endangered species Archives - Page 6 of 7

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

We share our home planet with an awe-inspiring abundance of living things. The official cohabitant count stands at 8.7 million identified species, give or take, which represents only 15% of the estimated total number. From the smallest microorganisms to the largest mammals and most complex ecosystems, biological diversity—the diversity within and between species—supports the healthy functioning and maintenance of the interdependent environmental systems we rely upon to thrive. One of the most consistent threats to the creature components of biodiversity is accelerating land-use change resulting in degradation and loss of habitats and wilderness areas. According to the most recent Living Planet Report, only 25% of the world’s land surface can now be considered wilderness, 70% of which is concentrated in just five countries: Australia, Canada, Russia, the United States, and primary keeper of planetary lungs, Brazil.

The ongoing modification of Earth’s natural landscapes is forcing an increasing number of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians from wild places to fragmented in-between spaces. These isolated remnants of habitat prevent animals from moving freely to find food, migrate, reproduce, and maintain biological variety, resulting in diminished and endangered populations globally. Loss of keystone species, which play a critical role in the functioning of food webs, also increases pressure on and reduces the resilience of ecosystems, putting them at risk of collapse.

Since 1970 global wildlife populations have plummeted by an alarming 60%. One of the most effective things that we can do right now to conserve terrestrial biodiversity is to protect and restore wilderness areas and ensure ecosystem connectivity through the creation of networked wildlife corridors that link larger areas of native vegetation to facilitate the safe passage of species from butterflies to bighorn. Wildlife corridors can be manmade, like Africa’s first dedicated elephant underpass in Mt. Kenya National Forest, or naturally occurring, like the Terai Arc Landscape in Nepal. Enlarging corridor systems and protected areas holds the potential to save threatened and endangered native species and restore habitat across the world’s last remaining biodiversity hotspots.

We are in, and we are of, the interconnected web of life. It sustains us all physically, spiritually, culturally, and economically. Making room for the wild ones through the restoration and protection of the places that they roam and call home will help to ensure the future health, wellbeing, and survival of all cohabitants of the living world. To borrow from author Rick Bass, “If it’s wild to your own heart, protect it. Preserve it. Love it. And fight for it.”

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Lisa S. French August 31, 2019

Restoring Rhinos

The precious population of southern white rhinos just added a history-making new clan member. On July 28, reproductive science researchers at the San Diego Zoo Global announced the arrival of Edward, the first southern white rhino calf born in North America through the process of artificial insemination. The birth of a healthy male rhino through IVF represents an important breakthrough in a Recovery Ecology project aimed at restoring rhino populations worldwide, including the functionally-extinct northern white rhino of which only two females, Najin and Fatu, are remaining following the death of the last male, Sudan, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, in March 2018. With the help of six southern white rhino surrogates, including Edward’s mother Victoria, scientists at the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center eventually hope to create a sustainable crash, or herd, of northern white rhinos as part of a collaborative effort to save this iconic animal.

Of the five species of rhinoceros living today, which include black, white, Sumatran, Indian, and Javan, southern white rhinos are the least endangered. From a historic low of 100 individuals in the early 1900s, through dedicated conservation efforts over the last century the population has grown to an estimated 21,000 animals in the wild, and close to 700 in zoos globally. The majority of southern white rhinos live in South Africa, but they can also be found in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya—and now a wobbly, little one in California. You can learn more about the ongoing initiatives focused on restoring rhinos to their rightful place in the wild from Save the Rhino International.

Update:

Ol Pejeta has announced more exciting progress on the road to rhino restoration! On August 22nd, veterinarians at the Conservancy successfully harvested a total of ten eggs from Najin and Fatu to create embryos for implantation into southern white rhino surrogates. On August 25th, seven out of ten donated eggs were successfully inseminated with frozen “donations” from Suni and Saut, two northern white rhino bulls. If this groundbreaking IVF procedure results in the development of viable embryos, we’ll be one step closer to reconstituting a sustainable population of northern white rhinos.

