#endangered species | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

albertabats · 2 days

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Happy Bat Appreciation Day!

#bats #bats need friends #bat conservation #conservation #alberta bats #endangered species #bat appreciation day

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animentality · 2 months

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#twitter #zoos #ecology #endangered species

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delphinidin4 · 1 year

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Tons more at the source!

#good news #hopepunk #environmentalism #endangered species #long post

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reasonsforhope · 4 months

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"In one of Africa’s last great wildernesses, a remarkable thing has happened—the scimitar-horned oryx, once declared extinct in the wild, is now classified only as endangered.

It’s the first time the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation organization, has ever moved a species on its Red List from ‘Extinct in the Wild’ to ‘Endangered.’

The recovery was down to the conservation work of zoos around the world, but also from game breeders in the Texas hill country, who kept the oryx alive while the governments of Abu Dhabi and Chad worked together on a reintroduction program.

Chad... ranks second-lowest on the UN Development Index. Nevertheless, it is within this North African country that can be found the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve, a piece of protected desert and savannah the size of Scotland—around 30,000 square miles, or 10 times the size of Yellowstone.

At a workshop in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena, in 2012, Environment Abu Dhabi, the government of Chad, the Sahara Conservation Fund, and the Zoological Society of London, all secured the support of local landowners and nomadic herders for the reintroduction of the scimitar-horned oryx to the reserve.

Environment Abu Dhabi started the project, assembling captive animals from zoos and private collections the world over to ensure genetic diversity. In March 2016, the first 21 animals from this “world herd” were released over time into a fenced-off part of the reserve where they could acclimatize. Ranging over 30 miles, one female gave birth—the first oryx born into its once-native habitat in over three decades.

In late January 2017, 14 more animals were flown to the reserve in Chad from Abu Dhabi.

In 2022, the rewilded species was officially assessed by the IUCN’s Red List, and determined them to be just ‘Endangered,’ and not ‘Critically Endangered,’ with a population of between 140 and 160 individuals that was increasing, not decreasing.

It’s a tremendous achievement of international scientific and governmental collaboration and a sign that zoological efforts to breed endangered and even extinct animals in captivity can truly work if suitable habitat remains for them to return to."

-via Good News Network, December 13, 2023

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rebeccathenaturalist · 4 months

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A study that just came out demonstrates that outdoor cats are known to prey on over two thousands species of wild animal, from mammals to birds to insects. That includes 347 species that are endangered, threatened or otherwise of concern, and they've been a key factor of the permanent extinction of over 60 species. And while cats may not always bring home what they catch, chances are if your cat is allowed to roam unsupervised outside, they're killing your local wildlife.

Why is this so important? Worldwide, wild animal populations have decreased in number by 69% in the past fifty years; that means that in my lifetime (born in 1978), the sheer number of wild animals in the world has been decreased by over half. Even "common" wild species are less numerous than before. While habitat population is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and extinction overall, outdoor and indoor/outdoor cats are a significant cause as well. In fact, they are the single biggest cause of human-caused mortality in wild birds.

Most importantly, it's very, very simple to fix this problem: keep your cats indoors, and spay and neuter them. If your cat is bored, they need more enrichment, and there are plenty of ways to make your home more exciting for them, from bringing home cardboard boxes for them to explore, to playing with them more often. If you want your cat to get some outdoor enrichment, leash train them (yes, it can be done!) If you have the space and resources, build them a catio where they can be safe from outdoor dangers like predators and cars, while also keeping local wildlife safe from them.

If you just give into their whining and pawing at the door, then they know that that's what they have to do to get their way; I know it's a tough transition, but it's worth it in the end for everyone involved. Cats are domesticated, which means they are not native anywhere in the world; there are exactly zero ecosystems in which they belong, save for the safety of your home. It is your responsibility to give them an enriching environment without taking the shortcut of letting them go wreak havoc outside.

#cats #outdoor cats #feral cats #nature #wildlife #animals #ecology #environment #conservation #science #scicomm #birds #endangered species #extinction #domesticated animals #domestication #biology #animal behavior #animal welfare

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squeeegs · 8 months

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text from porter robinson's "goodbye to a world"

every single animal in this comic is extinct. it's not too late for the ones that are left.

edit: thanks @mudcrabmassacre for the correction, smilodon fatalis did not in fact go extinct in 1023 AD. the actual prediction is around 10,000 years ago - I think i may have missed a zero or two.

