“More than 27 million animals were traded internationally in 2013 for purposes ranging from garment production to traditional Chinese medicine, trophies, and scientific testing.” Check out this amazing interactive graphic explaining global animal trade.
art ecology science & animals
Tagged Endangered Species
MOUNTAIN GORILLA BENEFITS FROM INBREEDING
“scientists have discovered inbreeding has actually benefitted mountain gorillas by removing many harmful genetic variations. They are also genetically adapted to living in small populations.” Read more here: BBC article
BISTATE SAGE GROUSE NOT LISTED
“Environmentalists and conservationists have long called for greater protection for sage-grouse habitats in Western states…Energy companies, meanwhile, have warned that a designation would effectively rope off Western lands to future oil and gas development.” read more: Bistate Sage Grouse Utah wildlife managers see reason to hope
NOAA PROPOSES REMOVAL OF MOST HUMPBACK WHALE FROM ENDANGERED STATUS
“NOAA’s proposal would consider 10 of the world’s 14 distinct populations of the whales “not warranted” for the endangered species list.” read more: Humpback endangered listing removal map of distinct populations by NOAA
WARM SPRING, STRONG START FOR A FEW ENDANGERED BUTTERFLIES
“More than half of 56 species studied saw their numbers rise compared with the previous year, according to the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme.” Read more: Here
RAREST FISH IN THE WORLD ONLY IN DEATH VALLEY
The majority of their range is in this photograph. “Since researchers started monitoring them in the early 1970s, sending scuba divers down into the 129-metre-deep cavern to manually count each individual, the population has decreased from 200 to just 68 to 35 fish in 2013.” Read the Scientific American Article.
NEW BABY ON GALAPAGOS
—”The exciting find of ten baby tortoises was the direct result of a rat eradication campaign completed two years ago on Pinzón, when helicopters criss-crossed the island dropping rat bait, which was non-toxic to the native flora and fauna.” Read article: Baby Tortoise
TIGER POPULATION UP
“The population of tigers has increased in India from 1,706 in 2011 to 2,226 in 2014.” read article: India’s tiger population increases by 30% in past three years
UGLY ANIMALS
“Unlike their cute and fluffy cousins in the animal kingdom, the plight of these rancid animals is relatively unknown. The Ugly Animal Preservation Society was set up to champion the cause of endangered creatures with no friends.” read article: We can’t all be pandas! buy book: The Ugly Animals: We Can’t All Be Pandas
HUNTERS SAVE CONDORS
—”half of all condor deaths in the wild are tied to lead poisoning because, as a scavenger species, they consume fragments of lead bullets in gut piles left by hunters.” read article: how hunters are saving endangered condors
RARE UK BIRDS ‘VANISH’
—”Sky’s signal stopped suddenly on 10 September and Hope’s signal died three days later. Searches of the area have failed to find any trace of them.The tracking devices are designed to operate for at least three years. The scientists say it’s “improbable” that this is due to technical failure. The more likely cause is that the birds were killed by other animal predators, or humans.” read article: Threatened birds of prey ‘vanish’
EATING ENDANGERED SPECIES?
– “Native birds like the weka are in decline due to predation in the wild. Beattie is vocal about the fact that endangered native birds need to be farmed for consumption to help sustain the animal’s populations.” read article: Eating Endangered Species Might Be the Best Way to Save Them
worldsendangeredspecies 