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Lisa S. French August 3, 2019

Wondrous Whales

In honor of World Oceans Day, here’s a status update on one of the most precious inhabitants of the deep, blue Atlantic: Eubalaena glacialis, the good or true whale of the ice—population currently teetering at 411. Otherwise known as the eastern North Atlantic right whale, weighing up to 70 tons and measuring up to 55 feet long, this toothless, baleen cetacean, native to the Eastern Coast of the United States, is one of the largest mammals on earth. Dubbed the “right whale to hunt,” for centuries the docile, slow-moving North Atlantic right whale was prized for its blubber, oil, and baleen, resulting in over-exploitation and decimation of populations. Although the hunting of right whales was outlawed in 1935, this critically endangered species continues to face a number of extreme challenges to its survival including ship strikes, fishing gear entanglement, degraded habitat, underwater noise pollution, and more recently, declining prey.

As Atlantic waters warm due to climate heating, scientists believe that the enormous quantities of small crustaceans (Calanus finmarchicus) the right whales depend on for food are moving further north into shipping lanes and fishing areas that make strikes and entanglement more likely. Between 2010 and 2016, 85% of right whale deaths were caused by entanglement. In 2017 and 2018 there was an extremely high mortality rate of 20 right whales, and for the first time in 38 years in 2018, there were no calves born.

A normal life span for a North Atlantic right whale is 70 years. By age ten females are capable of reproduction and have a gestation period of one year. While right whales typically give birth to a single calf every three to five years, due to a host of environmental stressors, as of 2017 the interval between births had increased to ten years. Even though seven new calves have been spotted off the coast of Florida as of March 2019, at the current rate of loss and reproduction, without support and intervention, scientists predict the North Atlantic right whale could disappear from the planet in the next 20 years. You can learn more about the North Atlantic right whale and the network of scientific organizations working together to monitor populations, protect critical habitat, and reduce injury and mortality from vessel disturbance and fishing gear from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

And in other recent whale watching news, New York City and British Columbia are celebrating sightings of big humpbacks and baby orcas. Mind how you go, befinned friends, mind how you go…

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Lisa S. French June 8, 2019

Precious Parrots

Standing almost two feet tall and weighing in at approximately nine pounds, the moss-green kākāpō is the world’s largest and only flightless parrot. It is also one of the most critically endangered. Known as the “owl-parrot” due to its large eyes and head, this charmingly chubby forest inhabitant was common in its native New Zealand where it evolved over 30 million years, free from the threat of natural predators. Over the past few hundred years with only the minimal protection offered by its mottled, camouflaging feathers, the defenseless, ground-dwelling kākāpō was hunted to the brink of extinction by both humans and the invasive species introduced by European settlers. Habitat loss from forest conversion to farm-land also contributed to the parrots’ plummeting numbers, and by 1977 the solitary, nocturnal kākāpō had been reduced to a tiny population of just 18 birds. Although kākāpōs rebounded slightly to 51 individuals in the 1990’s, their future looked decidedly grim.

The plight of the kākāpō is further complicated by infrequent breeding. The parrots only mate every two to four years when native coniferous rimu trees bear the vitamin D rich fruit which they feed their young. And because females are solely responsible for incubating, parenting and foraging for food, eggs and fledglings are extremely vulnerable to predators when out of necessity they are left alone in the nest. Factoring in a loss of genetic diversity which helped to ensure the survival of chicks, the kākāpō was in desperate need of some avian assistance.

Fast-forward three decades, thanks to the intensive and innovative management of the critically endangered parrots by scientists at the New Zealand Department of Conservation, as of 2017, the kākāpō count was at 154. Following the transfer of the entire population of birds to three remote predator-free islands, Whenua Hou, Anchor, and Hauturu, the kākāpō recovery programme began monitoring the birds through every stage of development pitching in with nest protection, supplementary feeding and the hand raising of chicks. As a result of around the clock intensive care, this year the kākāpōs had a record-breaking breeding season resulting in 76 hatchlings. Scientists expect that about 60 of the young birds will make it to adulthood. While the kākāpō population is on the upswing, conservationists won’t breathe easier until their numbers get closer to 500. In the meantime, preservation of these precious parrots continues with international efforts aimed at ensuring their survival, including genome sequencing, drone-supported artificial insemination and the world’s first successful bird brain surgery. In honor of Endangered Species Day on May 17, we tip our wings to the captivating kākāpō and the dedicated scientists who continue to work tirelessly to save this rare species–bird by bird.

Update:

Following a tremendously successful 2018/2019 breeding season, and the unprecedented survival of 71 chicks to juvenile age, as of September 2019, the critically endangered kākāpō population has reached a record high of 213! You can read more about the ground-dwelling parrot progress here.

