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Showing posts with the label Endangered Species

Almost two out of every three shark or ray species living in coral reefs are at risk of disappearing from the world forever

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  by Larry Powell Bull sharks in Fiji. This widely-distributed species is among the most at risk of extinction. The alarming study has just been published in  Nature Communiciations.       It finds, except for marine mammals, these coral sharks and rays are more likely to go extinct than any other wildlife group in th e world. The usual culprits behind this tragic state of affairs have, once again been found to be; overfishing, habitat loss and climate change. Bluespotted lagoon ray. Photos by Colin Simpfendorfer. There is a glimmer of hope amid the findings. The ray (above) is the only coral reef shark or ray with an increasing population trend.

UNSUSTAINABLE SAND MINING IN CHINA THREATENS A CRITICALLY-ENDANGERED CETATION

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by Larry Powell The Yangtze finless porpoise feeds in Poyang Lake, where sand is heavily mined.  Photo by Huigong Yu. A long-term assessment of theYangtze finless porpoise in a heavily mined lake in China, has made some disturbing discoveries. Sand mining boats, similar to those in Poyang Lake. Photo by Zhigang Mei. In only a decade, the mining has significantly restricted the porpoise’s habitat, compromised its population connectivity, and destroyed its nearshore habitats.                                               The researchers hope their findings will promote government accountability and raise general awareness of the plight of the animal. Two porpoises leap from the water. Photo by Huigong Yu. Sand has for some time been second only to water as the planet's most heavily extracted resource, with huge implications for habitat and biodiversity health. The findings of the research team from the Chinese Academy of Science are now published in the proceedings of the Royal Socie

Nothing quite like blubber: Polar bears have few options as global heating makes seal-hunting more difficult.

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Journal of Experimental Biology   "Polar bear with seal kill, Baffin Island" by vtluvbug79 As Arctic sea ice disappears, polar bears will lose access to their preferred prey – highly caloric seals. The authors say that, on land, a polar bear would need to eat about 1.5 caribou, 37 Arctic char, 74 snow geese, 216 snow goose eggs, or 3 million crowberries to get the digestible energy they now get from the blubber of one adult ringed seal.  Read the full study here. READ another version of this story: Here. Can polar bears and narwhals cling on as the ice shrinks?

Oceanic sharks and rays have declined by over 70%

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Nature "Great Hammerhead Shark Swimming" by Skylar L. Primm The number of oceanic sharks and rays worldwide has fallen by 71% since 1970. A study in Nature this week finds that more than three-quarters of these oceanic species are now threatened with extinction. The risk of extinction to marine species is primarily caused by overfishing, but it has been difficult to measure the decline of individual species. Although reductions in oceanic and coastal shark and ray populations in different regions of the world have previously been documented, a global analysis has not been available. The Whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus).Photo by Jan Derk The authors attribute this decline to an 18-fold increase in relative fishing pressure — a measure of the proportion of sharks and rays caught relative to their global population — over the period. They argue that immediate action is needed to prevent collapses in populations. Specifically, they call on governments to implement catch l

The graceful albatross - immortalized over the ages as a symbol of both good and ill - is under siege like never before.

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by Larry Powell This is the story of the "Grey-Head." It's but a single member of a large family of albatrosses called Diomedeidae. Major research studies published recently, warn of twin threats facing the already-endangered bird. Each is different. Each is insidious.  The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma).  Photo by Lieutenant Elizabeth Crapo, NOAA. In general, the albatross carries higher burdens of mercury in its body than any other bird on earth. (In the marine environment, only some marine mammals carry more.)   Still, even those who measured levels of mercury in "Grey-Heads" at their largest breeding colony on South Georgia Island recently, must have been shocked by what they found. Photo credit: Richard Phillips. They discovered the highest amounts of that contaminant ever recorded in that species anywhere - a  threefold increase over twenty-five-years.  Mercury is described as a “pervasive environmental contaminant that can negatively imp

Tough Times for Animal Travellers

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Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. (COSEWIC) The Blackmouth ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) a type of Chinook.  Image by Animal Diversity Web. After maturing at sea, Chinook Salmon on Canada's West Coast swim back to their natal streams to spawn. Twenty-eight populations of Chinook Salmon live in Southern British Columbia, each with different habitats and survival strategies. Chinook Salmon face many threats in both fresh and saltwater, including climate change and detrimental effects from hatchery fish. At the current meeting, COSEWIC considered the 12 populations of Chinook Salmon most impacted by hatcheries: four were designated Endangered, three Threatened, and one Special Concern, while one was deemed Not at Risk. Three remote populations were determined to be Data Deficient, and will require additional research before being re-assessed.   Details here.

Can manmade rope bridges offer relief for the world's rarest primate - the Hainan gibbon? A new study shows encouraging results.

