Stories including Videos and photos related to wildlife conservation: 2/20/19 version (I will be adding to this list regularly).
This part travel piece concerning snorkeling in Bonaire but also describes the steps the island has taken to protect its coral reef system. However, during the article, it notes how the huge large cruise ships are nevertheless threatening the island—overwhelming its sewage system and how development on coasts threatens coral. It has excellent photos. See https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/travel/coral-reef-bonaire.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20190219&nl=science-times&nl_art=9&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20190219&ref=headline&te=1
Article by Charles Homans concerning how Hong Kong stands at the center of international criminal wildlife trade. Details how many products made from endangered species such as pangolin, totoaba, sharks, elephants are traded. Though there are laws against such trade in Hong Kong, various methods & weak enforcement allow it to continue. Once the wildlife is converted into products such as powder, it is hard if not impossible to identify it. Has several photos. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/science/hong-kong-wildlife-trafficking.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20190212&nl=science-times&nl_art=0&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20190212&ref=headline&te=1
Conservation agreements: Environmental groups in 2008 reached a “Conservation Agreement” with ranch owners in California's Tejon Ranch area to protect 90 percent of critical wildlife habitat in exchange but right to develop on other 10% but now plans to 35,000 houses on that area has now reopened debate on whether this deal made sense & more generally for conservation agreements: was this tradeoff worthwhile? Could ESA & other laws have done as good a job protecting without such a huge development? Photos included in article: See https://www.hcn.org/articles/deserts-was-californias-great-environmental-compromise-worth-it
New York Times article reports how ocean noise is increasing hugely as tanker & other traffic expand & will be much worse as a result of Trump decision to drill offshore. Also pipelines such as one near Vancouver will result in huge increases in tanker traffic. The article cite several studies that prove harmful effects of noise such as killing all of the zooplankton in the region, disrupting communication among whales-dolphins, & raising stress levels. They are protections under the End. Species Act but industry disputes claims & it is difficult if not impossible to study effects other than indirectly. The article contains several photos including seismic air guns used to explore for oil on ocedan bottom—that fire every 10 seconds “around the clock” for several months. See the full article & photos at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/science/oceans-whales-noise-offshore-drilling.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20190122&nl=science-times&nlid=10365419edit_sc_20190122&ref=headline&te=1
Charismatic “Wildlife”: Wild Ponies of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge: The single biggest stimulant that fosters “wildlife politics”—struggles among humans over wildlife—concerns charismatic species. Often attention is focused on predators such as wolves, grizzlies, lions, and tigers. But the “wild” ponies of Chincoteague illustrate how varies of equines have long attained charismatic status. Devotees of the horses are devout in their protection of them & and now trying to solve the problem of an infection that is killing them. The following article describes the huge importance the area and the state attach to these ponies and how they attract important economic activity to the area. See Steve Hendris’s article in Wash. Post with photos at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/on-an-island-famous-for-wild-ponies-a-dangerous-infection-is-attacking-horses/2018/12/26/42659c9e-0636-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html?utm_term=.64ac7d2e42e5&wpisrc=nl_books&wpmm=1
Half Earth for Nature, Species & Future Generations: The Interior Dept is moving to sell oil leases & drill ANWR. They want to get this done before the 2020 election. This development of a pristine area previously reserved for nature is in direct contradiction to what the U.S. and all nations should be doing—protecting the Earth for future generations and endangered species. Edward O. Wilson, in Half Earth, says that Earth’s more than 7 Billion people are collectively ravenous consumers of all the planet’s inadequate bounty—we should reserve one half of the Earth for nature. As pristine wildlife habitat is destroyed & species reduced, future generations will curse us & the people who did this (Trump & Zinke & Republican Congress)—their names will live in infamy. For New York Times article on drilling ANWR, see https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/climate/alaska-anwr-oil-drilling-proposal.html?emc=edit_th_181221&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=103654191221 The article has several photos. Wilson’s book: Edward O. Wilson. Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight For Life. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation. 2016
Slob Hunting: Todd Wilkinson has written a detail account of how a major percent of hunters pursue unethical (slob) hunting, killing wolves-coyotes-prairie dogs & other wildlife using snowmobiles, human-foods baiting, hounds, poison, and then brag about it with videos & photos of their deeds on social media. Many state “game” departments & some Federal agencies (e.g., BLM) turn a blind eye to these unethical & often illegal behaviors. These behaviors have gotten worse with advances in technology & social media but there have been no consequences on these unethical hunters—agencies still bow down to them despite the fact that hunter numbers have been declining for more than 2 decades & revenues obtained from Pittman-Robertson excise tax on hunting supplies has experienced huge declines. These unethical hunters continue to have outsized influence on state policies—indeed, the Zinke Interior has lionized trophy hunters letting them dominate advisory committees. See Wilkinson’s article at https://www.hcn.org/articles/hunting-faces-an-ethical-reckoning?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email Note: it has several relevant photos. Also, I have an entire chapter devoted to hunting in my Wildlife Politics book https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/wildlife-links.html and several other chapters (e.g., Chapter 5 on Charismatic Politics) details the warped behaviors towards wildlife that often occur.
The Red Wolf of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. This article by the Defenders of Wildlife group is an account of the attempt to recover the red wolves that goes through a few different attempts winding up in North Carolina. At one point, the effort appeared to be successful but a few actions led to its current state that is very much threatened. It shows how a few landowners & opponents can block a program that the vast majority of a region support. See
https://medium.com/wild-without-end/the-red-wolf-of-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow-74ca4e8a9c0e
Drilling & Fracking on Public Lands: NY Times article details the frenzy with which Trump Interior Dept. is leasing public lands for little money & rushing approvals without careful environmental reviews that used to be done. They are eliminating rules on methane release. These developments are not only marring the landscape and destroying habitat of sage grouse and many other species but are using up huge amounts of water—so much so that welfare ranchers on public lands are complaining. Who benefits? The states such as New Mexico & Wyoming get monies from these developments—not the rest of the states though this is NATIONAL land. Unrepresented? The general public who cares about the beauty of land and preservation of species. In future years, the grandchildren who live in these areas will look at a spoiled landscape devoid of beauty and many species. The artuicle has many relevant photos showing the fracking-drilling. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/climate/trump-fracking-drilling-oil-gas.html?module=inline
Shooting of Sea Lions on West Coast has risen to unprecedented number--a dozen with bullets in them since September 2018. All of the discovered culprits of previous killings were fishermen who are angry with them for stealing their catch or their consumption of salmon in general. At Bonneville Dam where salmon are easy prey, the killing of a certain number of sea lions has been approved by the government. The story illustrates key themes of wildlife politics: Successful restoration of species (sea lions) due to protections can lead to new problems--due to their conflict with humans & the importance of interest groups such as anglers. It also illustrates the problem of species vs species: sea lions vs salmon--both have been endangered. This Washington Post story has photos: see https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/12/12/sea-lions-have-enemies-now-someone-is-shooting-them-head/?utm_term=.1ee2df8542a5&wpisrc=nl_animalia&wpmm=1
The potential alliance between conservation groups and hunters is a complex and fragile one. One point of disagreement concerns their use of lead ammo. The following article discusses the complexities—disagreements over the effects of lead on wildlife & the science of research on it. The NRA vehemently opposes any restrictions on lead ammo regardless of the location. It also contains photos and links to other articles.
Ian Urbina A Clean Shot: Urging Hunters to Try Unleaded Ammo. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/us/ammunition-lead-bullets-condors.html
This High Country News article details how welfare sheep ranchers on public lands don't manage their sheep so they interact with Bighorn Sheep leading these bighorn to be slaughtered due to fears of contamination and disease transmission that could affect other wild sheep. The article has photos of the slaughtered sheep heads. See Inside Colorado’s ‘hotbed’ of wildlife conflict
https://www.hcn.org/articles/wildlife-in-southwest-colorado-flawed-wildlife-management-leads-to-unneccessary-killings-of-bighorn-sheep-documents-show?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Roads are a major threat to wildlife & biodiversity. This New York Times article discusses how 2 Million mammals alone are killed annually in Brazil by road traffic & this is likely to get far worse under the new regime. It has some photos. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/science/brazil-roadkill-wildlife.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20181112&nl=science-times&nl_art=0&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20181112&ref=headline&te=1
This story describes how an organization in Kenya is trying to protect sea turtles and other reptiles from exploitation. It has several good photos. See Rescuing Sea Turtles From Fishermen’s Nets https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/science/sea-turtles-endangered-fishing.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20181016&nl=science-times&nl_art=0&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20181016&ref=headline&te=1
"How to Stop Poaching and Protect Endangered Species? Forget the ‘Kingpins’" This is an article by Rachel Nuwer from New York Times Science series. It has a long discussion of the problem of poaching with detailed case studies and many fascinating photos. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/science/poaching-conservation-rhinos-elephants.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20180925&nl=science-times&nlid=10365419edit_sc_20180925&ref=headline&te=1
The problem of non-native species as threats to national parks is illustrated by story by Karin Brulliard in which mountain goats are being flown out of Olympic National Park by helicopters. Story includes photos. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/09/15/mountain-goats-are-flying-out-national-park-its-long-story/?utm_term=.2559727bae5c&wpisrc=nl_animalia&wpmm=1
One of the eternal questions concerning wildlife concerns the difference between humans & wildlife. Some people argue animals don’t experience pain. This New York Times story details how a “grieving mother orca” carried her dead calf for days. It emphasizes again the difficulty of drawing sharp lines between species—including “animal” and “human” species. Includes Photo. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/science/grieving-orca-dead-calf.html?emc=edit_th_180728&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=103654190728
Read a story from Sierra Club online magazine titled “Can Red Wolves survive a third extinction?” It tells how USFWS is removing last 14 purebred red wolves from the wilds in North Carolina putting them on 2 Federal parcels with no protections if they leave the area. It includes photos. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/can-red-wolf-survive-extinction-second-time?utm_source=greenlife&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
A success story to save the goliath group in Florida waters is described by Angela Smith. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted not to allow a lottery to kill these fish. Arguments in favor of the protection of the fish included the following: “the high mercury content in goliath grouper meat…impacts for loss of income to the diving community and Florida tourism should goliath grouper diving ecotourism be shut down, as well as points regarding intrinsic value were all presented and discussed at the meeting.” Photos of the fish and related pictures are included. See CRITICALLY ENDANGERED GOLIATH GROUPERS, HOPE FOR SHARKS AND THE STATE OF OUR CORALS https://mission-blue.org/2018/07/critically-endangered-goliath-groupers-hope-for-sharks-and-the-state-of-our-corals/
An article by Richard Paddock in New York Times describes volunteer efforts to save turtles in Indonesia crowded Bali area. The efforts have been fairly successful for ridley turtles that are better able to deal with trash, noise, & lights of developed beaches but less so for other endangered turtles. The efforts have been successful in reducing poaching for restaurant & other consumptive purposes but long-term difficulties of development (hotels) & busy beaches are much more difficult. The article has several good photos & a video. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/world/asia/indonesia-bali-sea-turtles-eggs.html
Brandon Keim at Yale360 has written an essay titled “Do Conservation Strategies Need to Be More Compassionate?” that discusses how certain conservationists object to traditional conservation biology’s concern only with protection of species and not individual animals. Thus non-native and non-threatened species are regarded as not just being expendable but as being necessary to be eliminated as the first step to protect endangered species. See https://e360.yale.edu/features/do-conservation-strategies-need-to-be-more-compassionate
The line between animals & humans is getting harder and harder to draw. Read this article with several relevant photos by Barry Yeoman that tells about “When Animals Grieve” that appeared in National Wildlife magazine at https://www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2018/Feb-Mar/Animals/When-Animals-Grieve
What are the effects of hunting ivory? This New York Times story with photos shows how tuskless female elephants resulted from ivory-seeking elephant hunters in South Africa. Where Female Elephants Without Tusks Road and Poachers Stay Away. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/16/world/africa/south-africa-elephants-tusks.html
Here is a film about trapping on public lands--how wildlife as well as pets get caught on traps: https://endthewaronwildlife.org/#film-jump
2 Marine scientists discuss the article has a pictorial show where U.S. marine protected reserves are and the limitations of them due to the fact that fish move in and out of the zones. See https://theconversation.com/to-conserve-ocean-life-marine-reserves-need-to-protect-species-that-move-around-89907
John Oliver discusses the travesty of Ryan Zinke’s leadership of the Department of Interior and his phony claims of heroism and that he is a “geologist.” . See https://youtu.be/HBUh1kJvqIU
An article by John W. Fitzpatrick & Nathan R. Senner in the New York Times provides a detailed discussion of the threats to birds that travel distances due to a variety of threats but the worst is draining of wetlands such as I China’s and South Korea’s coast. It provides a some hopeful signs such as Chinese plan to conserve some coastal wetlands. The online article has great videos of birds as well as maps of the routes traveled by the birds. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/27/opinion/shorebirds-extinction-climate-change.html
Does Size Matter Debating the Role of Marine Protected Areas. One of the major conservation successes of the past two decades has been the establishment of Marine Protected Areas around the world. Two major new ones were approved by Brazil. However, there is debate over how effective these areas are and whether creating huge MPAs is the way to go. One problem is that these areas often have lots of human activity including fishing occurring despite their designation. Also other research shows that they are “paper parks”-restrictions on them are not enforced effectively. Some have argued that smaller ones near the coast have much more life but nations prefer to designate far more remote areas that are less fished because there is less political resistance from fishing and other industries that exploit the oceans. See the New York Times article by Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opinion/environment-ocean-conservation.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ty_20180321&nl=opinion-today&nl_art=6&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_ty_20180321&ref=headline&te=1 This article on the merits of MPAs by Erica Gies contains a discussion many great photos of marine life: https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/04/27/does-size-matter-debating-the-role-of-marine-protected-areas
Coral Reefs: Two NYT Coral Reef stories. One story about how damage to the Great Barrier Reef is Irreversible. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/world/australia/australia-barrier-reef.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20180424&nl=science-times&nl_art=11&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20180424&ref=headline&te=1 Another story about how scientists are trying to develop corals that resist the effects of global warming: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/climate/coral-great-barrier-reef.html Both contains good photos of reefs and related activities.
