Videos and photos related to wildlife conservation: April 24, 2018 version (I will be adding to this list regularly).
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 Florida w/videos of manatees: Campo-Flores, Arian. Manatees split florida community. Wsj. March 24, 2017. Accessed 3/27/17 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/manatees-divide-a-florida-community-1490347808
High Above, Drones Keep Watchful Eyes on Wildlife in Africa good video photos New York Times. March 13, 2007.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/science/drones-africa-poachers-wildlife.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170313&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Cave, Damien and Gillis, Justin. (2017). Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find. Photos of bleached coral. New York Times, March 15. Accessed 3/16/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/science/great-barrier-reef-coral-climate-change-dieoff.html?emc=edit_th_20170316&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419&_r=0
Digging into Ryan Zinke’s public lands lead ammo ban reversal: photos of bullets etc. Photos of Zinke signing to reverse lead ban under photo of teddy r. & of fishing hunting non-lead gear. http://nmpoliticalreport.com/209535/lead-zinke-ban-public-lands-en/
Stranded sperm whale with 'mouth full of garbage' dies in Guangdong, China Accessed 3/16/17 from https://www.sott.net/article/345356-Stranded-sperm-whale-with-mouth-full-of-garbage-dies-in-Guangdong-China
Short video (with leading commercial) about killing of eagle by lead bullets: http://www.king5.com/tech/science/environment/bald-eagle-dies-of-severe-lead-poisoning/418876733?platform=hootsuite
Short film on wolves of the southwest: the gray area: wolves of the southwest http://grayareathefilm.com/
Louis Sahagun. To save California desert tortoises from ravens, officials turn to laser guns — and maybe chemical weapons. Los Angels Times. March 10, 2017.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-20170310-story.html
A young desert tortoise pops out of his burrow inside a protective pen set up at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times): http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-20170310-story.html
A green laser scares away a gaggle of ravens in Joshua Tree. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times (same source as above): http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-20170310-story.html
Forest Elephants in Africa Slaughtered:Young, Ed. Africa's Other Elephant Is Fading Fast. The Atlantic. Feb. 20. Accessed 3/3/17 from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/02/forest-elephant-extinction-minkebe-gabon-ivory-poaching/517266/?utm_source=atltw
Paul Thacker. California Butterflies At Home With Aliens—they eat non-native species as well as native plants. BioScience • March 2004 / Vol. 54 No. 3. Accessed 3/16/17 from https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/54/3/182/223035/California-Butterflies-At-Home-with-Aliens
Malkin, Elisabeth. (2017). Before Vaquitas Vanish, A Desperate Bid To Save Them. Photos of the dead fish in a boat: New York Times, FEB. 27. Accessed 2/27/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/science/vaquitas-dolphins-mexico-extinction.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170227&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Photos of Fijan Islanders who used to eat turtles and their eggs but are now being persuaded to preserve the turtles. Solomon, Serena. (2017). On a Fijian Island, Hunters Become Conservators of Endangered Turtles. New York Times, January 2. Accessed 1/4/17 from http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/world/asia/on-a-fijian-island-hunters-become-conservators-of-endangered-turtles.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170102&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Photo of Burrowing Owl Project-owls: from Leigh Calvez, Bedrooms for burrowing owls, In Oregon, the Global Owl Project builds artificial burrows to help owls recover. High Country News, Jan. 11, 2017 http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.1/bedrooms-for-burrowing-owls
Photos of Primates that have been found recently to be in danger. Source: Zimmer, Carl. (2017).: photos includes following species: juvenile gorilla, Hainan gibbon; golden lion tamarin; Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, gorilla and 4-month-old baby and adult gorilla Most Primate Species Threatened With Extinction, Scientists Find New York Times, Jan. 18. Accessed 1/24/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/science/almost-two-thirds-of-primate-species-near-extinction-scientists-find.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20170124&nl=science-times&nl_art=1&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
Too Many Elk are in Montana so they are viewed as a pest—Note the irony that some other western states are killing wolves in order to increase elk numbers! Source: Byron, Eve. (2017). Montana’s game managers try to outsmart elk. High Country News, Feb. 20. Accessed 2/21/17 from http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.3/montana-game-managers-try-to-outsmart-elk
Even Butterflies are poached: photos of rare large blue butterfly and a poacher at work. Source: Bilefsky, Dan. 2017. British Police Net a Butterfly Killer, and Now He May Face Jail. New York Times, March 17. Accessed 3/17/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/world/europe/britain-butterfly-killer.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170317&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
