A little bit of August good news about wildlife conservation from around the world:
A pair of Persian onagers (a type of wild horse) were born in Cumberland Ohio, as the result of artificial insemina… Read more >
Wildlife Roundup: The Good News
By Andrew Wetzler,
September 1, 2010
A little bit of August good news about wildlife conservation from around the world:
A pair of Persian onagers (a type of wild horse) were born in Cumberland Ohio, as the result of artificial insemination. There are only about 700 Persian onagers left in the wild, and less than 100 in captivity. The births are being hailed as a major step forward both for wild equine breeding and, more importantly, the future prospects of this highly endangered species.
Myanmar (that’s Burma to you and me) has created the world’s largest tiger reserve by setting aside the entire Hukaung Valley, 8,000 square miles of habitat. Scientists believe that over 100 tigers may live there.
Wolves were put back on the list of endangered species after conservation groups (including NRDC) won a court case rejecting a decision to strip them of federal protections. The court rejected an attempt to “delist” the wolf in Idaho and Montana until the entire northern Rocky Mountain population is secure. Right now about 1,700 gray wolves roam the wilds of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and wolves have also established small populations in Oregon and Washington.
Cranes—the common crane, to be exact—are about to be reintroduced into England, after an absence of over 400 years. According to The Telegraph, the last public record of cranes in England was in an Act of Parliament from 1583. Twenty-one common cranes, after being hand reared in a facility at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre, are going to be placed in an enclosure in the Somerset Levels, before being released into the wild, in September.
Cranes aren’t the only long-absent wildlife making a comeback in the UK. Scotland's Kintyre Peninsula has seen the first beaver born in the wild in Britain, also in 400 years. The animals were reintroduced to the Scottland last May. (h/t Yale 360)
Kihansi spray toads have evolved to fill a narrow niche: their natural habitat is the mist of waterfalls (how cool is that?). The toads were native to just five acres of land in Tanzania and were completely wiped out in the wild by development. Luckily, they were bred in captivity by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Toledo Zoo. Now, scientists have reintroduced them to Tanzania.
It’s also been a pretty good month for frogs. The world’s smallest frog was just discovered in Borneo. The frog, which is only about the size of a pea, lives on pitcher plants. Closer to home, in Riverside County, California, scientists released 36 endangered mountain yellow-legged frog tadpoles into a stream near Idyllwild. In Arizona, scientists released 1,700 threatened Chiricahua leopard frogs into the Tonto National Forest.
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Earlier this month, Wildlife Services, a misleadingly named agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (its primary “service” when it comes to wildlife is “lethal removal”),… Read more >
Take Action to Protect Idaho's Wolves
By Matt Skoglund,
August 31, 2010
Earlier this month, Wildlife Services, a misleadingly named agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (its primary “service” when it comes to wildlife is “lethal removal”), issued a Draft Environmental Assessment (“Draft EA”) regarding its involvement in the management of gray wolves in Idaho.
Ultimately, Wildlife Services is proposing to help the State of Idaho reduce its wolf population by roughly 40% -- from around 843 wolves to about 500. This high level of killing is predicated upon, among other things, an alleged need to protect livestock, increase elk and deer numbers, protect human safety, and prevent the transmission of disease.
When you dig into the meat of the Draft EA, however, many of the bases for preemptively killing over 300 wolves melt away.
Wolf conflicts with livestock make up a miniscule percentage of livestock losses, and several nonlethal methods to prevent conflicts exist. In the Draft EA, Wildlife Services fails to consider the full range of nonlethal practices available, draws hasty conclusions about the effectiveness of many techniques, and neglects to mention others altogether.