The following article has graphic videos and photos of marine life such as sharks, dolphins, and porpoises caught in fishing nets. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/04/12/grisly-new-undercover-footage-shows-the-toll-of-death-nets-activists-say/?utm_term=.907823d412ff&wpisrc=nl_animalia&wpmm=1
The dangers of plastic and marine garbage are brought home in a story with photos and a video about a sperm whale found dead on the Spanish coast that was found to be 64 LBS. of plastic. Read the story and view the video and plastic at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5586649/Sperm-whale-dead-Spanish-coast-killed-swallowing-64-lbs-plastic.html
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up (in tonnage) mostly of abandoned fishing gear (94 percent). Fishing nets alone account for 46% of the tonnage. It is the case that 94 percent of the individual pieces of the garbage are plastic and that particles from plastic are a threat to fish. See the article with photos of the patch at https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/great-pacific-garbage-patch-plastics-environment/
Sharks are threatened throughout the world but Australia is testing a new system of buoys that can detect sharks and warn lifeguards and beachgoers so as to reduce threats to the sharks. 5 people were killed by sharks in the previous year—estimates are that 100 million sharks are killed by humans. But the impact of a single shark attack is huge on human perceptions of them despite the fact that the risk of dying from a shark attack is less than being hit by lightning. See the full article with many photos of sharks and the new buoy system at https://news.mongabay.com/wildtech/2018/04/ai-buoys-safeguard-swimmers-and-sharks/
Should Some Species Be Allowed To Die Out? This article has many photos of effort to save an endangered bird species in Hawaii, the Akikiki, a small gray bird. However, it uses this effort to discuss the ethical and political issues of whether it is worth saving species—should there be criteria (e.g., economic, importance to ecosystems?) to select those that should be saved and let others perish as having lost the “survival of species” contest. See the article by Jennifer Kahn at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/magazine/should-some-species-be-allowed-to-die-out.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180313&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
A New York Times story relates how Borneo has lost half of its Orangutans (more than 1000,000) in the last 16 years. Although much of the disappearance is due to lost habitat, researchers say that hunting by humans and general human-orangutan conflicts are also significant causes as demonstrated by the fact that losses have incurred in “intact forests” where habitat has been maintained. The story has photos of orangutans. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/science/orangutans-endangered-species.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180215&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Red Wolves illustrate complexity of science issues in regard to endangered species. There is a controversy in U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service whether to try to pursue saving them. Agency asked for opinions of 4 experts and concluded that they should halt releases and rely on zoos instead. However, the 4 scientists said that USFWS misused their opinions and that efforts should continue to preserve the species. See Washington Post story at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/02/05/feature/red-wolves-may-be-going-extinct-in-the-wild-again/ but also read Chapter 2 of my wildlife politics book on "Science and the Protection of Wildlife."
Interactive links on Trump-Zinke actions concerning public lands and conservation: https://wilderness.org/interactive-tracking-trumps-anti-public-lands-crusade
Wisconsin public hearing on right to shoot wolves: video available at: http://www.wiseye.org/Video-Archive/Event-Detail/evhdid/12113
Plastics Harming Coral Reefs in Pacific: This research studied the impact of plastic on coral reefs in the Pacific. It contains photos and videos. It is available at https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/01/25/study-ocean-plastic-trash-is-smothering-coral-reefs-spreading-disease
A new documentary relates the paradoxical attitudes Australians hold towards kangaroos. They are an “iconic” and charismatic species to many but hated by farmers who slaughter them and are trying to build a worldwide market for their meat. See the New York Times review & preview at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/movies/kangaroo-a-love-hate-story-review.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_fm_20180119&nl=movies-update&nl_art=7&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1
A New York Times story has several photos and detailed story on how expansion of palm oil plantations in Sumatra is threatening elephants with a huge decrease in their numbers. It also discusses how ivory from dead elephants is being sold illegally and how it is conservation NGOs, not governmental agencies, that are carrying out effective investigations of this illegal grade. See article by Jon Emont at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/world/asia/indonesia-elephants-poaching-conservation.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180111&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Case study by Audubon Society discusses potential harm of new mine to bald eagles & other wildlife in the Chilkat River watershed in Alaska. It contains some excellent photos that illustrate the issues. See http://www.audubon.org/news/proposed-mine-threatens-worlds-largest-concentration-bald-eagles
Bleak Future for Biodiversity in Brazil?: This story by Ernesto Londono in New York Times details how Brazilian government headed by President Temer who fears removal from office due to scandals is sacrificing previously protected lands by currying favor with agricultural and ranching interests. The defense of these actions is similar to that used by Trump-Zinke in the U.S. that “arguing that imposing environmental regulations in the region would do more harm than good.” They do not care about the impact on the long-term health of the environment or biodiversity. I found the story troubling & illustrative why I believe wildlife conservation is doomed so that in 25-50 years, the few remaining reserves for wildlife will be like zoos. The article has some good photos illustrating the story line. See it at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/world/americas/brazil-pantanal-wetlands-michel-temer.html?_r=0
New Science Conflicts With Proposed Rollback of Protections. Researchers have found photographic evidence of the success of restrictions on fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument where they found 58 common dolphins, 37 Risso’s dolphins, 25 bottlenose dolphins, 11 Cuvier’s beaked whales, four finback whales, one sperm whale, myriad sharks, and an ocean sunfish. See article and discusssion of proposed cutbacks to monument by Peter Baker of Pew Trusts at http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/compass-points/2017/12/15/new-science-conflicts-with-proposed-rollback-of-protections
The New York Times posted a story along with a Video of a Starving Polar Bear. The video is used to illustrate the possible future if ice continues to decrease and thus hampers their ability to hunt. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/world/canada/starving-polar-bear.html?emc=edit_tnt_20171211&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
U.S. House Democrats led by Beyer, Dingell, Grijalva have written an open letter to Urge Preservation of Endangered Species Act that is threatened by several riders and bills related to funding of Interior/EPA Departments. See it at: https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=700
A Washington Post article reports on a study by biologist Terrie Williams about how the arctic mammal narwhal reacts negatively to human disturbance including noise and will thus be threatened as arctic ice disappears and human traffic becomes common. The article contains a photo and video of narwhals. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/12/07/human-disturbance-hits-narwhals-where-it-hurts-the-heart/?utm_term=.1b4907ace2f4
An article at Mongabay by John C. Cannon discusses how right whales numbers are declining and one likely explanation is due to their entanglements with fishing gear. While there has been progress made in avoiding collisions with ships, there has been no solution yet to the problem of whale entanglements with fishing gear. The article has photos of the right whales. See https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/entanglements-hamper-reproduction-as-right-whale-population-slides/
Good article by Rachel Nuwer detailing arguments for and against hunting of elephants & whether it benefits or harms survival of the species. Also good photos illustrating aspects of the issue including of game ranger patrols & armed patrols protecting tourists & elephants, luxury camps, Cecil the Lion, & Trump tweets on issue. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/science/elephants-lions-africa-hunting.html?emc=edit_tnt_20171204&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Article on how Ocean Drones proliferation bothering marine mammals--disturbing seals and other mammals. Shows need to control amateur use of. Includes photos. See https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/11/28/as-ocean-drones-proliferate-marine-wildlife-are-getting-a-bit-annoyed
Trophic cascade: Article shows that sharks in Fiji Islands help promote coral reefs by threatening fish that eat algae that corals feed on. Includes photos: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-sharks-seaweed-growth-fijian-coral.html
Story & video of how Ryan Zinke is shrinking monuments but promoting new monument in his home state of Montana: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zinke-aims-to-shave-national-monuments-except-in-his-home-state_us_5a1b8315e4b0d4906cafab87
See video on Interior official, Joel Clement, on MSNBC talking about how Ryan Zinke reassigned him & a host of other Interior officials because of their positions such as on climate change and emphasis on conservation at http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/climate-expert-says-he-was-demoted-after-speaking-out-1007517251553
California Fishermen Are Throwing Explosives at Sea Lions. It is legal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act if “it is used to deter the mammal from harming the catch.” But there are reports of it harming & scaring off sea mammals. There are 2 photos—one of the explosive. See https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/california-fishermen-are-throwing-explosives-sea-lions
New York Times has published an article by Christopher Solomon that details why the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is crucial to biodiversity & currently is “America’s Wildest Place”—both characteristics are at risk by the Zinke-Trump Administration’s push to cover the area with oil drilling. It contains dynamic maps and photos of threatened wilidfe. See the article “America’s Wildest Place is Open for Business”. NYT. Nov. 10, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/10/opinion/sunday/wildest-place-in-america.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ty_20171110&nl=opinion-today&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
