku Islands where the goats are not introduced (Fig. 8). The Asahi Daily Newspapers reported this problem on July 10, 1999 during its evening edition.
To resolve this problem, it is essential to obtain assistance by researchers and citizens in China and Taiwan. Fortunately, I was able to meet Dr. L.-K. Lin, Department of Biology, Tunghai University, who visited Japan and stayed at the Osaka City University from June to September in 1999. He is an excellent researcher of ecology of small mammals in Taiwan, and has proposed to give some assistance to Japanese researchers on this problem.

Fig. 7. Forest without marginal vegetation and coastal area without endemic coastal
vegetation in the Uotsuri-jima Island on May 6, 1999. (photogragh: Dr. M.
Yokota).

Fig. 8. Vanished or existing grassland on the Senkaku Islands on May 6, 1999;
　　left: the grassland was not seen in the Uotsuri-jima Island; right: the
　　grassland exists in Minami-kojima (front) and Kita-kojima (behind) Islands.
　　The Uotsuri-jima Island is seen on the left behind the other islands
　　(photogragh: Dr. M. Yokota).

Concluding remarks
The damage of ecosystem and the loss of biodiversity with introduced organisms have become ubiquitous and severe problems in many areas of the world. Often these problems occurred due to ignorance and carelessness. The present case is no exception. Most of these problems are difficult to resolve completely, however, this case may be especially difficult because of the contradiction of govermental territoriality among the three countries. Probably, the only course to resolve this problem is cooperating countermeasures among the three countries. The countermeasures should include research on the present condition of the ecosystem in the Uotsuri-jima Island including the goats and the other many organisms, and a control program of the goats. Complete removal of the goats is needed for effective countermeasures. It is essential to obtain assistance from the political government and support of public opinion of the three countries to conduct these countermeasures. We may not have adequate time to reach our goal, but no effort will bring no results.

Acknowledgements: The adoption of the Urgent Appeal and this paper were good opportunities for me to explain this problem to many people. I thank the lecturers of the "Symposium on the Biology of Insectivores in Japan and on the Wildlife Conservation", the members of Hiba Society of Natural History, and all of the other persons taking part in the Symposium, who assisted with the adoption of the Urgent Appeal. I also express my thanks to Dr. L.-K. Lin, Department of Biology, Tunghai University for his useful and fine advice. Furthermore, the following provided many suggestion and information for me on the biota of Uotsuri-jima Island and the problem of goats: Mr. T. Abe, The Asahi Shimbun Co.; Dr. S. Arai, General Laboratory Center, Kyushu Dental College; Dr. M. Harada, Laboratory Animal Center, Osaka City University; Mr. Y. Ikeda, Hi2 System Co.; Dr. M. Kaneko, Hokkaido Environmental Science Research Center; Dr, M. Kawamichi, Kyoto City; Dr. T. Kawamichi, Faculty of Science, Osaka City University; Dr. G. Ogura, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ryukyus; Dr. H. Ota, Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of Ryukyus; Dr, K. Suzuki, Faculty of Science, Toyama University; Dr. K. Tokida, Japan Wildlife Research Center; Dr. K. Tomiyama, Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University; Dr. M. Yokota, Faculty of Science, University of Ryukyus; members of Special Committee on the Nature Conservation in The Ecological Society of Japan. Especially, Dr. Yokota wholly supported my work on this problem and encouraged me repeatedly. I sincerely acknowledge all of the above-mentioned people.
This work was partly supported by JSA (The Japanese Scientists' Association) Research Foundation in 1999.

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Appendix: Urgent Appeal for the Conservation of the Natural Environment on
　　　　　　Uotsuri-jima Island in Senkaku Islands, Japan
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Lecturers of the Symposium on the Biology of
　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　 Insectivores in Japan and on the Wildlife
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Conservation (Chairman: Yasushi Yokohata)　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　and Hiba Society of Natural History
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(President: Narumi Kanagawa)
　　
Senkaku Islands are, although made up of only very small islands, a very valuable area with rich biota with high endemicity, formed in a warm subtropical climate and the longest isolation period in the Nansei Islands in Japan Archipelago from the Eurasian Continent and other islands. As an example of the value, the Senkaku mole, which was described at 1991 from Uotsuri-jima Island, the largest island in the Islands, is endemic to this island at both the generic and specfic levels. Only one individual of this species has ever been captured, and very little information has so far been obtained on its biology. It is therefore necessary to conserve this species strictly and study it in detail. The "Red list of Japanese mammals" (The Red Data Commitee of the Mammalogical Society of Japan, 1997) designated this species as one of the "vulnerable species" which is defined as a species under the increasing risk of extinction. On the other hand, there is a contradiction on the governmental territoriality of the Senkaku Islands among Japan, China and Taiwan, so that some political interferences have also been carried out by some non-governmental organizations in these countries. Especially in the Uotsuri-jima Island, illegal landing and building have been repeated by the organizations and this has been noticed as a severe international problem.
Under these circumstances, domestic goats were brought and released into the Uotsuri-jima Island by a private political party in Japan, and these increased to some hundreds individuals now. It is well known in many areas in the world that some hervivores including the goats introduced into small islands often increase and damage the flora in the islands severely due to grazing pressure and trampling, resulting in destructive effects to the fragile island ecosystems existing in fine balance among the insular organisms. The effects extend from the destruction of terrestrial ecosystems with the disappearance of vegetation to pollution of the neighboring waters with eroded soil, as shown in Muko-jima Island Group in the Ogasawara Islands in Japan. If the present situation is left as it is, the valuable natural environment in the Uotsuri-jima Island would be wholly destroyed and the valuable biota on this island would be lost rapidly. Though the Senkaku mole is probably fossorial, it would have to become extinct with the effects of goats just as would the other terrestrial organisms, because the mole depends all resources essential to survive on the terrestrial ecosystem.
The participants of the Symposium recognize this problem as a matter of great importance, and hope the Japanese Government and some local organizations concerned will conduct some effective countermeasures including removal of the goats in connection with the other involved countries, to conserve the valuable natural environment in the Uotsuri-jima Island.

Lecturers of the Symposium on the Biology of Insectivores in Japan and on the Wildlife Conservation：Yasushi Yokohata（Chairman）, Hisashi Abe, Munehiro Okamoto, Kazuhiro Koyasu, Naohiko Sagara, Shin-ichiro Chamura and Hideki Endo

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