With a population level of approximately 1,000 it comes as no surprise that the black-footed ferret is listed as an endangered animal. With it's only natural habitat being here in the grass lands of North America these small members of the weasel family survive on a diet consisting mostly of prairie dogs, ground squirrels and other small rodents and birds. The black-footed ferret gets its name from the black fur covering its feet, tail tip and face. They are nocturnal animals and can weigh up to 2.5lbs, 6 inches in height and have a body length of almost two feet! In the wild they can live up to 4 years, but in captivity have thrived up to 9!
Reasons for Decline
The main reason for the black-footed ferret's decline is due to habitat destruction and loss in food sources. During early westward expansion, farmers found their live stock competing with the prairie dog for grazing locations; this caused farmers to intentionally poison the prairie dogs. Being the main food source for the ferret, it also ended up poisoning large amounts of the ferret population. Black-footed ferrets also rely on the burrowing of the Prairie Dogs for survivals. Not only do the eat the Prairie dogs, but they will use their tunnels to hide from prey and raise their young. Today, these problems are still facing the ferret. Where they once roamed what is believe to be Canada to Mexico, they have only been re-introduced into 8 states because their is a limited number of areas that have enough prairie dogs to sustain large populations of ferrets. Farmers still consider the prairie dogs pest, so will remove them is necessary, the effects and small populations of the species has almost wiped up the entire black-footed ferret population. Disease is also a big factor effecting the ferret and the prairie dog. the PD Plague can destroy entire colonies of prairie dog colonies therefore wiping out almost 90% of a ferret colonies food source.
Geography's Role in Conservation
As stated earlier, the black-footed ferret can only be found in the grasslands of North America, making the conservation of this geographical area imperative to the continued grow of this species.These ferrets used to have a natural habitat spreading south from Mexico all the way up to Canada that spanned almost 502,000 square miles; however today, due to conservationist efforts they have only been reintroduced to 8 states in the past thirty years. The grasslands are continuing to be industrialized with growing cities, or used as industrial farming areas; if this continues, the already limited area the ferret can sustain life without the intervention of conservationist will also dwindle.
The Ferret's Ecological Role
Like many species, the health and population levels of the black-footed ferret are a direct indicator of the health of the grasslands. However, more than that the ferret's plays a large role not only in the sustaining the health of the grasslands, but the success of local farmers. If you couldn't tell before, the ferret and the prairie dog are very intimately connected, so what happens to one species will have a significant effect on the other. In this case, if the ferret were to become extinct, the population levels of the prairie dogs would soar. With their increasing numbers, grazing and farming land for local farmer will be over run leading to a loss in produce and healthy livestock. To defend themselves, many farmers could take more corrective action and spread poison across the grasslands, not only endangering the prairie dogs, but other species and the environment as well!
What is Currently Being Done
The black-footed ferret was actually thought to be extinct at some
point, but since 1981 when a colony was found in Wyoming, they are thankfully making a comeback! This increase in population numbers can be attributed to not only extensive conversation organizations, but government agencies, Native American tribes, Zoos and even private owners! The efforts being made include breeding programs, by conservationist and private entities, preconditioning them to the outdoor elements and reintroducing them into the grassland to build colonies. Scientist are also currently researching vaccines for the prairie dog. Mentioned earlier the PD Plague can wipe out entire areas of the prairie dog therefore destroying the hope for the revitalization of the ferrets; vaccines can save these dog colonies and provide habitat where the ferret can survive. Organization such as The Nature Conservancy, (video below), even travel into the grasslands to help vaccinate those kits born into the wild!
How You Can Help!
Did you know he black-footed ferret is the only ferret native to North America; the
ferrets you see in pet stores are domesticated European ferrets! That means it is our responsibility that these little guys are taken care of and taken brought back from the brink of extinction. There are many ways you can help support the conservations effort for the Black-footed Ferret!
Social Media User? Try supporting or following this organizations!
1. https://www.facebook.com/FerretCenter
2. https://twitter.com/Ferret_Nation
Look at the many ways to support these conservation centers!
1. http://www.defenders.org/black-footed-ferret/basic-facts
2. http://www.blackfootedferret.org/
3. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/black-footed-ferret Volunteer at these Recovery Projects!