The problems of ensuring populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna are discussed bu Pew Trusts. Technology & worldwide industrial fishing using purse seine fishing vessels caught too many juveniles endangering the population. Since 2012, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has been attempting to implement controls on quotas for the fish—the introduction of “electronic catch tracking system” are promising given the past difficulties of enforcing restrictions. The article contains historical photos. See The Story of Atlantic Bluefin Richard Herrmann
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2017/10/the-story-of-atlantic-bluefin
Jeffrey Gettleman’s New York Times article details the “global illicit ape trade” which involves smuggling of live apes such as bonobos and chimpanzees often to South East Asia where they are used for amusement and pets—often abused, beaten, and fed alcohol & drugs to keep them quiet during transport. Adult members of ape families are killed in order to obtain the babies—adults are too much of a challenge to transport. He also makes the point that the expansion of rubber plantations (in Africa) and oil palm in Asia are threatening the apes. There are international laws against the trade but the article says that papers are produced that purport to show the apes were not taken from the wild. The main detection of the trade is conducted by NGOs. The article contains several photos of apes. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/africa/ape-trafficking-bonobos-orangutans.html?emc=edit_th_20171105&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419&_r=0
Some Good News for a Change: Grizzlies continue to occupy more of Wyoming according to the following article by Kelsey Dayton of Wyofile. However, USFWS is removing grizzlie from threatened species list. See http://www.wyofile.com/column/grizzlies-continue-occupy-wyoming/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklynewsletter
There are reports of Zinke-Trump Interior Department cutting marine monuments which a New York Times by Christopher Pala discusses harmful impacts that such action would have--includes photos: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/science/trump-zinke-pacific-marine-reserves.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20171031&nl=science-times&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1
Minimal Numbers not enough to protect endangered species: Some critics of the Endangered Species Act question whether many species are really at risk. However, a New York Times article points out how several endangered species with small numbers can be threatened by natural events such as hurricanes & fires. See story & photos of red squirrel, yellow-legged frog, prairie chickens, Bahama oriole, Puerto Rico’s native parrots, and certain butterfly species. See Livia Albeck-Ripka: For an Endangered Animal, a Fire or Hurricane Can Mean the End. Thus just keeping minimal number of species alive is not enough. see
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/climate/fires-hurricanes-endangered-animals.html?emc=edit_tnt_20171025&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
An article with photos says that Right whales could become extinct within 20 years. See Emma Davis. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/right-whales-extinction-scientists-1.4366568
Zinke refuses to say why he is cutting back monuments when overwhelming public support for them. See the YouTube Video where Zinke is interviewed about public monuments & can’t defend his recommendations to cut them. His position on monuments is especially notable because during his confirmation hearings he described himself as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican”—Teddy Roosevelt is the president who pioneered the use of monuments for conservation. Zinke once again proves that he a liar and a hypocrite. The video is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5WeTDZMGZQ
Jet Skis versus Orcas: For marine mammals such as orcas and whales, tourism boats and jet skis can drive them away and modify their behavior and disrupt their patterns. A story by Laylan Connelly in the Orange County Register has a video and discussion of a jet skier which a local whale expert says got too close to orcas in order to get selfies. The story has photos and videos attached. The operators of the jet ski claim that the photo is misleading and they did not get that close. However, the experts states that “ He said it wasn’t so much how close the watercraft operators were to the animals, but more about how they did it — driving at high speed and intercepting their course to get close to them.” The article, photo and video link are at: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/10/did-watercrafts-get-too-close-to-orcas-off-huntington-beach-whale-expert-claims-harassment-for-selfies/#nws=mcnewsletter
Plastic Threat to Birds: The Audubon Society has posted a brief article with photos that show plastic has become a threat to ospreys—they collect plastic items to build nests but some of the plastic entangles with young osprey foot and leg. The article and photos are available at: http://www.audubon.org/news/more-plastic-world-means-more-plastic-osprey-nests
A study of declining queen conch populations found that local populations of the conch are genetically distinct and thus need to be considered as separate populations rather than one large queen conch population. This finding has implications for management of the queen conch populations and suggests that restrictions on local fishing may be required to prevent further deterioration of the local populations. It also may help to explain why Florida populations “collapsed 30 years ago and have failed to recover.” The decline has been spurred by exportation of the conch to the U.S. despite the existence of restrictions by CITES. The article has 2 good photos of the conch. It is available as follows: Declining queen conch populations are fragmented and that's changing the conservation game
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-declining-queen-conch-populations-fragmented.html
An article about new research on coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef reports that the bleaching events have been occurring long before the 2016 mass bleaching and are slow to recover even after 60 years. It has 3 good photos of reefs: Coral loss on Palm Islands long precedes 2016 mass bleaching on Great Barrier Reef
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-coral-loss-palm-islands-mass.html
Fishing Technology & Whale Entanglements: What can be done? The ocean, fish and mammals such as whales used to be viewed as an unlimited source and were so vast that humanity had little chance of threatening fish and other wildlife that inhabit the oceans. But that situation has long since changed with worldwide fishing technologies like “long nets” and technologies to find fish that have made it impossible for wildlife to hide—even in oceans. Thus a laissez-faire policy did not threaten ocean life is no longer possible if ocean species are to be preserved and protected. A recent case of technology threatening whales has occurred off California waters where the number of whales becoming entangled in fishing gear has spiked in recent years. There is a dispute as to the cause for the change—it could be due to increasing populations of some whale species and increased “spotting” activities by whale watchers in which case the entanglements do not necessarily mean that there are threats to populations. However, lovers of whales and fishers themselves do not want these entanglements to occur. A story by Kate Wheeling describes proposed measures: voluntary or mandatory stopping of crabbing in “whale hotspots” such as Monterey Bay. A technological solution of using “buoyancy ropes” (more expensive than usual ropes) is also being tested. The case illustrates the intersection of technology and wildlife conservation in our Anthropocene Age where humanity dominates all land and sea and animals cannot hide. The article by Wheeling has photos of whales entangled in crab nets. Wheeling’s article is available at: https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/09/01/bait-and-switch-anchovies-eat-plastic-because-it-smells-like-prey
Nature Uganda has published a report with photos on “The State of Uganda’s Biodiversity 2017.” It is an optimistic report finding that the country has meant many of its indicators of biodiversity. Concerning the “extensive slaughter of large mammals” that took place in the 1970s-1980s, the report states that from 1990 on the “trend has been generally positive” and, though it admits that poaching continues, it states that “it would appear that large mammals can tolerate the present levels” and that current management is keeping poaching “at an acceptably low level.” The report contains many excellent photos of Ugandan species. It is available from: http://www.natureuganda.org/downloads/presentations/BD%202017%20Indicators%20Report.pdf
Arizona Business Leaders support Mexican wolf recovery efforts! 60 business leaders from tourism and related companies have written the US Fish & Wildlife Service to support efforts to recover the Mexican wolf in the Grand Canyon region including Northern Arizona. They cite data from the U. of Montana that the recovery of Mexican wolves would benefit the economy of the region. The website has a video about capturing and tagging a young wolf as well as photos: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-science/2017/08/28/mexican-wolf-restoration-grand-canyon-area/603977001/
Trump-Zinke Reduction in Monuments will be Unique: Some relatively small downward adjustments have been made ages ago in monuments though these small reductions have often been accompanied by new or increased monuments elsewhere according to The “Archaeology Program of the National Park Service at https://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/monumentslist.htm which has a listing of all such downward adjustments. In recent decades, presidents have made large additions to monuments in order to preserve these NATIONAL (i.e., this land is not owned by states in which they exist such as Utah) public lands and waters. For example, George W. Bush created a huge marine monument near Hawaii. One of the proposed changes proposed by the Trump-Zinke monument destruction team will be to open marine monuments to fishing. There is no doubt about it—Ryan Zinke and Donald Trump represent the antithesis of Teddy Roosevelt.
Indonesian Orangutan Habitat Threatened by Logging, Climate change, and Draining of Swamps. The Yale Environment 360 website has a 20 minute documentary about an Indonesian swamp forest that has the largest population of orangutans in the World. It faces threats to due logging and the draining of swamps due to encroaching palm oil plantations as well as changing weather patterns (longer dry seasons) influenced by climate change. The documentary details the lives of orangutans as well as Indonesians and others trying to preserve the habitat for them: http://e360.yale.edu/features/island-in-the-fires-a-forest-sanctuary-for-orangutans-hangs-on
Feral cats are threatening endangered bird species such as Hawaiian Gallinules according to an article by the American Bird Conservancy’s Grant Sizemore. The article contains photos of the bird and of a cat invading a nest with eggs. The article and photos are available at: https://abcbirds.org/article/articleendangered-hawaiian-gallinules-killed-feral-cats-kauai/?utm_content=bufferc426a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
The New York Times has published a guide to Marine Protected Areas concerning species that are being protected: What Are Oceans Laws Trying to Protect?