#comic #art #environment #conservation #animals #extinct species #fossils #climate change #dinosaurs #ancient life #endangered species #endangered animals #comics #artists on tumblr #digital art #digital comic #my-art

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tinylongwing · 2 months

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Ga'ga karisu, Saipan Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus hiwae) is a critically endangered species found in the Northern Mariana Islands. Though few remain due to habitat loss, they fill the air with their rich melodic songs in those places where they can still hold on.

Their closest relative, the Nightingale Reed-Warbler of Guam, is extinct due to habitat loss and the invasive brown tree snake.

#endangered species #endangered birds #scientific illustration #birblr #saipan reed-warbler #reed-warbler #nightingale reed-warbler #northern mariana islands #pacific islands #artists on tumblr

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extinctionstories · 10 months

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Two hundred years ago, the wetlands of Japan rustled with pink-tinged feathers. Tall, pale birds stepped carefully through reeds and iris, hunting small fish, crabs, and frogs.

Nipponia nippon, it would be dubbed by the national ornithological society, a bird emblematic of its country. The Crested Ibis. The Toki. The Peach Flower Bird.

Marshes slowly changed to rice fields, with farmers who resented the toki for ruining crops; to kill the birds was outlawed, so children chased them from the fields, singing warnings.

The doors of the country were pried open. Laws changed. Farmers bought their first guns, their sights set on birds who were no longer protected. The toki, the red-crowned crane, and many others began to suffer. But the worst was yet to come.

Pesticides are indiscriminate killers. The poison sprayed to kill a beetle can travel up the foodchain, toppling a cascade of larger animals, or affecting their ability to reproduce. It was reckless pesticide use that nearly wiped out the Bald Eagle. In the rice fields, the peach-flower-bird had little chance.

In 1981, Japan’s last five living toki were removed from a wild that had become too dangerous for them.

I tell a lot of sad stories here, about mistakes we’ve made and animals we’ve lost. This isn’t one of those. This is a story about one of those precious times when we were able to fix the things we’d broken.

A joint effort between Japan & China, and the discovery of seven more birds in that country, led to a successful breeding program, which in 2008 saw the first ibises fly free again in Japan. Today, at least 5000 toki exist in the world.

The last wild-born toki, one of those captured in 1981, lived almost long enough to see her species’ return. Reaching the equivalent age of a centenarian human, she died in 2003—not of old age, but injury after throwing herself against her cage door.

Her name was ‘Kin’. ‘Gold’.

Mended things can never be as whole as they once were. There will always be cracks that show, weak spots that remain vulnerable. Yet, like the shining seams of a kintsugi piece, these scars speak an important truth: here is a thing that someone chose to save; handle with care.

The title of this painting is ‘Restoration’. It is gouache on 22x30 inch watercolor paper

#bird art #endangered species #extinct in the wild #toki #crested ibis #extinction stories #series: we try to fix what we’ve broken

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itscolossal · 2 years

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Over 100 Young Crocodiles Find Refuge on Their Father’s Back in India’s Chambal River

#crocodiles #nature #india #chambal river #environment #endangered species #photography #nature photography

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ketrinadrawsalot · 23 days

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The Galápagos penguin is endemic to the Galápagos Islands and is the rarest penguin. Because they can't breed when ocean surface temperatures are above 25C, they're especially affected by climate change. Ecotourism is also a threat, due to littering and irresponsible birdwatching.

#march of the penguins #penguin #bird #galapagos penguin #endangered species #education #art

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evelynstarshine · 1 year

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It's being estimated that the spaceX launch, lacking the regulation and oversight of NASA launches, might have wiped out as much as 4% of the population of the federally protected Piping Plovers who's nesting site was within the effected area of the launch blast.

But you know, privatising space is cool because billionare fanboys think it's awesome.

#spaceX #environmental impact #environmentalism #protected species #endangered species #piping plovers #capitalism will kill us all #but its starting with the birds #NASA has oversight and regulations for a reason actually #Put scientists in charge of space not business

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allthecanadianpolitics · 1 month

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Earlier this winter, when Toronto resident, K.J. McCusker was out observing nature, he saw something unusual soaring above the city. “That bird is really big. It can’t be what I think it is. No. It can’t be,” he thought to himself. There’s a good reason McCusker couldn’t believe his eyes. There has never been a documented bald eagle pair – nesting in Toronto — until now. “Total miracle… being here for twenty years, you just don’t see eagles and I come from a place where you see eagles, from out west, so we see eagles all the time and I just remember hanging out in ceremony with some people and saying like, why don’t you ever see eagles here,” said McCusker.

Tagging @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #ontario #toronto #bald eagle #wildlife #endangered species

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reasonsforhope · 3 months

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In the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the long study of a butterfly once thought extinct has led to a chain reaction of conservation in a long-cultivated region.