A Large Blue butterfly. Philip Cullen of England was found guilty this week of capturing, killing and possessing specimens of the rare butterfly. CreditButterfly Conservation Even Butterflies are poached: photos of rare large blue butterfly and a poacher at work. Source: Bilefsky, Dan. 2017. British Police Net a Butterfly Killer, and Now He May Face Jail. New York Times, March 17. Accessed 3/17/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/world/europe/britain-butterfly-killer.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170317&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Smuggled Turtles: Photos of an Indian roofed turtle that is often smuggled: Source: Feuer.(2017). Queens Man Admits Smuggling Endangered Turtles in Packages Marked ‘Snacks’. New York Times, Feb. 13. Accessed 1/13/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/nyregion/endangered-turtles-smuggling-queens.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170213&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Photo and Story on how Recreation Industry is rallying against attempts to sell Federal public lands: Utah’s outdoor rec industry defends public lands High Country News, February 10. Go to: http://www.hcn.org/articles/utahs-outdoor-rec-industry-defends-public-lands?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Photos demonstrating Successful protection by ESA of threatened Island Foxes and aid for California Condor. Source: Kevin C. Brown. For endangered species, the road to recovery can be winding and bumpy. Elkodaily, January 31, 1917. http://elkodaily.com/opinion/columnists/for-endangered-species-the-road-to-recovery-can-be-winding/article_33f40e8b-ba9e-52e5-997b-5aadf2687270.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
California Condor: Many are still killed by lead poisoning: Los Angeles Zoo technicians treat a California condor for lead poisoning but NRA still leads so far successful resistance to ban lead ammunition—only slightly more expensive ammo could be used: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-condors-lead-toxicity-pictures-photogallery.html
Photo of Latino Coalition members protesting protections for (California) Delta smelt as threat to their jobs available in following article which shows how conflict can occur between groups that are on the liberal side of the spectrum—wildlife conservationists and Latino groups: Carswell, Cally. (2016). Does conserving species actually curb development? High Country News, March 21. Accessed 3/17/17 from http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.5/does-conserving-species-actually-curb-development
Baby Chimp being offered for sale in Nigeria—see photo: source: Simmons, Ann M. (2016). Nigeria is planning a six-lane 'superhighway' through a remote rainforest. Environmentalists are not happy. LA Times, December 13. Accessed 12/21/16 from http://www.latimes.com/world/global-development/la-fg-global-nigeria-superhighway-snap-20161128-story.html
Will Chinese efforts to control ivory trade work? Photo of Chinese workers with confiscated ivory. See Gettleman, Jeffrey. (2016). Closing China’s Ivory Market: Will It Save Elephants? New York Times, December 31. Accessed 1/4/17 from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/world/africa/africa-ivory-china.html?emc=edit_tnt_20161231&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Baby elephants are being killed. A video concerning the poaching of elephants is available from: https://nyti.ms/2nDUiEX
Failure of Indonesia to prosecute has enabled illegal trade in endangered species is illustrated by sale of endangered mollusc shells for sale: See Vincent Nijman and Paige Lee, Trade in nautilus and other large marine molluscs as ornaments and decorations in Bali, Indonesia, The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology · December 2016, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311466511
Colorado plans to kill bears and mountain lions to boost population of mule deer but more important culprit is oil drilling in the deer’s habitat. This illustrates the problem of multiple causation of death of game species in which animal predators are the focus of efforts rather than human causes. Photo of mule deer. See Smith, Anna V. (2017). Colorado’s controversial plan to kill predators. High Country News, January 17. Accessed 1/17/17 from http://www.hcn.org/articles/colorado-state-study-kill-mountain-lion-cougar-black-bear-predator-for-mule-deer?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Big Horn Sheep invade California Golf Courses and environmental group sues USFWS to install fences to prevent the sheep from being hit by cars in their trip to the golf courses: see Sahagun, Louis. (2017). Endangered bighorn sheep share a controversial lush life on the greens at La Quinta's desert golf courses. Photo of bighorn ram on golf course. Los Angeles Times, January 16. Accessed 1/16/17 from http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bighorn-golfers-20170115-story.html
Video on rhino poaching in India: See Evan Wexler, Veda Shastri, and Samantha Quick: https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000004789212/tracking-down-rhino-poachers-in-india.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170113&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