By CLAIRE O'NEILL and MATT RUBYPhotographs by ALEX KROWIAK and KATE POWELL, AUG. 15, 2017: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/15/climate/who-are-ocean-protection-laws-for.html?emc=edit_th_20170816&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419&_r=0
Land Anglers Pose Threat to Sharks in Florida—discussion and photos of sharks. An article in Fisheries Research by Shiffman, Macdonald, and Ganz (Dec. 2017) cites evidence that “land-based angling” can pose threats to shark populations in Florida. Although worldwide, commercial ocean fishing is the biggest threat to sharks, the extent of land-based shark-fishing has become extensive enough that it too is harmful according to the article. The National Geographic report on the article contains many outstanding photos of a wide variety of sharks worldwide and is available at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/wildlife-watch-land-based-shark-fishing-florida-study/
The World Wildlife Fund has published a good article on myths concerning sharks and also a great set of photos of various sharks. Check it out at Shark Facts vs. Shark Myths: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/shark-facts-vs-shark-myths?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=oceans
Pangolins at risk due to trade and hunting in Central Africa. Good photos of the pangolins: https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/pangolin-hunting-skyrockets-in-central-africa-driven-by-international-trade/
A publication reports on trade in listed species in Amazon countries has color photos of many species including mammals (e.g., peccaries), reptiles (caimans), turtles, birds such as parrots, lizards, snakes such as boas. The publication is: Wildlife trade in the Amazon Countries: An Analysis of Trade in CITES Listed Species. Authors: Pablo Sinovas, Becky Price, Emily King, Amy Hinsley, Alyson Pavitt and it is available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pablo_Sinovas/publication/317903971_Wildlife_trade_in_Amazon_countries_an_analysis_of_trade_in_CITES-listed_species/links/59513b7d0f7e9b329234c67f/Wildlife-trade-in-Amazon-countries-an-analysis-of-trade-in-CITES-listed-species.pdf
An article about snow leopards in the Himalayas has a great set of photos about the species as well as its prey and habitat. It provides a good description of the forces that threaten this species--immediate threats are due to the expansion of agriculture, population growth, and livestock grazing, and agricultural practices (e.g., fencing in of land) that have reduced its habitat and natural prey: Ecology and Conservation Issues in India by Abhishek Ghoshal available at:
http://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/022/07/0677-0690
The New York Times has published an article about scientists around the world constructing repositories that are aimed at preserving species and resources that are verging on extinction including coral reefs and amphibians. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/magazine/seed-vault-extinction-banks-arks-of-the-apocalypse.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170713&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
The New York Times published photos of the contents of the National Wildlife Property Repository which they state testifies “to the human appetite for other species.” Among the items are “stuffed monkeys and ivory carvings, snow leopard coats and dried seal penises, chairs with tails and lamps with hooves.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/science/national-wildlife-property-repository-colorado.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170710&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Birdlife International Africa has a story and photograph of 94 endangered vultures dead due to poisoning of elephant carcass with ivory removed. Poachers often poison elephant carcasses in order to kill vultures that could tip off anti-poaching patrols. See it at: http://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/poisoned-elephant-carcass-kills-94-critically-endangered-vultures-zimbabwe
Research found that 1/3 of turtles found dead on New Zealand beaches had plastic in them as well as discussion and debate in the country over banning of plastic bags. Has several photos of turtles-plastic: https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/94277174/third-of-turtles-found-dead-on-new-zealand-beaches-had-ingested-plastic
Video of discussion at 2016 Western Governor's Association Meeting of the "best available science" issue in regards to the Endangered Species Act. It is over an hour in length, some of it boring but is good at bringing out points of contention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu3wLyEJuwM
Guide to sage grouse has many photos of various sage grouse and their habitat:
http://www.wyoextension.org/sagegrouseconservation/docs/Correll_Landowner_Guide_Committee.pdf
Q&A with photos on Marine Protected Areas: Protected area or ‘paper park’? Ocean protection means more than lines on a map
http://blog.conservation.org/2016/09/protected-area-or-paper-park-ocean-protection-means-more-than-lines-on-a-map/
Article on a "Conversation with a Poacher" that discusses how youth poach wildlife in Africa using motorcyles--one person drives the cycle and the other kills it with a spear when it tires includes photo of cycles: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acv.12360/full
Discussion, Photos, and Video by National Geographic on "Why We Are So Divided Over Wolves"--calls it the abortion issue of wildlife conservation: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/wolf-nation-brenda-peterson-wolves/
3-minute video on wolves in Yellowstone produced by National Geographic--talks about their ecological role: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/exposure/160329-exposure-lynn-johnson-dying?source=relatedvideo
Palm Oil and Wildlife in Borneo: Nature Conservancy scientists in Borneo discuss how they use bioacoustics to measure the effects of palm oil deforestation on wildlife--the video is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoytZQjU-w&feature=youtu.be
NPR's Terry Gross interviews arctic photographer Paul Nicklen about impact of climate change on species that live in arctic region but the story includes photos of leopard seal and other wildlife encounters. Check out at: http://www.npr.org/2017/06/06/531735345/polar-photographer-shares-his-view-of-a-ferocious-but-fragile-ecosystem?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20170608&utm_campaign=Books&utm_term=nprnews
Photos of tigers and other wildlife living or being consumed on Southeast Asian "farms"--the article details the abuse of the farming of these species: Rachel Nuwer. Animal Farms in Southeast Asia Fuel an Illegal Trade in Rare Wildlife. New York Times, June 5, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/science/animal-farms-southeast-asia-endangered-animals.html
HuffPost Website has just posted 16 photos of a variety of wildlife that got caught in plastic or other human-made material and died from it. Here is the reference and website link: HuffPost Heartbreaking Photos Show What Your Trash Does To Animals
http://www.smallchangegiving.co/submissions/heartbreaking-photos-show-what-your-trash-does-to-animals-818a370a-8725-4fa7-8ef1-459d8fea6b36?utm_content=buffer32cd0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Article with link to video on invasive lionfish as well as a discussion of how researchers are studying the impact of the lionfish--their prey so far seem "naive" about the threat of the species:
Video shows invasive lionfish feasting on new Caribbean fish species
https://phys.org/news/2017-06-video-invasive-lionfish-feasting-caribbean.html
New York Times Article with videos and photos concerning poaching of elephants in Africa and concerning the use of high tech tools to prevent poaching: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/science/drones-africa-poachers-wildlife.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170313&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Rhinos being dehorned. Photo of rhino being dehorned to prevent its killing: Goldman, Russell. (2017). South African Court Ends Ban on Sale of Rhinoceros Horns. New York Times, April 5. Accessed 4/5/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/world/africa/south-africa-rhinoceros-horns-rhinos.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170405&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Excellent article on serious threats to primates including photos such as one of the Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey & other relevant photos concerning threats: John C. Cannon. Running Out of Time: 60 percent of primates sliding toward Extinction. Mongabay.com. Jan. 19, 2017. Accessed 2/1/17 from https://news.mongabay.com/2017/01/running-out-of-time-60-percent-of-primates-sliding-toward-extinction/
Endangered Species Photos: An article by Christopher Ketcham in the online news website of National Geographic has photos of several endangered species: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/endangered_speciesact/ It also has a great discussion of the ESA's accomplishments, an interview with the retired legislator who wrote the Act (John Dingell of Michigan).
Plastic threat to Species Increasing and Unstoppable? The New York Times published an article with photos on the impact of plastic on a remote Pacific island that has no human population on or near the island—thus the plastic is entirely “imported” from human-produced sources elsewhere. The academic journal article on which the story is based by Lavers and Bond states that the plastic “likely poses a significant threat to the wildlife inhabiting these waters” and that “more than 200 species are at risk due to ingestion of the plastic.” In addition, they state that the plastic “creates a physical barrier” that reduces the “number of sea turtle laying attempts” and is a threat to “only known nesting site” of a local turtle. It also lowers “diversity of shoreline invertebrate communities” and presents “increased hazard of entanglement for coastal-nesting birds.” Since the amount of plastic being entered into the environment “continues to increase exponentially” and there does not appear to be any international control over actions that contribute to plastic pollution, this global environmental threat will inevitably get worse.
The New York Times article with photos is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/australia/henderson-island-plastic-debris-south-pacific.html?emc=edit_th_20170517&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419 The article by Lavers and Bond is available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/09/1619818114.full
Story with photos concerning the endangered and rare Cross River Gorilla. Nigeria has decided to reroute a superhighway that would have threatened its habitat due to pressures from environmental groups which is good news--but the article points out how much of their forest habitat has been lost to agriculture & how Nigeria is a "hub" for trafficking in apes in the past: Ray of hope for endangered Cross River Gorilla in West Africa Forest. BirdlifeInternational.org. May 15, 2017.
http://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/ray-hope-endangered-cross-river-gorilla-west-africa-forest#
Video on Mexican wolves. Copy & play in your browser the following URL: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gray-area-wolves-of-the-southwest-the-release#/
The benefits of wolves to Yellowstone--YouTube video--have to paste following URL into your browser--note, experts such as L. David Mech describe the beneficial impacts as "exaggerated": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
Senate hearing on Endangered Species Act Link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?428280-1/hearing-considers-modernization-endangered-species-act
Globalization of Markets and Ocean Fish: No longer Inexhaustible: This New York Times story by Andrew Jacobs documents on how overfishing occurs throughout the world so that ocean fish, once considered an inexhaustible resources, are now becoming scarce and fleets from China are depleting fish in the seas of countries like Senegal, making life difficult for their fishermen & depleting food resources for these countries. Moreover, the story documents how Chinese are often engaged in development projects such as roadbuilding for these countries and the ability to exploit fish in their seas can be part of the agreement between China and these countries. The impact of globalization of markets on wildlife such as wild fish is again demonstrated. The story with a set of photos is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/world/asia/chinas-appetite-pushes-fisheries-to-the-brink.html?emc=edit_th_20170430&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419
The Demise of a species: The Vaquita. A story by Rob Nordland in the April 27th issue of the New York Times draws a picture of the likely extinction of Vaquitas—a small member of the porpoise family. The demise of the vaquita, according to the article, is completely “human-caused” despite the fact that humans have taken many measures to save it. The demise of the vaquita is due to the fact that it lives in the same part of the ocean inhabited by totoaba fish whose bladders are in great demand by the Chinese—so much so that the price of it “rivals cocaine” and not only fishermen but Mexican drug cartels are involved in the trade. The vaquita are caught in nets intended to catch totoaba. The current Mexican President has made it a priority to save the vaquita and the nets have been banned and fishermen offered incentives not to fish in areas inhabited by vaquita. But these conservation measures have failed—the numbers have shown a dramatic decline from “567 in 1997” to 30 in 2016. The story has photos of the vaquita caught in nets along with totaba and also a video. This case again illustrates how global marketization of wildlife, fish in this case, overwhelms the ability of nations like Mexico to preserve species. It is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/world/americas/only-captivity-will-save-the-vaquita-experts-say.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170427&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Emont, Jon. (April 25, 2017). A Refuge for Orangutans, and a Quandary for Environmentalists. New York Times. Accessed 4/25/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/world/asia/indonesia-borneo-orangutans-palm-oil.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170425&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Refuges vs Habitat Conservation? An article by Jon Emont in April 25, 2017 New York Times describes how a palm oil corporation has purchased an island that will serve as a refuge for “rescued” orangutans. The growth of oil palm farming has been a major cause for the loss of habitat for orangutans so the company is trying to change its image by assisting orangutans. Emont says that “a major Indonesian palm oil company, PT Sawit Sumbermas Sarana… purchased part of the Salat island for orangutan rehabilitation which was welcomed by Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. However, the article quotes conservationists who claim that such small actions do not solve the problem of loss of habitat due to deforestation when the palm oil plantations are created. The palm oil company says that they have changed their approach but the article cites evidence that deforestation is still occurring on its properties. Several photos of the orangutans are in the article and a video of the release of the orangutans is available at https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000005054442/waking-up-on-an-orangutan-island.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170425&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
E&E News is a valuable source of information on wildlife conservation (and other environmental) issues: https://www.eenews.net/
Beavers: Friend or Foe? Plus Photos of them & story of attempt to assist them in West.
Beavers are an example of a species (like deer) that have a positive image for the general public but who draw the enmity of homeowners whose basements are flooded and may harm some human “infrastructures.” Ben Goldfarb’s 2015 article in High Country News points out the many beneficial aspects of beavers such as “filtering sediments and pollutants from streams” and helping to “spread rivers across floodplains, allowing water to percolate into aquifers.” Thus they assist fish, can limit foods, and help creeks. Still, because of their threat to home owners and others, government is often antagonistic or at best ambivalent about beavers—Oregon classifies them as predators like coyotes. For photos and full story, see Goldfarb, Ben. (2015). The beaver whisperer. High Country News, Nov. 9. Accessed 4/7/17 from http://www.hcn.org/issues/47.19/the-beaver-whisperer?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Youtube video with Rep. Don Young of Alaska who refuses to allow objections to building road through wildlife refuge to be heard. He has a long history of opposing wildlife conservation including recent legislation to allow killing of denning wolves and grizzlies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orXaykPHnEE&feature=youtu.be
Article by Carl Safina on Marine Protected Areas & factors that affect their success such as staffing and budget along with some great photos of MPAs: https://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/28/experts-say-marine-protected-areas-are-great-but-could-be-better-with-more-staff-and-funding/
Story on bushmeat illegal imported into Europe--tons of it which is threatening many species such as pangolins, monkeys, brush-tailed porcupines, and many others. Story with photos of these animals at: Mongabay News. March 20, 2017. “Endangered species to declare?” Europe’s understudied bushmeat trade.” https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/endangered-species-to-declare-europes-understudied-bushmeat-trade/
Story on bobcat hunting in Illinois which just resumed this year & photos of trapped bobcats. 500 More Bobcats are about to be killed for their fur. The Dodo. March 30, 2017. Accessed 3/30/17 from https://www.thedodo.com/illinois-bobcat-hunt-trap-2093556079.html
Story on how pandas are used as a tool for Chinese foreign policy-also photos: ’Keefe, Kate. Pandas Are Adorable! (Also a Tool for Chinese Geopolitical Domination).
Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2017. Accessed 3/37/17 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-like-china-no-pandas-for-you-1490366939?tesla=y
Shark numbers up in Australia & so are attacks on humans. Read & see videos: Pannett, Rachel. 2017.After Protecting Sharks, New Pressure to Protect Humans.wsj. march 26. Accessed 3/27/17 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-protecting-sharks-new-pressure-to-protect-humans-1490526003
Debate over whether to loosen restrictions on protecting manatees in Flori
This part travel piece concerning snorkeling in Bonaire but also describes the steps the island has taken to protect its coral reef system. However, during the article, it notes how the huge large cruise ships are nevertheless threatening the island—overwhelming its sewage system and how development on coasts threatens coral. It has excellent photos. See https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/travel/coral-reef-bonaire.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20190219&nl=science-times&nl_art=9&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20190219&ref=headline&te=1
Article by Charles Homans concerning how Hong Kong stands at the center of international criminal wildlife trade. Details how many products made from endangered species such as pangolin, totoaba, sharks, elephants are traded. Though there are laws against such trade in Hong Kong, various methods & weak enforcement allow it to continue. Once the wildlife is converted into products such as powder, it is hard if not impossible to identify it. Has several photos. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/science/hong-kong-wildlife-trafficking.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20190212&nl=science-times&nl_art=0&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20190212&ref=headline&te=1
Conservation agreements: Environmental groups in 2008 reached a “Conservation Agreement” with ranch owners in California's Tejon Ranch area to protect 90 percent of critical wildlife habitat in exchange but right to develop on other 10% but now plans to 35,000 houses on that area has now reopened debate on whether this deal made sense & more generally for conservation agreements: was this tradeoff worthwhile? Could ESA & other laws have done as good a job protecting without such a huge development? Photos included in article: See https://www.hcn.org/articles/deserts-was-californias-great-environmental-compromise-worth-it
New York Times article reports how ocean noise is increasing hugely as tanker & other traffic expand & will be much worse as a result of Trump decision to drill offshore. Also pipelines such as one near Vancouver will result in huge increases in tanker traffic. The article cite several studies that prove harmful effects of noise such as killing all of the zooplankton in the region, disrupting communication among whales-dolphins, & raising stress levels. They are protections under the End. Species Act but industry disputes claims & it is difficult if not impossible to study effects other than indirectly. The article contains several photos including seismic air guns used to explore for oil on ocedan bottom—that fire every 10 seconds “around the clock” for several months. See the full article & photos at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/science/oceans-whales-noise-offshore-drilling.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20190122&nl=science-times&nlid=10365419edit_sc_20190122&ref=headline&te=1
Charismatic “Wildlife”: Wild Ponies of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge: The single biggest stimulant that fosters “wildlife politics”—struggles among humans over wildlife—concerns charismatic species. Often attention is focused on predators such as wolves, grizzlies, lions, and tigers. But the “wild” ponies of Chincoteague illustrate how varies of equines have long attained charismatic status. Devotees of the horses are devout in their protection of them & and now trying to solve the problem of an infection that is killing them. The following article describes the huge importance the area and the state attach to these ponies and how they attract important economic activity to the area. See Steve Hendris’s article in Wash. Post with photos at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/on-an-island-famous-for-wild-ponies-a-dangerous-infection-is-attacking-horses/2018/12/26/42659c9e-0636-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html?utm_term=.64ac7d2e42e5&wpisrc=nl_books&wpmm=1
Half Earth for Nature, Species & Future Generations: The Interior Dept is moving to sell oil leases & drill ANWR. They want to get this done before the 2020 election. This development of a pristine area previously reserved for nature is in direct contradiction to what the U.S. and all nations should be doing—protecting the Earth for future generations and endangered species. Edward O. Wilson, in Half Earth, says that Earth’s more than 7 Billion people are collectively ravenous consumers of all the planet’s inadequate bounty—we should reserve one half of the Earth for nature. As pristine wildlife habitat is destroyed & species reduced, future generations will curse us & the people who did this (Trump & Zinke & Republican Congress)—their names will live in infamy. For New York Times article on drilling ANWR, see https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/climate/alaska-anwr-oil-drilling-proposal.html?emc=edit_th_181221&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=103654191221 The article has several photos. Wilson’s book: Edward O. Wilson. Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight For Life. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation. 2016
Slob Hunting: Todd Wilkinson has written a detail account of how a major percent of hunters pursue unethical (slob) hunting, killing wolves-coyotes-prairie dogs & other wildlife using snowmobiles, human-foods baiting, hounds, poison, and then brag about it with videos & photos of their deeds on social media. Many state “game” departments & some Federal agencies (e.g., BLM) turn a blind eye to these unethical & often illegal behaviors. These behaviors have gotten worse with advances in technology & social media but there have been no consequences on these unethical hunters—agencies still bow down to them despite the fact that hunter numbers have been declining for more than 2 decades & revenues obtained from Pittman-Robertson excise tax on hunting supplies has experienced huge declines. These unethical hunters continue to have outsized influence on state policies—indeed, the Zinke Interior has lionized trophy hunters letting them dominate advisory committees. See Wilkinson’s article at https://www.hcn.org/articles/hunting-faces-an-ethical-reckoning?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email Note: it has several relevant photos. Also, I have an entire chapter devoted to hunting in my Wildlife Politics book https://www.wildlifepolitics.org/wildlife-links.html and several other chapters (e.g., Chapter 5 on Charismatic Politics) details the warped behaviors towards wildlife that often occur.
The Red Wolf of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. This article by the Defenders of Wildlife group is an account of the attempt to recover the red wolves that goes through a few different attempts winding up in North Carolina. At one point, the effort appeared to be successful but a few actions led to its current state that is very much threatened. It shows how a few landowners & opponents can block a program that the vast majority of a region support. See
https://medium.com/wild-without-end/the-red-wolf-of-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow-74ca4e8a9c0e
Drilling & Fracking on Public Lands: NY Times article details the frenzy with which Trump Interior Dept. is leasing public lands for little money & rushing approvals without careful environmental reviews that used to be done. They are eliminating rules on methane release. These developments are not only marring the landscape and destroying habitat of sage grouse and many other species but are using up huge amounts of water—so much so that welfare ranchers on public lands are complaining. Who benefits? The states such as New Mexico & Wyoming get monies from these developments—not the rest of the states though this is NATIONAL land. Unrepresented? The general public who cares about the beauty of land and preservation of species. In future years, the grandchildren who live in these areas will look at a spoiled landscape devoid of beauty and many species. The artuicle has many relevant photos showing the fracking-drilling. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/climate/trump-fracking-drilling-oil-gas.html?module=inline
Shooting of Sea Lions on West Coast has risen to unprecedented number--a dozen with bullets in them since September 2018. All of the discovered culprits of previous killings were fishermen who are angry with them for stealing their catch or their consumption of salmon in general. At Bonneville Dam where salmon are easy prey, the killing of a certain number of sea lions has been approved by the government. The story illustrates key themes of wildlife politics: Successful restoration of species (sea lions) due to protections can lead to new problems--due to their conflict with humans & the importance of interest groups such as anglers. It also illustrates the problem of species vs species: sea lions vs salmon--both have been endangered. This Washington Post story has photos: see https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/12/12/sea-lions-have-enemies-now-someone-is-shooting-them-head/?utm_term=.1ee2df8542a5&wpisrc=nl_animalia&wpmm=1
The potential alliance between conservation groups and hunters is a complex and fragile one. One point of disagreement concerns their use of lead ammo. The following article discusses the complexities—disagreements over the effects of lead on wildlife & the science of research on it. The NRA vehemently opposes any restrictions on lead ammo regardless of the location. It also contains photos and links to other articles.
Ian Urbina A Clean Shot: Urging Hunters to Try Unleaded Ammo. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/us/ammunition-lead-bullets-condors.html
This High Country News article details how welfare sheep ranchers on public lands don't manage their sheep so they interact with Bighorn Sheep leading these bighorn to be slaughtered due to fears of contamination and disease transmission that could affect other wild sheep. The article has photos of the slaughtered sheep heads. See Inside Colorado’s ‘hotbed’ of wildlife conflict
https://www.hcn.org/articles/wildlife-in-southwest-colorado-flawed-wildlife-management-leads-to-unneccessary-killings-of-bighorn-sheep-documents-show?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Roads are a major threat to wildlife & biodiversity. This New York Times article discusses how 2 Million mammals alone are killed annually in Brazil by road traffic & this is likely to get far worse under the new regime. It has some photos. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/science/brazil-roadkill-wildlife.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20181112&nl=science-times&nl_art=0&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20181112&ref=headline&te=1
This story describes how an organization in Kenya is trying to protect sea turtles and other reptiles from exploitation. It has several good photos. See Rescuing Sea Turtles From Fishermen’s Nets https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/science/sea-turtles-endangered-fishing.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20181016&nl=science-times&nl_art=0&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20181016&ref=headline&te=1
"How to Stop Poaching and Protect Endangered Species? Forget the ‘Kingpins’" This is an article by Rachel Nuwer from New York Times Science series. It has a long discussion of the problem of poaching with detailed case studies and many fascinating photos. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/science/poaching-conservation-rhinos-elephants.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20180925&nl=science-times&nlid=10365419edit_sc_20180925&ref=headline&te=1
The problem of non-native species as threats to national parks is illustrated by story by Karin Brulliard in which mountain goats are being flown out of Olympic National Park by helicopters. Story includes photos. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/09/15/mountain-goats-are-flying-out-national-park-its-long-story/?utm_term=.2559727bae5c&wpisrc=nl_animalia&wpmm=1
One of the eternal questions concerning wildlife concerns the difference between humans & wildlife. Some people argue animals don’t experience pain. This New York Times story details how a “grieving mother orca” carried her dead calf for days. It emphasizes again the difficulty of drawing sharp lines between species—including “animal” and “human” species. Includes Photo. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/science/grieving-orca-dead-calf.html?emc=edit_th_180728&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=103654190728
Read a story from Sierra Club online magazine titled “Can Red Wolves survive a third extinction?” It tells how USFWS is removing last 14 purebred red wolves from the wilds in North Carolina putting them on 2 Federal parcels with no protections if they leave the area. It includes photos. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/can-red-wolf-survive-extinction-second-time?utm_source=greenlife&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
A success story to save the goliath group in Florida waters is described by Angela Smith. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted not to allow a lottery to kill these fish. Arguments in favor of the protection of the fish included the following: “the high mercury content in goliath grouper meat…impacts for loss of income to the diving community and Florida tourism should goliath grouper diving ecotourism be shut down, as well as points regarding intrinsic value were all presented and discussed at the meeting.” Photos of the fish and related pictures are included. See CRITICALLY ENDANGERED GOLIATH GROUPERS, HOPE FOR SHARKS AND THE STATE OF OUR CORALS https://mission-blue.org/2018/07/critically-endangered-goliath-groupers-hope-for-sharks-and-the-state-of-our-corals/
An article by Richard Paddock in New York Times describes volunteer efforts to save turtles in Indonesia crowded Bali area. The efforts have been fairly successful for ridley turtles that are better able to deal with trash, noise, & lights of developed beaches but less so for other endangered turtles. The efforts have been successful in reducing poaching for restaurant & other consumptive purposes but long-term difficulties of development (hotels) & busy beaches are much more difficult. The article has several good photos & a video. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/world/asia/indonesia-bali-sea-turtles-eggs.html
Brandon Keim at Yale360 has written an essay titled “Do Conservation Strategies Need to Be More Compassionate?” that discusses how certain conservationists object to traditional conservation biology’s concern only with protection of species and not individual animals. Thus non-native and non-threatened species are regarded as not just being expendable but as being necessary to be eliminated as the first step to protect endangered species. See https://e360.yale.edu/features/do-conservation-strategies-need-to-be-more-compassionate
The line between animals & humans is getting harder and harder to draw. Read this article with several relevant photos by Barry Yeoman that tells about “When Animals Grieve” that appeared in National Wildlife magazine at https://www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2018/Feb-Mar/Animals/When-Animals-Grieve
What are the effects of hunting ivory? This New York Times story with photos shows how tuskless female elephants resulted from ivory-seeking elephant hunters in South Africa. Where Female Elephants Without Tusks Road and Poachers Stay Away. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/16/world/africa/south-africa-elephants-tusks.html
Here is a film about trapping on public lands--how wildlife as well as pets get caught on traps: https://endthewaronwildlife.org/#film-jump
2 Marine scientists discuss the article has a pictorial show where U.S. marine protected reserves are and the limitations of them due to the fact that fish move in and out of the zones. See https://theconversation.com/to-conserve-ocean-life-marine-reserves-need-to-protect-species-that-move-around-89907
John Oliver discusses the travesty of Ryan Zinke’s leadership of the Department of Interior and his phony claims of heroism and that he is a “geologist.” . See https://youtu.be/HBUh1kJvqIU
An article by John W. Fitzpatrick & Nathan R. Senner in the New York Times provides a detailed discussion of the threats to birds that travel distances due to a variety of threats but the worst is draining of wetlands such as I China’s and South Korea’s coast. It provides a some hopeful signs such as Chinese plan to conserve some coastal wetlands. The online article has great videos of birds as well as maps of the routes traveled by the birds. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/27/opinion/shorebirds-extinction-climate-change.html
Does Size Matter Debating the Role of Marine Protected Areas. One of the major conservation successes of the past two decades has been the establishment of Marine Protected Areas around the world. Two major new ones were approved by Brazil. However, there is debate over how effective these areas are and whether creating huge MPAs is the way to go. One problem is that these areas often have lots of human activity including fishing occurring despite their designation. Also other research shows that they are “paper parks”-restrictions on them are not enforced effectively. Some have argued that smaller ones near the coast have much more life but nations prefer to designate far more remote areas that are less fished because there is less political resistance from fishing and other industries that exploit the oceans. See the New York Times article by Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opinion/environment-ocean-conservation.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ty_20180321&nl=opinion-today&nl_art=6&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_ty_20180321&ref=headline&te=1 This article on the merits of MPAs by Erica Gies contains a discussion many great photos of marine life: https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/04/27/does-size-matter-debating-the-role-of-marine-protected-areas
Coral Reefs: Two NYT Coral Reef stories. One story about how damage to the Great Barrier Reef is Irreversible. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/world/australia/australia-barrier-reef.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20180424&nl=science-times&nl_art=11&nlid=10365419emc%3Dedit_sc_20180424&ref=headline&te=1 Another story about how scientists are trying to develop corals that resist the effects of global warming: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/climate/coral-great-barrier-reef.html Both contains good photos of reefs and related activities.
