The institute has received correspondence from researchers in the field since its inception from 1996. A number of them sought funding and assistance for their work on conservation on poorly-known species. The Institute has supported the conservation of many of obscure species that are overshadowed by conservation of big showy animals. As a working guideline, we only support research work neglected by biology.

Of the many field correspondences with active researchers, none is as remarkable and bizarre as Dr.Dingli Yong's findings. He has sent 89 letters, 148 emails, 75 blood and tissue samples of species unknown to science and 89 feathers to the institute so far.

The institute officially lost contact with Dr.Yong on the eve of 12th December 2007 after he moved his base to Manus Island. Despite several attempts to get in touch with Dr.Yong with information supplied in his emails and photographs, our team failed to locate him. The species that he has uncovered is currently listed as hypothetical due to a lack of scientific evidence.

The institute is planning another expedition to Indonesia this summer to verify the research of Dr.Yong.

Note : The institute is in the midst of verifying Dr. Yong's archive.

The archived animal

100 species of creatures face extinction every day. Yet, of the 1.7 million species catalogued in the name of science, only 5 per cent can be considered well-known. Some only have a few meagre details of habit and lifestyle recorded and are represented by a handful of museum specimens. And there are species about which nothing is known.

Reasons for these blanks in knowledge are not difficult to identify. Species that are smaller then a normal house crow usually do not command much attention. Priority for conservation is given to mammals, followed by birds, with amphibians the last on the list. But even in the mammalian group itself, we see different priority given to different species. For example, the tiger, with about a population of over 20,000, receives 10 times more funding in conservation and research efforts, say for the Ingu desert rat king, which only has about 2 known recorded sightings in the last 50 years.