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 Florida w/videos of manatees: Campo-Flores, Arian. Manatees split florida community. Wsj. March 24, 2017. Accessed 3/27/17 from https://www.wsj.com/articles/manatees-divide-a-florida-community-1490347808
High Above, Drones Keep Watchful Eyes on Wildlife in Africa good video photos New York Times. March 13, 2007.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/science/drones-africa-poachers-wildlife.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170313&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Cave, Damien and Gillis, Justin. (2017). Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find. Photos of bleached coral. New York Times, March 15. Accessed 3/16/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/science/great-barrier-reef-coral-climate-change-dieoff.html?emc=edit_th_20170316&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=10365419&_r=0
Digging into Ryan Zinke’s public lands lead ammo ban reversal: photos of bullets etc. Photos of Zinke signing to reverse lead ban under photo of teddy r. & of fishing hunting non-lead gear. http://nmpoliticalreport.com/209535/lead-zinke-ban-public-lands-en/
Stranded sperm whale with 'mouth full of garbage' dies in Guangdong, China Accessed 3/16/17 from https://www.sott.net/article/345356-Stranded-sperm-whale-with-mouth-full-of-garbage-dies-in-Guangdong-China
Short video (with leading commercial) about killing of eagle by lead bullets: http://www.king5.com/tech/science/environment/bald-eagle-dies-of-severe-lead-poisoning/418876733?platform=hootsuite
Short film on wolves of the southwest: the gray area: wolves of the southwest http://grayareathefilm.com/
Louis Sahagun. To save California desert tortoises from ravens, officials turn to laser guns — and maybe chemical weapons. Los Angels Times. March 10, 2017.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-20170310-story.html
A young desert tortoise pops out of his burrow inside a protective pen set up at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times): http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-20170310-story.html
A green laser scares away a gaggle of ravens in Joshua Tree. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times (same source as above): http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tortoise-20170310-story.html
Forest Elephants in Africa Slaughtered:Young, Ed. Africa's Other Elephant Is Fading Fast. The Atlantic. Feb. 20. Accessed 3/3/17 from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/02/forest-elephant-extinction-minkebe-gabon-ivory-poaching/517266/?utm_source=atltw
Paul Thacker. California Butterflies At Home With Aliens—they eat non-native species as well as native plants. BioScience • March 2004 / Vol. 54 No. 3. Accessed 3/16/17 from https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/54/3/182/223035/California-Butterflies-At-Home-with-Aliens
Malkin, Elisabeth. (2017). Before Vaquitas Vanish, A Desperate Bid To Save Them. Photos of the dead fish in a boat: New York Times, FEB. 27. Accessed 2/27/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/science/vaquitas-dolphins-mexico-extinction.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170227&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Photos of Fijan Islanders who used to eat turtles and their eggs but are now being persuaded to preserve the turtles. Solomon, Serena. (2017). On a Fijian Island, Hunters Become Conservators of Endangered Turtles. New York Times, January 2. Accessed 1/4/17 from http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/world/asia/on-a-fijian-island-hunters-become-conservators-of-endangered-turtles.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170102&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Photo of Burrowing Owl Project-owls: from Leigh Calvez, Bedrooms for burrowing owls, In Oregon, the Global Owl Project builds artificial burrows to help owls recover. High Country News, Jan. 11, 2017 http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.1/bedrooms-for-burrowing-owls
Photos of Primates that have been found recently to be in danger. Source: Zimmer, Carl. (2017).: photos includes following species: juvenile gorilla, Hainan gibbon; golden lion tamarin; Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, gorilla and 4-month-old baby and adult gorilla Most Primate Species Threatened With Extinction, Scientists Find New York Times, Jan. 18. Accessed 1/24/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/science/almost-two-thirds-of-primate-species-near-extinction-scientists-find.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20170124&nl=science-times&nl_art=1&nlid=10365419&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
Too Many Elk are in Montana so they are viewed as a pest—Note the irony that some other western states are killing wolves in order to increase elk numbers! Source: Byron, Eve. (2017). Montana’s game managers try to outsmart elk. High Country News, Feb. 20. Accessed 2/21/17 from http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.3/montana-game-managers-try-to-outsmart-elk
Even Butterflies are poached: photos of rare large blue butterfly and a poacher at work. Source: Bilefsky, Dan. 2017. British Police Net a Butterfly Killer, and Now He May Face Jail. New York Times, March 17. Accessed 3/17/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/world/europe/britain-butterfly-killer.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170317&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
