Celebrate Endangered Animal Day. Educate yourself about the IUCN Red List which currently lists the black rhino as critically endangered. Make Some Noise for our disappearing creatures and the folks who work tirelessly to try to keep them safe!
Posts tagged endangered species.
Polar bears remain a threatened species
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to keep polar bears protected by broad federal measures Friday,
The court rejected the argument that the 25,000 remaining polar bears, most of which live in relatively stable populations, were perfectly fine without “threatened species” status. But many scientists worry that the effects of climate change on the Arctic climate could prove dangerous for the remaining bears.
And it looks like polar bears may remain on that list for the foreseeable future, according to Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity.
“So for practical purposes, the listing of the polar bear is final, and really no longer under any serious threat from these challenges.”
Read more about the court’s decision here, via Nation Now.
Photos: Jeon Heon-Kyun, Koen Van Weel / EPA, Sven Hoppe / Associated Press
(via climateadaptation)
Five species likely to become extinct in the next 40 years
- Rabb’s Fringe-Limbed Treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) - Estimated number in wild: One. - The big-footed frogs have been devastated by a fungal disease that swept into the area in 2006. Scientists know of only one in the wild, identified by its call. Some live in captivity but have not bred.
- Ploughshare Tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) - Estimated number in the wild: 400 -Confined to five small, unconnected areas, the tortoises are “nearly certain to go extinct within the next 30 years,” according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. A fragmented habitat limits breeding, and poachers take them for the illegal pet trade.
- Hirola (Damaliscus hunteri) - Estimated number in wild: 600 - The population has steadily declined because of disease, drought and predators. Cattle farmers have taken over much of the antelope’s habitat, and poaching continues in both countries.
- Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) - Estimated number in wild: Unknown. - Scientists declared the dolphin extinct in 2006 after a survey of the Yangtze River failed to yield a single one, but there has since been an unconfirmed sighting. Dams and water pollution have eliminated or damaged the animal’s habitat.
- The Cat Ba Langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) - Estimated number in wild: 59 - They are hunted for “monkey balm,” a traditional medicine. Most surviving langurs are females in isolated groups with little access to males.
:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
(via scienceyoucanlove)
57 Rhinos have already been killed between the 01st and 31st January 2013. When will this stop?!
(via fuckyeah-animalrights)
Today, a female great white shark had her fins hacked off in Inhambane, Mozambique (South Africa). Nets had been put up in the area by Chinese shark fin traders, as South Africa is known as the White Shark capital of the world and ,surely, their huge fins bring in pretty pennies to those who can barely make a living. This shark was dragged to shore and left to slowly suffocate. White Sharks have been listed as a protected species in South Africa since 1991, they are one of the most important predators of the sea. Their decline is not natural selection, it is completely human caused. It’s our fault.
This is horrendous. If you don’t think shark finning is an issue that needs to be addressed, please read up on it. Put your fears, your dislikes to the side.If these pictures were of a lion, of a wolf, of a human, how would you feel?This poor girl deserved to live, deserved to breed, not die in humiliation.
I’ve stated many times on my blog that I respect the cultural aspect of shark finning, I really do. But there are too many people in this world to abide by traditions that were deemed valid back when the number of humans wasn’t at a disgustingly high number.
Read more about this here.
(via funnywildlife)
World’s rarest duck breeds successfully in captivity, giving birth to 18 adorable fuzzy chicks (taking the total population to 40) :)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2126083/Are-watching-pandas-Worlds-rarest-duck-breeds-successfully-captivity-giving-birth-18-adorable-fuzzy-chicks.
yay! you go madacasgar pochards! I give you all the kissies!
A female southern right whale is spotted with two calves - her own plus an orphan that she has adopted - near Walker Bay in South Africa.
Picture: Mogens Trolle / Barcroft Media
(via faunafacts)
Disgusting, shocking expose by Agence France-Presse. Hong-Kong. After people complained, tens of thousands of shark fins were brought to the roof tops to dry. The article says they did this to hide the fins from the public because of increased awareness of animal cruelty.