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Lisa S. French May 16, 2019

Good News for Gorillas

Home to over 3,000 different species of plants and animals, the Virunga Mountain range bordering Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. The best known and most beloved occupants of this UNESCO World Heritage site are the majestic mountain gorillas. Discovered by German explorer Captain Robert von Beringe in 1902, over the course of the 20th century, mountain gorillas suffered the impacts of habitat loss, hunting, war, and disease leading scientists to estimate that continued environmental pressures would render the critically endangered species extinct by the year 2000. Although populations of mountain gorillas in the Virunga range continued to dwindle to near extinction, 480 individuals had survived as of 2010.

An inspiring testament to the progress that can be achieved through a creative combination of government, NGO, and community-based conservation efforts, including eco-tourism, these gentle herbivores, vital to the health of forest ecosystems, are slowly making a comeback. Population surveys in 2016 found that the Virunga gorillas had increased to 604 individuals. The total population of mountain gorillas now stands at 1,004 which includes a second group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. At a time when animal species around the globe are facing extreme challenges to their survival, this bit of good news for mountain gorillas underscores the vital importance of supporting wildlife conservation initiatives for the benefit of all inhabitants who share the planet.

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Lisa S. French May 7, 2019

Paternal Penguins

In the southern hemisphere, the Antarctic autumn which begins in late March/early April also marks the start of emperor penguin parenting season. The only species on earth that nests in winter, emperor penguins are dependent upon the formation of sea ice which must be solid enough to support the 46 breeding colonies of thousands of 50 to 100-pound birds that return from the sea to the barren, beak-chillingly cold polar landscape to start their feathered families. Once the serially monogamous birds pair off with mates, come late May/early June, female emperors will lay one egg which they transfer to their male parenting partners for safekeeping before traveling distances of up to 70 miles back to the sea to feed on fish, krill, and squid. During the 65-75 day incubation period, the male penguin carefully wedges the single egg on its feet below a loose fold of highly vascularized featherless skin called a brood pouch which warms the egg to about 100°F. To ensure every egg in the colony stays equally toasty while exposed to average winter temperatures of -49°F, these paternal penguins huddle together in massive groups for warmth, rotating in an orderly procession from the outside to the inside of the huddle so that no bird is left out in the cold.

Male emperors fast throughout the two month incubation period surviving on fat reserves, often losing as much as half of their body weight. Once the penguin chicks emerge from their shells into the frozen world of the Antarctic, the papa penguins prop the hatchlings on their feet, tuck them up safely under the brood pouch for warmth, and feed them a milky substance produced by a gland in their esophagus. When the female penguins return to the colony in July, the hungry, weakened male transfers the chick to its mother’s brood pouch for care and feeding before embarking on his own long march to the sea to fatten up. When the male penguin rejoins his family, the dedicated parents take turns feeding and guarding the chicks ensuring the little ones are shielded from the harsh elements until they grow a thick layer of protective down and are able to stand on their own tiny webbed feet.

Learn about the importance of maintaining the Antarctic home of these fascinating, flightless birds from ecologist Michelle LaRue and on April 25th ruffle your feathers in honor of World Penguin Day.

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Lisa S. French March 27, 2019

Evolving Elephants

Unlike their Asian elephant cousins, both male and female African elephants grow tusks over the course of their lifetimes which they use for defense, debarking and moving trees, and digging for roots, salt, and water. These long incisors used as tools for daily living have made elephants targets of ivory poachers across the continent of Africa for centuries and to devastating effect. While it is extremely rare for male African elephants to be born without tusks, the 3 to 4 percent of wild female African elephants that never grow tusks have a distinct evolutionary advantage as they are more likely to survive periods of intense poaching. Scientists believe that through the process of natural selection, tuskless female elephants are passing this trait on to their daughters. As intensely hunted big tusked male elephants, known as tuskers, are eliminated from the population through poaching, the offspring of smaller tusked males and tuskless females spread the tuskless trait.