A Large Blue butterfly. Philip Cullen of England was found guilty this week of capturing, killing and possessing specimens of the rare butterfly. CreditButterfly Conservation Even Butterflies are poached: photos of rare large blue butterfly and a poacher at work. Source: Bilefsky, Dan. 2017. British Police Net a Butterfly Killer, and Now He May Face Jail. New York Times, March 17. Accessed 3/17/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/world/europe/britain-butterfly-killer.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170317&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Smuggled Turtles: Photos of an Indian roofed turtle that is often smuggled: Source: Feuer.(2017). Queens Man Admits Smuggling Endangered Turtles in Packages Marked ‘Snacks’. New York Times, Feb. 13. Accessed 1/13/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/nyregion/endangered-turtles-smuggling-queens.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170213&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Photo and Story on how Recreation Industry is rallying against attempts to sell Federal public lands: Utah’s outdoor rec industry defends public lands High Country News, February 10. Go to: http://www.hcn.org/articles/utahs-outdoor-rec-industry-defends-public-lands?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Photos demonstrating Successful protection by ESA of threatened Island Foxes and aid for California Condor. Source: Kevin C. Brown. For endangered species, the road to recovery can be winding and bumpy. Elkodaily, January 31, 1917. http://elkodaily.com/opinion/columnists/for-endangered-species-the-road-to-recovery-can-be-winding/article_33f40e8b-ba9e-52e5-997b-5aadf2687270.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
California Condor: Many are still killed by lead poisoning: Los Angeles Zoo technicians treat a California condor for lead poisoning but NRA still leads so far successful resistance to ban lead ammunition—only slightly more expensive ammo could be used: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-condors-lead-toxicity-pictures-photogallery.html
Photo of Latino Coalition members protesting protections for (California) Delta smelt as threat to their jobs available in following article which shows how conflict can occur between groups that are on the liberal side of the spectrum—wildlife conservationists and Latino groups: Carswell, Cally. (2016). Does conserving species actually curb development? High Country News, March 21. Accessed 3/17/17 from http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.5/does-conserving-species-actually-curb-development
Baby Chimp being offered for sale in Nigeria—see photo: source: Simmons, Ann M. (2016). Nigeria is planning a six-lane 'superhighway' through a remote rainforest. Environmentalists are not happy. LA Times, December 13. Accessed 12/21/16 from http://www.latimes.com/world/global-development/la-fg-global-nigeria-superhighway-snap-20161128-story.html
Will Chinese efforts to control ivory trade work? Photo of Chinese workers with confiscated ivory. See Gettleman, Jeffrey. (2016). Closing China’s Ivory Market: Will It Save Elephants? New York Times, December 31. Accessed 1/4/17 from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/world/africa/africa-ivory-china.html?emc=edit_tnt_20161231&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
Baby elephants are being killed. A video concerning the poaching of elephants is available from: https://nyti.ms/2nDUiEX
Failure of Indonesia to prosecute has enabled illegal trade in endangered species is illustrated by sale of endangered mollusc shells for sale: See Vincent Nijman and Paige Lee, Trade in nautilus and other large marine molluscs as ornaments and decorations in Bali, Indonesia, The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology · December 2016, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311466511
Colorado plans to kill bears and mountain lions to boost population of mule deer but more important culprit is oil drilling in the deer’s habitat. This illustrates the problem of multiple causation of death of game species in which animal predators are the focus of efforts rather than human causes. Photo of mule deer. See Smith, Anna V. (2017). Colorado’s controversial plan to kill predators. High Country News, January 17. Accessed 1/17/17 from http://www.hcn.org/articles/colorado-state-study-kill-mountain-lion-cougar-black-bear-predator-for-mule-deer?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Big Horn Sheep invade California Golf Courses and environmental group sues USFWS to install fences to prevent the sheep from being hit by cars in their trip to the golf courses: see Sahagun, Louis. (2017). Endangered bighorn sheep share a controversial lush life on the greens at La Quinta's desert golf courses. Photo of bighorn ram on golf course. Los Angeles Times, January 16. Accessed 1/16/17 from http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bighorn-golfers-20170115-story.html
Video on rhino poaching in India: See Evan Wexler, Veda Shastri, and Samantha Quick: https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000004789212/tracking-down-rhino-poachers-in-india.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170113&nlid=10365419&tntemail0=y