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by Larry Powell Hainan gibbons started to use the canopy bridge 176 days after installation. Females and small juveniles were the faithful users. The Hainan gibbon  (Nomascus hainanus) is described as "The world's most critically endangered primate." In fact, its numbers are said to be much lower than any other primate on Earth, with only about 30 individuals remaining for the entire species. It's found in just a single block of forest on Hainan Island, China, and nowhere else.  The adult male is jet black with a hairy crest. The female is golden yellow with a black crown patch. The immature gibbon is black, regardless of gender. Like so many similar creatures, it travels through the forest canopy, tree-to-tree. But major disturbances, like roads or landslides, can produce major gaps or gorges which seriously restrict its movements. This, in turn, can make it harder for it to feed or breed, but easier to be killed by predators. Professional tree climber in action con

The lynx vs. the bobcat. Two species of wild cat in Ontario, Canada, may face dramatically different futures. Is this "survival of the fittest?"

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by Larry Powell                 Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis).     Bobcat  (Lynx rufus). Photos by US Fish & Wildlife Service. To the untrained eye, the two species might pass as overgrown house cats. They're actually "felids" or mammals belonging to felidae , a family of wild cats.  Both live side by side in the wilds of Ontario, north of Lake Huron (see map). Researchers at the University of Trent (U of T) in Peterborough, Ontario, looked at bobcat and lynx numbers, movements and behaviour over three winters.  Their findings seem to show the bobcat holding an edge over the lynx in the struggle to survive, if not thrive in their rapidly-changing world.  The scientists are unable to give hard numbers. But, "harvest records" which document the numbers taken by trappers, offer an insight.  The lead author, Robby Marrotte, tells PinP, "We've noticed that the number of lynx harvested on traplines has decreased

A new study finds - wolf culls - aimed at protecting endangered caribou in western Canada - simply don't work.

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by Larry Powell Photo by Vicious Bits, Creative Commons. New research by a team of Canadian biologists,  seems to support critics who've long argued that wolves are being sacrificed unnecessarily in efforts to save iconic mountain caribou in British Columbia and Alberta from possible extinction. Since the 80s, authorities in the two provinces have been conducting "culls" which have probably killed thousands of wolves since. Culls involve either shooting the animals from helicopters, poisoning them or, in at least one case - an eight-year campaign of sterilization. The iconic caribou. A Wikimedia photo. Yet caribou populations all over Canada, continue to plummet. Thanks to  declines in all sub-species, they're now classified, nationwide as either threatened or endangered. Some of the steepest reductions have occurred in mountainous regions in the two westernmost provinces. A few years ago, they were declared extinct south of the bor

Rapidly warming oceans have left many northern marine mammals swimming in troubled waters. But perhaps none more so than that strange and mysterious "unicorn of the sea," the narwhal.

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by Larry Powell Narwhals are cetaceans, a family of marine mammals which includes whales and dolphins. Most are found in Canada's Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, in the high Arctic and Atlantic Arctic. Others live off Greenland, Norway and Russia. Many spend several months over winter, beneath the ice-pack, feeding on fish, squid and shrimp and their summers in more open water. It's believed they're capable of diving as deep as 15 hundred meters and holding their breath for an astonishing 25 minutes!  A pod "breaches" through an opening in the sea-ice.  A US Fish &  Wildlife Service photo.   They can weigh up to two thousand kilograms and reach a length of about five meters. They're much larger than some dolphin species, but tiny compared to the mighty blue whale. Many migrate along the ice's edge some 17 hundred kilometres from Canada to Russia. The males grow long, spiral tusks - actually overgrown teeth - that can protrude up t

A Major Oil Pipeline Project Strikes Deep at the Heart of Africa

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YaleEnvironment360 In the line of fire? Giraffe in a Ugandan National Park destined for major oil development. Photo by  DrexRockman . Despite the global plunge in oil prices, a major pipeline that would carry oil 900 miles across East Africa is moving ahead. International experts warn that the $20 billion project will displace thousands of small farmers and put key wildlife habitat and coastal waters at risk. Story here.

Canada’s reindeer ‘at risk of extinction’

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T he Narwhal As governments drag their feet on caribou habitat protections, the iconic species engraved on the Canadian quarter is winking out across the country. The year 2019 saw alarming declines and local extinctions of a species Indigenous peoples hold sacred. Story here. "Santa's reindeer" flee a logging truck, somewhere in the boreal forests of Canada.  Please read my own, related story and watch my video, below... Larry Powell. Even our national bird - the Canada jay - is not immune from the ravages of manmade climate change. Save the Wilderness. A music video by Eric Bogle and Larry Powell.

Re-thinking extinction

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New research  suggests that pollution may be playing a bigger and more ominous role in pushing many of Canada's plants and animals to the brink than earlier thought. by Larry Powell                                               One of the species at risk, the small white lady's slipper,  Cypripedium candidum.  Photo by Mason Brock . Habitat loss, climate change and invasive species are often referred to as significant players in Earth's calamitous descent into a sixth Great Extinction. While those factors obviously play a part, this new study better recognizes the magnitude of the role played by yet another culprit in the piece - pollution. The authors of the research label contamination of our air, soil and water as a "pervasive, often invisible threat to biodiversity in Canada."  And, up until now, the threat it poses, especially to vascular plants (ones that flower, bear fruit and seed), they suggest, has been underestimated by experts in the