The conservation work, along with helping other species, has been so successful that the Fender’s blue butterfly is slated to be downlisted from Endangered to Threatened on the Endangered Species List—only the second time an insect has made such a recovery.

[Note: "the second time" is as of the article publication in November 2022.]

To live out its nectar-drinking existence in the upland prairie ecosystem in northwest Oregon, Fender’s blue relies on the help of other species, including humans, but also ants, and a particular species of lupine.

After Fender’s blue was rediscovered in the 1980s, 50 years after being declared extinct, scientists realized that the net had to be cast wide to ensure its continued survival; work which is now restoring these upland ecosystems to their pre-colonial state, welcoming indigenous knowledge back onto the land, and spreading the Kincaid lupine around the Willamette Valley.

First collected in 1929 [more like "first formally documented by Western scientists"], Fender’s blue disappeared for decades. By the time it was rediscovered only 3,400 or so were estimated to exist, while much of the Willamette Valley that was its home had been turned over to farming on the lowland prairie, and grazing on the slopes and buttes.

Pictured: Female and male Fender’s blue butterflies.

Now its numbers have quadrupled, largely due to a recovery plan enacted by the Fish and Wildlife Service that targeted the revival at scale of Kincaid’s lupine, a perennial flower of equal rarity. Grown en-masse by inmates of correctional facility programs that teach green-thumb skills for when they rejoin society, these finicky flowers have also exploded in numbers.

[Note: Okay, I looked it up, and this is NOT a new kind of shitty greenwashing prison labor. This is in partnership with the Sustainability in Prisons Project, which honestly sounds like pretty good/genuine organization/program to me. These programs specifically offer incarcerated people college credits and professional training/certifications, and many of the courses are written and/or taught by incarcerated individuals, in addition to the substantial mental health benefits (see x, x, x) associated with contact with nature.]

The lupines needed the kind of upland prairie that’s now hard to find in the valley where they once flourished because of the native Kalapuya people’s regular cultural burning of the meadows.

While it sounds counterintuitive to burn a meadow to increase numbers of flowers and butterflies, grasses and forbs [a.k.a. herbs] become too dense in the absence of such disturbances, while their fine soil building eventually creates ideal terrain for woody shrubs, trees, and thus the end of the grassland altogether.

Fender’s blue caterpillars produce a little bit of nectar, which nearby ants eat. This has led over evolutionary time to a co-dependent relationship, where the ants actively protect the caterpillars. High grasses and woody shrubs however prevent the ants from finding the caterpillars, who are then preyed on by other insects.

Now the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are being welcomed back onto these prairie landscapes to apply their [traditional burning practices], after the FWS discovered that actively managing the grasslands by removing invasive species and keeping the grass short allowed the lupines to flourish.

By restoring the lupines with sweat and fire, the butterflies have returned. There are now more than 10,000 found on the buttes of the Willamette Valley."

-via Good News Network, November 28, 2022

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rebeccathenaturalist · 2 months

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That's so cool! And they found a few of them, and they're now growing seedlings in greenhouses for eventual replanting!

Quercus tardifolia is a relic species leftover from when the climate was much cooler and wetter in the past, and can only really live in a few high-elevation spots in Texas. It's definitely still at risk of extinction due to increasing heat and drought caused by climate change, but the discovery means this species still has a chance.

#oak #oak trees #Quercus #Quercus tardifolia #Lazarus species #endangered species #extinction #trees #plants #botany #nature #climate change #global warming

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chicago-herpetological-society · 1 year

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Baby Galapagos Pink Land Iguanas Observed for the First Time

For the first time ever baby Galapagos pink land iguanas have been observed! The critically endangered species has an estimated adult population of 200-300 animals, which researchers worried were beginning to decline due to age. A ten month search found nesting sites and hatchlings on Isabela Island, in a remote area near Wolf Volcano. Like the name suggests adult Galapagos pink land iguanas are a shade of bright pink, however, babies are bright green with black spots.

[Photo credit: Galapagos National Park]

#iguana #endangered species #galapagos #pink iguana

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tinylongwing · 4 months

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A pair of Palila (Loxioides bailleui), a critically endangered Hawaiian native honeycreeper, forage on the lichen-covered branches of a māmane tree (Sophora chrysophylla).

Done as a wedding gift for a friend - I had this printed on a set of pillows for her new house!

#palila #hawaiian birds #hawaii #honeycreeper #mamane #endangered species #endangered birds #scientific illustration #birblr #birdblr #artists on tumblr #apologies tumblr I failed you and forgot I never posted this here #please enjoy it now!

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