Faced with a gulf between the species in need and the available resources, some scientists are pushing an approach that combines the cold-blooded eye of an accountant with the ruthless decisiveness of a battlefield surgeon. To do the greatest good, they argue, governments need to consider shifting resources from endangered species and populations that are getting too much attention to those not getting enough. That could mean resolving not to spend money on some species for which the chance of success appears low, such as the vaquita, an adorable small porpoise now down to fewer than 30 animals in Mexico’s Gulf of California.
Researcher holds a petrel chick on Tern Island. Photo by A. Boyd / USFWS
Fifty-three Bonin petrel and twenty-five Tristam’s storm-petrel chicks arrived at their new home at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge near Kahuku, O’ahu, after a six day boat ride from Tern Island and Midway Atoll, part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. These chicks will join a cohort of twenty-two Black-footed albatross chicks inside a predator-proof fence, in hopes of founding a new seabird colony.
Animal care team placing the chicks in their new burrows. / Photo by L. Young / Pacific Rim Conservation
“These species have never before been translocated to a new home by boat,” said Matt Brown, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Superintendent for Papahānaumokuākea. “Knowing we can move these rare seabirds long distances by sea will enable us to adapt to an ever-changing environment and help prevent the potential loss of a species.”
One of the world’s rarest amphibians bred for the FIRST time outside of its homeland at Chester Zoo
Nov. 2017 – Conservationists at Chester Zoo have successfully bred one of the
world’s rarest amphibians in a bid to save it from extinction – the
first time the feat has ever been achieved outside the species’ native
Catalonia.
Twelve Montseny Newts, one of the most endangered species in Europe,
have hatched at the zoo where a team of experts are helping to ensure
the continued survival of the critically endangered population – ahead
of a future release into the wild.
It is the first time the newt has ever been kept outside of Catalonia
and the young hatched within the programme will be introduced back to
the Montseny mountain range in north-eastern Catalonia to help boost
numbers.
The mountains, which are approximately 100km north of Barcelona, are the
only place where wild Montseny newts live.
The zoo, renowned for its conservation work with threatened reptiles and
amphibians, has been asked to join the Barcelona Provincial Council,
the Catalan government’s Department of Territory and Sustainability and
Barcelona Zoo in caring for the highly threatened species – becoming the
first institution in the world outside of Catalonia to join the
recovery plan.
“"It’s a hopeful, optimistic chapter,“ said Louise Rollins-Smith, PhD, associate professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and a co-author of a study recently published in the journal Science.A collaborative group of investigators at multiple institutions showed that the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis continues to be as lethal now as it was more than 10 years ago.
The antimicrobial defenses produced by frog skin, however, appear to be more effective than they were before the fungal epidemic began.Rollins-Smith and her colleagues began studying how frogs combat B. dendrobatidis in Panama in 2004. For several years, Douglas Woodhams, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow on her team, and laboratory manager Laura Reinert made multiple trips to Central America to collect samples of frog skin secretions.
At the time, the fungal disease was spreading eastward from Costa Rica through Panama.“There was a predictable wave of pathogen moving to new populations,” said Rollins-Smith, who also traveled to Panama in 2010. “It gave us the opportunity to collect samples from populations of animals that had already encountered the epidemic and from the same species in places where the epidemic had not yet occurred.“The researchers found that skin secretions from frogs in areas with endemic (established) disease were more effective against the fungus compared to skin secretions from frogs that had not been exposed to the disease.”
In 1996, UNESCO designated the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System a World Heritage Site, with the former British colony responsible for protection. It’s a mandate that the country has at times struggled with. By 2009, the site was on UNESCO’s “danger” list, with the organization saying that the country needed to enact better management and safeguards. But since that low point, Belize has worked to turn things around. And ocean conservation observers say there has been impressive progress. Hence the helicopter flight, which was a victory lap of sorts.
Just this December, Belize became the first country in the world to put a moratorium on all offshore oil exploration and drilling. Oceana had arranged the helicopter to help give politicians a sense of what they had protected, and what still needs to be done. “I’m really looking forward to getting off the endangered list,” Chanona said.
A black grouper patrols a coral garden in Belize. The country is taking new steps to protect this fragile resource for the future. PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN J. SKERRY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE
You voted for theSilent Forest campaign to help fight the songbird extinction crisis. Illustrations are available for preorder for 30 days.
The critically endangered Bali Myna, Javan Green Magpie, and Nias Hill Myna.
There is one more bird I illustrated that is very special, her name isEsa… she’s the last of her kind. Esa was rescued from the Jakarta bird market and currently lives at the Cikananga Conservation Breeding Centre (CCBC). Researchers are trying to find others like her, but have so far been unsuccessful.
The special Esa print is also available for preorder through the GoFundMe site.
Stickers are also available for the all of Silent Forest’s flagship species. Check the award levels and leave a comment with your donation with your selection.
It turns out that Border Collies are an ideal breed for this specific type of job. Bounding through miles of forest terrain requires not only speed, intelligence, and endurance, but also a willingness to stay focused and not get distracted by wildlife. Border Collies were bred to herd sheep, so they’re not as likely to run after or hurt other animals in the forest.
This system is also more efficient than having people spread the seeds manually. These speedy canines can race through a forest and cover up to 18 miles a day. Humans, on the other hand, can only cover a few miles each day. These pups can scatter over 20 pounds of seeds, depending on the terrain. While robots or drones might be able to disperse seeds too, dogs aren’t as pricey to handle. Most importantly, they leave a lighter carbon footprint.
Francisca and Constanza put special backpacks on the dogs, fill them with native seeds and then it’s off to the races. Once the dogs have emptied out their bags, Francisca and Constanza give them plenty of treats, refill their bags, and release them again to dash around the destroyed forest, sprinkling more seeds in their wake. The end goal of all this, of course, is to restore the damaged ecosystem and have the wildlife return to the forests.
I LOVE THIS
I love when humans take pointers from nature. #naturehack
I can honestly say I’m not surprised at all – given the captive mortality rate,and the immense stress the population is already under, adding the stress of capture and captivity on top of that? Would have probably killed them all faster.
I’m not saying anything new when I say that, in my opinion, vaquita are functionally extinct.
They are a zombie species. They are dead and gone, we’re just waiting for the population numbers to catch up to that fact. The population is too small to succesfully breed back to strength without suffering inbreeding collapse, and their environment is not going to improve fast enough for them to persist anyway.
Too little, too late, and all for naught. This is a great example, unfortunately, of an empty token gesture, of people trying to look like they’re doing something when what they should have done was listened years ago and stopped it from ever getting this bad. Maui’s dolphin is another prime example of this – down to approximately forty individuals – only 10 of which are females, and even fewer are females of reproductive age – are abhorrently under-protected, their habitat is exploited by mining and drilling, as well as commercial fishing. Despite biologists lobbying the New Zealand government for better protection measures, nothing is really being done.
We are not learning from our mistakes, it would seem.
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