By Lucille Chi •
February 3, 2010
This week we’re on the topic of saving endangered sea life, and now is the best time to take action with the Ocean Conservancy!
The Obama Administration has a newly formed Ocean Policy Task Force that’s accelerating a planning process for our glorious ocean and coasts.
Since it’s up to us to make sure these plans maintain, protect, revive and restore the health of the sea sustainably, I also sent the message below to the Obama Administration and the National Ocean Policy Task Force. If we get these simple and straitforward letters to them before the February 12 deadline we’ll help lock in our country’s commitment to take action to ensure comprehensive, responsible ocean planning that holds us accountable in preserving a healthy marine environment for the planet.
Here is the letter we’re sending to President Obama and the Ocean Policy Task Force:
By Lucille Chi •
February 2, 2010
Last season NRDC announced it’s mission to save the Hawaiian island’s Whales, and now that this decision is facing the president we’re asking the Obama Administration to protect Hawaii’s false killer whales under the Endangered Species Act because the loss of even a few whales could endanger the survival of the entire population. These whales are among the most imperiled wildlife in the Hawaiian Islands with only 120 of them alive today.
Help grant federal protection to Hawaii’s coastal population of false killer whales. Shown below is one of my letters urging the Obama Administration to protect Hawaii’s false killer whales.
By Michael Ricciardi •
January 24, 2010
Over the past several years, the world’s blue whales have begun singing a different tune, of sorts; the frequency range of their songs has gotten significantly lower. And, this is happening, “in concert” all over the world–where ever these massive cetacea migrate, feed, congregate and mate.
The large-billed reed Warbler is a bird species that is thought to thrive in significant numbers, but it’s also one that’s very rarely spotted, with it’s last known recorded sighting taking place in 2006. Some researchers have indicated that perhaps the reed Warbler is spotted more often than some realize, because it’s often mistaken for other birds, but nonetheless, it does manage to allude scientists and bird-watchers alike.
By Rhishja Larson •
January 15, 2010
The Masvingo regional court has sentenced a member of the Mazhongwe rhino poaching gang to 17 years in prison for killing an endangered rhino.
Justice - at last: Zimbabwe rhino poacher Tichaona Mutyairi has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for killing a rhino and firing on police in October 2009.
After years of letting the killers walk free, could this case finally be the turning point in the war against rhino poaching in Zimbabwe?
By Rhishja Larson •
January 13, 2010
Once the largest importer of illegal rhino horn for use in ceremonial dagger handles, Yemen is no longer considered a driving force in the current rhino poaching crisis.
While demand for illegal rhino horn in Asia surges and threatens to undermine decades of conservation efforts, the market for illegal rhino horn in Yemen has decreased sharply.
By Rhishja Larson •
January 5, 2010
Good news from Uganda: Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has welcomed a third baby rhino!
2010 is off to a promising start at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where a white rhino calf was born on January 2 - the third baby rhino following more than 25 years of regional extinction.
By Rhishja Larson •
January 4, 2010
12 suspected rhino poachers and rhino horn buyers have been arrested in Kenya following the killing of a female Southern white rhino on a private ranch.
A manhunt in central Kenya has resulted in the arrest of 12 suspected rhino poachers and rhino horn buyers, after a 10-year old female Southern white rhino was shot at the Mugie rhino sanctuary on December 28, and her horns brutally hacked off.
The rhino’s horns were recovered in the arrest, along with $8,500 USD in cash.
By Dave Dempsey •
January 3, 2010
The Common Barn Owl is not so common in Midwestern states where it’s considered vulnerable. A recent surprise appearance in Wisconsin highlighted the species’ fragile status in the region.
A raptor listed as an endangered or threatened species in seven Midwestern states made a rare appearance in Wisconsin late in 2009. The ailing barn owl, which couldn’t fly or stand when rescued in Mequon, is being rehabilitated in the Pine View Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Fredonia.
Although once abundant in the Midwest — and relatively plentiful globally — the common barn owl has plummeted in population in the seven states since the early 1960s. A combination of habitat loss from farmland development and the past use of toxic pesticides has depressed barn owl numbers in the region. Barn owls are more susceptible than other owl species to pesticides, although most of the problem chemicals affecting them are no longer in use.
By Rhishja Larson •
December 27, 2009
Another human superstition driving a protected species closer to extinction: Vulture brains are believed to increase luck in the lottery and at the race track.
Africa’s protected vultures are becoming the victims of a growing trend: According to a popular superstition, smoking dried vulture brains will result in “visionary” powers.
The Cross River Gorillas have been named the rarest subspecies of Gorilla, and just recently, the first professional footage has been captured according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. These gorillas live in the densest part of the jungle in Cameroon and are very rarely spotted, little less captured on film of any sort.