1. http://riesterfoundation.com/news/2013/07/24/volunteering-to-count-black-footed-ferrets/
2. http://deepgreenresistancesonoran.org/2013/08/16/black-footed-ferret-recovery-effort-looking-for-volunteers/
3. http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/NewsMedia/Volunteers-sought-for-black-footed-ferret-spring-spotlighting-effort.shtml
As the largest turtle in the world, the Leatherback Sea Turtle can even grow larger than a fully grown human man.The Leatherback turtle is unique from many in its species by not having a hard shell. Through significant adaptions to increase it speed and agility in the water, the Leatherback is the only remaining species that can be traced by to more than 100 million years because of these adaptations! The Leatherback Sea Turtle has a flexible, rubbery shell with ridges to help with agility; this allows them to spend over 85 minutes under water.
Reasons for Decline
Like many of the endangered animals in the world, almost all of the problems these turtles face can be directly linked by to human actions leading to only about one in a thousand Leatherback turtles making it to adulthood! Threats to these turtles include hunting by humans to the turtle meat or their eggs, accidental by-catching while fishing and even being struck by boats in over populated areas! Pollution is also a huge threat to these turtle, with a diet mainly consisting of jelly fish, Leatherbacks often mistake pieces of plastic for food and slowly die from constant consumption. Deceased turtles has been found with almost 11 lbs of plastic in their stomachs! Unfortunately, even with all of the threats these turtles face in the ocean, they also are losing hatching locations. With constant coastal development, Leatherbacks are losing places to safely lay their eggs and having the hatchlings fully develop and make it back into the ocean. Watch the video below to see a Leatherback Sea Turtle being saved from entrapment!
Geography's Role in Conservation
Because the Leatherback Sea Turtle is a migratory species their exact locations and population numbers are hard to pinpoint, especially considering they have the largest population dispersion of all reptile species! However, the map to the left shows where the turtles can be located, the Leatherback will often migrate from one location to the other following their food sources. As expected, geography plays a huge role in the conservation efforts for the Leatherback Sea Turtle. As mentioned earlier, locations for the Leatherback to safely lay it's eggs is decreasing because of the constant development of coastal locations. Also the pollution of plastics and other materials in the geographical location in the sea are slowly killing these unique creatures as well!
The Turtle's Ecological Role
As stated before, the Leatherback Sea Turtle is a migratory species, often following their largest food source, jellyfish. If these turtles were to become extinct, the jellyfish, though food sources for other species, would have a significantly high increase in population numbers. When jellyfish number increase, even humans can be effected. Jellyfish have been found to clog the nets of fisherman, sting an increasing number of tourist and even choke intake lines of power plants leading to problems with the mechanics. If problems with these power plants become bad enough, humans and wildlife would find themselves in a lot worse trouble than a small sting on the leg!
What is Currently Being Done
There is good news and bad news about what is currently being done for these extraordinary creatures. The good news? The Leatherback is now protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, leading to a stable and increasing population of turtle is the Atlantic! The bad news? This is not happening all over the world, even though there are international legislative act occurring all over, numbers in the Pacific are decreasing very quickly including the complete disappearance of these animals from Malaysia. To help stop this, conservation efforts are being done all over the world. Many locations are working on increasing the population of the Leatherbacks by creating lighting ordinances and nest protection services to ensure the hatchlings not only make it to being fully developed, but all the way into the water as well. Many scientist are also closely monitoring the migration patterns of these turtles in order to determine where they are thriving, and where the threats are causing large patterns of death. Many organization such as the NMFS is also leading efforts to change fishing procedures with TEDs, to help lessen the number of turtles caught in these lines every year.
How You Can Help!
There are many ways you can help support the conservations effort for the Leatherback Sea Turtle:
1. Spread the word! Use social media or other online forums to spread the word about these amazingly unique and prehistoric creatures!
2. Support organizations working to save these animals such as the NMFS or WCS with your verbal or financial support! Link: http://www.wcs.org/saving-wildlife/ocean-giants/leatherback-sea-turtle.aspx
3. Support conservation efforts with just your name: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-leatherback-sea-turtle-petition/
Fun Facts About the Leatherback!