The following article has graphic videos and photos of marine life such as sharks, dolphins, and porpoises caught in fishing nets. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/04/12/grisly-new-undercover-footage-shows-the-toll-of-death-nets-activists-say/?utm_term=.907823d412ff&wpisrc=nl_animalia&wpmm=1
The dangers of plastic and marine garbage are brought home in a story with photos and a video about a sperm whale found dead on the Spanish coast that was found to be 64 LBS. of plastic. Read the story and view the video and plastic at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5586649/Sperm-whale-dead-Spanish-coast-killed-swallowing-64-lbs-plastic.html
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up (in tonnage) mostly of abandoned fishing gear (94 percent). Fishing nets alone account for 46% of the tonnage. It is the case that 94 percent of the individual pieces of the garbage are plastic and that particles from plastic are a threat to fish. See the article with photos of the patch at https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/great-pacific-garbage-patch-plastics-environment/
Sharks are threatened throughout the world but Australia is testing a new system of buoys that can detect sharks and warn lifeguards and beachgoers so as to reduce threats to the sharks. 5 people were killed by sharks in the previous year—estimates are that 100 million sharks are killed by humans. But the impact of a single shark attack is huge on human perceptions of them despite the fact that the risk of dying from a shark attack is less than being hit by lightning. See the full article with many photos of sharks and the new buoy system at https://news.mongabay.com/wildtech/2018/04/ai-buoys-safeguard-swimmers-and-sharks/
Should Some Species Be Allowed To Die Out? This article has many photos of effort to save an endangered bird species in Hawaii, the Akikiki, a small gray bird. However, it uses this effort to discuss the ethical and political issues of whether it is worth saving species—should there be criteria (e.g., economic, importance to ecosystems?) to select those that should be saved and let others perish as having lost the “survival of species” contest. See the article by Jennifer Kahn at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/magazine/should-some-species-be-allowed-to-die-out.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180313&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
A New York Times story relates how Borneo has lost half of its Orangutans (more than 1000,000) in the last 16 years. Although much of the disappearance is due to lost habitat, researchers say that hunting by humans and general human-orangutan conflicts are also significant causes as demonstrated by the fact that losses have incurred in “intact forests” where habitat has been maintained. The story has photos of orangutans. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/science/orangutans-endangered-species.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180215&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Red Wolves illustrate complexity of science issues in regard to endangered species. There is a controversy in U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service whether to try to pursue saving them. Agency asked for opinions of 4 experts and concluded that they should halt releases and rely on zoos instead. However, the 4 scientists said that USFWS misused their opinions and that efforts should continue to preserve the species. See Washington Post story at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/02/05/feature/red-wolves-may-be-going-extinct-in-the-wild-again/ but also read Chapter 2 of my wildlife politics book on "Science and the Protection of Wildlife."
Interactive links on Trump-Zinke actions concerning public lands and conservation: https://wilderness.org/interactive-tracking-trumps-anti-public-lands-crusade
Wisconsin public hearing on right to shoot wolves: video available at: http://www.wiseye.org/Video-Archive/Event-Detail/evhdid/12113
Plastics Harming Coral Reefs in Pacific: This research studied the impact of plastic on coral reefs in the Pacific. It contains photos and videos. It is available at https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/01/25/study-ocean-plastic-trash-is-smothering-coral-reefs-spreading-disease
A new documentary relates the paradoxical attitudes Australians hold towards kangaroos. They are an “iconic” and charismatic species to many but hated by farmers who slaughter them and are trying to build a worldwide market for their meat. See the New York Times review & preview at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/movies/kangaroo-a-love-hate-story-review.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_fm_20180119&nl=movies-update&nl_art=7&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1
A New York Times story has several photos and detailed story on how expansion of palm oil plantations in Sumatra is threatening elephants with a huge decrease in their numbers. It also discusses how ivory from dead elephants is being sold illegally and how it is conservation NGOs, not governmental agencies, that are carrying out effective investigations of this illegal grade. See article by Jon Emont at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/world/asia/indonesia-elephants-poaching-conservation.html?emc=edit_tnt_20180111&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Case study by Audubon Society discusses potential harm of new mine to bald eagles & other wildlife in the Chilkat River watershed in Alaska. It contains some excellent photos that illustrate the issues. See http://www.audubon.org/news/proposed-mine-threatens-worlds-largest-concentration-bald-eagles
Bleak Future for Biodiversity in Brazil?: This story by Ernesto Londono in New York Times details how Brazilian government headed by President Temer who fears removal from office due to scandals is sacrificing previously protected lands by currying favor with agricultural and ranching interests. The defense of these actions is similar to that used by Trump-Zinke in the U.S. that “arguing that imposing environmental regulations in the region would do more harm than good.” They do not care about the impact on the long-term health of the environment or biodiversity. I found the story troubling & illustrative why I believe wildlife conservation is doomed so that in 25-50 years, the few remaining reserves for wildlife will be like zoos. The article has some good photos illustrating the story line. See it at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/world/americas/brazil-pantanal-wetlands-michel-temer.html?_r=0
New Science Conflicts With Proposed Rollback of Protections. Researchers have found photographic evidence of the success of restrictions on fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument where they found 58 common dolphins, 37 Risso’s dolphins, 25 bottlenose dolphins, 11 Cuvier’s beaked whales, four finback whales, one sperm whale, myriad sharks, and an ocean sunfish. See article and discusssion of proposed cutbacks to monument by Peter Baker of Pew Trusts at http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/compass-points/2017/12/15/new-science-conflicts-with-proposed-rollback-of-protections
The New York Times posted a story along with a Video of a Starving Polar Bear. The video is used to illustrate the possible future if ice continues to decrease and thus hampers their ability to hunt. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/world/canada/starving-polar-bear.html?emc=edit_tnt_20171211&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
U.S. House Democrats led by Beyer, Dingell, Grijalva have written an open letter to Urge Preservation of Endangered Species Act that is threatened by several riders and bills related to funding of Interior/EPA Departments. See it at: https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=700
A Washington Post article reports on a study by biologist Terrie Williams about how the arctic mammal narwhal reacts negatively to human disturbance including noise and will thus be threatened as arctic ice disappears and human traffic becomes common. The article contains a photo and video of narwhals. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/12/07/human-disturbance-hits-narwhals-where-it-hurts-the-heart/?utm_term=.1b4907ace2f4
An article at Mongabay by John C. Cannon discusses how right whales numbers are declining and one likely explanation is due to their entanglements with fishing gear. While there has been progress made in avoiding collisions with ships, there has been no solution yet to the problem of whale entanglements with fishing gear. The article has photos of the right whales. See https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/entanglements-hamper-reproduction-as-right-whale-population-slides/
Good article by Rachel Nuwer detailing arguments for and against hunting of elephants & whether it benefits or harms survival of the species. Also good photos illustrating aspects of the issue including of game ranger patrols & armed patrols protecting tourists & elephants, luxury camps, Cecil the Lion, & Trump tweets on issue. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/science/elephants-lions-africa-hunting.html?emc=edit_tnt_20171204&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Article on how Ocean Drones proliferation bothering marine mammals--disturbing seals and other mammals. Shows need to control amateur use of. Includes photos. See https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/11/28/as-ocean-drones-proliferate-marine-wildlife-are-getting-a-bit-annoyed
Trophic cascade: Article shows that sharks in Fiji Islands help promote coral reefs by threatening fish that eat algae that corals feed on. Includes photos: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-sharks-seaweed-growth-fijian-coral.html
Story & video of how Ryan Zinke is shrinking monuments but promoting new monument in his home state of Montana: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zinke-aims-to-shave-national-monuments-except-in-his-home-state_us_5a1b8315e4b0d4906cafab87
See video on Interior official, Joel Clement, on MSNBC talking about how Ryan Zinke reassigned him & a host of other Interior officials because of their positions such as on climate change and emphasis on conservation at http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/climate-expert-says-he-was-demoted-after-speaking-out-1007517251553
California Fishermen Are Throwing Explosives at Sea Lions. It is legal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act if “it is used to deter the mammal from harming the catch.” But there are reports of it harming & scaring off sea mammals. There are 2 photos—one of the explosive. See https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/california-fishermen-are-throwing-explosives-sea-lions
New York Times has published an article by Christopher Solomon that details why the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is crucial to biodiversity & currently is “America’s Wildest Place”—both characteristics are at risk by the Zinke-Trump Administration’s push to cover the area with oil drilling. It contains dynamic maps and photos of threatened wilidfe. See the article “America’s Wildest Place is Open for Business”. NYT. Nov. 10, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/10/opinion/sunday/wildest-place-in-america.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ty_20171110&nl=opinion-today&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