Regarding elk, the premier big-game species in the West, an Idaho Fish & Game Newsletter released just a few weeks ago discusses the effect of predators on elk in Idaho. Contrary to the popular myth that wolves are singlehandedly devastating elk herds across the Northern Rockies, Idaho Fish & Game reports that only a minority of elk populations in Idaho are declining -- and wolves are only the primary cause of elk deaths in a few of them. In fact, 23 of Idaho’s 29 elk zones are above or within management population objectives. And the report explains that other factors -- habitat conditions, weather, and hunter harvest -- also play a huge role in elk numbers.
As for human safety, the Draft EA expressly states, “There are no verified instances of wolves having attacked and seriously injured people in the lower 48 United States.” The threat posed to humans by wild wolves is basically nonexistent. If, on the other hand, a wild wolf, in an extremely rare case, becomes habituated in some way and begins to exhibit threatening or unusual behavior, such an animal can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Yellowstone National Park, for example, receives over 3 million visitors annually, many of them camping, backpacking, fishing, hiking, etc. In May 2009, Yellowstone, for the first time since it reintroduced wolves in 1995, euthanized a wolf that had become habituated (likely food-conditioned) and was exhibiting abnormal behavior. Removing the odd wolf in Idaho that becomes habituated, should it occur, makes sense; justifying reducing wolf numbers based on a threat to human health does not.
With disease transmission, reducing Idaho’s wolf population would do nothing to reduce the spread of disease to livestock, domestic dogs, other wildlife, or humans. In fact, conspicuously absent from Wildlife Services’s discussion of disease transmission in the Draft EA is any mention of chronic wasting disease (“CWD”), a horrible wildlife disease moving west. Had Wildlife Services analyzed the potential effect of wolves on CWD, it would have found that multiple wildlife experts think wolves will help stop the spread of CWD as it moves farther west. According to Doug Smith, the legendary Yellowstone wolf biologist, “Wolves are probably the single best way to stop the spread of CWD.”
The Draft EA is flawed in other ways as well (see here for NRDC’s full comment letter), and because the widespread reduction of wolves in Idaho will have a significant effect on the environment, Wildlife Services, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, must withdraw the Draft EA and prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement.
Please stand up for Idaho’s wolves and send a message to Wildlife Services to go back to the drawing board and prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement.
Here’s a story that will wake you up. Over on e360, there is a report that much of the world’s coffee supply is becoming increasingly threatened by a tiny beetle thanks in part to wa… Read more >
Wake up and smell the coffee - before it's too late
By Sylvia Fallon,
August 26, 2010
Here’s a story that will wake you up. Over on e360, there is a report that much of the world’s coffee supply is becoming increasingly threatened by a tiny beetle thanks in part to warmer temperatures. The coffee berry borer used to be confined to a few regions in central Africa, but within the past couple of decades it has become widespread from Colombia to Indonesia – affecting every coffee growing region around the world except Hawaii, Nepal and Papau New Guinea. Scientists believe that part of the beetle’s success is due to warming temperatures that make conditions more favorable for them.
Studies have found the beetle requires minimum average temperatures of 68 F degrees to reproduce – and that for every 1.8 degree increase in temperature, the beetles become more infectious – laying more eggs in more coffee beans and causing greater physical damage to the crop. Coffee growers are responding by moving their crops up in elevation, the article says, but researchers are finding that the beetles are often moving with them – lying dormant until temperatures are favorable. On the bright side, shade grown coffee may have an advantage since the trees providing shade can reduce temperatures around the coffee plants by 3-7 degrees, however despite growing popularity in some markets, shade grown coffee – which is also good for wildlife - is apparently still the exception rather than the norm.
We write here regularly about another beetle/climate story involving whitebark pine. But those trees are way up high on the mountain tops and the impact of their demise - while likely to be profound not only for the critters that feed on their seeds, but for everyone occupying the land below – can sometimes seem abstract and hard to grasp. Here’s a story that most of us can relate to.
When are we going to wake up to the fact that it’s time to do something about climate change? For everyone’s sake, let’s get to it before the coffee is gone.
Go to NRDC's action center to tell congress not to abandon comprehensive climate and energy legislation.