1. The temperature of the nest will determine the sex of the hatchlings!
2. The female will often return to where she was hatched to lay her eggs
3. A female can also lay up to 100 eggs
4.A fully grown male can weigh up to 2,000 lbs!
5. They can dive the deepest of any turtle, up to 3/4th of a mile!
The African Penguins also known as the Black Footed Penguin, on average will weigh 5-9 pounds and are up to 27 inches tall and can live to be up to 10 in the wild. You can only find these small penguins on the Southern Coast of Africa scattered along 24 different islands.
Even in these natural habitats, humans can approach them within three feet without any fear of attack or aggravating the African Penguins. These penguins, like most, survive off local species of fish including: squid, sardines, anchovies, and pilchards.
Reasons for Decline
“African Penguin population dropped from 1.5 million to less than 55,00o in the past 100 years.”
After being moved to the endangered species list in 2010, it has been forecasted that the African Penguin will become extinct in the next 15 year is conservation efforts fail. Like many endangered species, the decline in population for the African Penguin can lead directly and indirectly back to humans. The first reason for decline is the decreased number of penguins being born; as mentioned before, penguins can live up to 10 years in the wild, unfortunately, they usually do not reach the age of reproduction until they are around 6 years old. Then, when they are finally able to mate, their eggs are often taken by the local population as a food source. As of now, there are still no laws preventing this action the the re-population of the African Penguin is being directly hindered by humans. Two other reasons for the decrease in their population are because the destruction of their habitats and food sources. Recent oil spills killed more than 19,000 penguins. The oil spill also killed a lot of the species animals rely on for food sources. These food sources have also decreased in levels due to overfishing.
Geography's Role in Conservation
Geography plays an extremely large role in the conservation of the African Penguin. Because they can only be found naturally in the southern boarder of Africa, the current condition of the area is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately this geographical location is currently being destroyed through human actions mentioned earlier, oil spills and pollution, and overfishing in the ocean. If efforts are not made to clean and conserve these areas and prevent more human disasters such as additional oil spills, the African Penguin's numbers will continue to decrease.
The Penguin's Ecological Role
The African Penguin can have a huge effect on local communities in Southern Africa. Locally, they provide the economy a huge boost for tourist. For example, at Boulder's Beach in Cape Town, boulders and viewpoints have been constructed to allow tourist to safely view the penguins, this attraction can bring 88,000 tourist to the area in a single year! Any kind of stimulation to an economy will in turn help the overall global monetary environment. The profits from tourist attractions can help with infrastructure development of local communities and innovative farming or manufacturing technique that can benefit anyone in the world who buys these products. And though one of the problems facing the African Penguins is the poaching of their eggs, these eggs also provide a large food source for humans and help keep them alive in the undeveloped areas of their habitats.
What is Currently Being Done
There are currently many efforts taking place to help prevent the extinction of the African Penguin both reversing current situation and prevent future destruction. For example, after an oil spill volunteers rallied together to help clean and transport almost 20,000 penguins. Research is also being preformed by tracking the penguins to learn more about natural migration patterns and penguin life spans. Another research project being conducted is by Lorien Pichegru from the University of Cape Town's Percy FitzPatrick Institue of African Ornithology in regards to the overfishing problem effecting the penguins. They are working to understand the benefits of stopping fishing in the penguins direct hunting areas without effecting the finishing industry and fishermen in the local communities.
How You Can Help!
There are many ways you can help support the conservations effort for the African Penguin:
Consider donating time or money to the following conservation efforts!
Do not have extra money to spend? Show your support by signing this petition to save the African Penguins, any publicity is good publicity for conservation!
Do you have a Facebook? Of course you do! Show you support with a simple like!
https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheAfricanPenguins
Average college student with a little money to spend? Learn more about the African Penguin at the Cincinnati Zoo! Attend the Penguin Encounter to get up close and personal with one of these small creatures!
Being the most recently identified tiger in the world by DNA testing, the Malayan Tiger is the smallest of all species of tigers. In fact, many individuals often mistake adult Malayan Tigers with adolescent Sumatran Tiger.
With population numbers around 500, you can find this tiger in the Malayan Peninsula. The main source of food for these small tigers are deer and other livestock.
