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Recent Discoveries in the Heart of Borneo
The 'ninja slug'.
A frog with no lungs, a “ninja” slug that fires love darts at its mate, and the world’s longest insect are among new species discovered in the past three years on the island of Borneo and featured in a World Wildlife Fund report recently released.

The WWF report, Borneo’s New World: Newly Discovered Species in the Heart of Borneo, details 123 new species discovered since February 2007.

Highlights of the report include:
  • the world’s largest stick insect -- a 1.8 foot monster known as ‘Chan’s mega stick;’
  • the 'ninja slug,' which makes use of so-called ‘love darts’ in courtship to inject a hormone into its mate that may increase its reproductive chances;
  • a Bornean flat-headed frog that has been known about for a while but was just discovered to be the world’s first lung-less frog, breathing entirely through its skin.
  • a flame-colored snake and a color-changing flying frog.

The rate of discovery since the foundation of the Heart of Borneo is more than three new species per month, providing ample justification for the decision to protect the region.
“Three years of independent scientific discovery have unearthed a treasure trove of amazing species,” said Ginny Ng, WWF’s Senior Program Officer for Borneo and Sumatra. “This wealth of species, combined with the commitments of the governments, has given us a ray of hope for the Heart of Borneo.”

The Heart of Borneo, an “island within an island” is home to 10 species of primates, more than 350 birds, 150 reptiles and amphibians and a staggering 10,000 plants that are found nowhere else on Earth, the report says. Explorers have been visiting Borneo for centuries, but vast tracts of its interior are yet to be biologically explored. The island’s wildlife and forests are under increasing threat from logging, conversion of forests for pulp, paper and palm oil, and illegal wildlife trade.

The world’s largest stick insect.
The rate of discovery since the foundation of the Heart of Borneo is more than three new species per month, providing ample justification for the decision to protect the region. The island’s wildlife and forests are under increasing threat from logging, conversion of forests for pulp, paper and palm oil, and illegal wildlife trade.

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."