Researchers are now studying tuskless populations in heavily poached areas across Africa to determine what this growing phenomenon means for the future of the species. According to Dr. Joyce Poole of Elephant Voices, 51 percent of 200 adult females 25 years or older in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique that survived the rampant poaching that took place during the 15-year civil war are tuskless. Since the civil war ended in 1997, 32 percent of female elephants born in Gorongosa are tuskless. In the early 2000s in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa, 98% of 174 females were also observed to be tuskless. While current populations of tuskless elephants appear to be healthy and thriving, scientists are continuing to study the impact of tusklessness on both individual and group behaviors as well as on other plant and animal species in their native ecosystems. Through critical ongoing research, we’ll learn more about how these iconic, highly intelligent, and empathic animals are continuing to evolve and adapt to the growing human-induced pressures that impact their survival.

For breathtaking photos of some of Africa’s last great tuskers, check out Land of Giants by Will Burrard-Lucas.

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Lisa S. French March 19, 2019

Swinging Sifakas

You’d have to travel all the way to the island of Madagascar off of the eastern coast of Africa to find the wooly, wide-eyed, white-helmeted Coquerel’s sifaka in its native habitat. One of nine species of lemurs, these diurnal (active in day and night) highly intelligent primates, known as prosimians, evolved millions of years before monkeys and apes, their simian relatives. Primarily treetop dwelling herbivores, the long-legged sifaka is impressively agile, propelling itself distances of over 30 feet as it leaps and swings through the canopy of its dry forest home. For graceful ground travel, sifakas employ a two-legged sideways hopping movement, using their elegantly outstretched arms for balance. Sifakas other amazing creature features include a horizontally projecting set of lower front teeth used for grooming known as a “tooth comb” and a handy secondary tongue which helps keeps that tooth comb spic and span. Living in matriarchal social groups of three to ten animals, sifakas maintain contact with their troop known as a “conspiracy” through various vocalizations including the distinctive shi-fakh, shi-fakh sound from which this lemur species gets its name. Due to 90% loss of their forest habitat and increased hunting of culturally sacred lemurs for food, Coquerel’s sifakas have declined by more than 50% over the past 30 years. As of 2018, all nine sifaka species are listed by the IUCN as critically endangered. To learn how you can support conservation of the Coquerel’s sifaka and other lovable lemurs both in the U.S. and Madagascar, swing on over to the Duke University Lemur Center.

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Lisa S. French March 10, 2019

The name "pangolin" comes from a Malay word that means "one who rolls up".

World Pangolin Day

To celebrate World Pangolin Day, we pulled together a few interesting facts about these remarkable Asian and African mammals to raise awareness and impress your pangolin-party pals. Pangolins are shy, solitary, nocturnal animals that range in size from about three to 73 pounds and make their homes in forests, grasslands, and savannahs. Although the eight species of pangolins are also known as “scaly anteaters”, and do indeed eat ants as well as termites and other insects, they are genetically more closely related to cats, dogs, and bears. However, unlike carnivores, pangolins do not have teeth so can’t chew their food. Their stomachs are lined with keratinous spines which, combined with stones they swallow, help to pulverize the insects they’ve captured with their long sticky tongues. A pangolin tongue can be up to an impressive 15 inches long, which comes in handy when probing inside of an anthill or termite mound in search of dinner. Pangolins can eat up to 20,000 ants and termites a day (that’s 70 million a year), helping to protect forests from destruction.

Most of a pangolin’s body is covered by overlapping scales also made from keratin, the same protein that forms human hair, nails, and rhino horn. These sharp-edged scales, which make up about 20 percent of a pangolin’s body weight, protect it from predators. When under attack a pangolin curls into a tight ball and extends its scales to shield its vulnerable undersides.

Because their meat is considered a delicacy, and their scales are believed to have magical and medical properties, pangolins have become the most trafficked animal in the world. Sadly, as a result, all eight species are currently listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened with extinction. Check out this rare footage of a giant pangolin doing a bit of tree-hugging and find out what the African Wildlife Foundation is doing to help ensure the world’s only scaly mammal is not lost forever.

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Lisa S. French February 16, 2019

Tiger Love

You can help protect endangered wildlife with your Valentine’s Day sweetie-grams: prettify your post with a Save Vanishing Species first class, semipostal, fundraising stamp depicting a magnificent Amur tiger cub. Net proceeds from the sale of these stamps support Multinational Species Conservation Funds, benefiting African and Asian elephants, great apes, rhinoceros, tigers, and marine turtles. You can purchase these sticky little lifesavers, created by artist Nancy Stahl, here.

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Lisa S. French February 7, 2019