DANGERS!
The Malayan Tiger faces one major threat: humans. The first avenue that threatens this species of tiger is the deforestation in Malaysia. Their natural habitats are being turned into turned into commercial plantations for vegetation and live stock reducing their ability to find adequate food and living spaces.
This limiting spaces has lead Malayan Tigers into these populated area in the search of food; which turns out to be the local farm's livestock. This loss of livestock to these poor farmer cause tensions to run high and many tigers are killed out of anger by not only the anger villagers, but authorities as well. The levels of livestock that were lost ignited governmental legislative decisions to order the elimination of all tigers!
Malaysian Geography
Geography Conservation will play a huge role in the re-population of the Malayan Tiger. As you can see in the map to the left, the current range of the tiger is significantly reduced from it's historic range. If we focus our efforts on the conservation of their natural habitat, instead of trying to physically repopulate the tigers through mating centers, we can provide the tigers with the opportunities to save themselves. To do this, we need to reduce the deforestation occurring in the Malayan Peninsula. Giving them the geography they used to utilize will allow them the ability to hunt for wildlife pray as well. This will save the Malaysian farmer by having the Tigers deeper into the wild, and not picking off their livestock.
Current Conservation Efforts
Currently, the WWF have four major conservation effort in place to help protect these unique tigers. Because of the level of conflict that arises with local farmers due to the loss of livestock, the WWF is leading on effort of knowledge sharing and livestock management best practices. Since this intervention, the livestock losses have dramatically decreased. The WWF was even able to help revesre the legislation I spoke about earlier by having the decision to eliminate all tigers reversed. Work with the government also includes conservation forest to ensure the protection of some of the tiger's natural habitat.
Because the Malayan Tiger has been recently discovered, research is the key to help conserve these animals. Surveys and research teams are currently working hard to understand the populations and habits of the tiger to better focus on it's needs. A way to help with this research is the current outreach the WWF also reaches out to the local communities in the Malayan Peninsula. They again use knowledge sharing techniques with these individuals to share education on the importance of saving this species and how to avoid any dangers and conflicts with these unique tigers.
SAVE US!
Want to be a part of an amazing movement to help save these animals and their habitats? Look no further because there are tons of avenues on the internet! Here is just a few:
1. Sign the "Save the Malayan Tiger from Extinction": This petition was created to "We ask Malaysia to stop logging in the Temengor Rainforest and
save the Malayan Tiger from extinction by providing protected,
unfragmented habitat. The Belum-Temengor Forest Complex is one of the
last refuges for amazing, yet highly threatened wildlife, such as the
Malayan tiger, Asian elephant and Sunda pangolin"
The petition already has 21,724 signature and it's goal is 22,000. Now is you chance to help! Sign the petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/801/096/358/save-the-malayan-tiger-from-extinction/
2. Donate your time or money!There are an incredible number of conservation center for the Malayan tiger in the United States, look into supporting their effort! As said before, we just discovered this unique species, it is our responsibility to make sure that does not go to waste!
4. Need another reason? Meet The Cincinnati Zoo's own Malayan Tiger Cubs!
Malayan Tiger FUN FACTS!
The Malayan Tiger is the second-smallest tiger sub-species in the world
The Cincinnati Zoo was the first to start a breeding program for the Malayan Tiger
Though only recently discovered in the 21st century, the Malayan Tiger is Malaysia's national animal
The Malayan Tiger is said to represent bravery and strength.
They have very high mortality rates as young tigers, with less than half living over two years old!
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Hello!
My name is Brandy Riddle and I am a fourth year Marketing Major at the University of Cincinnati. On campus I am involved with a few organization such as
Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Sigma Pi and the American Marketing Association. I was born and raised in Milford, Ohio just outside of the 275 loop, so I am a huge Cincinnati Reds fan... I can't really say the same for the Bengals though.
For anybody who is viewing this blog that is not involved in the Endangered Earth class I have created it for, feel free to look around anyway! I plan to use this blog to complete assignments, learn a little more about the world and hopefully share new some new information information. I
have always loved animals and though I did not choose to make this passion a career, I have a bright red Basset Hound named Lucy to keep me company and that is good enough for me!