The problems of ensuring populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna are discussed bu Pew Trusts. Technology & worldwide industrial fishing using purse seine fishing vessels caught too many juveniles endangering the population. Since 2012, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has been attempting to implement controls on quotas for the fish—the introduction of “electronic catch tracking system” are promising given the past difficulties of enforcing restrictions. The article contains historical photos. See The Story of Atlantic Bluefin Richard Herrmann
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2017/10/the-story-of-atlantic-bluefin
Jeffrey Gettleman’s New York Times article details the “global illicit ape trade” which involves smuggling of live apes such as bonobos and chimpanzees often to South East Asia where they are used for amusement and pets—often abused, beaten, and fed alcohol & drugs to keep them quiet during transport. Adult members of ape families are killed in order to obtain the babies—adults are too much of a challenge to transport. He also makes the point that the expansion of rubber plantations (in Africa) and oil palm in Asia are threatening the apes. There are international laws against the trade but the article says that papers are produced that purport to show the apes were not taken from the wild. The main detection of the trade is conducted by NGOs. The article contains several photos of apes. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/africa/ape-trafficking-bonobos-orangutans.html?emc=edit_th_20171105&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419&_r=0
Some Good News for a Change: Grizzlies continue to occupy more of Wyoming according to the following article by Kelsey Dayton of Wyofile. However, USFWS is removing grizzlie from threatened species list. See http://www.wyofile.com/column/grizzlies-continue-occupy-wyoming/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklynewsletter
There are reports of Zinke-Trump Interior Department cutting marine monuments which a New York Times by Christopher Pala discusses harmful impacts that such action would have--includes photos: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/science/trump-zinke-pacific-marine-reserves.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20171031&nl=science-times&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1
Minimal Numbers not enough to protect endangered species: Some critics of the Endangered Species Act question whether many species are really at risk. However, a New York Times article points out how several endangered species with small numbers can be threatened by natural events such as hurricanes & fires. See story & photos of red squirrel, yellow-legged frog, prairie chickens, Bahama oriole, Puerto Rico’s native parrots, and certain butterfly species. See Livia Albeck-Ripka: For an Endangered Animal, a Fire or Hurricane Can Mean the End. Thus just keeping minimal number of species alive is not enough. see
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/climate/fires-hurricanes-endangered-animals.html?emc=edit_tnt_20171025&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
An article with photos says that Right whales could become extinct within 20 years. See Emma Davis. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/right-whales-extinction-scientists-1.4366568
Zinke refuses to say why he is cutting back monuments when overwhelming public support for them. See the YouTube Video where Zinke is interviewed about public monuments & can’t defend his recommendations to cut them. His position on monuments is especially notable because during his confirmation hearings he described himself as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican”—Teddy Roosevelt is the president who pioneered the use of monuments for conservation. Zinke once again proves that he a liar and a hypocrite. The video is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5WeTDZMGZQ
Jet Skis versus Orcas: For marine mammals such as orcas and whales, tourism boats and jet skis can drive them away and modify their behavior and disrupt their patterns. A story by Laylan Connelly in the Orange County Register has a video and discussion of a jet skier which a local whale expert says got too close to orcas in order to get selfies. The story has photos and videos attached. The operators of the jet ski claim that the photo is misleading and they did not get that close. However, the experts states that “ He said it wasn’t so much how close the watercraft operators were to the animals, but more about how they did it — driving at high speed and intercepting their course to get close to them.” The article, photo and video link are at: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/10/did-watercrafts-get-too-close-to-orcas-off-huntington-beach-whale-expert-claims-harassment-for-selfies/#nws=mcnewsletter
Plastic Threat to Birds: The Audubon Society has posted a brief article with photos that show plastic has become a threat to ospreys—they collect plastic items to build nests but some of the plastic entangles with young osprey foot and leg. The article and photos are available at: http://www.audubon.org/news/more-plastic-world-means-more-plastic-osprey-nests
A study of declining queen conch populations found that local populations of the conch are genetically distinct and thus need to be considered as separate populations rather than one large queen conch population. This finding has implications for management of the queen conch populations and suggests that restrictions on local fishing may be required to prevent further deterioration of the local populations. It also may help to explain why Florida populations “collapsed 30 years ago and have failed to recover.” The decline has been spurred by exportation of the conch to the U.S. despite the existence of restrictions by CITES. The article has 2 good photos of the conch. It is available as follows: Declining queen conch populations are fragmented and that's changing the conservation game
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-declining-queen-conch-populations-fragmented.html
An article about new research on coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef reports that the bleaching events have been occurring long before the 2016 mass bleaching and are slow to recover even after 60 years. It has 3 good photos of reefs: Coral loss on Palm Islands long precedes 2016 mass bleaching on Great Barrier Reef
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-coral-loss-palm-islands-mass.html
Fishing Technology & Whale Entanglements: What can be done? The ocean, fish and mammals such as whales used to be viewed as an unlimited source and were so vast that humanity had little chance of threatening fish and other wildlife that inhabit the oceans. But that situation has long since changed with worldwide fishing technologies like “long nets” and technologies to find fish that have made it impossible for wildlife to hide—even in oceans. Thus a laissez-faire policy did not threaten ocean life is no longer possible if ocean species are to be preserved and protected. A recent case of technology threatening whales has occurred off California waters where the number of whales becoming entangled in fishing gear has spiked in recent years. There is a dispute as to the cause for the change—it could be due to increasing populations of some whale species and increased “spotting” activities by whale watchers in which case the entanglements do not necessarily mean that there are threats to populations. However, lovers of whales and fishers themselves do not want these entanglements to occur. A story by Kate Wheeling describes proposed measures: voluntary or mandatory stopping of crabbing in “whale hotspots” such as Monterey Bay. A technological solution of using “buoyancy ropes” (more expensive than usual ropes) is also being tested. The case illustrates the intersection of technology and wildlife conservation in our Anthropocene Age where humanity dominates all land and sea and animals cannot hide. The article by Wheeling has photos of whales entangled in crab nets. Wheeling’s article is available at: https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/09/01/bait-and-switch-anchovies-eat-plastic-because-it-smells-like-prey
Nature Uganda has published a report with photos on “The State of Uganda’s Biodiversity 2017.” It is an optimistic report finding that the country has meant many of its indicators of biodiversity. Concerning the “extensive slaughter of large mammals” that took place in the 1970s-1980s, the report states that from 1990 on the “trend has been generally positive” and, though it admits that poaching continues, it states that “it would appear that large mammals can tolerate the present levels” and that current management is keeping poaching “at an acceptably low level.” The report contains many excellent photos of Ugandan species. It is available from: http://www.natureuganda.org/downloads/presentations/BD%202017%20Indicators%20Report.pdf
Arizona Business Leaders support Mexican wolf recovery efforts! 60 business leaders from tourism and related companies have written the US Fish & Wildlife Service to support efforts to recover the Mexican wolf in the Grand Canyon region including Northern Arizona. They cite data from the U. of Montana that the recovery of Mexican wolves would benefit the economy of the region. The website has a video about capturing and tagging a young wolf as well as photos: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-science/2017/08/28/mexican-wolf-restoration-grand-canyon-area/603977001/
Trump-Zinke Reduction in Monuments will be Unique: Some relatively small downward adjustments have been made ages ago in monuments though these small reductions have often been accompanied by new or increased monuments elsewhere according to The “Archaeology Program of the National Park Service at https://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/monumentslist.htm which has a listing of all such downward adjustments. In recent decades, presidents have made large additions to monuments in order to preserve these NATIONAL (i.e., this land is not owned by states in which they exist such as Utah) public lands and waters. For example, George W. Bush created a huge marine monument near Hawaii. One of the proposed changes proposed by the Trump-Zinke monument destruction team will be to open marine monuments to fishing. There is no doubt about it—Ryan Zinke and Donald Trump represent the antithesis of Teddy Roosevelt.
Indonesian Orangutan Habitat Threatened by Logging, Climate change, and Draining of Swamps. The Yale Environment 360 website has a 20 minute documentary about an Indonesian swamp forest that has the largest population of orangutans in the World. It faces threats to due logging and the draining of swamps due to encroaching palm oil plantations as well as changing weather patterns (longer dry seasons) influenced by climate change. The documentary details the lives of orangutans as well as Indonesians and others trying to preserve the habitat for them: http://e360.yale.edu/features/island-in-the-fires-a-forest-sanctuary-for-orangutans-hangs-on
Feral cats are threatening endangered bird species such as Hawaiian Gallinules according to an article by the American Bird Conservancy’s Grant Sizemore. The article contains photos of the bird and of a cat invading a nest with eggs. The article and photos are available at: https://abcbirds.org/article/articleendangered-hawaiian-gallinules-killed-feral-cats-kauai/?utm_content=bufferc426a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
The New York Times has published a guide to Marine Protected Areas concerning species that are being protected: What Are Oceans Laws Trying to Protect?