Shark fin traders in Hong Kong have taken to drying freshly sliced fins on rooftops since a public outcry over them drying the fins on public sidewalks forced them to move the trade out of sight.
Activists have raised concerns that the over-harvesting of fins is causing an environmental calamity. Although sales have fallen in recent years Hong Kong remains one of the world’s biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to make soup that is an expensive staple at Chinese banquets. NBC
I can’t stomach watching the process of shark finning (more videos here). Basically, they catch the shark, cut off its fins, and throw the shark back into the ocean - alive and awake. The sharks bleed to death and/or suffocate since they can’t swim.
Absolutely repulsive.
But saying “gross” or “I’m sad” is not enough. There are a variety of ways you can help stop finning.
Sharks are threatened by climate change. Increased temperatures are affecting their habitat and food supplies around the globe. Changes to their habitat threaten their survival.
Last year, Discovery reported the world’s first hybrid shark and speculated it had adapted to climate change. They speculated that two separate shark species paired as a result of climate change. It was the first time a shark hybrid has been found and scientists speculated they were evolving, e.g., they adapted to increased temperatures.
The Australian black-tip is slightly smaller than its common cousin and can only live in tropical waters, but its hybrid offspring have been found 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) down the coast, in cooler seas.
It means the Australian black-tip could be adapting to ensure its survival as sea temperatures change because of global warming.
“If it hybridizes with the common species it can effectively shift its range further south into cooler waters, so the effect of this hybridizing is a range expansion,” Morgan said.
“It’s enabled a species restricted to the tropics to move into temperate waters.” Via Discovery
Adaptation is not fast enough. Habitat and food supplies are quickly being destroyed, not to mention ocean currents are shifting, adding additional pressure on marine life. Most importantly, the incredible increases wealth in China and Asia generally has increased demand for shark fin soup, which is considered a delicacy.
Gordan Ramsay, an A-list celebrity chef, was doused with gasoline and held at gun-point while exposing shark finning on his TV show last year. He tried the soup and deemed it unremarkable and bland, comparing the soup to eating salted potatoes.
He was horrified and sickened at the process (warning: very tough to watch. Several sharks are hacked live). Chef Ramsay subsequently advocated for the finning of these amazing animals to stop. He helped contribute to the passage of a bill banning shark fin soup in the U.S.
There are several ways to stop finning: Pressuring grocery stores and Asian markets, writing congress (it works, I swear), contributing cash and volunteer time to anti-finning campaigns, passing the word around to educate others, and signing petitions.
- And thanks for reading my post. m
Cayman’s blazing blue iguanas bounce back
The blue iguana has lived on the rocky shores of Grand Cayman for at least a couple of million years, preening like a miniature turquoise dragon as it soaked in the sun or sheltered inside crevices. Yet having survived everything from tropical hurricanes to ice ages, it was driven to near-extinction by dogs, cats and cars.
Now, though, a breeding program some see as a global model has worked better than any had hoped to dream for a species that numbered less than a dozen in the wild just a decade ago, preyed upon by escaped pets and struggling to survive in a habitat eroded by the advance of human settlement.
Roughly 700 blazing blue iguanas breed and roam free in protected woodlands on the eastern side of Grand Cayman, a 22-mile-long (35-kilometer-long) speck in the western Caribbean that is the only place where the critically endangered animals are found in the wild.
did you know that these iguana’s have a rudimentary third eye on the top of their head? it has a lens and cornea and can detect light. crazy.
(via scienceyoucanlove)
Boner Dust.
Suzanna.
Lost on my way to life.
I collect postcards and would love to do a postcard exchange with each and every one of my followers.
Also, I love ducks.
Lost on my way to life.
I collect postcards and would love to do a postcard exchange with each and every one of my followers.
Also, I love ducks.