By CLAIRE O'NEILL and MATT RUBYPhotographs by ALEX KROWIAK and KATE POWELL, AUG. 15, 2017: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/15/climate/who-are-ocean-protection-laws-for.html?emc=edit_th_20170816&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419&_r=0
Land Anglers Pose Threat to Sharks in Florida—discussion and photos of sharks. An article in Fisheries Research by Shiffman, Macdonald, and Ganz (Dec. 2017) cites evidence that “land-based angling” can pose threats to shark populations in Florida. Although worldwide, commercial ocean fishing is the biggest threat to sharks, the extent of land-based shark-fishing has become extensive enough that it too is harmful according to the article. The National Geographic report on the article contains many outstanding photos of a wide variety of sharks worldwide and is available at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/wildlife-watch-land-based-shark-fishing-florida-study/
The World Wildlife Fund has published a good article on myths concerning sharks and also a great set of photos of various sharks. Check it out at Shark Facts vs. Shark Myths: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/shark-facts-vs-shark-myths?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=oceans
Pangolins at risk due to trade and hunting in Central Africa. Good photos of the pangolins: https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/pangolin-hunting-skyrockets-in-central-africa-driven-by-international-trade/
A publication reports on trade in listed species in Amazon countries has color photos of many species including mammals (e.g., peccaries), reptiles (caimans), turtles, birds such as parrots, lizards, snakes such as boas. The publication is: Wildlife trade in the Amazon Countries: An Analysis of Trade in CITES Listed Species. Authors: Pablo Sinovas, Becky Price, Emily King, Amy Hinsley, Alyson Pavitt and it is available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pablo_Sinovas/publication/317903971_Wildlife_trade_in_Amazon_countries_an_analysis_of_trade_in_CITES-listed_species/links/59513b7d0f7e9b329234c67f/Wildlife-trade-in-Amazon-countries-an-analysis-of-trade-in-CITES-listed-species.pdf
An article about snow leopards in the Himalayas has a great set of photos about the species as well as its prey and habitat. It provides a good description of the forces that threaten this species--immediate threats are due to the expansion of agriculture, population growth, and livestock grazing, and agricultural practices (e.g., fencing in of land) that have reduced its habitat and natural prey: Ecology and Conservation Issues in India by Abhishek Ghoshal available at:
http://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/022/07/0677-0690
The New York Times has published an article about scientists around the world constructing repositories that are aimed at preserving species and resources that are verging on extinction including coral reefs and amphibians. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/magazine/seed-vault-extinction-banks-arks-of-the-apocalypse.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170713&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
The New York Times published photos of the contents of the National Wildlife Property Repository which they state testifies “to the human appetite for other species.” Among the items are “stuffed monkeys and ivory carvings, snow leopard coats and dried seal penises, chairs with tails and lamps with hooves.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/science/national-wildlife-property-repository-colorado.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170710&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Birdlife International Africa has a story and photograph of 94 endangered vultures dead due to poisoning of elephant carcass with ivory removed. Poachers often poison elephant carcasses in order to kill vultures that could tip off anti-poaching patrols. See it at: http://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/poisoned-elephant-carcass-kills-94-critically-endangered-vultures-zimbabwe
Research found that 1/3 of turtles found dead on New Zealand beaches had plastic in them as well as discussion and debate in the country over banning of plastic bags. Has several photos of turtles-plastic: https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/94277174/third-of-turtles-found-dead-on-new-zealand-beaches-had-ingested-plastic
Video of discussion at 2016 Western Governor's Association Meeting of the "best available science" issue in regards to the Endangered Species Act. It is over an hour in length, some of it boring but is good at bringing out points of contention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu3wLyEJuwM
Guide to sage grouse has many photos of various sage grouse and their habitat:
http://www.wyoextension.org/sagegrouseconservation/docs/Correll_Landowner_Guide_Committee.pdf
Q&A with photos on Marine Protected Areas: Protected area or ‘paper park’? Ocean protection means more than lines on a map
http://blog.conservation.org/2016/09/protected-area-or-paper-park-ocean-protection-means-more-than-lines-on-a-map/
Article on a "Conversation with a Poacher" that discusses how youth poach wildlife in Africa using motorcyles--one person drives the cycle and the other kills it with a spear when it tires includes photo of cycles: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acv.12360/full
Discussion, Photos, and Video by National Geographic on "Why We Are So Divided Over Wolves"--calls it the abortion issue of wildlife conservation: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/wolf-nation-brenda-peterson-wolves/
3-minute video on wolves in Yellowstone produced by National Geographic--talks about their ecological role: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/exposure/160329-exposure-lynn-johnson-dying?source=relatedvideo
Palm Oil and Wildlife in Borneo: Nature Conservancy scientists in Borneo discuss how they use bioacoustics to measure the effects of palm oil deforestation on wildlife--the video is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXoytZQjU-w&feature=youtu.be
NPR's Terry Gross interviews arctic photographer Paul Nicklen about impact of climate change on species that live in arctic region but the story includes photos of leopard seal and other wildlife encounters. Check out at: http://www.npr.org/2017/06/06/531735345/polar-photographer-shares-his-view-of-a-ferocious-but-fragile-ecosystem?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20170608&utm_campaign=Books&utm_term=nprnews
Photos of tigers and other wildlife living or being consumed on Southeast Asian "farms"--the article details the abuse of the farming of these species: Rachel Nuwer. Animal Farms in Southeast Asia Fuel an Illegal Trade in Rare Wildlife. New York Times, June 5, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/science/animal-farms-southeast-asia-endangered-animals.html
HuffPost Website has just posted 16 photos of a variety of wildlife that got caught in plastic or other human-made material and died from it. Here is the reference and website link: HuffPost Heartbreaking Photos Show What Your Trash Does To Animals
http://www.smallchangegiving.co/submissions/heartbreaking-photos-show-what-your-trash-does-to-animals-818a370a-8725-4fa7-8ef1-459d8fea6b36?utm_content=buffer32cd0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Article with link to video on invasive lionfish as well as a discussion of how researchers are studying the impact of the lionfish--their prey so far seem "naive" about the threat of the species:
Video shows invasive lionfish feasting on new Caribbean fish species
https://phys.org/news/2017-06-video-invasive-lionfish-feasting-caribbean.html
New York Times Article with videos and photos concerning poaching of elephants in Africa and concerning the use of high tech tools to prevent poaching: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/science/drones-africa-poachers-wildlife.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170313&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Rhinos being dehorned. Photo of rhino being dehorned to prevent its killing: Goldman, Russell. (2017). South African Court Ends Ban on Sale of Rhinoceros Horns. New York Times, April 5. Accessed 4/5/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/world/africa/south-africa-rhinoceros-horns-rhinos.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170405&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Excellent article on serious threats to primates including photos such as one of the Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey & other relevant photos concerning threats: John C. Cannon. Running Out of Time: 60 percent of primates sliding toward Extinction. Mongabay.com. Jan. 19, 2017. Accessed 2/1/17 from https://news.mongabay.com/2017/01/running-out-of-time-60-percent-of-primates-sliding-toward-extinction/
Endangered Species Photos: An article by Christopher Ketcham in the online news website of National Geographic has photos of several endangered species: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/endangered_speciesact/ It also has a great discussion of the ESA's accomplishments, an interview with the retired legislator who wrote the Act (John Dingell of Michigan).
Plastic threat to Species Increasing and Unstoppable? The New York Times published an article with photos on the impact of plastic on a remote Pacific island that has no human population on or near the island—thus the plastic is entirely “imported” from human-produced sources elsewhere. The academic journal article on which the story is based by Lavers and Bond states that the plastic “likely poses a significant threat to the wildlife inhabiting these waters” and that “more than 200 species are at risk due to ingestion of the plastic.” In addition, they state that the plastic “creates a physical barrier” that reduces the “number of sea turtle laying attempts” and is a threat to “only known nesting site” of a local turtle. It also lowers “diversity of shoreline invertebrate communities” and presents “increased hazard of entanglement for coastal-nesting birds.” Since the amount of plastic being entered into the environment “continues to increase exponentially” and there does not appear to be any international control over actions that contribute to plastic pollution, this global environmental threat will inevitably get worse.
The New York Times article with photos is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/australia/henderson-island-plastic-debris-south-pacific.html?emc=edit_th_20170517&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419 The article by Lavers and Bond is available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/09/1619818114.full
Story with photos concerning the endangered and rare Cross River Gorilla. Nigeria has decided to reroute a superhighway that would have threatened its habitat due to pressures from environmental groups which is good news--but the article points out how much of their forest habitat has been lost to agriculture & how Nigeria is a "hub" for trafficking in apes in the past: Ray of hope for endangered Cross River Gorilla in West Africa Forest. BirdlifeInternational.org. May 15, 2017.
http://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/ray-hope-endangered-cross-river-gorilla-west-africa-forest#
Video on Mexican wolves. Copy & play in your browser the following URL: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gray-area-wolves-of-the-southwest-the-release#/
The benefits of wolves to Yellowstone--YouTube video--have to paste following URL into your browser--note, experts such as L. David Mech describe the beneficial impacts as "exaggerated": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q
Senate hearing on Endangered Species Act Link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?428280-1/hearing-considers-modernization-endangered-species-act
Globalization of Markets and Ocean Fish: No longer Inexhaustible: This New York Times story by Andrew Jacobs documents on how overfishing occurs throughout the world so that ocean fish, once considered an inexhaustible resources, are now becoming scarce and fleets from China are depleting fish in the seas of countries like Senegal, making life difficult for their fishermen & depleting food resources for these countries. Moreover, the story documents how Chinese are often engaged in development projects such as roadbuilding for these countries and the ability to exploit fish in their seas can be part of the agreement between China and these countries. The impact of globalization of markets on wildlife such as wild fish is again demonstrated. The story with a set of photos is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/world/asia/chinas-appetite-pushes-fisheries-to-the-brink.html?emc=edit_th_20170430&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419
The Demise of a species: The Vaquita. A story by Rob Nordland in the April 27th issue of the New York Times draws a picture of the likely extinction of Vaquitas—a small member of the porpoise family. The demise of the vaquita, according to the article, is completely “human-caused” despite the fact that humans have taken many measures to save it. The demise of the vaquita is due to the fact that it lives in the same part of the ocean inhabited by totoaba fish whose bladders are in great demand by the Chinese—so much so that the price of it “rivals cocaine” and not only fishermen but Mexican drug cartels are involved in the trade. The vaquita are caught in nets intended to catch totoaba. The current Mexican President has made it a priority to save the vaquita and the nets have been banned and fishermen offered incentives not to fish in areas inhabited by vaquita. But these conservation measures have failed—the numbers have shown a dramatic decline from “567 in 1997” to 30 in 2016. The story has photos of the vaquita caught in nets along with totaba and also a video. This case again illustrates how global marketization of wildlife, fish in this case, overwhelms the ability of nations like Mexico to preserve species. It is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/world/americas/only-captivity-will-save-the-vaquita-experts-say.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170427&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Emont, Jon. (April 25, 2017). A Refuge for Orangutans, and a Quandary for Environmentalists. New York Times. Accessed 4/25/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/world/asia/indonesia-borneo-orangutans-palm-oil.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170425&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Refuges vs Habitat Conservation? An article by Jon Emont in April 25, 2017 New York Times describes how a palm oil corporation has purchased an island that will serve as a refuge for “rescued” orangutans. The growth of oil palm farming has been a major cause for the loss of habitat for orangutans so the company is trying to change its image by assisting orangutans. Emont says that “a major Indonesian palm oil company, PT Sawit Sumbermas Sarana… purchased part of the Salat island for orangutan rehabilitation which was welcomed by Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. However, the article quotes conservationists who claim that such small actions do not solve the problem of loss of habitat due to deforestation when the palm oil plantations are created. The palm oil company says that they have changed their approach but the article cites evidence that deforestation is still occurring on its properties. Several photos of the orangutans are in the article and a video of the release of the orangutans is available at https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000005054442/waking-up-on-an-orangutan-island.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170425&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
E&E News is a valuable source of information on wildlife conservation (and other environmental) issues: https://www.eenews.net/
Beavers: Friend or Foe? Plus Photos of them & story of attempt to assist them in West.
Beavers are an example of a species (like deer) that have a positive image for the general public but who draw the enmity of homeowners whose basements are flooded and may harm some human “infrastructures.” Ben Goldfarb’s 2015 article in High Country News points out the many beneficial aspects of beavers such as “filtering sediments and pollutants from streams” and helping to “spread rivers across floodplains, allowing water to percolate into aquifers.” Thus they assist fish, can limit foods, and help creeks. Still, because of their threat to home owners and others, government is often antagonistic or at best ambivalent about beavers—Oregon classifies them as predators like coyotes. For photos and full story, see Goldfarb, Ben. (2015). The beaver whisperer. High Country News, Nov. 9. Accessed 4/7/17 from http://www.hcn.org/issues/47.19/the-beaver-whisperer?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Youtube video with Rep. Don Young of Alaska who refuses to allow objections to building road through wildlife refuge to be heard. He has a long history of opposing wildlife conservation including recent legislation to allow killing of denning wolves and grizzlies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orXaykPHnEE&feature=youtu.be
Article by Carl Safina on Marine Protected Areas & factors that affect their success such as staffing and budget along with some great photos of MPAs: https://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/28/experts-say-marine-protected-areas-are-great-but-could-be-better-with-more-staff-and-funding/
Story on bushmeat illegal imported into Europe--tons of it which is threatening many species such as pangolins, monkeys, brush-tailed porcupines, and many others. Story with photos of these animals at: Mongabay News. March 20, 2017. “Endangered species to declare?” Europe’s understudied bushmeat trade.” https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/endangered-species-to-declare-europes-understudied-bushmeat-trade/
Story on bobcat hunting in Illinois which just resumed this year & photos of trapped bobcats. 500 More Bobcats are about to be killed for their fur. The Dodo. March 30, 2017. Accessed 3/30/17 from https://www.thedodo.com/illinois-bobcat-hunt-trap-2093556079.html
Story on how pandas are used as a tool for Chinese foreign policy-also photos: ’Keefe, Kate. Pandas Are Adorable! (Also a Tool for Chinese Geopolitical Domination).
Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2017. Accessed 3/37/17 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-like-china-no-pandas-for-you-1490366939?tesla=y
Shark numbers up in Australia & so are attacks on humans. Read & see videos: Pannett, Rachel. 2017.After Protecting Sharks, New Pressure to Protect Humans.wsj. march 26. Accessed 3/27/17 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-protecting-sharks-new-pressure-to-protect-humans-1490526003
Debate over whether to loosen restrictions on protecting manatees in Flori